WRQC527

Generally speaking, in the U.S. at least, handheld radios capable of FRS can't have removable antennas. That's not to say there's some European models that do have removable antennas, but I seriously doubt the radios you have fall into that category. The manual for a radio with a removable antenna would likely show how to install and remove it. There also appears to be other models of the G-11, such as the G-11 Pro, but they do not look like yours. My guess is that you're limited to the antenna that comes attached to it.

Believe it or not, 5 watt handhelds with decent antennas can reach the receivers or repeaters on the International Space Station or an AMSAT satellite which are around 200 miles up. This is because there is nothing between the handheld and the space station. Those same handhelds cannot reach more than a few miles at best at sea level because the signals are blocked by terrain, structures, foliage, and all manner of other obstacles. It's all about line of sight and how high the repeater is. My repeater is at 5,700 feet, and we can hit it with handhelds from sea level 30 miles away, probably more.

No. And as far as opinions, the FCC is not interested in opinions. Only rules, fines, and fees. The horse is dead.

No. You are absolutely right. The original subject concerned how GMRS repeaters worked, which was covered extensively. Your questions are many, as are our answers. The best way to get answers is to post specific questions and/or look through answered questions and forums. We're here to help. I mean that.

Templeton, you have been given numerous explanations about how repeaters work. By introducing theoretical and ambiguous concepts and situations, you are confusing yourself. Most repeaters do one thing. They receive your weak HT or mobile's signal, they amplify it, and send it out on a different frequency. That's it. The best ones are high up so they have a massive coverage area.

Here you go. It's a DIY filter made from a quick link, wire and a capacitor. There's commercially made units out there as well, probably on Amazon, etc, but I made this one. http://www.sanantoniohams.org/tips/whine.htm

I've had a couple of radios do this. A Wouxun HT and a Juentai JT-6188 mobile. Even at walking speed the radios break squelch intermittently. Not when stopped. I attribute it to poor receiver filtering, which is allowing speed or abs sensor signals to break the squelch, since none of my Yaesus or Icoms have the problem. My mobile radios are connected directly to the battery with a noise filter that removes 99% of the alternator whine.

Agreed. When I listen to and occasionally talk on my CB, I don't hear any particular dominant language. English or Spanish generally. Coincidentally, it's very similar to the language assortment I hear on GMRS. Not that everyone hears what I hear, that's just my experience.

Also remember that just because your handheld can hear the repeater, the repeater may not be able to hear your handheld. Repeaters put out a lot more wattage than a handheld, and do it through a much better antenna system. The repeater I maintain puts out well over 50 watts and is located at almost 6,000 feet, giving it coverage from Santa Barbara to San Diego. My Handheld at sea level cannot always reach it even if I can hear it, normally due to terrain or obstacles like buildings.

You should hear me at genetic research symposiums though. I have them rolling in the aisles.

That's because I'm a wannabe comedian, not a wannabe genetic researcher. Lighten up a little.

I've had two radios that act in a similar manner. The first one was a Wouxun KG-UV9T handheld, the other is a Juentai JT-6188 mobile. Both of them are virtually unuseable as mobile radios in my 1998 Sienna because some signal generated by the vehicle is breaking the squelch randomly. My guess is since it only happens when the van is moving, it has something to do with the ABS or vehicle speed sensor circuits. In any case, the squelch circuits in those two radios are unable to deal with the signal, whereas with my Yaesu mobiles and handhelds, I have no such problems. Another thing is that squelch settings on the Baofeng radios are not as effective as they are on, say, Yaesu radios. I have 2 UV-82s, and in order to set up decent useable squelch settings, I used Chirp and went into the service settings and adjusted them there. I don't know if the same settings option exists for the GMRS-V2 or the UV-5R. With the JT-6188, the squelch settings are useless. Zero is wide open, 1-9 are all the same. I'd bet $100 in Monopoly money that you're having the same issue I had.

Seriously though, I'm able to get in to both the main mygmrs.com and the forums. Whatever it is may be local to your device, internet provider, network, etc. Maybe clear out cookies, restart your device, etc. I'm no IT professional, I just know that with the right amount of tampering and profanity, I can usually get my computer to work. In fact, I coined a phrase at my house... "Don't underestimate the power of profanity."

Works for me. Maybe one of those balloons we keep shooting at got through to your internet provider. I mean, we got three of them just this week, not counting the big one that toured the U.S. on a sightseeing trip for the better part of a week.

There are not many reviews for this specific tuner yet, but if you can believe the 11 reviews on EHam and 52 on Amazon (at the time of this writing), they're mostly favorable. Although there are some folks who have problems with them. Remember that there are numerous manufacturers and importers and for this type of tuner. Some good, some not so good. You're always rolling the dice when you buy something for really really cheap that's advertised to do the same thing just as well as something much more expensive. Hazard Fraught Tools, for example, operates on this business model. https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=14860 https://www.amazon.com/SDRGEEK-1-8-55MHz-Automatic-Shortwave-Assembled/dp/B08QDFQ465#customerReviews

You must be a riot at parties.

I use the repeater name or an abbreviation of the repeater name on all my mobiles and handhelds.

Lol you just watched a bunch of folks who probably have no idea what all that RF wattage is doing to the gene pool. They're running multiple alternators and megawatt amps. Basically two guys line up, aim their mobile beam antennas downrange, rev up to several thousand RPM, key up, and each yells a different word. Someone five miles away reports back which word they heard better, that guy wins. Etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum.

This is one direction CB radio has gone. I think this is what is missing from the GMRS world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PjjL9WmFsc

I'm actually glad you posted this because I had forgotten I have an account with Goodwill and now I found a handheld scanner I might buy if it doesn't get overbid.

Yep, it takes an FNB-80Li battery, which fits something like 10 different Yaesu, Vertex and Standard Horizon radios, including the VX6/VX7. I saw one at a thrift shop once without a charger and it looked like it spent most of its life submerged in saltwater, but it still powered on.

Just curious... How is your radio wired? Directly to the battery, through the cigarette lighter, to the fuse box, etc?

In my humble opinion, hams calling other hams on GMRS defeats the entire purpose of being a ham in the first place. There may be situations where everyone in a group has a GMRS license but not everyone has a ham license, so hams would be calling other hams on GMRS by necessity, but for me, if everyone in my group is a ham, we stay in our own yard.

Wow. 616 words. I think this is a new mygmrs record.

This gentleman's agreement is so universally known and adhered to that it's actually built in to a lot of transceivers. If you select a certain frequency on a 2-meter tranceiver, for example, it will automatically know if it's a repeater frequency that needs a positive or negative offset, or if it's a simplex frequency. Same with HF radios. Traditionally, different bands operate on either upper or lower sideband. Radios will automatically transmit on these upper or lower sidebands depending on the band.