VETCOMMS

I'm having issues with "USB device not recognized" when using the USB cable provided with the radio. I assume the cable used to charge the radio is the same cable I use to program the radio using the USB port on the side. I didn't see any other cables included in the radio package. Am I missing the correct cable for I programming?

How long is the Signal Stalk, 40"? Keep us posted on swr please. Thx for the pic, can you share one with most of the vehicle just to see how it looks?

Thank you for the explanation. I appreciate the sharing of knowledge.

Another cyclist, good to see. That mounting to the aluminum Thule roof rack or the black roof rails that runs down the length of my Subaru Outback was what I was curious about. I see a couple of mount ideas above but thought there was another mount that I've seen on an overlanding website that attached to the groove in the roof rack. I even thought there was a fold over model for fitting in garages. Thinking about that style of mount it wouldn't seem to be as sturdy as the two clamp models above. Dumb question. On the roof rack example some say to use a 1/4 wave antenna and others say 1/2 wave. Can someone please educate me on when to choose one over the other?

Thx for the education. I ask these questions because I have another supplication. It's an aluminum roof rack on an Outback. I took this picture for several reasons. 1. The rack is 5.5 inches above the vehicle roof. 2. You can see the low clearance under the garage door. 3. I've put a mag mount antenna just in front of the stock shark fin radio antenna with ok results but thought a rack mount antenna would work more effectively. So does one use a ground plane antenna on the rack because it's close enough to the roof of the vehicle?

Thx for the replies. I'm just curious what makes the two antenna styles different. Does a no ground plane antenna radiate less in a downward direction?

Am I correct in my thought process that ground plane antennas are ones mounted directly to a vehicle hood/ roof and said vehicle doesn't need to be metal but the plane refers to the horizontal surface the RF is designed to spread out horizontally along? Whereas a non ground plane antenna is one used on truck hood lip mounts or SUV cargo roof racks because the antenna is basically hovering above any horizontal surface of the vehicle. Is this thinking accurate? I ask because I have a Laird nmo ground plane antenna on my truck's hood lip mount and wonder if performance would be better if I changed to a non ground plane antenna.

The ring is snug around the threads. I only have the one o-ring as the other antenna is a Laird with an integrated o-ring. Maybe I can put the o-ring under under the other antenna and see what the swr does on the different antenna. Thx.

No. I only have the one mount though. Are certain models more consistent in performance? I tried the same thing on my fender mount with and without the gasket with similar results. I wonder if I need to tighten the antenna more to flatten the gasket more and that the contacts aren't quite touching between the antenna and the mag mount.

I recently installed a 6" tram uhf antenna on a mag mount on my vehicle. I noticed with the rubber gasket/O-ring installed around the threads of the NMO mount the SWR is 8. Without it, it's 1.01. I like the idea of that o-ring being there from a water/ weather intrusion point but I'm wondering if the o- ring is preventing a good ground?

https://www.amazon.com/Tram-410MHz-490MHz-Pre-Tuned-Antenna/dp/B00IDTJ2VS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=P77KMTA85PBH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P6hxMgh8Gk4o_5d7Bv3PSrxADrRdMWWXKpPlygv3tvYp8L7FFqIpkd-lRA2WsAyjKezn89K-3X1c1fbK1tuZIXLOWvJErjaHtXKSGF37h2HimAR2-i4MDZi6pP74yWHd2ICtoso_SThTdlDMarkDtPyHODLInEwrnnw1qLJlKiD3k8QKcYJVCb4aNKTvNwzXBpPEOBOsqkIQkMoghX9svQ.U_u3WeR_bclOmSE_vppdzdd2gqulUABGw2EyetGYqFE&dib_tag=se&keywords=1%2F4+wave.tram+uhf+antenna&qid=1714388200&sprefix=1%2F4+wave.tram+uhf+antenna%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-1 Something like this then?

I want to talk 69.9 miles in every direction but am a realist. 10 would be nice. It's a metal roof with a rack made of aluminum that gets items like Thule pods, bikes and the occasional canoe carried up there. I have 13" of clearance to get in my garage, hence the shorter antennas mentioned.

Are there any Subaru Outback Wilderness owners here? I thought about mounting a ghost or Compactenna on the rear drivers side roof but was curious what others have done and how they route the coax.

So naturally I looked at Kemp as well as ebay which begs the question, if buying an XTL 5000 or 2500 or whatever model from ebay how would I know the flashcode to determine if it does ADP encryption or if it does p25 or to determine frequency range? Some sellers will know and with some it's a gamble?

Thanks for the edumentation. How do I learn all these fancy P25 programming tricks? Is there a P25 guru that can train or just use my brain and click around and learn from my mistakes, which I am good at making.

I like radios. Always have. Will spend hours pecking away at my phone on this website because of it. I own a business and the idea of encrypted digital voice or at least digital voice alone (DMR) with a repeater on the building, a mobile in the truck and PERHAPS a couple of handhelds would be pretty neat. I'm learning from you all if/how to best do this. Digital interests me because most people (maybe I'm wrong on this) listening on their analog only radios will only hear the machine gun buzz of a digital transmission, which I like the idea of. But I also like listening to the analog frequencies as well, so that's why I have a cheap dual band mobile at my disposal. I know very little about the intricacies of P25 vs DMR vs YSF vs WIRESX so that's why I'm here asking questions. This might turn into a boxers vs briefs or Chevy vs Ford answer, but is one digital voice mode more user friendly and easier to program/obtain/work with, than another?

So is it possible to have a radio that does digital and analog, dual mode type use? Or is it only possible to do one or the other?

Giggity. Muchos gracias.

If I recall tree last time I was on the fcc website I had thoughts of monkeys doing things to footballs. I'll give it the old college try to find a freq coordinator. Does the xtl5000 have the capability to be used on multiple frequencies or does one only program it to the lmr frequency assigned to the business?

Just curious if anyone can direct me to resources about LMR. I'm curious about cost of licensing as well as how others have gotten their LMR license, other than paying out the $$$ to the FCC.

All good points. The repeater would be at a location away from my home so if there's a problem I'd need to drive there. All I can do is try it and see how it goes.

See that's where my lack of experience shows. I thought they'd need the tones to key up the repeater & jam it. I guess that's where the wifi switch can kill the repeater if someone tries jamming it. Maybe I'm expecting the worse out of people but still like to know how to counteract these things if they happen. Thx for all the shared experience here.

I put the poop in party pooper so no backyard BBQs here. Just thinking about having control of the equipment if I need it, which the wifi switch helps with. Good discussion, thanks for everyone's input.

Thank you all for the information!

So would it be accurate to say charging a fee to use either a private repeater or a linked repeater system is likely to be complicated because tones are easy to scan for?