MarkInTampa
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Posts posted by MarkInTampa
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22 minutes ago, KAF6045 said:
The upper loop is meant to be an RF choke, blocking RF from travelling down the outside of the coax shield. A drip loop is just a down below entrance point, U up and then across through entrance point. The goal is for the lowest part of the U to be outside and where you don't mind have rain water dripping off the coax.
10-4. Right now it's not a problem and the cable feeds way low (through doggy door) and back up into a window so it's not a issue at the moment. However right next to the antenna mast base (see first picture) is a cut and orphaned CATV drop going through the wall. My radio sits directly behind the antenna and that hole. I plan on reusing the hole for the coax, just don't have a masonry bit for a hole large enough to pass a terminated coax through. Hate buying a bit for a one time use, need to bum one from somebody at work. But I will keep the drip loop in mind when I do it.
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26 minutes ago, WRWR489 said:
I have my telescoping flag pole on the way. It will be secured to my second story deck railing and a five gallon bucket of concrete for the base then secured to the fascia board 8 feet up. On top will be my tuned today Tram 1486.
A 50 foot run of Times Microwave LMR400 to the wouxon 1000g and the house service ground directly below the deck.
I just did a flag pole for my antenna (Comet GP-6 GMRS/MURS) yesterday, see the thread I posted earlier today if it helps you any.
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2 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:
Looks good and it will get the job done. You need to get some outdoor rated ties and properly fasten the cable to the pole though. Those little zip ties will harden up in about 6 months and fall apart. They do make UV rated ties, and that's what needs to be used.
Also, you need to put a drip loop in the cable. The way it's run right now, water will get on the cable and ride it down to the point it enters the building and probably run into the building if it's not totally sealed. This will cause water ingress and the problems that come with it. Think P-trap for plumbing. Create a low spot in the cable run and then have the cable come back up a little so the water runs to the lowest point and then falls off the wire before it gets to the entrance of the building.
Didn't think about the zip ties being UV rated, I'll take care of that. The cable actually runs low through a doggie door next to the antenna and back up into a window right next to it. I did put a loop per manufactures (Comet) instructions at the antenna mount.
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I wanted a 30ft or so antenna mast/pole but didn't want any guy wires if I could help it. In walking the neighborhood with the doggo I saw a few neighbors that have flag poles and thought to myself that would make a great antenna mast. So I ordered up a 30ft telescoping aluminum flag pole from Home Depot for $160 and it came in yesterday but was kinda bummed that they shipped me a sectional flag pole and not telescoping that I ordered. It's a mixed blessing I suppose. I'd assume the telescoping pole and every section being a smaller diameter tube as it goes up is going to be a bit weaker than a sectional pole that has all the same size of tube but the telescoping would have been much easier to work with. Also with the telescoping pole there is a chance of water intrusion between each section of pole and on the sectional pole there is not.
I used expanding fence post foam for the pole base sleeve, used it before when building a fence and it held up a 6ft tall and 4ft wide wood gate so figured it should work in this case and I'm to lazy to use concrete. I also decided to clamp it to the side of the house even though it could be used free standing. It made it a lot easier to level the pole when pouring in the foam for the base sleeve. Also figured it would make the pole a bit stronger and easier to work with. If I want to lower the pole, just loosen up the clamps and remove sections as needed. Not as easy as a telescoping pole would have been though like I planned.
Overall I think it came out decent, just have to wait for a windy day to see how much it sways in the wind. I can guy it if I have to but time will tell.
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Out of curiosity, what makes a repeater go into the stale status? A new GMRS user in my area was asking why our #1 by far repeater for the area wasn't on the MyGMRS map when I know it was there last month. It is off the map but now shows as a stale repeater when it is not. It's still a public use repeater using travel tone and the webpage for it also invites public use. It does show last updated "a year ago". Does the owner of the repeater have to check in ever now and then to keep the status up?
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27 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:
Is it just me or does the notion of a "dual band" GMRS handheld seem a bit odd? GMRS is one band.
But you must not have known about the Tera TR-505 dual band GMRS radio with "Optional (MURS) VHF license free channels" if you buy the programming cable (obviously sarcasm)....
https://powerwerx.com/tera-tr505-gmrs-recreational-handheld-radio -
2 hours ago, Lscott said:
The antennas are hand built. You might have got one that was better constructed. Also the connectors on the end can influence the results too. I have two of these antennas, both dual band. One is cut for MURS/GMRS and the other is for 2M/70cm. I forget which connector is on which antenna. One had a PL-259 plug while the other one had an "N" connector.
I might take some time to re-scan the MURS/GMRS version.
I've attached the scans I did for the 2M/70cm version.
I found some scans, the photos are poor quality, the builder posted on his web site. They are for the Ham bands. The best I can see it the UHF scan shows an SWR of 1.82(?) at 439MHz and 1.34(?) at 450MHz.
N9TAX-2M-70CM-VHF Scan.pdf 285.04 kB · 0 downloads N9TAX-2M-70CM-UHF Scan.pdf 285.33 kB · 0 downloads
Mine has a 16ft pigtail with a SMA connector on it. I never ran a SWR sweep on it for MURS until just now - it is actually quite good!
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3 hours ago, Lscott said:
I've done an SWR scan of the dual band, MURS and GMRS, version I have. The testing was done with the antenna hanging by a non-conductive cord. These antennas are not that broad-banded.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/284-n9tax-murs-gmrs-scansjpg/
I did a SWR scan on my N9TAX GMRS Slim Jim as well, a bit different than yours. Overall I'd say it's a decent antenna for what it is and the price point. Much, much better than using a Nagoya 771G on a HT but sucks compared to my Comet GP-6 that cost 5x as much. After getting the Comet I relegated the Slim Jim as a scanner antenna for my SDR setup and it actually does a wonderful job for that. I bought a MFJ Discone antenna to replace it with but the Slim Jim actually performs better than the discone on receive, go figure...
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41 minutes ago, Sshannon said:
If you do a thread on this I’ll subscribe.
How about a grounding question. I've got a spool of 14AWG sold and a spool of 12AWG stranded green ground wire laying around, don't know if that's good enough. Would you suggest grounding just the pole, run the wire up with the coax and ground just the antenna, do both or isolate the antenna from the pole using something like a PVC sleeve and ground just the antenna?
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3 hours ago, nokones said:
I think the Flagpole is a great structure for an antenna. The placement will be critical insofar as the length of the cable run. Unless you plan to place it next to your home and very close to your radio room, you may want to consider using foam helix for your cable run. Although, the pole will be grounded by being placed in the ground, it is my understanding you still want a grounding system tied into your earth grounding point with the house.
I just ordered one up. We shall see. Pole will be located 2ft away from radios on the other side of the wall, plan on digging a hole a few inches next to the house for the sleeve the pole inserts into as well as clamping it (even thought it should not need it) on the house around the 7ft or so mark. It will never be used for a flag (in the back of the house) just for radio antenna. Cinderblock wall is only 8ft or so from the ground with a flat roof. There is a old abandoned CATV ground block and intact ground rod 6 inches away from where the pole would be. There is also another ground rod 6ft away for the AC unit I can tie into as well. I want a 30ft or so pole that I don't have to mess with guy wires for a reasonable price ($150-170 depending on color). Rohn, MFJ and other 30-40ft poles sell for well over $299, require guy wires and a lot effort. I'm not in a HOA and can use anything I want but don't want to spend 4X the price of the antenna just on a mast.
I used Sika expanding fence post foam a few years ago when I replaced a fence at the old place and it worked GREAT! Didn't have to mix concrete, 1 bag equals 100 pounds of concrete. Sets up in 5 minutes or so. Thinking of using it for the flagpole sleeve instead of concrete. I was doing hurricane traffic signal repair and watched the power company plant poles with this kind of stuff instead of concrete. Any thoughts?
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22 hours ago, nokones said:
Kinda like what I had done.
I was on Home Depots web site and stumbled upon 30ft aluminum telescopic flag poles yesterday. Figured if they can handle the wind loading of a 3'X5' flag without guy wires it should handle my GP-6 antenna also without guy wires. I also live in Florida where we have these things called hurricanes and would like the option to be able to be able to drop the height of the antenna if need be. Anybody try one of these?
- SteveShannon, Sab02r and WRUU653
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3 hours ago, gortex2 said:
Yes. As long as its business to business. Basically the business or license holder can transfer it to another business or organization (501C3). Our SAR team got a couple UHF channels like that over the years we use in training. All the rest are public safety channels. I have also assisted in transfer when a business sold to another (ie: trucking company, concrete, etc) where a name change happened. I think it can only be done once.
Personally it would depend on the plans for the channel. In reality if the business wanted to maintain the repeater and any fees associated and approve you to use it they could also. If its at a tower site that requires insurance that may be a better way to do it.
Thanks. The company I'm doing some contract work for is a bonding company that took over a now defunct multi site DOT contractor that went under. Once we finish up some existing jobs the doors will be closed in 18 months or so. There is a onsite 120ft tower that had a 15 mile or so point to point microwave doing T1 service to a old remote office as well as having a repeater on 452.xxx. The microwave stuff is still there but hasn't been used in 10+ years and the remote site is long gone and they haven't put a radio in a vehicle in 5+ years. I turned the repeater off 3 months ago and nobody has even noticed or complained that I'm aware of. Thought it would be cool to take it over or convert to GMRS but I know time on the tower is limited so figured it's just not worth the effort.
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On 2/26/2023 at 8:22 AM, gortex2 said:
To get a commercial license or LMR license you need a reason. A home repair shop is a valid excuse and will allow you to apply for a frequency. In the LMR world a license is mostly for 1 frequency. Not a huge block like GMRS or Ham. In public safety world you can apply for multiple as well as in business LMR. Location will dictate what frequencies are available in your area and what sections of frequencies you can apply for. All Part 90 frequencies require coordination so even if you fill out the 601 your self it needs to go to a frequency coordinator for approval prior to the FCC. There are various frequency coordinators for public safety, business, etc. Each one will require a fee on top of your FCC fee. When I did alot of these for work we would quote $500 for 1 frequency. Many came in around that but the last channel I did was $250 per frequency (460/465 mhz) so it was $500 just in coordination plus FCC fees as well as our fees for our work.
Public Safety still pays coordination fees, but is exempt mostly from the FCC fee. The other major issue is location. Some locations have no frequencies available and frequency reuse happens. Also above Line A requires all FCC licenses to go to Canada. Our last SAR frequency was in Canada for almost 2 years until we got approval.
Stupid question.. is a LMR license transferrable to a new user? If a company I work for decided to ditch LMR for cellular could I take over the repeater and transfer the license to my name or maintain the current license and just set it up for me and my buddies?
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I picked up the simplex repeater and decided to give my HT's a test for range this morning before installing the new mast to check how much height will weigh in once installed. I need to get my base antenna mounted higher, have a 35ft mast but haven't had a chance to put it up yet.Home setup KG1000+, Comet GP-6 antenna approx 13ft off the ground, Argent Data ADS-SR1 Simplex repeater.
HT 1 is a Wouxun KG-935G (non plus, direct conversion) tested with the stock and a Nagoya NA-771G antenna
HT 2 is a TYT MD-380 superhet with a kinda stubby and a NA-771 clone style antenna - both came in the box with the radio
Also used a Wouxun hand mic for both the HT'sDrove over to a park 1.2 miles away...
Both radios worked fine with the shorter antennas so moved onDrove to another park 2.5 miles away with a bit of a hill between the base station and the park...
The TYT with the longer antenna was a bit noisy but readable in the car, the Wouxun could key with the Nagoya but audio chopped in and out.
Outside of the car on the picnic bench the KG-935 could key the repeater on the shorter antenna but no audio at all when held close to my head not using the hand mic. When held out at a distance with the hand mic audio would chop in and out. With the Nagoya near my head without a hand mic audio was dirty but readable. When held out a bit with the hand mic it was fine. The MD-380's short antenna worked but was dirty when near my head without a hand mic but when held out with a hand mic it was clean. The long antenna worked fine near the head without a hand mic or exteded with a hand mic.Strange results, I expected a bit better out of the 935G with it's longer factory antenna and a brand name hi gain one but it does to the job. I do have a 2nd 935G but didn't bring it with me for testing. I guess it could be the direct conversion vs superhet but don't know. It should be interesting to retest with the antenna up another 25ft at the base.
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38 minutes ago, gortex2 said:
My point on the HRX repeater was his comment that the repeater could be used on DMR, Analog or switch automatically. Being we cant use DMR on GMRS (and you being an expert on all things radio) I figured it was worth mentioning. There is no benefit if it will change as you can only use analog on GMRS.
A few of the GMRS repeaters around here are XPR or Quantar's that are capable of DMR or P25 but the digital modes are off. I just thought it was a pretty cool little repeater that has ethernet port for IP multi-site connectivity, built in battery backup, etc. Being a new product, from a pretty reputable company with a lot of nice features but only 25/10 watts I'd still guess it sells for over $1500 but I can't find pricing. A bit pricy for GMRS and there are a lot of better options around.
I was under the assumption when I replied to the post about it the OP thought it was DMR only ("Then I saw this and started to get excited but it's DMR") and just wanted to let him know it was capable of analog.
Didn't mean to start a war, gortex2 has been the source of a lot of good info and value his opinion.
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2 minutes ago, gortex2 said:
Which cannot be used on GMRS...so its a moot point.
Who says you have to use or enable DMR if it supports analog?
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On 1/7/2023 at 11:49 AM, WRTZ750 said:
Then I saw this and started to get excited but it's DMR.
That repeater looks pretty cool. Can't find anything about the price of it but did find this nugget of knowledge from the website....
The HR65X can operate in analog mode, DMR mode, or dynamic mixed digital/analog mode, which automatically switches between analog and digital based on the call it receives. -
48 minutes ago, tweiss3 said:
I hear this. We are very much the minority. Then again, I can't stand the price point for what the Anytone 578 provides. I do think the FTM400 and TM-D71GA were worth the money, but I don't see a justification for the newly announced FTM500 (price or features). And this is coming from a guy that paid list on a NX5800.
I was told by one vendor the FTM400 was discontinued because of the chip shortage. Another vendor told me it was discontinued because it was a "bit old" having come out in 2013 and they were getting ready to introduce a new model. This was a few months ago between the announcement of the FTM400 being discontinued and the FTM500 coming out. Guess it might have been a bit of both - hard to source chips for an existing model and easier chips to source for a new one.
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1 minute ago, Sshannon said:
I do something very similar on ham 70 cm, using DMR. You can either transmit to a talkgroup called "Parrot" and then listen for your transmission repeated back or you can look at a dashboard and see the actual S value as you hit the repeater.
I'll assume it will become another tool (or toy depends on how you look at it) to play with. Kinda like my NanoVNA - great tool for the money to have around but only gets used every other month or so. The same will be probably be true for the simplex repeater but when I want to test something it would be nice to have around.
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1 hour ago, axorlov said:
You're welcome. Just remember, it appears to be against the rules, being store-forward device. Be considerate to others, do not deploy it without the tones (radio should have RX tone set). I program it to not repeat at all till DTMF "0" is sent to it. So, most of the time it does not pollute airwaves with unneeded noise, and only repeats when asked to do so.
I'll run a PL tone but don't plan to leave it setup for more than a hour or two at a time. Main plan is to use it on the base station and drive over to the park and test my HT's. I've got three different brand of HT's and stubby, normal, clone Nagoya, real Nagoya, and N9TAX Slim Jim antenna's for them. Want to test them for range and audio quality then move to another park a bit further away until everything is out of range. Once done testing I'll remove it. Just wanted a way to test things in the field without assistance.
- WRUU653 and SteveShannon
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11 hours ago, Lscott said:
One of the new GMRS repeaters by me does so using a female voice. It even announces it’s an open repeater and the access tone required.
One of the repeaters near me also does this - but the ID/Announcement I timed to around 30 seconds. Starts off with a welcome message, followed by a message about their GMRS-Live website and then both are repeated in Spanish.
Sorry, duplicate post. I can edit it but not delete.
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11 hours ago, Lscott said:
One of the new GMRS repeaters by me does so using a female voice. It even announces it’s an open repeater and the access tone required.
One of the repeaters near me also does this - but the ID/Announcement I timed to around 30 seconds. Starts off with a welcome message, followed by a message about their GMRS-Live website and then both are repeated in Spanish.
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It's a bit of a of a haul for you but Perry has a pretty active GMRS club and repeater with weekly nets on Thursday if I remember right. Don't know of any other clubs between Tampa and them. They do have a really strong repeater on 725 that I can tag every now and then from Brandon area 165 miles away when conditions are right. Bartow also has a pretty active informal GMRS group as well.
As far as repeaters (not clubs) I'd assume the Tampa 575, 700 and maybe the Clearwater 600 repeaters should be accessible from Brooksville as I hear people from that area on them quite often. Brooksville is 40 miles as the crow flies from me so there may be others closer to you that I haven't heard but doesn't mean they don't exist.
Software Defined Radio (SDR)
in Miscellaneous Topics
Posted
Since I've started this thread I've switched over to SDR# with Simple APCO (P25) and Simple DMR free plugins. Doesn't do simulcast but works great for monitoring un-encrypted business and ham DMR and P25 with a simple point and click on the signal. Keep meaning to try out Fastlane, just haven't had a chance.