Hoppyjr
-
Posts
98 -
Joined
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Classifieds
Posts posted by Hoppyjr
-
-
For trail comms that should work great within your group. As for the FARZ, that would depend on the location of your stubby and the orientation of your off-road vehicle relative to the location of the repeater or receiving radio. Overall, the stubbies are not too shabby.
As for the pills, I would stay off the pills.
The Larsen LP450NMO we installed on the Jeep JK is working great. We hit a repeater about 32 miles out, in the hilly terrain of Western Washington, with us being down in a valley with lots of overhead power wires.
Mounting on the cowl turned out better than expected. We’re very pleased.
-
Mr
in Guest Forum
Here is a link to a Reddit post about that radio.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Baofeng/s/SxrCkiGYV1
I’d first Google and try the factory reset settings for other Baofeng radios, to see if any of that works.
Another option is to try programming software like RT Systems, to see if you can get in that way.
It seems to be one of the less common radios, so likely not as much info out there. -
Dude's just trying to go by the rules. No need for snark.
No one is trying to get him to break any rules.
Also, no one asked if it was legal. -
There are no Part 95 certified amplifiers for gmrs; therefore illegal.
Sent from my SM-S911U1 using Tapatalk
I see the FCC requires transmitters be Part 95 compliant, at least to be sold/labeled for GMRS use. I also see where the FCC limits power to 50w - but I do not see where the amplifier must be Part 95 certified.
Common sense suggests that if the radio is compliant and the power does not exceed 50w, it’s a non issue.
Regardless, are you a Junior FCC Agent? If not, I fail to see why you would care….. -
Often times a bad ground can cause issues like this.
-
How are you hitting a repeater on Simplex?
-
I’ve been pretty disappointed with Midland’s customer service, but this looks good.
I wish they did a MTX575 with the ability to program 200-300 channels and give them names. -
Does one know UV-5R won’t communicate with TD-H3? New to gmrs and having trouble getting this radio to communicate with each other. Tried to rest all on the UV-5Rs and nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We’re gonna need more information. -
No, but I do have strobes for 2 of my vehicles because I do volunteer field communications work for for DHS/FEMA, DoD/USMC, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Loudoun county and Price William county. However, they are hidden. Not a 'wanna-be' look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb0eyScO9lA
You’re still good. That’s legit use.
Good looking Jeep! -
-
-
One must keep in mind that government regulations are created by people who desire control, so the actual regulation doesn’t need to make sense in practical terms.
You know, just like how the firearms laws do such a great job of reducing crime in Chicago, DC, and Oakland….. -
You absolutely can use your existing antenna without issue.
I would still probably upgrade to something better, but there are many options. The MTXA26 is a great antenna by the reviews, but best if you have the height clearance.
I’ve had great luck with the Midland “Ghost” antenna on the roof (MTXA25) and you could use on a NMO magnetic mount or direct into the roof via NMO mount. I live in the Cascade foothills and have been impressed with my latest antenna, the Larsen LP450NMO. It too can be used with NMO mag mount or direct into NMO mount in the roof, as I did. I prefer the Larsen as it’s shorter and has delivered better “real world” use performance.
Here’s a photo of the Larsen on my son’s Jeep. -
In the Toyota 4Runner:
* Midland MTX575
* Until today I had the Midland “Ghost” 3db antenna mounted in the rear roof, but today I swapped it for the Larsen puck style NMO, which is shorter and seems to actually perform better here in the mountains. Model LP450NMO
In my son’s Jeep JK (next weekend)
* Midland MTX275
* Pulse-Larsen LP450NMO - mounted to the top of the central speaker bar. It will clear both hard & soft tops and work fine.
Handhelds:
I picked up the KG-UV9GX, but haven’t programmed it yet. It’s wearing the Smiley Slim Duck antenna
We have maybe six or seven Baofeng UV-9G radios and the gang charger. A couple wear Smiley Slim Duck antennas, the rest have Nagoya 701 or 771.
Update:
The 4Runner now has the Icom 2730a, with the Mars/Cap mod done by HRO. Great guys to deal with and I really like the radio. 4R still has the Pulse-Larsen LP450NMO puck style antenna mounted on the rear roof and it’s working great.
I programmed all the PNW repeaters into the Icom using the RT Systems software. Super easy and user friendly. Most of the repeaters are open, the others kindly granted permission. [edit: this morning I hit a repeater 70+ miles away, in the trees & hills of Western Washington State. I’m beyond impressed with this setup!]
I’ll add a good dual-band antenna once I do the research, then likely move forward with the HAM ticket so I’ll have the option to use if desired.
The Jeep got the Midland MTX575 that formerly lived in the 4R. It also has the LP450NMO antenna, this time mounted in the removable cowl area on passenger side. It’s nicely low profile, but has a surprisingly good signal. It blends in well, eliminates the need for accessory mounts, and I think looks great.
Here’s the exterior of the Jeep antenna.
-
New to GMRS here. In the Newcastle, WA area.
Running a Retevis setup. Mainly got into it for communication when traveling with family, getting out into the woods, etc. I am clueless. I thought I heard a net meeting today(5/1/24 20:00) when the radio turned on, would love to get info for a Gmrs101.
WSCH471
Corey
Start by doing lots of reading here on the forum, then listening to see how the folks do it around the area. Lots of nice people, mostly hanging out on channel 18. Tiger/Oly3 is an open repeater and it’s pretty active.
Some info here: https://www.radioofhope.org/oly-comm-volunteers -
Everyone keeps forgetting about the ICOM IC-2730A w/MARS mod. Great 50W mobile. One caveat is accessories are extra.
I just picked one up @ HRO while in Portland. Install this weekend.
I’m done with Midland. -
I’d program that midland right into the trash can and spend less money on a better radio you can program with a computer easily. Midland… what a joke.
Mine has been “ok” but I’m replacing it with something that would make a Ham sad.
I recently picked up the Midland MTX 275 for my son’s jeep. The radio has problems, which Midland customer service thinks may require a software update. Their customer service is so bad. I may as well be dealing with China that radio is going back to Amazon and I’ll never buy another Midland product . -
I agree with those who think a NMO mount in the roof is the best plan, but I’d avoid the whip. On my 4Runner I did NMO in the roof with the Midland “Ghost” antenna. Low profile and works fantastic here in the PNW.
I recently picked up the Pulse-Larsen LP450NMO, which also screws onto the same NMO mount, but has given equal or better performance to the Midland Ghost. The Larsen is shaped like a hockey puck, so it’s shorter than the Midland Ghost and larger diameter. The bottom has a nice foam weather seal.
This would likely work well for you and keep low enough for your rooftop accessories when needed. -
I'm convinced that the reason some people want this kind of thing to pass is that they refuse to differentiate between a radio that doesn't take your eyes off the road and a smart phone that requires you to often look away and type. Therefore, their logic is "If I can't use my device, no one can." Followed immediately by "nerny nerny nerny".
The same people tend to like ridiculous gun laws that don’t actually reduce crime. Those people likely don’t own radios or guns, so they don’t care. They want government to make it all better. Safer. They also lack enough intelligence to understand they are willfully and incrementally giving up their freedom. -
-
It depends on how you define "best" ...
I connected mine via my SPOD switch system. For me this was "best" because it was much easier and the wire-runs were shorter and already established.
Agreed. I have a solid state SwitchPros system, so I take power for my GMRS radio and Wilson cell booster from that, for the same reason as Randy. Each has its own switch on the panel, with the system running off a dedicated circuit breaker.
Cell booster is top left.
-
-
There will probably always be “something better” but that stuff could work.
What are you mounting it in?
The radio seems to have great reviews. -
I am extremely well known in the tech world. Not because of things like YouTube or forums, but because of the work I do. So, I have had some unique opportunities and have some test equipment that most people don't have. Not sure what else to say.
I didn't mention the KG-1000G. Although I did test that radio, too. I said I had test results from the MXT500 and the Yaesu FTM-300DR, the the Midland was better. I didn't say i did a head to head, because i didn't. I have no video, pictures or anything else. I wasn't comparing them. Over the years, I tested lots of radios on separate occasions. I happened to reference the results if these two a couple of times in a few threads here, because I found them unusual.
The reason I tested the Yaesu was because I was having receive problems and was hoping to align it... but I ended up sending it to Yaesu for repair. The numbers I shared were after the repair. My results after the repair matched (close enough) to what is advertised in the owners manual...
From the manual
"0.2μV for 12dB SINAD (420 - 470 MHz, @FM)"
I have no pics, video, etc., because I was just doing it for me and my own benefit. I don't typically post tech stuff on YouTube. Especially bland stuff like Yaesu doing a repair for me.
As far as the Midland goes, at a completely different time, maybe a year later, I got a pre-release MXT500 model through a friend who is a pro offroader and was sponsored by them at the time.
I bench tested it for sharing information here and it was trash. I spent a couple of weeks working with Roger French at Midland to get it squared away. When it came back, he emailed me a test sheet that included the 12 dB SINAD and SQ4 test results. So I confirmed them at home, too.
I didn't video record or photograph any of that testing either, because it's way outside the understanding of most people who come to this forum. We have a lot of new users who just want to know if it's any good and don't need to get in the weeds.
While I didn't share much on the KG-1000G, again months apart from any of the other two, I tested that radio for entirely different reasons.
Danny Feemster from Cricket Ventures was working with Wouxun to develop the KG-1000G. The radio they sent me was a prototype that was essentially a heavily modified KG-UV980P. It was the only one in existence at the time and I had to send it back after about a week. That was a fantastic radio.
I've actually been blessed with being asked by a global tech company to test another prototype just a few weeks ago, though I can't disclose those details yet. Should be interesting to some, when it does get shared.
While I still have my test gear, I don't have any of these radios anymore. It's been years in some cases. I can't duplicate the tests without spending a ton of money... not worth it. Seems like you have your mind made up that I'm a liar about doing any testing myself... which I find some irony in. I have no problem steering clear.. but I'm pretty sure if you post some BS, you can expect to get called out again.
I tried... just not going to bother anymore.
While I’ll file all of that under “useful and cool info” you didn’t need to explain yourself to the guy, he’s just being “that guy”, maybe because he needs attention.
I’m looking forward to learning about the radio you just tested. I would love a KG1000g with dimmable display too.
Jeep antenna mount
in Technical Discussion
Posted
I agree. I was surprised to find that it worked better than my Midland ghost antenna.