KAF6045

Not really a test... For the Icom ID-5100 in my rust bucket, I have to remove the whip from the glass mount antenna base to get into my garage. With the whip off, I still receive the local repeater (about 3 miles NW and over two intervening hills) at full scale, and sometimes get the D-STAR repeater at reduced scale -- it's some 20 miles away!

Bottom up... Those channel numbers are only meaningful for how the radio is programmed. In the 2017 FCC reorganization they tended to list the channels as 1-7 GMRS 462MHz interstitials -- limited to 5W max ERP, FM (20kHz bandwidth in 25kHz spacing) So a problem if you have a gain antenna unless you have Middle or Low power of, say 2 or 1W -- as a 3dBd antenna would double the ERP (4W/2W ERP), a 6dBd would quadruple the ERP (8W over limit/4W ERP) 8-14 FRS 467MHz interstitials -- limited to 0.5W max ERP, NFM (12.5kHz bandwidth in 25kHz spacing) -- NOW allowed to GMRS if they meet the ERP (which means any gain antenna will fail the power limit. 0.5W into a 3dBd antenna will have a 1W ERP; base rubber duck is likely safe being 0dBd) 15-22 GMRS 462 primary channels -- up to 50W max, FM, 25kHz spacing 23-30 GMRS 462/467 repeater channels -- up to 50W max, FM, 25kHz spacing Some radios may allow 15-22 to be toggled from Simplex (462Tx/462Rx) to Duplex (467Tx/462Rx). These might be programmed as Duplex default and the toggle to simplex may be labeled "talk-around" (talk-around the repeater instead of to the repeater) FRS radios are NFM (12.5kHz bandwidth) on all channels unless the FCC changed that regulation. The only reason to program them as a separate batch (since FRS is limited to channels 1-22 in the current scheme, but not repeater channels AND limited to 2W max for 1-7/15-22) is to match the audio quality of FRS radios -- they may sound week in a 20kHz GMRS bandwidth, and GMRS bandwidth may get clipped in an FRS radio. Others have mentioned that the radio itself is not type-accepted for Part-95 E (GMRS) and definitely not for FRS (I don't have the relevant Part-95 <section> handy). Odds are good that you won't be caught out using the radio on GMRS -- especially if you manage to keep just below the ERP limits on the interstitials, and the bandwidth limits (not all radios have 20kHz, they may just have 12.5kHz NFM and 25kHz FM; check the radio specifications, a 16kxxxx mode may stay within the 20kHz bandwidth).

Found the email for the RT97 shipping... Lost in GMAIL, which I only have for my Nook tablets and phone as the Google Play Store wants an account. I don't normally check it for emails. Tracking implies arrives tomorrow. (I don't have an antenna for it yet -- not a problem as this is intended for potential use if the extended family ever gathers somewhere. Heck, I could connect it to the mag-mount from the MXT-115 and leave it in the rust bucket for that situation)

These days, with the reorganization of FRS and GMRS (which prohibits marketing of "FRS/GMRS" bubble-pack radios, the odds are very good that anything found in a "big box" store is labeled as just FRS yet still allowed up to 2W power. No license required. Unlikely to find things like the Baofeng UV-5G in those stores (though Amazon does have a pair for $52 sale; and that page does specify license required.

In the old days (late 90s and earlier), .675 was an FCC designated Emergency/Traveller Assistance frequency; If your license did not explicitly select .675 as one of the TWO frequency (pairs) assigned, you could ONLY use it for Em/TA (if you had a radio that could be used on more than two channels -- many HTs of the age just had a toggle switch between A and B channels *, which would have been programmed for the two frequencies on one's license). And, as mentioned, organizations like REACT attempted to standardize upon a CTCSS tone for that purpose. * which made the Maxon GMRS 210+3 rather desirable -- it had the seven interstitials locked into channels 1-7, .675 locked into channel 8, and channels 9&10 programmable for the frequencies stated on one's license

May depend upon repeater output power and antenna gain. Better might be to mount them in a column, one above the other. Presuming they have a moderate horizontal beam, it would mean the receive antenna is in the null of the transmit antenna. {pardon nasty ASCII art. upper is your proposal, lower is my idea} <<|>> >>|<< transmit receive <<|>> transmit >>|<< receive

If the documentation for the repeater doesn't state, you might have to try both. The "I" is "inverted" -- not certain exactly what that means but a hypothesis is that it flips all the bits in the digital code.

The behavior of CHIRP is that only one column can have a tone set (UNLESS you have "cross" mode selected, which most other radios would call "split tones"). TONE is "send only" and uses the first column (as I recall). TSQL is "send AND RECEIVE tone" and uses the second column. You need the "send" side to get into the repeater. If you don't mind hearing ALL traffic on the frequency (which may include kids running simplex units who seem to enjoy the "call button" on FRS rigs, so much that they only let go when their thumb gets tired) all you need is TONE mode. If the repeater has an output tone listed, using TSQL will mean that not only is your radio sending the tone to the repeater, but the repeater is sending a tone back and you can use that tone to block any traffic that does not include the tone. However, if you are next to the above kid with call button, their signal strength may be high enough to block out the repeater's signal. Tones don't help getting through other signals.

Well, I did start when the No-Code Technician license was created... (those Kenwood stations -- and predecessor TS-570SG -- supported 6m, which No-code Technician was allowed to use). My payment cleared credit union on the 5th, I've not seen any emails regarding shipping yet.

Also to be mentioned -- FCC RF Exposure evaluation. For a single repeater on a tower/structure, this isn't too difficult. When one gets multiple repeaters on the same tower/structure, this becomes more complex and may require calibrated instruments to measure field strengths, etc. Amateur's have text books on performing such evaluations. I doubt any non-Amateur GMRS users even KNOW about that requirement. Most are using HTs or mobiles which are either low-enough in power to only affect the user themselves (manuals have warnings to keep the unit/antenna a few inches away from one's body for HTs), or are transient enough that others won't be in the radiation range long enough to be a concern. Putting up a GMRS repeater on a structure that is already occupied by other repeaters (or even broadcast -- low-power FM, say) will require a re-evaluation of the RF environment. The Amateur repeater owners are unlikely to do that for a non-Amateur repeater. That means the GMRS repeater owner may have to do the evaluation -- taking into account the presence of the Amateur equipment and RF! Also the mixing products of different frequencies (462 x 445 may generate 17MHz and 907Mhz).

The NanoVNA V2 +4 came up around $210 with the cheap Tindie shipping option. Would have been around $230+ with the more expensive shipper (though maybe more trust-worthy). Having as many radios* as I do, I can sort of justify the gear. Especially given the aging 40/20/10/6m OCFD hanging between house and garage roof ends. And now that I've put up the 2m/70cm antenna that's been in my garage for 8 years, another one to be checked (I really hope I don't have climb up to tweak it). * partial list GMRS Amateur Kenwood TS-590S (sharing OCFD via switch with) Kenwood TS-2000 (which NOW is able to use the VHF/UHF features) ICOM ID-5100 (in rust-bucket) Midland MXT-115 (in rust-bucket) some Cobra CB (also in rust-bucket) Kenwood TH-D74A, TH-F6A Icom ID-52A Yeasu VX8R Anytone AT-D878UV-II Plus BTech GMRS-V2, GMRS-V1, MURS-V1 Wouxun KG-935G Tyt MD-390, MD-2017 And a Retevis RT-97 on order with pair of RA-85s Will need to get an antenna/mount for RT-97. Not listed are older mobile rigs pulled from previous vehicles, a QRP unit, Bubble-pack stuff, CB HTs, and the slew of things I put price tags on hoping to sell some day.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with dual port VNAs (nano or not). My analyzers are the somewhat clunky looking MFJ 266C and 269C (the 266 appears to have been discontinued, the 269 is now up to a D variant https://mfjenterprises.com/collections/mfj-analyzers/products/mfj-269d ). And that's the only one that covers UHF. For SWR/Power meter covering VHF/UHF they have https://mfjenterprises.com/collections/meters/products/mfj-847 which show forward power, reflected power, and resultant SWR. A sidebar from the April 2022 issue of QST reviewing has: NanoVNA web-site: https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2.html Yes, all the above are more expensive than the one you linked to... Though the Nano VNA V2 Plus 4 is still half the price of the MFJ analyzers. (I really shouldn't have, but I decided to see what the hype is and ordered one. The graphics alone may justify it -- MFJ analyzers require one to manually sweep the frequency while watching the SWR meter and/or the LCD display to find, say, 2:1 bandwidth limits).

Addendum: Forgot to actually respond to your conditions... If you don't have a UHF SWR/Power meter or antenna analyzer, I'd recommend obtaining one. That would let you check the antenna situation. An analyzer provides its own signal source, which will be fairly low power -- no chance of "offending" anyone; you just take the cable off the main unit and connect to the analyzer, run the frequency up to GMRS (check both 462 and 467MHz ranges, as the latter is your signal to the repeater, and the former is simplex/receive). An SWR/Power meter will go in line, so you'll need a short piece of coax to go from main unit to meter, and connect the antenna to the other side of the meter. A thick coax getting crimped could be a problem -- it will create a bump in the impedance of the cable. I rejected the under-seat location for my recent installation (of too many radios)... The "passenger air-bag" sensor board intruded into the space, and the transfer case for front-wheels results in too narrow a space under the driver seat. As the vehicle is a 14 year old "rust bucket" with nearly 200K miles (vs the nearly pristine, 22 year old, 75K miles unit that rolled over on a damp highway off-ramp), I was willing to drill all sorts of holes to fit cable runs (the former vehicle had been "no holes" -- I used double sided carpet tape to hold the transmitter under the passenger seat! And it held through the roll-over!). The Icom ID-5100 main unit is all the way in the back. This Jeep Liberty had a small storage compartment under the bed (it serves as access to the crank that lowers the spare tire). I put the main unit into that, and ran remote speaker, microphone, control head, and power cables through split plastic "conduit", along the left side floor (attached with cable clamps). The Icom microphone is not visible (that black bit just off the steering wheel is, I believe, the hanger). The MXT-115 and Cobra CB (yes, all the circuits are in that heavy speaker/mic, just an interface block for power/antenna/mic-cable down low) power leads are spliced together and then spliced to the heavy-duty wiring of the Icom -- thence direct to the battery. Difficult finding places where the air-bags aren't going to blast microphones or radios into one's face. {Still not sure how the Niles D-STAR repeater got on that -- nearest to me is a south Grand Rapids unit}

Took some searching, but apparently (at least) two of the line's ships is operating under the flag of the Marshal Islands.

Get your account figured out, and use the repeater search on this site... Bad news: among OPEN repeaters, I saw listings for Ft. Pierce, Miami, and Homestead. Bit of a void between them...

Manufacturer option (or may be programmable, again depends on manufacturer). For high speed scans, one wouldn't want the delay, or a minimal delay. AnyTone D878UV series. Time operated is 5 seconds from when it detected the signal, Carrier operated is 2 seconds from loss of signal. Icom ID-5100. Pause 2-20/Resume HOLD => Time operated Pause HOLD/Resume 0-5 => Carrier operated No idea how Pause 2-20/Resume 0-5 or Pause HOLD/Resume HOLD would behave. I'll refrain from quoting the manuals of the other radios I own (currently 4 GMRS, 1 MURS [ignoring bubble pack radios for both], around 8 2m/70cm HTs, etc.).

Pretty much in ALL cases, use of personally owned transmitters is by permission of the captain/ship-owners, and under the laws of the country in which the ship is registered. GMRS is US (with a limited variant in Canada -- Canada's GMRS is closer to the US restructured FRS). Good chance that the ships are also registered to Norway, and hence under Norway's rules regarding radio transmitters. And I'm certain they do not authorize a GMRS service. Essential pre-restructured FRS capability, but different frequency band. In fact, they are in the middle of the US Amateur 70cm band (430-450, though repeaters are mostly in 440-450).

No argument on the "when conditions are right" -- just that I don't think those conditions are really "here" yet in this solar cycle. At least, not every afternoon. And yes, 15 or so years ago, I did pick up a lot of 10m stuff in my Jeep with FT-100 and ATAS-100 antenna (my commute, though, was too short to attempt a reply -- about 7 miles in heavy traffic). Seemed that short loaded whip had better reception than anything I could rig at my apartment (I once had one of those "dipole" adapters for a pair of "HamStick" antennas on a frame work of plastic piping straddling a fence with coax running out my window and across the driveway under a length of "CordWay" [the vinyl stuff for offices that gives a shallow bump over cords]).

Could never justify a sideband unit... If I set mine on "scan" I do get traffic in the afternoon/evening (when the ionosphere starts to set up skip possibilities)... From what I can only describe as southern rednecks who like the sound of their voices (FCC regs still specify a limit of 5 minutes per conversation followed by a minimum of 1 minute quiet time before transmitting again). I suspect they are the type using illegal amplifiers with massive antennas (Georgia to Michigan, I don't think I can get that with a 100W 10m SSB mode, much less 25W [carrier] AM, so 11m shouldn't be much better). They never seem to have anything to say -- sound like an Amateur contest where the only thing they are doing is counting how many others they can contact.

Class A 462MHz -- late 40s; rather expensive (given circuitry of the period which led to ...); business users encouraged to transition to business service in 1987, at which time it was named GMRS Class B 461Mhz -- discontinued in the 60s/70s and users moved to other services Class C ? -- Radio Control systems Class D 27MHz -- "CB" (... created in 1958, and prior to 1975 channels 1-8/15-22 were restricted to units operating under the same license/call, 9-14/23 were allowed to call other stations)

Lenient business... I once got a small reprimand from management when the post office delivered a package at my place of employment -- since all packages were supposed to have a filed order number or such at the receiving department. Worse -- the package wasn't even addressed to my place of employment! The actual address was my home! The only reference to the employer was under my name <my name> Software Engineer, Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems <home address with a different zip-code even> The postal system saw "Lockheed" and just routed it to the Lockheed zip-code (I think we had a zip-code to ourselves) box, rather than routing to the actual zip-code post office 6 miles to the south. The package? "free sample" of a new Intel processor chip, as I recall, or maybe just chip manuals -- had to provide employer name to qualify for the "free".

Be glad you still have access to LEO... My entire state converted to one massive linked P25 Trunked system... ENCRYPTED for all useful law enforcement traffic (I have no interest in hearing about the latest misbehaving animal at the zoo; yes, even the zoo is part of the statewide system!).

While I'd agree that there are regions where an open repeater or two could be desirable (the only one I've found listed in the entire county has a coverage range not much larger than standing on my roof with an HT), I also agree with those that want some sort of frequency coordination. ONE repeater covering a 30-40 mile radius is much to be preferred over an overlapping mishmash of pocket repeaters with 5 mile radius coverage. I'm ambivalent about linking -- if they are "locally" linked and operated by a single organization, basically for the purpose of covering, say, a county during emergencies, but maybe unlinked for day-to-day operations... okay... ad hoc multistate linking... not so much. As the FCC regulations state, GMRS is supposed to be a short-range service -- a large family farm (really large, let's say 640 acres) only requires radios with a 2-mile range (1.4 mile diagonal, actually). Put up a repeater with a 5 mile range and they can probably support some of the smaller neighboring farms at the same time (and maybe coordinate sharing some equipment should a malfunction occur in a tractor or such) Heck, it's only been in the last decade or so that the FCC gave up on the CB 150 mile limit, since good skip conditions can easily exceed that [I recall in the late 70s hearing a Kansas or Missouri station asking for emergency/travel assistance... From west central Michigan! -- easily 600 miles).

Yeah, but the calculation still applies: FCC regulations for 0.5W NFM 467 interstitials AND the 5W FM 462 interstitials are stated in terms of ERP while repeater inputs (467 primaries) and output/simplex (462 primaries) are stated in transceiver output power. Nothing prevents one from connecting an HT to these antennas but for the adapters needed (since the industry seems to have standardized on SMA -- though the chinese radios use the opposite gender -- from the 80s/90s common usage of BNC). And with gain of those, exceeding regulation ERP levels. I suspect I have at least one HT that /might/ be in violation -- at least on the 467 group; the 462 group on high power is nowhere near 5W -- so the tall whip's gain may not be enough to counter the lower "high" power output. Did you mean SWR < 1.5 ? (L < less; G > greater [one needs a G with the squared/tail on the lower right to make the association work]).

Neither GP-6NC nor GP-9NC will cover 2m (nor 70cm)... They would cover MURS (and 8dBi gain might be an impressive effect on a 2W HT connected to it ? ). I really don't think you will find one antenna that is tuned for both 2m Amateur AND GMRS. They will either be Amateur 2m/70cm OR commercial 155MHz/465MHz. In many cases, the higher band is harmonically linked to the lower band. 146MHz * 3 => 438MHz (low end of 70cm repeater range -- US 70cm covers 430-450). 155 (MURS 4&5 are 154.x) * 3 => 465MHz (splitting GMRS 462 primary/simplex and 467 repeater inputs). Note that the FCC regulations for the half-watt 467 interstitials are in ERP, so don't feed those to an 11dBi antenna (even if the FCC is in dBd, you'd have over 8dB gain on that half-watt -- effectively between 2 and 5 watts ERP in the antenna beam). Also for the 5W 462 interstitials -- you'd have between 20 and 50 watts ERP...