WRQC527

Defective radio. Send it back. Get a replacement. Preferably before your return window closes.

My guess is that it was the wheelchair comment and the resulting exchange of, shall we say, unpleasantries.

At least you didn't start a fight with your response.

There is this option, which for some people might be a solution. This one happens to be a BNC-style, but they are also made for SMA-mount HT antennas. the idea is to put your HT's dual-band rubber duck antenna on the mount and attach it to the roof. I've never tried one, so I can't comment on how well they work, but it would certainly fit your requirement of "super-short" and "dual-band 2m/70cm". https://www.amazon.com/Anteenna-TW-35B-Magnetic-Mount-Female/dp/B07H8GNG33/ref=asc_df_B07H8GNG33?mcid=ab23b401e2ad3497b1bacdfeb7124d0c&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693297383718&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11318577053321875493&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9198055&hvtargid=pla-2069911870245&psc=1

An inordinate amount of his content is uncalled for. He's probably on more ignored user lists than most.

Mine sits in a radio junk box in the garage. Terrible transmit audio is the biggest issue. It also reads low voltage until I turn it off and on a few times. I really like the concept, but sadly, this radio completely missed the mark.

What kind of traffic are you expecting to hear? How do you know you are transmitting just fine through the repeater? Are you hearing your transmission on another radio? Maybe there's just no one listening to the repeater.

OK, well the first thing to do is to scratch the Amazon antenna, and any other HF antenna, off the list. The second thing to do is to solicit recommendations for handheld radio antenna upgrades for both amateur and GMRS handheld transceivers. Personally, I tend not to mess with trying to upgrade the antennas that come with the radios, because for what I use HTs for, the additional length of aftermarket antennas starts to become bothersome without much real-world improvement. But that's just me. There's no doubt that a good aftermarket antenna can improve the performance of an HT. Also, there are no ARES or SKYWARN-specific antennas. Any antenna you select needs to match the frequency range of the radio.

I'm more interested in why this young man pulled three antennas from three different radio services and is seeking the wisdom of others concerning them. Especially since he makes no reference to any radios in any one of those three radio services.

The Amazon antenna is an HF antenna. If you've purchased an HF radio, it might be a good choice for portable operation. This antenna has become more popular recently because it breaks down small and it can be tuned for several different HF bands by assembling it in various ways, adjusting the length of the telescoping section and adjusting the coil. I have one on my wish list. The DX Engineeering Comet dual-band GMRS/MURS antenna can apparently be used on either GMRS or MURS radios, although I don't know of any FCC-certified dual-band GMRS/MURS radios. I'd say there's no such thing, but someone here would spend the next several days trying to prove me wrong. There are, however, lots of us scofflaws who use unlocked Baofengs and MARS/CAP-modified Yaesus and such on GMRS and MURS that might benefit from such an antenna. The Etsy roll-up J-pole, according to the description, is a dual-band amateur radio antenna for 2 meters and 70 CM, not for GMRS. There's lots of them out there. If you need one for GMRS, search specifically for that. Unless you like to roll the dice and build your own, I would get an assembled one. What radio(s) do you need antennas for? Share with us.

True. I gave up on mag mounts in favor of lip mounts. Too many pinched coax and water leak problems and I'm no fan of coax draped across the roof. Ultimately a lip mount would be my recommendation.

The SBB2 is my favorite mobile dual band antenna. But after me snapping one off on the garage door and my wife snapping one off when she raised the tailgate of my van when I had the thing laid down, I didn't want to throw down for a third one. I run this one now, which has a spring. I've been happy with it. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dmn-az504sp?seid=dxese1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh6jprOKWigMV5CpECB0VjS8uEAQYASABEgKQNfD_BwE

No I think that's a deep-fake AI-generated image by a sad ham who was trying to get everyone to believe in the explosive force of an overheated final transistor. Or it could have been from a movie idk.

Normally you'll be fine if you accidentally press the PTT without an antenna. But in rare cases...

While not as noteworthy as working the ISS or working through the ISS repeater, I've made a bunch of contacts through the SO-50 AMSAT repeater. The first few were using a $10 DIY dual-band Yagi and a UV5R, and after that using my Arrow dual-band Yagi and a Yaesu FT-60. The process is the same with the ISS. Pretty fascinating.

I think what trikeradio is talking about is the practical limitations, not the rules limitations. Also there is an "About" paragraph on the FCC website that was probably written before the $369 (plus tax, which duh, is a function of the state I live in) mobile radio that talks about its use with portable handheld radios.

Try as I may, I can't figure out why this is a $400 (with sales tax) radio.

Steve and I simply quoted the actual FCC definitions of base and control stations. Goofy or not, that is exactly how they are written.

Just so you know, the FCC's Part 95 definition of a base station: "BASE STATION: A station at a fixed location that communicates directly with mobile stations and other base stations." In other words, by simplex. If you are using a radio at a fixed location through a repeater, such as with a mobile radio on a power supply on your desk, the FCC considers that a "control station". "CONTROL STATION: A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations."

You've hit on one of the things that sort of "differentiates", if you will, GMRS from amateur radio. GMRS is a "buy it and use it" endeavor. Amateur radio is an experimenter's paradise.

I still have the goal of making it work and posting a video. The interfaces on Ebay employ an audio isolation transformer that among other things, breaks the electrical connection between the radios while still allowing the receive radio to trigger the VOX on the transmit radio. Some of them don't use VOX, they have some other voodoo circuitry. An additional power source like a solar panel charging an AGM or LiFePO4 also helps, because the duty cycle of an active repeater powered by only the radio batteries would substantially reduce run time. The list of parts needed to go from experimental bench testing to practical real-world use gets long and a bit costly. At some point, a radio with built-in cross-band repeat functionality is probably a better option. I have a ham friend who successfully uses a Yaesu FT8800 mobile for cross-banding. I think there are HTs available as well, but don't quote me.

I tried to make it work with a pair of Baofeng UV5Rs set up in cross-band fashion, which is the simplest way to do it. I found that it's not as simple as connecting one cable between the radios. I ran into an issue where just connecting the radios with a standard 3-conductor audio cable put the transmit radio into perpetual transmit mode. I had to modify the cable. There are interfaces available, but honestly, out of all the videos of folks putting these setups together and bench testing them, I couldn't find even one video that showed the setup being successfully used in the field. If you can come up with a use case and you can get it set up and working, then by all means give it a try. I found it frustrating and ultimately not useful... for me anyway. Also, a duplexer is only needed if you're using the setup on a single band, like 2 meters. If you're cross-banding, no need for a duplexer. Duplexers also eat up RF power, something that you can't afford when you only have 5 watts to start with.

What I find interesting is that I can select an "old-fashioned" ringer for my smart phone. If enough people at my work have that ring tone, my office starts to sound like the boiler room of an old Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Mostly so he can showcase his epic grammar and spelling prowess.