n4gix

Okay, the huge elephant in your room is the license. It will cover you, your wife, your children, your brother(s), sister(s), brother(s) in law, sister(s) in law, uncles, aunts, cousins (both paternal and maternal), and Grandparents (both yours and your wife's). That's a lot of family! I sometimes joke that it covers everyone except the "outlaws..." But no it won't cover your church group or a Boy Scout Troop unless they are all relatives. There is also no such thing as a "group or organizational license". It is intended as a family radio service, although the FCC is remarkably generous in their definition of "family." So called "store and forward" devices are not permitted by the rules.

The "P" in Po is a plosive, where the a "B" is a softer sound.

Some of the compatible HT DMR radios: MD380 (U or V)Radioddity GD-77 (UV)*Anytone ATD868UV*Anytone ATD878UVTYT MD2017Ailunce HD-1*Nota bene: These are my personal favorites since they are very high quality and the FPP (front panel programming) is relatively simple and easy to use in case you have a new TG or repeater you want to add when out in the field. AnyTone AT-D868UV w/GPS & Programming Cable. $178.99 (free shipping) https://www.bridgecomsystems.com/products/anytone-at-d868uv-dual-band-dmr-handheld-radio?variant=5191261159456&currency=USD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8aGr_qih5AIVh7zACh20yAJREAQYBCABEgKqh_D_BwE

Every 3dBi gain will increase the effective radiated power (ERP) by a factor of 2. Fifty watts into a 3dBi antenna has an ERP of nearly* one-hundred watts. * nearly because of inevitable cable losses.

Welcome to the insanity... er, I mean family of course.

That is indeed why many GMRS repeater owners setup to send the CW ID every 15 minutes. It's called "self-protection"...

@BoxCar that is way too optimistic... At 20' above ground level (AGL) the distance to the "radio horizon" (RH) is 10 km (6 miles). At 40' AGL, RH is only 14 km (9 miles). At 100' AGL, RH is 23 km (14 miles) At 500' AGL, RH is 51 km (32 miles). As you can see, RH is not a linear value at all... See: https://www.qsl.net/w4sat/horizon.htm https://puu.sh/E77Md.png

Not really different cities. I will usually append the fractional digits of the frequency in case there are more than one repeater in any city, such as: HMD675 HMD525 GARY700 etc. If the repeater has a "name" I'll use that instead: NSEA FOXRUN

I tend to name my channels with the city or at least an abbreviation of the city, such as HMD for "Hammond" or GARY for "Gary" or CHI for "Chicago"

I'd have replied "I have an FCC license, do you?"

Check the Anderson Power Poles to make certain that the inserts have clipped over the internal springs. If they aren't fully seated, trying to connect them will push the inserts back and break the connection(s). I had to fix two of them today that I "thought" were fully seated.

Are you asking about the ATAS 120 (prior model) or something else?

Fortunately, I a Diamond fold-over mount I'm going to repurpose for the ATAS 120A. I just need to open the trunk and it will fold over neatly into the trunk and be totally hidden. I installed it temporarily yesterday and took a quick drive down the Indiana Toll Road as it has a 70 mph speed limit. No problems were noted

Marc, I got really lucky. I spotted an eBay listing for the FT-857D complete with a Portable Zero 857 sprint/escort (side rail frames, battery box and carrying shoulder strap) for truly portable operations... ...at a real bargain price of $650. The original owner had bought it and never even took it out of the box! He sold it to the second owner who only tried it twice before changing his mind and buying a KX-3 and Panadapter instead. So I've wound up as the third owner of a nearly virgin transceiver! Even with the ~$50 shipping costs, it was still cheaper that buying all of the stuff "new in unopened boxes." Oh yes, I also got the optional DTMF microphone in addition to the stock mic. Excuse the crappy photo, but my camera phone isn't the best on the planet for pictures, nor is it worth a darn as a phone for that matter! Anyway, the only thing I've bought is the ATAS 120A* (auto-tuning mobile antenna) and the battery/charger as shown in the forefront of the radio. I just got it charged up but haven't installed it in the box on top of the radio yet. I'll likely do that after I eat this evening. I'll start a new thread once I've gotten it installed in my car and share some pictures. * ATAS 120A: https://www.gigaparts.com/yaesu-atas-120a.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4szC0_jn4wIVBJ6fCh1RLgB0EAQYASABEgLMevD_BwE $389 at Gigaparts.

I don't blame you for that. If it's cool enough tomorrow, I hope to install my shiny-new FT-857D and ATAS 120 in my little Toyota Camry, so while at it I'll straighten up the other three radio's wiring!

I long ago abandoned the stock power connectors from all my radio gear, and replaced them with 45amp Anderson Power Pole connectors.

Keep in mind also that in a real SHTF situation, your local repeater(s) may also be off-line because of power failure. Even if they have battery backup it will only be good for a few hours. Likewise, an on-site generator might fail or run out of fuel...

I disagree that GMRS is only for talking to family members on the same license. Here in NW Indiana most activity is licensed user to licensed user...

The CS800 is a single-band UHF analog/DMR mobile radio with 45 watts on high power. The CS800D is a dual-band V/U analog/DMR mobile version, with 55 watts VHF, 45 watts UHF. The CS800D is available on a close-out sale for $199 and I just received one last week. After programming it will replace the CS800 currently in my car. The only reason for the fire-sale is that the newest version is now Part 90 certified which will allow CS to market in the commercial arena. They are wanting to clear out their existing inventory before the new versions arrive next month. The CS800/D now supports up to 10,000 channels and up to 160,000 private contacts. They also had the new BFD (Big Freaking Display) on sale during Hamvention for $199 and I snapped one of them up immediately! As you can see, the BFD truly lives up to it's name. Compare the BFD to the tiny amber display on the small front panel in the picture below bottom of the center console stack near the mic cables. The radio near the top is the control head for a TYT-7800 V/U analog for ham use.

Fun times are had with RF and fluorescent lights. Hoist a tube up close to the top of vertical and light it up using a few hundred watts... I remember back in the early sixties that some folks would install a neon light on the top of their 102" CB whips just for S&G.

^^^ This! You'd be amazed what a savvy tech can accomplish with just a good Bird wattmeter and a dummy load. As stated above though, such is not really possible with modern transmitters. That's why I own an IFR 1200 Super "S" service monitor.

Years ago I switched over to using nothing except Anderson Powerpoles on all my radio gear. This allows me complete flexibility and interchangeability.

It may well be that a previous owner (or a radio shop) has turned down the PA's output to put less strain on the PA, thus extending the service life of the radio without compromising the power too much. Eight fewer watts of output power to the antenna system isn't going to make much difference in the performance anyway. As for measurements, if it ain't a Bird wattmeter, I don't trust it!

All of my service equipment use Messi-Paoloni Ultraflex 7 .287" Crystal coax with silver plated BNC connectors. I've been very pleased with their sturdiness and longevity.

Well, you were a few hours ahead of me on the draw. I keep that site bookmarked for quick access. I just noticed that I have a 426 point "balance" there now.