axorlov

Nice! Motorola and Torque on a big screen. ?

If only Dr Fong would patent the use of the 5 to 7 ferrite beads as a common mode current choke. This is what this specific antenna is seriously lacking. And this is why it is not suitable for the installation on the metal mast. Free idea for a patent: ferrite beads as a choke for the colinear 2- or 3-band J-pole made out of twin-lead inside PVC pipe. I'm sure USPTO will be glad to issue this patent.

Yes, to be be fair, the patent is about decoupling of two frequencies with traps. My original cry about patenting J-pole is wrong. Still crazy. This method of decoupling is known for longer than I live on this miserable planet.

WOW!! Dr. Fong did patent a J-pole! using a trap to electrically shorten the antenna! 8947313 J-pole with stubs, to be precise. Crazy! I guess anything is possible after some dude patented windshield rain wipers.

Patented? Dr Fong patented a J-pole? Wow. I guess anything is possible with US Patent Office after some dude patented the windshield rain wipers... Do you to happen have a patent file or number or name?

It is very simple: don't like nets, don't participate. For example, I do not like nets with check-ins, so I do not go there and do not check in.

But read your sentence: "IBOC allows <...> to exist but only under the control of <...>". What an honest man to think?!

Oh, In Band On Channel... I'll be damned! iBiquity tech. Thanks for the hint. Super funny. I, somehow, never managed to stumble upon this acronym (maybe I don't remember), and when I googled "IBOC radio" I only got Jesus-casters. And I thought: "oh cool, new conspiracy theory!", which is an old conspiracy theory, of course.

<double>

No, no, no, this has nothing to do with Jews. That is straight up Marxism, both feet in, but only ankle-deep for now. The theory of class struggle. IBOC - Inspiring Body Of Christ? Sure, opium for the masses (another Marxian reference for ya all, I can do it all day, LOL). However, where I live, it does not seem to be the case. FM stations are mostly under the Clear Channel umbrella, with a few independent and one-two NPR affiliates.

I think DAB+ is a better system, but I can see the logic behind approving the system that shares analog FM frequency with the old system. A way more people in US depend on FM radios in cars than in Europe. Transition similar to NTSC->ATSC TV transition would make many people angry, because they would lose their favorite stations overnight. iBiquity designed the system in the constrains of US market, i.e. 400KHz channel bandwidth, which is not a thing in the rest of the world. The biggest problem is the intellectual property and patents being held by iBiquity->DTS->Xperi. But by now patents should be expired already.

Thanks for the explaining this term to somebody who is guarding his virginity with devotion, in the world where bad sad hams run amok in the night with their godawful lingo. And who is banned at google.

What a terrible world we live in. Some will talk about jarring farts, others will complain about some talking about jarring farts. After listening for 30 minutes. Where an honest man to go?

Why anybody would need a justification from others to do what he/she wants to do? If GMRS is a hobby to you, great! It is not to me, but why would you care how I use the service? You only care about how YOU use it. Do whatever you want, while being a good neighbor to other users. It's a free country.

Glad to help, :thumbup

This is what I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CBPDZQY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 There are plenty of similar designs on amazon, starting with $8. My stem is really short, shortest possible, I think 30mm, so the steerer tube really keeps the pouch upright. On a longer road stem the pouch will not stay upright, but I think some solution could be found. Something like this adapter can be used to keep the pouch upright, or maybe to bolt the pouch to it: https://www.amazon.com/Kbrotech-Bicycle-Adapter-Adjustable-Handlebar/dp/B07KC656V1/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_2/134-8065183-2643462?pd_rd_w=yH74M&content-id=amzn1.sym.7757a8b5-874e-4a67-9d85-54ed32f01737&pf_rd_p=7757a8b5-874e-4a67-9d85-54ed32f01737&pf_rd_r=FNT3ZSBY5FGX2RGDQS17&pd_rd_wg=F5Ck9&pd_rd_r=63e83620-289b-4d1d-8db1-5956b2c71e45&pd_rd_i=B07KC656V1&psc=1

On bicycle (MTB) I use a radio pouch strapped to the handlebars. Works well, pouch has two straps, one goes on one side of the stem, another on the other side. The short stem keeps the pouch with radio upright. I can hear if somebody is calling me and stop to chat. Except when I'm going downhill at 35mph, but then I do not want to chat, anyway.

Also known as Kenwood T-connector. Solution with cigarette lighter adapter would work, but if you want to improve on it and go with more reliable connection with better current capacity, you can search amazon for "kenwood t connector". There are plenty of different variations, already on the cable or separate. You do not need a soldering iron to make a cable, you would need a crimping tool of average quality, easily found in car parts stores on in Home Depot.

He had no clue in his hangar. He may very well be stomping on comms between command center and remote crew, who he can't hear. One can deduce a lot by listening to open air, but he still did not have a band plan (since he was not a responder) with assigned times, frequencies and reserve frequencies. And just simple distraction counts too. If you are dispatcher talking to Crew A, B and C, you already have your mind busy for the responding to some random dude, no matter how well intentioned. There is a phone line for that, with different dispatcher.

And I was incorrect with my last statement about parity of $24K then and $35K now. According to BigMac Index, $35K today is much less than $24K back then. Data is from inflationchart.com

Nah... I think it's appropriate difference. One is merely messing with the Shopping Mall, another is stomping on communications during a real fire. Also, consider that $24K in 2009 and $35K today are probably not that far apart.

I do not have real experience with 1/4. I do with 5/8 (BR-178-S) and 5/8 over 1/2 (BR-170-S). The longer the better, obviously. The difference is clear. The experiment we did was to put operator 1 with TK-3170 on the porch in the 1-2 story suburbia, and operator 2 is driving around on Dodge Durango with 5/8 on the roof. When the signal in either direction becomes borderline acceptable, stop and change to 5/8 over 1/2. The improvement is clearly noticeable on both ends. However, improvement is outweighed by the 31" of the BR-170. The BR-178 is only 11". The roof of Durango is exactly 6' from the ground, with another 11" I sometimes wack the ceilings in really low garages. I consider hit a hi-five from the parking structure. Also, the "-S" version helps, it is with the spring, more flexible than just a rigid whip. And 9" is a plenty for a ground plane.

I would guess, that analyzer measures SWR at the feed point of the antenna. Of an actual antenna, not of the "rubber duck" part of it. Actual antenna would consist of the "rubber duck" + body of the analyzer + counterpoise. And when I say about capacitive component, I do not mean that operator's body is capacitively coupled. It could be very well galvanically coupled with the body of HT. I'm talking about the capacitive part of antenna impedance -j*G, where "G" stands for "ginormous". That's in free space. When operator takes HT in his/her hand it becomes -j*G*1000.

Found it, the link: https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/ht-antenna-comparisons.html And the thread where Lscott brings it up, and our resident infulenzer is also quoted:

All of the above. You would need to modify the HT to put an SWR bridge before feedpoint to measure SWR accurately. And even this measurement will not have much meaning because when you hold HT in the hand and when it is on the belt, or on bicycle handlebars, will produce different measurements. I do not imply any hidden message here, I say that one cannot measure SWR of the HT antenna by plugging SWR meter between the HT body and the thing misleadingly called "HT antenna". The HT antenna is: 1) that thing; 2) body of the HT; 3) body of the operator. All three together. There was a link on this forum about measuring the field strength of the same HT with different "antennas". This is how you can measure efficiency of the HT+antenna. Let me see if I can find it.