WRUU653

I agree that because you are hearing the repeater ID that you likely are hitting the repeater I’m leaning toward desense for the reason you’re not hearing yourself. I think to know for sure you will need another party or put some distance between the two radios and record one of them. Have you heard anyone else on the repeater?

Good catch, I was focused on the Tx and Rx info that fell below his image and missed that. My bad.

Eh… still, pretty good.

Not that simple. And since you didn’t watch it (clearly) your statement falls flat.

Welcome Mike, I’ve never been to south east Massachusetts but it didn’t strike me as a bad place. There’s plenty of good people willing to help here. There may be some clubs out your way.

I like that one too. Spoiler ahead, I really liked the point in the story where they basically point out the importance of using the correct antenna for the job…

You’re welcome, you are on the right track. Also @SteveShannon’s info is always good.

Correct

They’re called aftermarket

The troll from the desert has an opinion. You know what they say about those…

Thanks, I missed that and had looked up the Tram 1191

Are you typing in a location or using location near me? If the latter, it’s possible your browser isn’t set with permission to use your location. That’s just a guess.

This video was just posted to YouTube. I have no affiliation with it but I have seen the presenter’s videos before and he follows the science of things. I have long been fascinated with the Amelia Earhart story and this video largely focuses on the radio aspects of her final flight. I thought you all might enjoy this. Cheers

OP's statment he says monitor for traffic not talk to random men and he mentiond channel 19 which has been embraced as a highway channel partially do to Randy. So that's where I interpret the question to relate to vehicle traffic. I guess that's just where my mind goes. zoom zoom beep beep. "What is the best GMRS channel to monitor for traffic; I'm new & I've heard nothing on ch - 19."

Thanks for including page and sitation number... I'd be reading all day lol. Nice find. I guess the repeater might want to consider some tones for the radios RX.

@WSFL333 very cool, thanks for sharing. I was wondering if you happened to test the SWR on 2 meter and what results you might have had. I do realize that might have changed as you tuned the antenna in for GMRS but I was curious about that antenna.

And you as well. Welcome

Welcome @Billz to the forum. I’m basically going to parrot what @SteveShannon has said and recommends. @marcspaz’s video is an excellent place to start. Also I think you will find starting with GMRS was a good choice. You will learn about the basics that will help you understand things better if you decide to get your amateur license. If you do decide to do that the HamStudy app that Steve also recommended is a great tool. I think you’ll find you are not alone with the starting at a later age. I resemble that statement and did it the same way. As mentioned there are some that haven’t figured out the reason for an on line forum is to ask questions and exchange ideas. They will be easy to spot and ignore. So yeah, I haven’t really added anything other than to support what Steve has already said. I may think of something else once I have had my coffee ️

I would take a look at the Icom V10MR , it’s a Murs radio so it should be good for building job sites. It’s built like a tank. Not to much use on the channels. Check out their stress test marketing video, they beat it up pretty good. The cost is high but less than the Rocky Talkie GMRS although more than their FRS version. It’s license free, professional grade, military spec, waterproof and dust proof. Best of all no buttons and no screen, just knobs.

Been there, done that, razzed someone for it and been razzed as well

Steve didn’t just get close, he got exact. The rules are no more or less than what they say. And it doesn’t say you have got to go outside your shack to talk on GMRS, it just doesn’t. A station is anyone with a radio, not a building. Your handheld radio is a transmitter. As long as you are licensed for a service you are free to use it and that is regardless of whether you are licensed for another service. A person can have a license to drive their car and one for a motorcycle, they can use both. The FCC has definitions for everything and it’s those definitions that count. Don’t read more than what they say into the rules.

There’s a few old threads you can look up here but basically fixed stations only communicate with other fixed stations and may not exceed 15 watts. An example might be a SCADA system. FIXED STATION: A station at a fixed location that communicates directly with other fixed stations only.

Says the guy who claims you can’t use inverted tones.

Another fan of the Midland MXTA26 here. Mine is mounted similar to this one and yes it works. Check out the second review by Ham Radio Dude. Rear tire options out there as well.

Here’s a video review from HRCC on the TYT (I like Josh’s videos). My first ham radio was a Baofeng GT-3WP. Cheap, waterproof, good for hiking and it works. I have the bug and my purchases continue to grow but I don’t regret my first cheap radio.