WRQI583

Wow, I was going to say, in my area, those antennas are Waaaaay too small to be ham radio antennas, but I forgot we have privileges in the higher bands ha ha ha. Nice setup on the back of that car. Looks like what my vehicle would look like if there was more activity. Back where I grew up, there was and one of my vehicles had 7 or 8 antennas on it. Good times back then.

When it comes to the rules, yes, we all need to follow them. But even like Ham Radio, if you spend 90% of your time consuming yourself with "The Rules" instead of enjoying what you got into, you will be miserable. I have known many people to get out of the radio hobby or distance themselves from it (in general, Ham or GMRS or anything else) because of the thinking that the FCC was going to show up at their doorstep to take all their radios, arrest them and lock them up in federal prison for 20 years and slap them with $10,000 fine. Then you have those in the radio community that preach that and they do everything in their power to shame people into this thinking, that they inadvertently shove people out of the hobby. These type sit on their high throne surrounded by radios thinking they own the airwaves. I, like probably thousands of other GMRS operators run a mobile radio hooked up to a power supply transmitting on an omni-directional antenna and they talk base to mobile/portable and if they happen to have a repeater to use nearby, they talk through that to other GMRS operators or their own family. Same goes for the mobile. Same goes for the portables. As long as you are within the proper parameters, I highly doubt the FCC is going to swoop in to take you away because you didn't follow one letter of the law based on a fraction of a technicality that was misinterpreted accidently. I have known of people who deliberately interfered with public safety communications and other forms of licensed radio communications and everyone knew who they were and that they were doing it. Nothing was ever done. Nothing ever happened. Sadly! Again, I am not saying its ok to break the rules. Rules are how we maintain order and stay together as a society. Get out there in the community with those who follow the rules to the best of their ability, learn the in's and out's and set up your station and enjoy. We are all in this together and following common sense and common courtesy is above all things, and by following that, you will be following the rules.

Way back when FRS first came about someone in my home state used to do this but it was on FRS 1 (462.5625). It was a strong transmitter because it was heard all over a county and a bit beyond that. From what I was told, someone had set it up for the junior volunteer fire fighters because they weren't allowed pagers. Its not hard. Out of band dual band ham radio and set the frequencies and let her rip. 45 watts on UHF on a good antenna at a high location and you are no different than some of the stuff operating with public safety. For those who don't know better, it confuses them.

I decided to go on the cheap end of things with my antenna only. I tried ordering a Comet antenna for GMRS and of course, the company must have jumped on the "Shortage" bandwagon. I checked high and low and could not find a Comet antenna anywhere. So I settled for a Harvest BC200-U which claims to be tuned for the GMRS band, absolutely no tuning needed. Well, after having the issues and reading more reviews, that is a lie. My antenna wasn't even close to being ok on the GMRS band, at least for the repeater input. The 462MHz portion was around a 1.6:1 SWR. 467MHz was around a 2.5:1 SWR or higher. So I took it apart and found a very poor design. The spots where the pieces connected together were pinched together with these little brass pieces. About 2/3 of the way up was a split in the radiator where 2 ceramic capacitors were soldered, bridging the gap to the upper part. They use pieces of foam to keep the radiator from smacking around inside and one of the pieces was loosely wrapped around the capacitors and glued in place causing it to rip the capacitors apart with even a slight touch wiggling the foam. The capacitor on the lower coil was not even glued in place. So, I did a bunch of experimenting to get the antenna to resonate on the GMRS band. I had another antenna that was specifically set on 466MHz and I decided to copy that design which was very similar to the harvest antenna design. The difference was that the other antenna didn't use capacitors and it didn't have a loading coil at the bottom. I removed all of the capacitors off of the harvest antennas and just put pieces of copper wire to connect straight through. I soldered all the joints on the radiator to make them more electrically secure. At the bottom of the antenna where the main radiator connects in it has a set screw evidently for tuning. I trimmed the whole radiator down until it came into an acceptable range (sorry, I cannot tell you how much I cut off because I was pretty flustered at this point after having to do so much soldering and unsoldering) and I put the antenna back together. I made a coax choke out of RG8U coax (wound 4 times in a 2.5" diameter) and placed that below the antenna and connected my coax into it. I now have an antenna with less than a 1.4:1 SWR across the band from 462.55-467.725MHz. The performance of this antenna didn't really change. The only thing that was noticed is that coverage is slightly better in spots where it was dead or static. So, UNLESS you happen to own an antenna analyzer or know someone who does, and you are smart with antennas, I would not purchase this antenna. It DOES work pretty decent once modified, but for the plug and play person who just wants to set up GMRS and talk, I would NOT recommend it. It is cheaply made compared to other commercial antennas. BUT if you are on a budget and have the knowledge and equipment, you can make it work. I have included a picture of my antenna analyzer for proof on the reading AFTER I made modifications. I get on average 2.5-5 miles on simplex (not using a repeater) at 45 watts. I have to include in here that I live in Maine in a low spot directly at the base of a hill that immediately goes up 100 more feet. I am at around 310 feet above sea level with hills spreading out from me going up as high as 1,000 feet but also including valleys in with that, so what happens is that my signal will travel down these valleys pretty far but once a tall hill is hit, my signal is not reaching over the other side at all.

According to MyGMRS, there are no repeaters near you that use a DPL unless the one closed repeater does. When it comes to those tones, you have CTCSS (PL) or you have DCS (DPL) tones. CTCSS (PL) are analog tones that are most commonly used. DCS (DPL) are digital tones. CTCSS (PL) tones run generally from 67.0hz to 254hz. On some radios, they do have a code system(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Tone-Coded_Squelch_System) associated with them that do NOT have anything to do with DCS (DPL) tones. DCS (DPL) tones run from 023 to 754 and have an 'I' or 'N' after the number sometimes (i.e. - 023I or 023N). When programming the tone, most commonly, you would just use the numbers followed by 'N' (i.e. - 023N) https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/DCS Many people get these tone numbers confused. Once you have played around with radio for awhile, you will get used to it and understand it.

This might sound anti ham radio but I would pick the band that works the best to communicate locally. For me, due to terrain, would be VHF.

People use MURS around me for dog tracking collars, that's it. Highly annoying!

While working for a newspaper company years ago, one of the drivers would set off the building alarms at his last stop when he would call in to let dispatch know he was done. Currently, my wife and I can make the CO2 alarm downstairs go nuts if we operate our portable radios in the same room on GMRS.

Since I am not a "Ham Radio Operator" in the classic sense, I keep 2 meter, GMRS/FRS, and scanner capabilities. Good enough for the emergency communications aspect. Nice and simple and relatively cheap compared to going down the HF rabbit hole where you have to sell a few organs in exchange for radio equipment.?

That sounds like Tropospheric ducting. UHF doesn't usually get affected like VHF does but it can still happen. IF, that is the case, you cant do anything to make it come in better all the time. Tropospheric ducting is similar to skip on CB. It involves conditions in the sky to cause your signals to travel farther. Google Tropospheric ducting. Its a good read. I love working it. Back in 2001 I remember working Ham Radio Repeaters all over New England clear up into Canada from South Eastern Connecticut on 2 meters. One night in 2002 I sat and talked over a repeater in Virginia from New London CT.

Nets are good for checking your radios, that's about it. I like to use them to check my equipment from time to time when it comes to operating through a repeater to make sure its still working seeing as how I talk very little on radio these days. I like to keep things in check just to make sure its still working should I need it in an emergency.

If you are operating through a repeater you do not need a roger beep. Most repeaters have a courtesy tone if activated to let you know when you can transmit. If you are running simplex they are good to have especially if you are going to have a significant distance between radios to where your all on the fringe of radio range. The only time I have encountered possibly needing a roger beep on a repeater is when the repeater doesn't have a courtesy tone and your radio settings are set just so that your radio's receiver only opens up when the other guy is talking and stays closed otherwise. I usually keep my radios set like that so that I don't hear all the squelch tail crunching and other beeps that come out of a repeater.

LOL!!! Tomorrow, the government is going to make murder illegal. All joking aside, I thought if you committed a crime, anything used in the commission of that crime could and probably would be confiscated, investigated and used against you as proof in court? I have known people in the past where this happened. Unless of course the FCC is just now getting around to enforcing a law themselves. Honestly, I cannot understand why anyone would use radio to commit any crime, or use it to interfere with a licensed radio service. There are too many "civilian FCC cops" out there monitoring the airwaves and it's my understanding, the FCC has added a way to turn people in for interfering with radios. It doesn't seem worth it to do anything illegal with a radio. Its like committing a crime and then bragging about it on social media.

I get the same issue. I think I have had it with Ham licenses also, especially the HV code ham licenses. Doesnt seem to be a way around it. If there is, I would love to know. The closest I have ever been able to get it is down to the state level.

I think what you are looking for is what many companies used back in the day and probably still use today. It requires one radio with what they called Remote bases or remotes stations. The picture shown here is called an extended local remote. The draw back is that you cannot generally change the channel in your situation but if you are looking to monitor one repeater or simplex channel, this is about the closest I can come to what you are looking to do. I worked for a newspaper company when I was younger and they had these spread throughout the building for their radio. To the best of my knowledge, they require one radio, not two.

Believe it or not, I have heard many hams over the years and probably more so regular civilians, tell me that if you have a ham radio license, you are authorized to transmit on ANY frequencies in an emergency, public safety included. When I went for my ham ticket back in 1996, that's not the way I read the rules. The way I read them is that in an emergency, I may use any HAM frequencies, but only during that emergency and related to that emergency. If there was an emergency and one of my radios could transmit out of band, I wouldn't dare call over public safety. I would use a cell phone and if that didn't work, I would use my brain to devise a plan to rectify the situation. I've heard of people using public safety frequencies on an out of band radio in a real valid emergency and getting in trouble for it. If you do happen to do that, it had better be that you are using actual public safety radios and the staff in possession of them are down and out and you are rescuing them by using their radios to call for help.

After I posted this, I noticed the same thing - repeaters going up everywhere. Its a good thing though and I really appreciate the hard work of those that are doing so. I actually just ordered my radio for the house just before I hopped on here. The antenna and coax is up and ready to go. Thats a really nice way of keeping track of the repeaters. I sort of did the same thing using google maps documents. I have a ways to go as far as working on it. Been pretty busy lately.

I have that exact same radio and it transmits 136-174 and 400-480. I have used it briefly on GMRS to test something and it got out fine. As far as the receive is concerned, well, that leaves a lot to be desired. Seems as though unless you have an ultra powerful signal coming from the tower, the squelch doesn't want to open up. You must have something set wrong.

A quarter wave will work good in the city areas or for close range. If you go out into the rurals and especially if you have hills or mountains and your repeater is a good distance away, that NMO 72 will just about cut it. I am actually running a Tram 1181 that is basically the same as the NMO 72 and is good on the SWR across 2 meters, MURS, 70cm, and GMRS. I live in the rurals of Maine and from what I noticed, at least on the receive, that antenna just about does the job. A larger antenna that I know will work better is a Larsen NMO450C. I used to work for a Medical transportation company in CT that covered most of the eastern side of the state. The Larsens did much better than a 1/4 wave. Its all about what distance you are looking for.

If ever you wanted to go with another antenna, possibly a little larger, such as a whip antenna, if there is a bit of distance between you and another radio or repeater such as in a rural setting, from experience, you will want to go with something like a MUF4505S GMRS antenna type of antenna. I worked for a medical transportation company many years ago and while most of the vehicles had these style antennas, a few had quarter wave antennas for UHF and the quarter wave antennas performed horribly. Receive was about 1/4 of the larger antennas. The transmit range wasn't as bad but it was diminished due to the antenna size. Our coverage area was covered by moderate size hills between 300-500 feet above sea level with flatter ground surrounding them. I had a low profile antenna similar to what you are running and it worked well in more suburban or urban areas. When you get in the more rural areas, the larger antennas are better. If your coverage is going to be short or in the city, the low profiles work well.

Unfortunately, the only setting I am seeing on here that has to do with keeping it on one band is [Menu 60] where you can mute the sub-band (the one you are not listening to) and keep it focused on just the one band. I have an Ailunce HD-1 and it has a similar setting and I always keep the sub-band muted when operating it. I find for people that are non-radio (my wife ha ha) its easier to mute the sub-band and then lock the radio on the main band and it operates just like a mono-band radio. No issues at all. Hope that helps.

Yes you are correct except for areas that have very tall hills/mountains. I have lived in areas with anything from 500 foot hills to well over 2,000 feet. I have done it on accident and I have known others (especially on Ham Repeaters) where we are transmitting on the repeater we are using with a tone, and one without a tone (which you dont tend to find much anymore for obvious reasons) a good enough distance away inadvertently gets keyed up by us while we are up at a high elevation travelling down a certain road. So, is it required? No. Using common sense will come into play in this case. If it was me, and this is only me, If I had a repeater, I would probably set a PL tone on it and set it to 141.3 which I believe is a common one I believe for those travelling? Many years ago when repeaters weren't as common as they are today, running one without a tone probably wouldn't be an issue.

Oh I wonder that myself. I kid you not, one day I turned the CB on 38 lower and was doing some stuff and at one point, I heard such professionalism, I thought I was listening to an HF contest. It is DEFINITELY not always like that but I have noticed a change. Personally I love hearing some of those guys (few and hard to find) that use nice microphones and it sounds like you are listening to FM broadcast. My ears are not that good to try to understand an annoying echo.

I thought that way for a short period time and It was probably because of the ham crowd that I hung around with. When you look at any radio service out there, it's not the radio service that's the problem. It's the people involved in it. Ham radio can be the same way at times depending on the band. Sadly, I've heard stuff come over ham that made me cringe, because I have always operated it in a professional manner and always viewed it as a highly respected radio service.

Up here in Maine there is a repeater 13 miles from me and one that is 65 miles from me. I live in an RF toilet bowl ( one of the lowest points in my area surrounded by tall hills) and I can hit the one 65 miles away, but I can't hit the one 13 miles away, all with a portable radio. UHF is more line of site with little curvature of the signal, meaning that, you can't have a lot of obstructions or you won't hit the repeater. In the same way, the repeater, the higher up it is, the farther away the signal will reach. Also note too, on this site, I have come across many repeaters that claim a large area but in reality they may only reach that long in only a few directions due to terrain. Sadly, this site only shows a big circle around each site, not an actual specific mapped out area showing dead zones also. That's where some studying of the repeater signal will come into play. I do it with ham repeaters all the time and then just make a mental note of where the dead zones are. It helps if you are having a Convo mobile. You can pause your Convo until you get out of the dead zone.