mainehazmt

I was able to pull all of this off with access to the attic. Home Theater, Computer Network, Wireless Access Points (the flying saucer thing) and cable. I also installed cable, network and power behind the wall mounted TV in each bedroom. I own my place and nothing in the agreement stopped me from doing what I did.
 

That's what I figured. Thanks!
 
 
That has been on my To-Do list for a while. Now that I have radios I'll go ahead and get my HAM license.
 
Thanks
 
Rob

Night before last I drove to the far north side of Chicago to the town of Glenview, IL to attend the bi-monthly meeting of the NSEA (North Shore Emergency Association), a GMRS organization that was founded in 1966 (that's 50 years!) by P. Randal Knowles, a practicing attorney who is still very much active today.

He has long been a champion for GMRS and has authored many cogent and factual submissions to the FCC's various NPRM's that threaten GMRS licensees. I invite interested parties to read them closely at this link:

http://www.nsea.com/fcc/WHAT'S%20COOKING.htm

I have to add that I was very impressed with the professionalism of NSEA and hope to visit with them as often as possible. They have graciously offered to assist me in my attempt to promote such an association of GMRS licensees here in Northwest Indiana.
 
I also met Marc Drazin who owns the two repeaters that were until last February located at the top of the Hancock building. He told me that he hopes to have them both back on the air within the next few months. The antennas are not located in the gallery, but are in fact on the roof.

There's obviously not one fixed price throughout the country, but I wonder ballpark what I'd be looking at to set up a repeater at a commercial tower site.
 
I happen to have an R1225 repeater (50W UHF) sitting around from a lot of equipment I bought, but I live in a valley and in a condo, so setting it up at home would be borderline useless. There's a big hill / small mountain not too far from here with a number of towers on it, and while hiking in the area I noticed one of the equipment sheds has a sign mentioning that they have space available on a combiner/multicoupler system. I have absolutely no concept of what renting space at a place like that costs -- am I looking at a $50/month type deal, or more like $500/month?

Hi Seven,
 
Welcome! Let's see if I can answer those questions for you. Others may chime in and lend their expertise as well.
 
1. This is a Ham radio, and is not certified for use on GMRS frequencies. According to the FCC Rules (Part 95), any radio used on GMRS frequencies must carry Part 95A certification. However, as you may find if you do your own research, it's very hard to find a currently-produced Part 95A radio which is repeater capable. It's kind of a niche and most manufacturers don't bother with it anymore. For us, that presents us with a dilemma. Either we are stuck using very old and obsolete equipment, or we could use Part 90 radios (virtually all commercial-grade radios for business or public safety use) which adheres to stricter technical requirements. I don't recommend or advocate it, but many people have decided that a Part 90 radio, when operated properly, is just as good or even better. Many of the Baofeng radios and their clones now carry Part 90 certification when the user is unable to change the frequency on the fly. So the short answer is, yes it's a Ham radio. The longer answer is, it may have Part 90 certification and would then perform similarly to a Part 95A radio, so you would be using it at your own risk. The argument has been made with the FCC but to date no answer has been given.
 
2. For simplex, you can use any GMRS frequency that is not a repeater input (467.xxx MHz). You can speak in another language, but you are required to state your callsign in English every 15 minutes during a conversation, and at the end of the conversation according to the FCC rules. Yes, you can set a PL tone on simplex for you and your friend. It will not provide true privacy, but would prevent you two from hearing other people on the same channel unless they happen to be using the same tone.
 
3. Yes, your GMRS license allows you to use a GMRS repeater. However, repeaters are privately owned and you need the permission of the owner. Some repeaters are posted on this site as "open" which means any licensed user can use it without permission (just follow the rules), while some are private or require explicit permission. The listing for the repeater on this website should indicate which, and you can contact the owner through this site. The repeater will retransmit your audio over a wider area so others can hear you who would not normally be able to hear your radio directly. It's not private, and anyone else who has the repeater programmed in their radio could talk back to you.
 
4. English isn't required, but you may want to talk to the repeater owner and give them a heads-up that you intend to speak in another language but will be complying with the FCC rules. Some people are alarmed by not knowing what someone is saying on their repeater, so it doesn't hurt to state that up front to avoid confusion. Nothing in GMRS is private, so others would be able to hear you if they're within range of the repeater (typically 15-30 miles, perhaps more)
 
5. Only one person may transmit at a time, so if there's a conversation going on already, you'll have to wait your turn. If you have something to add to the conversation, you can jump in and introduce yourself. Most people are happy to talk with you, so don't be shy about it. Just don't interrupt another conversation with your own.
 
Good luck, and let me know if you need any further clarification!

I would think the cheaper way would be to bolt it to something stable like a metal fence or just stand it up on a mast. Once you find a way to stand it up hook up a radio and an SWR meter and see what you get. How ever you test in be sure it has ample free space and don't get to close to it well keying it up. You may ask around and see if any of your fellow hams have an Anritsu Site Master and if so can you get them to sweep it for you.
 
Corey

If the repeater is wide band, you will want to work it with wideband, likewise you will get the best performance from your radios in wideband. GMRS is not required to use narrow, and range is diminished with it as well. 

Haha...think I have my regular forum account set up. The RG213 is in the garage and now waiting for the new antenna to arrive. I'll move this project over to the regular sections when I start the install and see what can of performance changes I can get.
Dennis
WQVQ594

well if this wasn't public I could tell you.... Actually there is no competition up here. Long story

if you really have problems with people messing with your machine you can come up and install it here in northern Maine. It will be well cared for. Lol

if you really have problems with people messing with your machine you can come up and install it here in northern Maine. It will be well cared for. Lol

I usually utilize a UHF, rf generating device

As few people who're using this set of forums currently, it seems a bit pointless IMHO...

going to an LTR controller let them try to figure that out.
I'm done

the 355's are good for the group users FRS and or GMRS but if you are operating the tour and want good repeater contact , for Emergency and or activity coordination, I would recommend a good 4 watt UHF radio with an enhanced whip antenna to reach distance repeaters. the blister pack radios do not have removable antennas, many UHF radios and some part 95 have removable antennas allowing you to add a nice 3db + of gain over the stock dummy load. Your outdoor activity sounds great, Beat of luck!

What's a twitter?

HEY KID!!!!! YOU'LL POKE YOUR EYE OUT

To someone listening CSQ, an ID is an ID regardless of PL.
 
If your ID is sent with PL, then people using a different PL wouldn't hear the use (unless RX is set to monitor).
 
If the system ID's without a PL those using any RX PL will never hear it.
 
 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There has been an issues with repeaters that automatically ID.  There have been situations where NOVs were issued for violation of this rule:
95.7 Channel sharing.(a) Channels or channel pairs are available to GMRS systems only on a sharedbasis and will not be assigned for the exclusive use of any licensee. Allstation operators and GMRS system licensees must cooperate in the selectionand use of channels to reduce interference and to make the most effective useof the facilities.A term: "channel camping" was created to refer to those who would send an ID automatically.  Supposedly, this would deprive other users use of the frequency.  Since an ID is not required, it could constitute a way to show "ownership" of a frequency.
 
Just putting that out there.... No worries here either way.

It has been my observation in the past that when a Morse ID is transmitted with the repeater owner's callsign, that ANY questionable or unlawful usage of the repeater by either authorized OR unauthorized users, will be the liability responsibility of the repeater owner, since that ID may be the only one available to the Commission while monitoring for improper conduct.
 
In order to keep a low profile and not be the target of a Commission inquiry, do not use automatic ID BUT require that ALL users follow regulation - 95.119(a)(1) and (2) regarding THEIR responsibility to properly ID THEIR communications.  There are no regulations REQUIRING Morse ID of the repeater owner's callsign.

Well I finally got the system up, now to test and see how well it works, quick test with our portables, with stubby antennas and in the car was about 3-4 miles out and fine.
 
Now to install the mobiles and get some distance test and possibly get a local shop to test the line to be safe and sure.
 
http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu140/aussierescueil/Base%20antenna%202.jpg

Update. I did swap to a M120...and I run about 8 watts to hit the repeater from my house. It tests and alerts for my area (FIPS/SAME coded) reliably for a couple of months now. I am limiting the TX to 45 seconds now which give you time to hear the core of the message if it's a severe alert. 
 
Still pondering making a base out of it at the tower site...just make it go out on 675 rather than be on one of the repeaters. 
 
I guess the big takeaway is the very simple setup using a minimum of equipment works well. 

It could be a licensee, or some rougue radio dealer that setup and unsuspecting customer with SCADA-like or simple remote controlling hardware, it could very well be simplex. You can use DTMF encoder/decoders to kick on relays for various things, setup/knockdown repeaters, etc. The receiver radio basically has an output that drives a relay and then things that can be done are many...high and low voltage switching. It could also be a trigger of some sort sending the DTMF, and the receiver just goes into alarm to signify something happened....could be an alarm, alert, water level, power out, door that opened...etc. Those are some more elaborate examples, but in the radio biz I setup a fire departments' big siren on the roof of the FD to blow by remote, also setup thier garage doors to go up when a certain code was used, and a real cool one...gas pumps active for 15 minutes after a code was put through. 
 
If you are hearing a rapid string, it is pre-programmed and is likely intentional. Legit use of the freq? Probably not. 

Could be a few, could be many. One thing I've found with many people is that they all assume there is an upcost/lease fee associated with all sites. There are a lot of (good) sites out there that can be found for free. I've yet to sign a site lease yet have some of the best locations in the area. Sometimes you can wheel and deal. Sometimes you just need to get creative. For example, if you find a decent location, provide your own power (solar, wind, with backup generator) and fill out some forms, wait for approval, etc you can put up a site in National Forest. On a good peak. Doesn't take power...just need to be able to occasionally access the location.

John - 146.30 MAY be receiving a harmonic from a wireless router... yours or a neighbor.  I have a NetGear system in my office and used a scanner in search mode and found MANY hits between 40 and 900 Mhz. I disabled the router and no more 'birdies'.   Laptops and tablets operate on the same base frequency, so it could be related to one of those devices as well that might be closer to your coax or radios.   Just one possibility for you to investigate.