WRQC527
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Posts posted by WRQC527
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On 6/24/2024 at 6:02 PM, SteveShannon said:
6. Your friend or sweetheart should hear your voice.
Reminds me of a line in a WWII movie I saw. A bunch of pilots sitting around drinking, one of them lifts his glass and says "Here's to our wives and girlfriends... May they never meet!"
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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8 hours ago, WRXR255 said:
Thanks!
I have no need or want to TX on those bands, just decent reception so that was never an issue.
Im a dumbass because exactly what you mentioned, looking at suppliers of aviation handhelds, EVER came to me.
OY!
Another suggestion is simply a longer dual-band antenna. While it still isn't that close to resonant on the air band, there's more antenna. More steel in the air, as some amateurs are fond of saying. I have a Uniden BC75XLT handheld scanner that covers the air band. With the short stock antenna it works pretty well, but just having a longer antenna it works better. The Diamond SR77CA is a popular choice. That way you retain the ability to transmit while getting somewhat better air band reception.
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5 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:
“Bull bar” antennas do not require a ground plane
My Jetstream doesn't either, but it will probably snap at the base if I hit something with it like the garage door. Those bull bar antennas can probably take quite a hit, what with those springs at the base.
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3 hours ago, WRZG694 said:
Oops rather than anxiously awaiting my guess is you are eagerly awaiting. Anxiously indicates fear, dread, foreboding, worrisome and the like. Anxiety and anxious are derived from the Latin word Angere, its meaning was to choke and strangle. Hope this helps you and others.
From one of the many available dictionaries, including the Cambridge and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, (both very well-respected), @RayP used the word correctly. Hope this helps you and others.
Anxiously
Adverb
1. In an uneasy or worried manner.
2. In an earnestly desirous or eager manner.
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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1 minute ago, Hoppyjr said:
I’m pretty sure those ^ antennas have been out for months….
They have, and this subject has been brought up in the past as well. But it's sometimes refreshing to get new views on the subject.
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13 minutes ago, CALO50 said:
Not sure why the OP would ask here, rather than an overlanding site, such as expedition portal forum that has a dedicated thread to comms. So many variables to consider before making a recommendation, especially overlanding to where and with who/what.
It was a typical guest poster hit-and-run. Sit on the sidelines and watch it burn. He probably won't be back.
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15 minutes ago, WRQW589 said:
What's the appeal of bullbar antennas?
*Disclaimer: The views expressed by WRQC527 do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire MyGMRS community.
I don't get these antennas. I just watched a couple of videos about them. The reasons folks were running them had more to do with looks than function. They do work just fine, but it was more about wanting to look like their Australian counterparts. Personally, I don't want a four-foot baseball bat on the front or back of my vehicle. Also, I have in the past run one of them fat Firestik CB antennas, which at highway speeds generated a lot of wind noise, and in some cases a "whistle", which can be annoying inside a vehicle. No, for me I'm fine with my Jetstream JTM3B that I hardly know is there and covers GMRS and amateur.
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57 minutes ago, WRXR255 said:
My Boofwang AR-5RM has the capacity to monitor the air bands (118.0 to 136.975) so I programmed the local airports just to listen to sometimes.
Now, being those are AM is there an antenna that will better my RX from the 701/G that is on it now?
Scanning through I can pick a lot up ok, but it tends to be really "crunchy" for lack of a better term often.
Just curious if a different antenna might improve that, or if its probably not going to matter.
Antennas don't care if they're if they're listening to AM or FM. They care about resonance. Air band is in the VHF neighborhood, and lower frequency than the amateur radio two-meter band, so an antenna would need to be resonant at lower frequencies than a typical amateur dual-band HT antenna. A quarter-wave antenna for air bands is around 24 inches long, versus about 19 inches for an equivalent two-meter quarter-wave antenna. That's why it sounds "crunchy". It's not resonant on the air band. I have an Icom handheld airband transceiver with a rubber duck antenna specifically tuned for the air band. It has a BNC connector. Perhaps you could find such an antenna that you could afix to your Baofeng that would be more effective than the stock antenna. Check out suppliers of aviation handheld radios and perhaps they'll have replacement antennas available for you to purchase. Be mindful of the antenna connector on your radio as you might need an adapter, and that an air band antenna will be pretty useless as a TX antenna for the other bands your radio can transmit on.
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3 hours ago, Guest mav375 said:
I'm am just getting into overlanding. I don't see any reason to get a gmrs radio as cell coverage is everywhere except some areas in mountains. Am I wrong?
You're stirring the pot is what you're doing. This is a website devoted to those of us who use and find value in GMRS. If you have a specific question about the use of GMRS, GMRS equipment, how-tos, etiquette, that kind of thing, fire away. I think most of us here would recommend GMRS for what you're doing, but since you've already decided it's useless to you, I think we'd be talking to a wall.
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Our group is doing an overnight setup at a campground here in SoCal. We're not trying to compete, we just want to get out and operate off the grid. Last year we actually made it into QST magazine.
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30 minutes ago, LeoG said:
I also don't understand why they shut them down. Just shut the linking system down and keep the repeaters working in the local area. You fix the violation, not burn down the house.
Some folks are gullible enough to fall for crap like this. Scammers love them.
- SteveShannon and Gnarlykaw
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12 hours ago, MarkInTampa said:
received an email from the FCC Enforcement Bureau
It would make much more sense if folks would say "allegedly" from the FCC Enforcement Bureau, because simply saying it was from the FCC gives it credibility that it neither has nor deserves.
- amaff, Davichko5650, SteveShannon and 2 others
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1 hour ago, Stone said:
Just heard this morning about a New York linked repeater system being shut down by Uncle FCC on 6/14/2024. Then they got scary and wanted the repeater owner to turn over all the call signs that was using that repeater system. My understanding the FCC sent an e-mail to the repeater owner. Notarubicon made a video about this. Maybe someone here can enlighten? I just want to have the option to talk with family if other means of coms go down. That all said, all my family are under one repeater, but sometimes we travel so the linked systems are a blessing.
God Bless... Stone
I'm not going to straight-up say the letter to that club is fake because I have not seen the letter, and whoever supplied the letter failed to identify either who sent it or the email address from where it was sent. All we have seen are portions the "offending" radio club's communication describing the letter. But there more red flags than a Cuban May Day parade. A "verbal warning" is when one person speaks using a human voice to another human. An email is not a verbal warning. The FCC would probably not suggest that anything be done "by the end of the day". I cannot imagine the FCC expecting a repeater operator to rat out all the users by supplying call signs. As a repeater trustee myself, if there was anything amiss with our repeaters, such as spurious emissions, or any of a litany of problems emitting from our equipment, they would contact me, not the members of my club or users of our repeaters. By snail mail, not email. That's why the FCC requires your physical address (or PO box). If a licensed operator is violating rules, the FCC would go directly to them without the need for a radio narc. Apparently, according to the letter, the FCC has the roster of all the offending club's members, including email addresses. Another red flag. To me, the letter sounds like an angry GMRS user who is trying to bully a club by generating a letter that sounds just legitimate enough to scare them out of linking repeaters.
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5 hours ago, LeoG said:
Been a loooong time since I played with a CB radio. But that's what got me to want to try GMRS just recently. Licensing was easy and it was for family. Use to have a 40 channel SSB midland and a ground plane antenna on the backside of my Dads house. Ya, that's how long ago.
So do they still use handles? Mine was "The Suicide Jockey", everyone had one and no one went by their real name. Just like now more or less where you go by your license call sign instead of a name.
I went by Viking back in the 80s. Now I hear all the big guns from back east booming in to the west coast using 3-digit numbers.
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On 5/29/2024 at 3:07 PM, Ziggidy said:
Newbie here. I was wondering if it is possible to place a magnet mount antenna on a vehicle and connect to a handheld GMRS. Before I try, I want to know if it's possible and if it's even advisable.
Highly advisable, practical and doable. Think about this. If you hardwire a GMRS mobile radio into your vehicle, it's useless to you unless you're driving. If you use your HT with both a mag mount in the car and with the stock antenna when you're out of your vehicle, you've doubled the utility of your HT. Five watts is plenty if you have decent repeaters available.
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Apparently "pros" need to receive air band, 1.25 Mhz and 1 Mhz to be considered pros.
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I would hear the drive-through covid test clinic down the street back in 2020-2021 doing comms between the front office and the nice ladies shoving sticks up folk's noses through the car windows. I also hear daycare centers coordinating drop offs and pickups, as well as restaurant staff.
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5 hours ago, Guest Alan said:
I have a 2024 Chevy Silverado and the paint/coating is so "slippery" my mag mount antenna just slides off.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Can you feel any magnetic attraction at all when you place the mount on the roof? Or does it "sort of" stick until you start driving, then slides? What kind of mag mount? How big? What kind of antenna? Help us out here. My limited research on the 2024 Silverado reveals that it has some aluminum panels, but the roof is steel.
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2 hours ago, WSBR383 said:
Ya, that could have been the problem with the slim jim as well (being close to other objects), I have restrictions on antenna height. It was a miracle that I got the HOA to approve what I have, but I had a height limit and had to submit drawings and plans for the antennas I currently have. The top of my fireplace has a metal / tin cover, so not sure if that effected my results with the slim jim or not, but it hasn't effected the Fong antenna. I am happy with the results, but don't get me wrong, I would like to have a DX-333 for tri-band (2m, 1.25m, and 70cm), plus a CA-712EFC for GMRS, but that won't happen in my neighborhood, lol, no way to hide a 10'+ antenna above the roof line.
73's and my advice to anyone is use what works for the situation!!
I was happy to discover that my Jetstream JTM3B covers 2 meters, 70 centimeters and GMRS. It doesn't need a ground plane, so I put it on a 24 foot window washing pole.
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On 6/3/2024 at 6:36 PM, WSBR383 said:
WRXP381, I am sure the Comet 712 is better, but again, in an HOA, they don't allow you to have a 10.4' antenna above the roof-line. If I had no restrictions, I would choose a different antenna. I actually have a comet SB 790a for 2m and 70CM and love it, it was the biggest I could go and still be allowed in my HOA.
Please keep review in context, I am not saying these are the "Best" antennas, but they are the best antennas that are smaller, don't require radials, and put out decent gain for a reasonable price point. My 13 mile reference is with mountains between btw, I can hit well over 30+ miles till I hit south mountain simplex.
As an x signal-corp officer and an electrical engineer, Dr. Fong impressed me and didn't try to sell me on his antenna, he just answered questions I had about his antenna and my locational situation.
I appreciate your taking the time and effort to test these and post the results. I've built both the copper J-pole (but not a slim-jim) and the Ed Fong for two meters. I found that the copper J-pole did better, but it was very susceptible to detuning if there was anything near it. But if you can get these things in the open, they're effective. I hear folks fairly often doing Summits On The Air on 5 watts using Ed Fongs, from 40-50 miles away. Of course, there's people here who don't like anything.
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8 hours ago, marcspaz said:
a base station
Since I'm in a condo with no option for a permanent antenna, I have it in a go box along with an MFJ-945e manual tuner and an FTM7250. It runs off a 35 ah AGM battery on a maintainer. At home it identifies as a base station with a temporary antenna, but next weekend it will run on solar and identify as a field station.
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3 hours ago, WRXR255 said:
Pretty much what it says in the title. I have a robust SW, MW with Upper and Lower side bands receiver, but looking into the radio side of TXing there.
I know this is a GMRS centric Forum, as why I just plopped it down in the Misc. area, but I suspect some of you out there might have something to offer in this area for someone looking to expand into that spectrum as well.
I'm partial to my Yaesu FT-891. It doesn't do 2 meters or 70 cm, which is fine with me. I have other radios for that. But in my humble opinion, it's the best deal out there for a hundred watt HF/6 meter radio. Also, a friend of mine loves his Xiegu G-90. Cheaper, not as many watts, but you get a built-in tuner, which the FT-891 doesn't have.
Why did you get a GMRS license?
in General Discussion
Posted
Two reasons. First, for a extra layer of comms in addition to amateur radio, and second, because my wife isn't interested in getting a ham license, but we still like to use radio to communicate if I'm out of cell coverage but within repeater coverage. Which happens occasionally when I'm out hiking with friends in fringe cell coverage areas.