WRQC527

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.

Mine sits in a radio junk box in my garage. I could never get the transmit audio to do anything but suck. I tried all the known tricks like enlarging the mic hole, etc. Nothing worked. It had other issues like showing low voltage that could only be remedied by repeatedly turning it off and on multiple times. I also cannot recommend it.

All this blah blah blah talk about rules, laws and illegalisms reminds me of this old saying... “I consider sex a misdemeanor, the more I miss, de meaner I get.” — Mae West

Does this thread remind anyone else of the final scene of Burn After Reading?

This is roughly the same setup I use to monitor my two garages that I can't see from my condo. Basically two MURS radios that transmit to a base unit in the house when the doors are open.

1. Trump isn't president... yet. 2. Carr isn't confirmed... yet. 3. I doubt GMRS even makes the to-do list.

Actually if Grindr and Tinder were mentioned, now that would be all-inclusive.

Barring emergency situations, licensed amateur radio operators are only allowed to communicate with other licensed amateur radio operators. Additionally, licensed amateur radio operators are only allowed to communicate with other amateur radio operators on the frequencies allowed by their license. Licensed GMRS operators are allowed to communicate with either other licensed GMRS operators or with unlicensed folks on FRS radios. Just because amateur radio and GMRS are both licensed services doesn't mean you can talk between them, but no rule exists that says you can't have (and use) both amateur radios and GMRS radios in the same room or on the same belt. Don't read anything else into the rules, and don't get caught up in what you think the definition of a station is.

I built mine after looking at a bunch of diy's online. The problem with mine is that it doesn't track like an equatorial mount. Which is OK with me. But if you want to do astrophotography or keep an object in view without constantly moving, they're not ideal. I imagine the commercial made units have some pretty slick tracking mechanisms.

I enjoy stargazing. I have a generic 5" reflector on a Dobsonian mount. I mostly like looking at the planets, the nebula in Orion, and of course the Moon. Jupiter is on the rise now, and it never ceases to fascinate me. Light pollution in my area of southern California wipes out a lot of good views.

1. Set your radio to scan. Don't limit yourself to one channel. In my area, there's constant activity, and it's about 80% Spanish. 2. Expect nothing more than people using it for what I have shamelessly copied and pasted from the FCC website, which reads as follows: "mobile two-way voice communication, with limited data applications, for facilitating activities of individual licensees and their family members, including, but not limited to, voluntary provision of assistance to the public during emergencies and natural disasters". In a nutshell, it's generally people talking to people they already know, like the contacts in their phone. Contrary to what a lot of people want to believe it is or make it into, GMRS is not amateur radio.

It really depends on what you want to do with your new-found ability to communicate with radios. A lot of us have base stations, handhelds, and mobile radios in our vehicles. Examine your possible use cases and you'll have a better idea of what to get. I use a base station when I'm running my weekly net on my repeater, I use my mobile radio every day in the car, and I use my HTs when we're out hiking. But not everyone needs all three of those capabilities.

Your post got me thinking... So I actually looked up the definition of dork. I also looked up the definitions of nerd and geek to see where those three words overlap in a sort of Venn Diagram way, and where I might fit in. From Dictionary.com: Dork: A silly, out-of-touch person who tends to look odd or behave ridiculously around others; a social misfit. They do appear here on MyGMRS. They tend to accumulate on Ignored User lists. Nerd: A person who is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a particular subject, especially one of specialist or niche interest. They often make appearances here. Geek: A person who is knowledgeable about and obsessively interested in a particular subject, especially one that is technical or of specialist or niche interest. They frequently appear here, and in some cases, live here. The only Venn Diagram-ish common ground between all three is that if you're a dork, nerd or geek, you are a person. Nerds and geeks have a lot in common, with the big difference being geeks taking it to the extreme. Personally, I like to think of myself as a radio nerd, my radio interest starting with crystal radio kits in 1972, CB radios in the mid-1980s, an amateur radio license in 2012, and a GMRS license in 2022. I also run a mountaintop amateur radio repeater site, which takes nerdsmanship to a bit higher level, both figuratively and literally. Interesting question by the way.

I seriously doubt anyone is literally yelling at you. I could whisper something to my kids when they were kids and if they didn't like what I was saying, they would say I was yelling. Furthermore, me and every one of my ham friends, in addition to expensive Yaesus, Kenwoods and Icoms, own at least one, if not multiple CCRs. And we're certainly not going to tell people we're on an Icom if we're really on a Baofeng. We're proud of being cheap fiscally-responsible.

I have a Jetstream JTM3B that covers 2 meters, 70 cm and GMRS. It also doesn't need a ground plane. It's a bit long at about 40", so I use it on a Comet RS520 lip mount that I can lay down so I can pull in my garage. It does have a built-in fold-over feature but I find it easier to just loosen the mount and fold it over. You'll need an nmo to uhf adapter to run it on an nmo mount. https://www.ebay.com/itm/235219942423?epid=1342624531&hash=item36c4337c17:g:VwkAAOSwarpbcflx&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0Hx7RUSLBzH%2Bmrp08JcdEUeMHTGRDHp6vveWBqPE9F8gmNlwFUZ%2B2TntICLwtxxRx%2BqD5K6yy%2B9cangZOpvWMWTBH4dIgoH%2FaB8PPAkg7DGhBUTAVUT8qlRCx16%2B5COXhbEEhULJ4PujiBt5zoY6sr9yvjPHOrnMwlhOkt5vOKL%2B5w7kbcGAsOzNQ5REk43P%2F91SyLSKk0ZeQ8fUbny2gwRItB%2Fc2f8l2GrPeyutqmL6pPLqAjHRHp4PU%2F6Fjucw9oqgFZdt%2F%2F5mo3zqlRY38W0%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4Sqke-jYw

CB has better slang, too. In fact, I think that's one thing missing from GMRS.

Use slang like "seat covers" from the old CB days.

I assume you're not talking about all of us.

Give it another six months or so of mass pontification and I'm sure it will be covered ad nauseam. This topic refuses to die. On the contrary, it keeps reproducing. Like mitosis in the biology realm.

Snoop around the MyGMRS forums long enough and you'll soon find that it's far from self explanatory, and that it's absolutely necessary to explain Every. Possible. Means.

There's always this classic that actually did make it on the air with zero fact checking.