WRQC527

Might I suggest searching the interweb for "homebrew backpack yagi". There's a lot of plans, videos and tutorials online that describe how to build what you're looking for. Tape measure yagis work but it's probably cheaper, easier and lighter to build them out of stiff wire, arrow shafts, etc. I've built them this way and they do work, and they can be made to break down to fit in a tube for transporting. If you cut the elements for about 146 Mhz they cover the 2 meter band pretty well.

I do the same thing for trail runs. It's more rewarding and useful than amassing points. We had the California QSO Party last weekend. I gave away a couple dozen points to folks trying to get California, but some of those folks had amassed over a thousand contacts with California in one weekend. No thank you.

This is one of the problems with amateur radio. So many activities have devolved into contests and bogus 5-9 signal reports. I enjoy Field Day and Parks On The Air because they get everyone off the grid and outside, but the contest aspect does get old.

Also, don't forget about the ARRL Field Day, which is June 29-30, as well as Winter Field Day, which is January 27-28.

Indeed! Only three months away!

Actually, it's the ARRL that has a Field Day. It's the last full weekend in June. Next year it's June 29 and 30.

In case anyone is interested, there's a Prime Day sale on the Radioddity DB25-G. $86 at the time of this posting.

This entire thread is probably driving both potential GMRS and potential hams away from radio. Why would they want to partake when a bunch of guys from both services bicker all the time?

Those six words are the bane of amateur radio. Unfortunately, it's not just CW. A lot of the old farts who complain about the lack of CW testing also whine about internet linking and digital modes as not being real ham radio. The reality is there are more high-tech opportunities with amateur radio now than there ever were. That's what should be sold to young potential hams. Not talking to Santa on grandpa's HT. I know a kid who got his ham license a few years ago in high school and was working on a CubeSat that went into space. He's at Embry Riddle now. When I was in high school I was in auto shop learning to change the spark plugs.

It's valuable and it's on the road to a cell site. I'd leave it. It's pretty obvious that it belongs ro someone and they may be looking for it. I've been on the wrong end of dropping something valuable and going back for it only to find it gone. It's not a good feeling.

In this image from a recent amateur radio licensing class, we can see one of my fellow amateur radio volunteer examiners explaining the function of the PTT button.

In this screen grab from an FCC training film, we can see that an unlicensed radio operator is being cited by an FCC agent tasked with hunting down and prosecuting anyone caught pressing a PTT button on a radio without proper licensing.

Using any handheld from inside a car is an exercise in frustration, so if you can figure out a way to attach this thing outside to the roof then yes, it would improve the performance. It's hard to say if it would "greatly" improve, but by golly it won't be worse. I believe this answers the question you asked.

Just curious, how far away is this other receiver, and what is it? A handheld? Another mobile radio? A scanner?

If you haven't done so already, and if you haven't already thrown it away, cut the old coax into a bunch of useless pieces so you will never be tempted to "save it for some other project down the line" and five years later forget why you replaced it in the first place.

Looping excess coax may lead to problems. Coiled coax acts as a choke, which is good in some situations if the coil is a specific diameter and number of turns, but it's probably better to have little or no excess. I would suggest getting as close to the length you need and don't try to shorten it or cut off factory-installed connectors. There's nothing wrong with doing that but it opens up opportunities for things to go wrong, like short or open circuits.

Your best bet is to possibly search notarubicon's youtube channel. He's reviewed this radio.

No I get it. Just poking back.

Welcome! With a GMRS license and a new radio, you are well on your way!

The more I hear, the more it sounds like your coax is somehow jacked up and your antenna is now possibly too short. Antennas that are slightly too short or too long, (which is unlikely with an out-of-the-box MXTA26), shouldn't generate a 10:1 SWR reading. Bad coax, bad grounds, even one tiny wire from the braid or center conductor shorting out at the connector will jack up your SWR that much. If you can take the coax completely out so it is not connected to anything, there should be no continuity between the center pin and the outer shell of the connector on either end of the coax. It should be an open circuit.

I don't know that much about him other than I think he runs a YouTube channel, but my Spidey Sense tells me that I seriously doubt he has a link to it.

Google is your friend here. Although it may not be the kind of search you want in your search history.

Because arguing about it here generates over 20 responses in 5 hours. You can't get action like that from the FCC.

I suppose that's one way to interpret what he said. I'll wait until he clarifies.

Not sure why "good continuity" is a good thing between the center pin and the outer shell of the connector. Scrap the coax. Start over. Don't cut the antenna. Hopefully you haven’t cut to much of it already.