CentralFloridaGMRS

On another note why are some repeaters listed as active when they're not? The Mouse 650 has been down for over a year yet it's listed as active

Florida Home has one near us listed about 30 miles but I think it goes about 40 miles. When we go to our home in Tennessee they have one that transmits almost 80 miles. I have to say that Tennesse does a great job with GMRS repeaters. Maine has some good ones as well when I visit.

We have the Central Florida GMRS channel. Anyone can talk via Zello. You will hear Radio traffic from our area for about a 10-mile range. We don't require a GMRS License because you're not talking directly to the Radios. Many in our Community now have radios and test them from time to time. Hopefully won't need them during Hurricane Season. Don't expect them to answer if they don't have the Zello Channel on. Channel is "Central Florida GMRS"

Got the Baofeng BF-F8HP for just $15 from someone here. I don't like Baofeng but this one is actually OK. But going forward I will only purchase Wouxon Radios.

So you added the channels and they don't show up when you scan?

I can transmit north to my workplace here in Orlando and transmitted from Disney to my home base station. About 8 to 10 miles. Getting three repeaters but I've learned that I can't move my Antenna much or I can't get the 700 Repeater. Looking at cutting some trees soon as well. New to everything. Using the Ed Fong GMRS Antenna just . I just wanted coverage for our area during storms etc so I'm satisfied for now.

If your in Central Florida give us a call on our Central Florida Channel 462.6750 Tones 100.0 in and out. Also Zello Central Florida GMRS. Where are you going to be? I have a list depending on what area you're in

Over the Summer I will try some of the other Antennas suggested here. Right now I'm burnt out from all of the time I spent on this. Antenna is up and cable is done. My original goal was to get the Orlando 700 repeater for two other locations and not counting on a good Simplex Signal. Now I have both. I can reach both of my locations with the 700 and also on Simplex. Appreciate all of the suggestions from everyone. Going to help a friend in Maine get his GMRS radio up and running so he can talk to his house while he's at the Summer retreat.

Getting excellent SWR reading with mine. It's not mounted on a metal mast. I see comments all over the place about the love or hate for the Ed Fong. All I can tell everyone is that I get three repeaters now that I didn't get before. Also more miles in Simplex. That's all I want.

The Tram 1486?

Remembering the days that you could call out to truckers on Channel 19 CB Radio and they answered. That was fun. Our trips from Maine to Boston

So my new Antenna improved my reception even more (Ed Fong)Getting three repeaters now. The 700 is a solid 6 to 8 unlike before. Also Simplex is stronger as well. I added ferrite beads because I used them on the last Antenna but I wonder if I should remove them. Not sure if it changes it either way. SWR is good but wondering if I actually need to use the Ferrite Beads

I have the UT-72G. It replaced the UHF VHF version of the same make and made a big big difference. Some online videos compare it to the Midland.

An update on how this all happened. I have a private channel just for our house to our mobile units. Asked my wife to call me on the Orlando 700 and she didn't move the band up. She transmitted on the Simplex Channel. So I stand by and wait for the repeater and hear nothing. That's when I asked her to talk again and was surprised to be getting her from that distance. Friday I will be trying for more distance with another Antenna. Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I just talked to someone in Clermont today on the Orlando700. Clermont is way out of reach of the Orlando700 so that's not normal for sure but I get it all the time on Kirkman Road for over a year now. And I put my home Antenna up a bit higher and now can talk to my home unit no problem from Route 50 11.9 miles north on Simplex. And I tried it going south and picked it up on 192 in Kissimmee. Also get my base at the Orlando Airport east and west near Disney World but it's spotty at Disney location. The path north from my home to that location has parking garages, trees, Universal etc. I'm very impressed with that coverage. On the Simplex coverage west I can also hear chatter coming from the Fort Wilderness Disney Campground on Simplex that is about 6.8 miles west with trees all around the campground area. The J-Pole Antenna I have is great but appears to be a bit directional. Over the weekend I will be trying another Antenna and checking the results. My wife just wanted to talk to me going back and forth to work. And that is no problem at all.

Going to be testing another Antenna over the weekend if I find time. It's a highly rated Antenna

Update. I went down to Route 50 and at one point I was getting two bars from the base unit but they couldn't hear me. I'm still working on my Antenna setup and I know it's not as well tuned as the home unit. However, I counted the miles now as the crow flies. 11.9 miles. That was the point when I heard the home unit but couldn't be heard from the home unit

So I have my Wouxun Handheld with me and I'm receiving from my home at the same distance.

Both the home and car radio are Wouxun KG-XS20G Plus radios. In the past I lost him near I-4 about five miles out.

Testing my base unit with my son. He was talking to me on the repeater no problem of course. But he called out to me on the Simplex Channel accidentality that we use in our neighborhood and I could hear him 8.5 miles away. I was on my mobile. Orlando has many things in the way and on average I get about 5 miles from the base to handhelds of course but that was amazing. Weather related? Home base is just south of Sea World. I was on Kirkman near Colonial drive. My base antenna is about 30 feet up and I was on ground level

I grew up in Maine and back in the 1970s we all used CB Radio. Today I'm very impressed at the amount of repeaters in Maine. We have a Camp near Machias and they will sure come in handy when we travel up in that area again. Does anyone know if the Camden Repeater can get all the way to places like Vinalhaven?

I gave up on these radios after trying out another brand. The UV-9G picked up so much noise from my vehicle and didn't have the power that another brand had. I don't mind paying a little more for better quality

Finally tested the Antenna with the SWR Meter. Outstanding readings. All below 1.25

Some said to loop it several times while others have said use a ferrite. The LMR-400 is not easy to loop. I have one loop at the bottom going into the house making it a drip line So using Snap-on Ferrite Beads 11mm would be the solution?