KAF6045

Probably not too surprising... The maritime radio band is upper VHF, and they likely stock antennas for that usage.

Antenna "tuners" (matchboxes) only adjust the impedance on the transmitter side, to make the transmitter output transistors happy (most decent radios "roll back" the output power if the SWR is too high. The SWR on the antenna side of the tuner is not changed -- and if you are using coax, excessive SWR with high power [at the worst, you have nearly all the power bouncing back down from the antenna, so the cable and tuner are seeing 2X power on the antenna side] can result in cable warming and possible melting of the insulator. They may be optimized for ladder-line/window-line rather than coax (such lines need to be kept away from metal surfaces as the signal is not confined within the line) Many are also only rated for HF bands, maybe including 6m. None of mine handle VHF or above. The smaller auto-tuners may only be rated to match SWR up to around 3:1; the better ones go to 10:1. As mentioned, the best method is to use an antenna analyzer or vna and sweep through the various bands to see where the SWR is lowest (may be multiple places). ADDENDUM: unless you explicitly purchased commercial/GMRS band antennas, the odds are good none of the ones you have will cover GMRS. Not even a dual band 2m/70cm antenna (most 70cm repeaters span the 446MHz area, which is 20MHz below GMRS; the usable bandwidth of a 70cm antenna may span 430-450MHz).

Unless the repeater is PRIVATE AND FAMILY USE ONLY, it does need to ID. Note the highlighted "AND". Both (1) and (2) must apply -- this means only those operating under the owner's license [ie: immediate family] are using the repeater AND those (immediate family) properly ID with the owner's call sign. No third-party users with their own call signs are applicable to this section.

If you can decode that ID, you should be able to look up the call sign in ULS. That should show the status of the license, and who the licensee/trustee is, probably with an address.

Hmmm, I never knew VisiCalc was ever available for TRS-80. I had a copy of MultiPlan (which, strangely, did one thing I'm not certain Excel is capable of -- but then, I haven't tried to write a sheet that required the ability to iterate a series of formulae to reach a final result). Had most of rules and tables to create starships for MegaTraveller in that.

IGNORE -- I keep getting confused when submitting a quoted article on page X when there are X+ pages in the thread.

Haven't encountered "break" used much in Amateur... It is over-used by the motormouths (the one's I seem to pick up using illegal amps and mostly Georgia&Alabama "rednecks") on 11m CB. For one particular wonder, he seems to use "break" just to keep his transmitter active rather than letting someone else get in (This is xyz in mno, break, break, break, I say...") Amateur use of "comment" seems to be when a third party wants to, well, comment on the existing conversation -- not to break in for non-related conversation. I've seen call-sign used as a request to break into a conversation to ask if they may make a call to some one else.

Unfortunately, every web site I've found has qualified as "undated". https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjOjsOwxdH7AhUdlWoFHR-FClIQFnoECDkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crarc.org.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F02%2FD-StarforDummiesReferenceEdition4.0.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0M5uIYG-Fgs3f-GKcY5l44 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwitlM-iy9H7AhXgkWoFHaeKCYkQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.icomamerica.com%2Fen%2Fdownloads%2FDownloadDocument.aspx%3FDocument%3D366&usg=AOvVaw10n8VlyX-dp140dx4D8O_3 (emphasis mine) I would point out the mention of /past two years of testing/. Presuming that testing didn't begin until the standard was published, it would still only bring one to 2003 -- and the next paragraph reiterates that it is an OPEN protocol at that time (since "past two years" implies this document was /current/ as of the end of the two years. As for CCRs... My belief, mentioned previously, is that they don't find a sufficient MARKET for a D-STAR capable radio. D-STAR is only Amateur (as, I believe is System Fusion, which IS proprietary). The CCR makers produce radios designed for the entire VHF and UHF bands -- and use firmware to limit them to specific service bands. DMR, et al, are used by business and government entities -- a large market. Since they use the firmware to limit frequencies, it is no great effort to lock such a business radio into Amateur Only bands.

As shown in my prior post -- D-Star was an open standard in 2001. If there was a period when it was proprietary it would have been during the development phase 1991-2001.

It may have, at the time, had to license from JARL -- but so did ICOM. The current ICOM ID-52A manual only lists licenses for: AMBE+2, zlib, and libpng -- the Kenwood manual doesn't list any licenses. From Icom's own web site (emphasis mine) From some lecture series... https://slideplayer.com/slide/14501676/ Why haven't the chinese companies made them? Probably because the only market is Part 97 AMATEUR RADIO. Practically all of the "CCR"s are designed as Part 90 Land/Mobile radios with firmware modifications to limit to Amateur (or given this forum GMRS) frequencies (and submitted for type acceptance in all viable services). That leaves mainly the Japanese big three: Kenwood (whose HTs and mobile product line has been shrinking -- not even a dual-band HT, just basic 2m), ICOM (who pushes their own D-STAR gateway software), and Yaesu (which has its own PROPRIETARY "System Fusion/C4FM" digital mode); One has to go to Alinco to find a major name supporting DMR for Amateur. Second, the D-STAR specific AMBE CODEC would be /another/ item they'd have to license. They already license the more common AMBE CODEC used for DMR and the other "business" digital modes.

The Model-I deserved that appellation (processor in keyboard, memory expansion external using ribbon cables, monitor was a Sony [as I recall from my time working Sears pick-up desk] TV with the tuner board removed). The Model-II (first attempt at a business machine using 8" floppies) was a bit of an improvement, but needed a bigger power supply or more shielding -- every time one made a read/write to the floppy the screen image would shrink/jitter. Model-III was reasonable, especially once one installed LDOS (originally Lobo Drives OS) rather than the Mod-III TRSDOS. Model-4 was likely the epitomy for the Z-80 line -- coming with a licensed copy of L(S)-DOS (Logical Systsms DOS, after Lobo Drives fell off the map, as TRSDOS 6 I believe) I still have a Model-III/4 (upgraded CPU board, but original display and /larger/ power supply) in storage. I'd have to patch the OS disks to handle a new date range, and hope the drive heads don't snap off when spinning up ?

SHOW us screen grabs of the settings from programming software. Also -- your subject states via repeater, but the text says nothing about repeaters, giving the impression that the problem is just radio to radio. What does "it can't transmit" mean? Does pushing PTT fail to activate the transmitter? Or do you mean nothing else is receiving the signal that IS being transmitted. First step is to get the two radios to talk to each other WITHOUT the repeater -- then phase in repeater settings. Start with NO TONES set; verify the two can talk simplex mode Set a Tx tone, but leave Rx tone alone (you should still be able to hear each radio) Set Rx tone to match Tx tone (for the Rugged, this may mean turning OFF the previous Tx tone and setting the "both" option, as it has three menu entries: both, Rx, Tx) -- the two radios should still hear each other in simplex If, as your subject implies, a repeater is desired, set the repeater mode on each radio. Set the repeater input tone (Tx), leave Rx tone off Verify the radios can open squelch on the repeater -- they should still hear each other as no tone is being tested for on receive Set Tx/Rx tones for the repeater Verify the two radios can still hear each other via the repeater.

Let's see, off the top of my head... Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB)... Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL), Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) -- and all the national groups listed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amateur_radio_organizations

Main point of concern... That RatShack meter may only be spec'd for 2m and 70cm bands, so could be giving widely incorrect readings outside of them. Not sure if it is the same model, the page shows 190-0320 In contrast, my MFJ-847 is listed for 125-525MHz. If you intend to do much antenna home-brewing, you might want to consider EZ-NEC https://www.eznec.com/

As stated, D-STAR is not proprietary, the specifications are openly published by the Japan Amateur Radio League (or whatever they call themselves). It only looks proprietary because ICOM was the first (and for years, only) manufacturer of compatible radios. Kenwood DID produce D-STAR radios for a few years (and in some respects, the old D74 still out-features the new Icom ID52A -- the D74 supports analog APRS, not just DPRS embedded into voice packets), but discontinued the line, leaving ICOM as the only producer again. The only proprietary part is the AMBE CODEC; the biggest hassle being that DMR, YSF, P25 all use a /different/ proprietary AMBE CODEC. This is why hotspots can easily cross mode DMR/YSF/P25 -- they only have to strip out the protocol header and rewrap the encoded voice stream with the new protocol. D-STAR to other modes requires having both CODECs, decoding one format and feeding it to the for re-encoding.

Many scanning systems provide three options: Carrier Operated (resume when carrier drops), Time Operated (resume after n-seconds EVEN IF THERE IS STILL TRAFFIC), and Stop Scan on traffic. Some radios may have a secondary control for CO -- specifying a pause before resume. You'd have to check the manual/menus for the radio to see if such exists. (Based upon the PDF -- the only option seems to be scan on/off, and from your description, the only mode is CO). The KG935 offers TO/CO/SE (Stop, they call it SEarch) options, but states that CO will continue as soon as the signal is lost The AT-D878UV+ (dual band amateur) has TO/CO/SE, but states that CO resumes 2 seconds after signal loss. BTech GMRS-V2 TO/CO/SE CO "after a factory preset time with no signal it resumes scanning" (TO is "factory preset time out...") DB20-G (mobile unit) scan modes are 2SP, 5ST, 10ST, 15ST -- SP is the only option for CO mode, 2 seconds after signal drop; ST is TO mode choices.

One other limit on going to high-power on an HT... HEAT! Most output transistors emit half the power has heat. A 5W HT battery is maybe supplying 10W during transmit. Jumping to a 10W HT would require a battery pack capable of 20W during transmit -- 10 of which need to go through a heat sink to cool the rest of the circuits. Look at a small mobile rig (15-20W) -- practically the entire housing is a heat sink, and they also often have muffin fans to draw air through the housing. Do you really want to be holding the equivalent of a 10W incandescent night light while transmitting?

A bit limited with only 8 channels...

I provided a $15 pot of rice... about $3 for the Basmati rice... And $12 for half a bottle of Saffron threads (two of four sub-vials).

VHF and UFH are primarily line-of-sight. The signal essentially propagates until it runs into something (trees, horizon, big warehouse). People use <5W HTs to hit amateur satellites (70+ miles up), so distance isn't really a deterrent. FCC regulations specify SAR values for RF exposure -- not raw ERP. The permitted SAR varies with frequency.

Note that "grandfathered" in the regulations refers to /non-individual/ (ie: business) GMRS licenses; not to individual (family) licenses. Here's what Jan 2017 (pre-reorg) has... https://www.ecfr.gov/on/2017-01-02/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-A At this point in time, the regulations appear to have allowed the licensee to request more than two (pairs) of frequencies; I'm pretty certain when I was licensed back around 1995 one could only have a maximum of two (pairs) listed on the license -- they were to be programmed into the radio by the dealer. And just a commentary on "fixed stations"

Concur: need antenna details. That looks like a rather thick whip, and almost looks like it is extendible -- if it is, you'll need to adjust its length (and maybe mark the final point). Most whips are 1/4 wave and require a ground plane to provide the "mirror" image to make a pseudo-dipole.

To my knowledge, 5W -- basically HT max power. One could always look up the electronic copy of the regulations and set the date to sometime before then (though they don't go back far enough in my mind). From January 2 2017; some jumping around to show other restrictions (I'll skip the part where the channel pairs to be used must be specified on the license -- it wasn't free-for-all) https://www.ecfr.gov/on/2017-01-02/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-A Note that (b) separates "transmit through a repeater" and "remotely controlling a repeater" -- just keying up the repeater is not an explicit control operation.

1-7 were the original GMRS interstitial frequencies. 8-14 were FRS-Only interstitial frequencies situated interleaved with repeater inputs. In the 2017 FCC reorganization of FRS and GMRS -- both services gained access to all the simplex frequencies; FRS is banned from repeater inputs. FRS gained 2W output for 1-7/15-22; 8-14 remain at 0.5W ERP to prevent interference to GMRS repeaters. FRS also remains 12.5kHz NFM. GMRS gained (for low power HTs) 8-14 at FRS limits.

In the current unified "channel number scheme" 1-7: 462MHz interstitial channels -- 5W ERP max (if you have any sort of gain antenna -- more than 2.15dBi [ERP is based on dipole, not isotropic] you'll probably exceed that limit even on low power) 8-14: 467MHz interstitial channels -- 0.5W ERP (no moble rig I know of goes that low) and NFM only 15-22: 462MHz main channels -- up to 50W out of rig, gain antennas may kick the ERP to ghastly levels (it is possible with the right antenna to reach 500W ERP) 23-30 (AKA: 15rp-22rp, or similar): again up to 50W out of rig. "custom channel" doesn't matter -- it is the frequency that does