axorlov
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Posts posted by axorlov
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I second PastorGary's suggestion to consider used (and abused) commercial equipment. If you know electronics, as in: can build a PC from components, you may be able to save a ton of money. Or may not, could be a money pit too. I went with Kenwood TK-3170 and built 4 working units from the five I bought. I was lucky on the price of the HTs and on the price of some components.
When I was buying equipment (I also have three TK-880H and ArgentData simplex repeater) GMRS-V1 did not exist. But if I'd do it all over again, I'd still probably go with used commercial radios. Kenwood software is very easy to come by, user interface is fool-proof, good for non-radio-inclined family members.
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Do you have any guides to doing this?
Fairly simple. Assuming all your current batteries are functional and hold charge, buy a cheapest, worst looking, not holding charge battery off ebay for the experiment. Pry the case open, as neat as possible. Consider how you'll glue the case together for the later use - batteries do not have to be pretty, but must fit. Look what's inside. Chances are that it'll be something of a standard size (AA, 2/3 AA, AAA, etc). For the refurbishing, you'd need to solder tabs or wires to the new cells. It is not a big deal. You would need a 20W or bigger soldering iron for that, the bigger the better. The quicker the soldering action the better - do not overheat the cell.
Modern NiMH cells are night-and-day comparing to the old cells. The are low self discharge, getting closer to alcalines for that, the capacity is also getting close. The good ones are AmasonBasics and Panasonic Eneloop (former Sanyo). Tenergy are fine, many are already with tabs.There are others too. Any new cell would be better than the old depleted cell.
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Totally agree, however I do not have experience with wide range of part 90/95 gear. When I was looking for the family comm solution few years ago, my criteria was a balance between price, availability of programming software, accepting LiPo and Part 95 certification, because I wanted to be good with FCC. My choice is Kenwood 3170 or 3173 with KCS25 charger which can take NiCad, NiMH and LiPo.
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We have setup a repeater for post-disaster (AKA earthquakes in our area) communications. The idea is to create a channel for neighborhood groups to communicate, principally for the purpose of sharing resources. This is important, because in a post quake situation official resources may be maxed out for several o=hours to a few days.
We have looked at a range of HT radio options and have been principally using the Motorola P1225. This is a well built, sturdy radio that has ben well received. They are fairly inexpensive and we have the know-how and tools to program, maintain and repair them. We also have a number of people using CCRs, and their FCC accepted variants.
But, this question is about batteries. The only batteries available for the P1225 are NiCads. There do not seem to be any Li-ion of AA/AAA adapter battery packs. So, the issue is: Leaving a NiCad on the charger is not good for the NiCad, and leaving it in a drawer is not good for maintaining a charge.
What have other groups done to address this situation.
Thanks
- Refurbishing NiCad case with newer better low-selfdischarge NiMH cells like Enerloop or similar
- Keeping 70% charged NiCad and NiMH in the fridge
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In urban, congested areas I monitor frequency a bit to see if I'm not stomping on somebody, then identify, than go chat, keeping it short and to the point. When done, identify again and say "frequency clear" just as a courtesy to others.
In the woods I (or my family) identify then go blabber away till the the batteries drained, identifying when remember. I have yet to stumble on other GMRS user in Sierra foothills in close proximity. When talking to family the one who starts the talk speaks the callsign, and the one who is finishing the talk identifies too.
Regarding specific words and meanings, the rule I go by in face-to-face, email, online forums and radio communications is: do not be an --- to others, and there is a better chance others will do the same to you.
- cateyetech, Logan5 and Hans
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Great question. I was reading through the rules and through the https://www.fcc.gov/general/international-agreements and I can't find anything regarding 462/467 MHz.
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I'm not familiar with Chirp, but does the line below mean that you have receive and transmit tones programmed (88.5)? And the DCS too (23)? That would explain why you do not hear anything. To hear something you need to remove receive and transmit tones and DCS. After that you could choose CTCSS (aka PL or tone) or DCS to hear only your radios and not to hear chatter of others. Or, if working through repeater, you would need to program tones/codes specified for this repeater.
Location Name Frequency Duplex Offset Tone rToneFreq cToneFreq DtcsCode DtcsPolarity Mode TStep Skip Comment URCALL RPT1CALL RPT2CALL120 GMRS1 462.55 0 88.5 88.5 23 NN FM 5 -
I'm not in Iowa, but don't you hear anything at all? You appear to be in an urban area, you should hear something (a lot!). No kids chattering? No road crews with their foul mouths? No construction crews? No schools? No car rental lots or hotels? Either you live in a radio heaven and can use GMRS as your private intercom, or there is something wrong with your equipment.
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Second for Kenwood TK-880. There is 25W and 40W versions, 40W is called TK-880H. Both are Part 95A approved. And there are 3 versions different by frequency alignment. For GMRS you'd need TK-880-1 or TK-880H-1. Software is KPG-49D, available on ebay or comb the internets. Programming cable is on ebay.
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My son and I do a lot of fly fishing in kinda remote brooks\rivers around Vermont and some times get separated up or down stream from each other. I got some bubble pack radios a few weeks ago and they work good for the most part but the terrain isn't always the greatest for reception on a cheap $30 radio from walmart. so I started looking around online and just realized over the weekend that I should have had a GMRS license to operate on the channel we were using. we found channel 15 worked good so just used it. after looking around online a bit for a longer range radio to use I am looking for some advice from some of you more experienced radio operators. kinda funny thing is I joined the Navy almost 20 years ago as a radioman. went through the Navy radioman school training and did well but have not really touched a radio in 15 years. most all my actual radio experience was with small AN/PRC 119 manpack radio with 3ft whip. the small handheld radios we used were Motorola sabers and with those we had channels set and just loaded the right crypto when needed so I never really did much with those at all.
is there a good hand held radio and possibly a higher watt radio I can put in my truck to reach out farther if either one of is gets back to the truck to call out to each other?
would GMRS be good or should I look for something different?
been reading about DMR radio some too and wondering if that might be a good option. think I read you dont need a license for that?
I dont mind spending a couple hundred bucks to get something decent and have really gotten my interest in radio piqued again with all this and have thought about getting into HAM and teaching my son about it all too.
Thanks for any tips and advice. Ill be getting my GMRS license and look into getting the test for HAM sometime. I looked at a practice test for HAM and think with a little bit of studying I would pass it no problem.
What you describe is very close to what I do with my family, just substitute fishing with hiking and Vermont brooks with Sierra foothills.
>> is there a good hand held radio and possibly a higher watt radio I can put in my truck to reach out farther if either one of is gets back to the truck to call out to each other?
- A plenty. Used commercial handhelds go on ebay from $50, but reasonably modern from kenwood and motorola with batteries in working condition would be around $100 - $150. Used commercial car radios go from $100 and up. New GMRS-specific 40W car radio, Midland mtx400, is $250.
>> would GMRS be good or should I look for something different?
- GMRS would be good, probably. With my setup of 4W handhelds and 40W car radio I was not able to hike far enough in a day that my family could not reach me. Not that I tried hard, though. Also, GMRS frequency goes much farther in a rocky canyons of California than it would go in a rolling wooded hills. Of course, HAM license opens a whole new world of possibilities.
Speaking of LMR (commercial) radios:
- You'd need somebody who could program the radios or you need software to do it yourself;
- To be clean from the FCC viewpoint you'd need Part 95A certified radios. They exists.
I use Kenwood TK-3170 handhelds, 4W. In cars I have Kenwood TK-880-H 40W radios with roof antennas. All radios are Part 95A.
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Yep, that's right. To program them you need KPG49D software and a cable. Unless the previous owner enabled self-programming mode from the panel, which is unlikely. Programming from the panel is a major pain anyway. I have three TK-880H, two in cars and one is about to be installed in the house, they are awesome in many ways, but software is a must. I bought my radios from different sellers on different occasions, one was still programmed with sheriff dept frequencies somewhere from Louisiana, other were cleared out. I have this cable from this very seller, works just fine: "http://www.ebay.com/itm/FTDI-USB-Programming-Cable-Kenwood-RJ-12-6-pin-Microphone-KPG-4-/161251132952?hash=item258b510618:g:UGMAAOSwCfdXpnSN"
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HI! I'm a newbie too and I have the same question as Bmalone667. I just got my license approved yesterday. Now what? I feel like a deer in headlights.
I got it for CERT (newbie there too). Initially, we were told we didn't really need a license since we'll be using the frs channel. But in the long run, I decided to get one because you never know when it might come in handy. I got a motorola MT352R.
I'm also studying to get a ham license. Like I said, it mght come in handy and at least it's there. Any recommendations for a ham radio as well would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance and hope everyone is having a great day/evening.
If you want to talk to strangers you need a repeater-capable radio. But here is Bay Area repeaters are closed/private anyway, so maybe it's moot. Only open repeater I'm aware of is BARN-R1, and it's far and behind the mountain ridge. I can't open it from Livermore with handheld, although I can open it with my mobile radio, but signal reports are not great. Airwaives are busy, though, especially on weekends. Somebody always talking on GMRS around lake Del Valle, where there is no cell service. Rancher kids, hiking buddies, fishermen on water, etc. That's how I use my radios: family communications on camping/hiking trips. GMRS is mostly used as utility tool, and if you want to be able to make random contacts get your HAM ticket. There are number of popular busy HAM repeaters around this area.
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Consider the cable length. 50ft of RG58 will turn your 15W of power into 4W and murder the sensitivity of your radio too. Look at the attenuation chart here: http://www.w4rp.com/ref/coax.html
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Bill,
I was thinking about this too and asked the FCC because I was not sure of the rules. The FCC told me simplex repeaters are not permitted in the GMRS.
I'm curious, did FCC reply cited any specific wording from Part 95A?
I'm using simplex repeater, the one from Argent Data, to keep communications with the family when we go on hikes in mountains. We have different abilities and often separate. Efficient antenna allows simplex repeater to hear the handhelds when handhelds can't hear each other. 40W of power from the car radio reach handhelds just fine. Or let's put it this way: I was not able to hike far enough on a day trip for the car radio not to reach me. I configured repeater to repeat the last message when DTMF * is heard. So it's not annoying when walking in close proximity.
Midland MXT400
in General Discussion
Posted
Something like MFJ-874 would cover ham bands, CB and GMRS. That's what I'm thinking to get for myself. Reviews are not too bad on eHam and amazon. On the other hand, I may save $120 and put it toward a proper antenna analyzer.