MarkInTampa
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Posts posted by MarkInTampa
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18 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:
That's literally my setup. 50 ft run of LMR400 on a mast very similar to that..
It's actually a 2" or 2.5" (can't remember) aluminum 35ft sectional flag pole. I thought by clamping it to the side of the house it should be able to handle the wind load of the antenna without much of a issue without guy wires. The mast is located directly behind my radio and during high winds I could hear it creaking a bit and it swayed a bit more that I wanted. It was really bad when I had the GP-9 on it. I guyed it with some outdoor rated paracord from DX Engineering and it's been great since then. It's pretty easy to put up or take down (one man job), just loosen the clamp on the house and remove/add sections.
- SteveShannon and WRYZ926
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4 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:
Oh that really isn’t bad at 151.94 (our neighborhood channel). I wonder if I’d actually get that after my install and coax though.. you know how it is..
All my measurements above were done with 50ft of LMR400 cable and the antenna up 30ft for what it's worth.
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1 minute ago, WRYZ926 said:
From what @MarkInTampa just posted, I would say that the Comet GP-6NC will work great for you. A SWR of 1.8 or less is just fine for any band/frequency.
Sometimes people get hung up on chasing after the perfect SWR. Most of us are guilty of that. But anything 2.0 or less is fine.
The GP-6NC is tuned about as good as it gets for GMRS. SWR of 1.02 at 462.5MHz and 1.05 at 467.5MHz. Also usable across most of the 70cm band. I've also got a GP-9NC but was disappointed with it. It worked a bit better in the VHF bands but a bit worse on UHF. Don't know if its my terrain, height of antenna (30ft), big oak tree near the antenna or what so put the GP-6NC back as UHF is a bit more important to me than VHF.
Here's a sweep of the GP-6NC from 430MHz to 470MHz:
- WRYZ926 and SteveShannon
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29 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:
The GP6NC has that same issue with the VHF side being a bit above MURS. Maybe it’s still usable? IDK. Anyone ever put one on a VNA? Is the 151-154 still in the neighborhood of 1.5?
Here's a sweep I just did on the GP-6NC per your request...
- WRXB215, WRYZ926 and SvenMarbles
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On 6/4/2024 at 2:56 PM, WSCV533 said:
I'll be using an external controller, actually experimenting now with some stuff. If it doesn't work out then this will just be my mobile and I'll figure something else out. Also checking out the retevis ra87. Also, 725 is a no-go. Something between is causing interference. I'm not familiar with the sound, something between dial-up noise and a printer printing? Completely constant 24/7, must be lower power or far away.
Here's a quick rundown of repeaters I know of in the area. Is there something on 650 in your area? Pasco has a repeater node on that frequency but it's a really low powered station.
550 maybe? - Clearwater is on that frequency, not sure if you are far enough away though
575 forget it! - Tampa 575 will stomp it
600 maybe? Tampa 600 is on it, but not quite as powerful as the 575 and 675 repeaters are but still pretty strong
625 nope - Spring Hill and is somewhat local to you
650 probably you best choice. There is a monster repeater in Sarasota on this frequency but you are more than far enough away. There might be something else on this near you, I'm 35 miles south and don't know what is around you for sure
675 nope - The new Tampa Bayshore repeater is another monster repeater in the area
700 most likely nope - nothing GMRS is on here but there is an illegal encrypted DMR repeater running on this frequency that has drove anybody trying to do a GMRS repeater away to another frequency
725 maybe? - but you said something is causing interference on this frequencyMost of these repeaters except Sarasota sit right between me and you. I can even tell you the height of the antenna and what they are using for a repeater for the most part if you want to know.
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Both my Comet GP-6 and GP-9 manuals show a loop at the base of the antenna. I don't know why but I put them in because the instructions showed to do so.
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24 minutes ago, ALeon said:
I'm trying get assistance in the operation of the TD-H3. After hours searching on YT and unable to find guidance I'm looking here.
These radios offer scanning. Is there a way to set frequency search range (begin and end) and then loop back. So far I can scroll to the start of a frequency and the radio will continue from that point to search through every frequency on the radio.
Thanks!
Not sure if this helps (don't have that exact radio) but there is new firmware as of April 8 that allows limits in band scanning (Menu 56). Update the firmware if it's not there.
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1 hour ago, WSCV533 said:
Because they don't cover the areas I need to have signal in. Honestly, why even post an "answer" to my question if all you're doing is criticizing me when you clearly don't know what I need and why I'm doing it.
Thank you, glad to hear from somebody nearby that understands the situation. Lots of repeaters in the area, most don't quite hit the areas I need to have signal. I have driven south to see when I hit the 725 repeaters. I've hit the bartow, possibly the perry 725 too, but honestly I must've missed that one on the map lol.
I don't have good luck with GMRS repeaters north of Tampa for the most part due to the terrain between me (in Brandon area) and to the north. I can hit the Spring Hill 625 machine (37 miles north) but it hits me noisy around S-2. The Cortez (Bradenton, around 39 miles south) on the same frequency but different tone hits me around S-5 and I've never heard interference between the two and can operate both since they are on different tones. The 725 machines not so much since they are on the same tone. It seems like folks around here really like using 141.3 tone if its a open public repeater and I get that - it's just kinda overused and prone to interference of other repeaters. That's the main reason I'd suggest something other than 141.3 or DCS 546.
Bartow has a really strong machine and covers most of Polk county. It doesn't make it much past Brandon unless your on a rooftop in downtown Tampa (I've heard it!). You are far enough away that I don't think it would be a issue. Funny story on 725 - A few months ago there was a decent band opening, nobody was using the Seminole or Bartow repeaters and I was getting Perry full scale 165 miles away and checked into their net. Of course I heard at least 3 repeaters on the same frequency and tone I was keying up at the same time so I kept it short.
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16 hours ago, WSCV533 said:
Hello all, probably got a stupid question for y'all to make fun of. I am slightly new still to GMRS. I got my Callsign about 3 months ago now. I have a simple 20' flagpole antenna and get good (~15 miles) simplex range for my needs. I'm trying to figure out how to avoid causing any interference when choosing what channel to set on my new repeater. There's a lot of repeaters within my range and my thoughts were on RP22 or 462.725 . I have not received anything on this channel and on the map the closest repeater to me that's on the same channel is about 50 miles away. I have tried keying up using the ctcss tones and get nothing, which leads me to believe it is out of range. I want to avoid disruption as much as possible out of respect for other GMRS operators. What's a fool proof method of avoiding interference? Obviously I will use "privacy" tones but is there more I can do to keep the air waves clear. I am almost ready to turn on my repeater system, but just wanted to ask this before I do.
I'm around 35 miles south of you - far enough to not get quite the same GMRS traffic as you but close enough to have a feel for the area. 725 would but a decent channel for your area but make sure you are NOT using 141.3 as a tone. I sit between two of the area 725 repeaters, the Bartow repeater - Polk Co's strongest repeater up 400ft around 35 miles east of me (and 60 miles south of you) and the Seminole repeater up around 60ft last I heard around 35 miles west of me (the one 45 miles south of you, since the antenna isn't up very high it's probably why you can't hit it). The two repeaters are 60 miles from each other and both run 141.3 as a tone. Normally the two repeaters don't interfere with each other unless someone like me forgets to turn off high power that sits between the two and key both up at the same time. Bartow hits me full scale, Seminole is just above the noise floor (height is might!) so if I run low power I "usually" don't key the Seminole repeater and cause interference. The same can be said of Bartow, if somebody in Manatee Co is using the Seminole repeater they also key the Bartow repeater with noise and everybody get upset on that repeater thinking somebody is causing intentional interference. This happens a few times a month and usually with just a handful of users that sit in-between the two repeaters. If there is a decent band opening, the Perry 725 repeater (also on the same tone and up 400ft) can also be added to the mix and is a really strong repeater. If the repeaters were on a different tones it probably would not be a issue. Also, the Tampa 575 repeater (the strongest repeater in the Tampa area) has an alternate input of 467.725 with a DCS tone but I don't think that will give you any problems as long as you are not using a DCS tone of 546.
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My guess is that you are picking up the WRXU693 repeater in Pace (Wallace) FL area, around 20 miles from you if it's on 462.650MHz. It's part of a linked GMRS network with 7 repeaters mostly in the Mobile area near the AL/FL line and is also running on the GMRS Live and Roadkill network.
See this post for a bit more info:
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I tend to think of how Wouxun compares to the others is how you want to use the radio. For a program and forget it's hard to beat a Motorola or other commercial radios but for the most part they don't do what a KG-1000g does nor were they designed to. Things like tone scan, program from the radio itself, listen to VHF, dual VFO/Scan or airband and such that a KG-1000 does do.
I got a KG-1000g+ the week they came out and to me is was an attempt of Wouxun to clone or emulate a Yaesu/Icom style Ham radio for the GMRS market, not a commercial style radio and they did a fair job at it. It missed a few things that a Yaesu FTM series or Icom ID series have but may not be important to you. The Yaesu and Icom both have two button access to drop a channel from scan for 5 minutes and the Wouxun doesn't. A feature I like if there is a bunch of garbage on one frequency when scanning. The Wouxun scan speed also sucked - at least 75% slower than my Icom or Yaesu but did work fine. Again, not a issue if you are only scanning a few frequencies but it was definitely noticeable. The digital volume was also a bit annoying on the KG-1000, at the lowest volume setting of 1 when used as a base station the volume could be heard in the other room (annoying the wife) so had to use the speaker in the mic at night. In a mobile situation I doubt you would ever notice. My Icom and Yaesu doesn't have that issue.
I sold off my KG-1000g+ after getting my ham license and it's now on its third owner. The second sold it off after getting something different as well. I lost maybe $25 after original purchase and the second owner sold it for the same he paid me for it. So at least it holds it's value.
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22 hours ago, WRVD377 said:
Anyone had a city tell them to install a 30' or 40' tower requires commercial tower zoning for GMRS, but if you have a HAM License it has other rules?
I talked to a couple of county code enforcement guys at lunch about putting up a 30-40ft tower for ham use and if I needed a permit a month or two ago. They told me that if it has a concrete foundation, technically it needs a permit. It didn't matter if it was ham or not. One of them also told me in 25 years he has never checked permitting or gigged anybody for a small tower so take that for what it's worth. I'd guess it depends on how anal your code enforcement is where you live.
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One of our local repeaters has two input frequencies do to occasional interference on the primary. A few weeks ago they put a high-low beep on end of transmission on one input and a low-high beep on the other so he could figure out what input was being used. It's still causing a bit of chaos, users blaming other users of have their roger beep turned or thinking their own roger beep is turned on. What's even funnier is if they do have a roger beep enabled, then you hear at least 3 tones at the end of each transmission. It's finally calmed down a bit - instead of of ten folks a a day asking what the tones are it's down to one or two.
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8 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:
It’s funny how people spend all kinds of time “screwing around” with the better software. The “correct” software. I download chirp takes 1 min, I open chirp, I plug in a radio and select it from a list and program my radios. I won’t own a non chirp compatible radio. Every one says it’s junk and it bricks radios and blah blah blah but in the many years I have used it for many many radios I have never once had not one issue. No comm port issues no driver issues no nothing. It take me 10min to update my 10 radios.
OP maybe you should try chirp? Can’t hurt can it? You’re already upset and frustrated. I know it has a kg1000 plus option.
If the drivers for the communication cable isn't working in Windows, it isn't going to work in Chirp.
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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3 minutes ago, WSBY419 said:
Now, it says "driver unavailable"
ugh.
This article should help on installing the driver...
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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Are you connected to the right port for programming? The programming port is the same connector size as the microphone plug but on the SIDE of the radio, not on front.
- WRUU653, WRXB215 and SteveShannon
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7 minutes ago, WSBY419 said:
A blue screen pops up for either version reading, "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk."
There is no option from there to open the program/app. If I go to the hard drive, it only allows to uninstall the virus program. I don't want to take such a risk as I may not be able to reinstall it as I forget passwords.
Quite honestly, this is becoming far far far more of a hassle than it's worth to me. I'm not used to laying down nearly $1,000.00 only to be at the mercy of a Chinese piece of software.
Right-click on the installer/setup program, select "properties", check "Unblock" next to the security warning "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer", click "OK" then try installing again.
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You can download the software from Buy Two Way Radios website: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-1000g-plus.html click on the downloads tab at the bottom of the description and then the KG-1000G-Plus-Programming-Software file.
Within the downloaded file you will have two files, one has (64) at the end of it, the other one does not. The one with (64) at the end of it is for 64bit Windows, the other is 32bit. You only need one and most likely the 64bit version.
The Wouxun software is not digitally signed from the manufacturer. This will more than likely trigger a "Windows protected your PC" if running Windows Defender antivirus with a "Unknown publisher" message and a option buttons to "Run anyway" or "Don't run" and click on "Run anyway". That should start the install process with another warning message that the software is not signed.
If you are running under a restricted/limited account on Windows or using a 3rd party antivirus, chances are you won't be able to install the software because it's not signed. Try disabling your antivirus during install and right click on the install file and "run as administrator" to get it installedGood luck with the install - also remember the programming port is on the SIDE of the radio, not the front (same connectors). You would be surprised how many people I've talked to having trouble programming this radio that use the wrong port.
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Sorry, thought you were talking about the N9TAX slim-jim that has a 6ft long or so pigtail. Here's a SWR plot of my KB9VBR GMRS J-Pole. Around 1.8 SWR on the low end of GMRS and around 1.3 SWR on the high end. I stopped using it awhile back, just didn't work as well as other antenna's I have.
- WRUU653 and SteveShannon
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Have you tried checking the SWR on the slim-jim without the additional coax? Just to rule out possible bad coax to the antenna.
Here's a SWR sweep of my N9TAX GMRS slim-jim, around 1.3 SWR on both sides of GMRS
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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Vxr7000 programming
in Technical Discussion
Posted
Are you able to read data from the radio? (rule out something like the wrong com port or bad com port drivers) If so, a few things to keep in mind on the VXR-7000
1st) If you can read the radio and it shows Rx Freq in the 150-170MHz range, you have the VHF version and not the UHF version of the repeater and won't work on GMRS.
2nd) Modify the program startup for dealer mode by adding a -d to the end of the program to enable dealer mode (ie "C:\Vertex Standard\CE27 for Windows\CE27Win.exe" -d"). This will allow you to change the CW-ID of the repeater if you are going to use it.
3rd) Most GMRS repeaters run in wide band. Due to FCC narrow band mandates after 2003 the software forces you into narrowband (you will get a warning when starting the software). Change the clock on the PC to 2002 (make sure to disable clock auto set) and you can enable wideband.
Below is a screen shot of one I picked up awhile back and donated. I setup the first 14 channels for every option I though he might need (Channel 1 CTCSS 77, Wideband, Hi Power - Channel 2 same but low power, Channel 3 narrow band, etc). Channel 15 and 16 are on the next channel up and down for testing. Then printed out the config and taped it to the top of the repeater.