New to the GMRS world.

[couger100101]

Im new to the GMRS world as far as higher power radios and setups. i have 5 watters right now and always had 1.5 w walkies. looking to get 15 and 40 w radios as soon as possible. looking for maine operators around me. also looking for the do's and don'ts on these as well. i have a basic set up at the house and my truck with 5w radios. 

[Logan5]

Higher power seldom improves a less than ideal situation. antenna Height, and quality feedline are far more important. Once communication is established it is common courtesy to reduce power output to a level sufficient to maintain communications. a 5 watt radio at 50' is generally more effective than a 50 watt radio at 5'.

[couger100101]

OK. I see. I do know the higher the antenna the further you'll reach out. i do realize that more power is better to push through obstacles. im hoping to connect with operators in Maine and help boost range in northern and western maine. building a repeater tower in the future. I'm assuming the feed line is coaxial from radio to antenna?  

[Logan5]

Yes you will likely prefer coax cost wise as hardline is expensive and unforgiving when mistakes are made. For long range contacts consider a Yagi directional antenna, you will need much less power than an omni. Each radio site is different, I used a push up mast in a tree for a couple of years.  I also done several roof mounts etc. The higher you get the better.

[couger100101]

cool thanks. i was looking at RG6 coax since i have so much here laying around. it is used for TV antenna cable and internet cable. if i purchased adaptors for it would it work?

[couger100101]

OK another question Logan5. Why a directional? will i have to turn it in the direction a want to reach?

[Logan5]

TV coax is not suitable for 2 way radio. a directional antenna can make long distance communications possible even with low power input. Yes, you will turn the antenna by hand or with a relativity inexpensive rotor. depending on the Yagi, you will still have local service on the rear and side lobes. but your forward lobe can be several times further than an Omni antenna even with low power.

[n4gix]

Absolutely not. GMRS like any other radio requires 50 ohm impedance, the which RG6 is not. The three most important requirements for any system are:

1. height

2. antenna

3. feedline (coax, 50 ohms)

[couger100101]

Lol. Ok. Just wanted to check. What would be the best feed line for the buck?

[Logan5]

check this out.  https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/252-cable-types-and-losses/

[couger100101]

Sweet thanks. I guess for now I'll just do the RG8/213 for now. My feed line will be less than 100'. I'll do a little more research on antennas. Just wish I had more operators up here to talk with on my mtx105. I know I don't have much to work with this as far as power and reach. If anyone knows of Maine operators please let them or me know. Thanks

[Logan5]

Do not worry about a higher power radio for now. save your money and work on other aspects of your setup. Do a lot more reading/reasearch so when you purchase a 15 to 50 watt mobile, and or repeater, you know exactly what you are getting and you know why you want it.

[Guest spd641]

Sweet thanks. I guess for now I'll just do the RG8/213 for now. My feed line will be less than 100'. I'll do a little more research on antennas. Just wish I had more operators up here to talk with on my mtx105. I know I don't have much to work with this as far as power and reach. If anyone knows of Maine operators please let them or me know. Thanks

Please do not use RG8 or RG213 the loss is a way too much, for the most part, use LMR 400 which is good for a base station. The cost is not as bad as you may think...William

[Logan5]

We started with Times Microwave LMR400 We are now running LMR600. You can get 50feet of genuine tm LMR400 for less than a hundred bucks. Get it terminated with Type N connector and get an antenna with Type N connector, for the least hassle waterproof low loss connection. You may also like heat shrink tubing, some is adhesive lined for particular waterproof applications.

[couger100101]

Thanks guys. I'll do some price shopping. Any particular sites to to check out. I'm also thinking about Ham too. 

[Jones]

Best bang for the buck* on coax for a VHF or UHF base station is Times Microwave LMR-400. ...just don't use it for a repeater. (reasons discussed elsewhere on this site)

 

Also, watch out for fake Chinese LMR-400 "Type" coax, as some of it is sub-standard, or just re-badged RG-8u. If it isn't from Times Microwave, then it isn't true LMR cable, which is a registered trademark.

 

For repeater use, you really need to use Commscope AVA5-50 or larger, depending on length. (NOTE: This is the new part number for what we all call 7/8" Heliax, also a trademark.)  If you want to go cheap, and still get good results, check out the less costly RFS Cellflex LCF78-50JA. This is a 7/8" line very similar to "Heliax", but not... kind of like grocery store facial tissues are very similar to "Kleenex", but not.

 

*NOTE: The above is my personal professional opinion.  The views and opinions of others may vary.

[couger100101]

Sweet thanks. Just starting into it and budget is limited at the moment. Biggest thing is I don't want to do any damage before i get off the ground. I'm very limited in knowledge beyond the very basics of CB. very basic. lol i appreciate all the responses to my questions.  

[Logan5]

Sweet thanks. Just starting into it and budget is limited at the moment. Biggest thing is I don't want to do any damage before i get off the ground. I'm very limited in knowledge beyond the very basics of CB. very basic. lol i appreciate all the responses to my questions.  

Yep, be a shame to blow a 50watt radio on cheap feedline or foul antenna array. You are on the right track, take your time

[Soladaddy]

I use a 50 ft run of RG-213 (with a 2.2db loss at GMRS freqs.) but I'm cheap. I know I will pay twice when I upgrade to maybe LMR400 and a better antenna, but I will appreciate the performance difference and can always use the 213 for MURS, 2 meters or some other project later on. Bear in mind that 213 is more flexible than LMR 400 and true mil spec 213 is very weather hardy. This may or may not matter depending on the cable routing requirements.

 

As others have mentioned, height is king and queen. Remember a discussion on another forum where someone said they spent $2k on a repeater system and if they had to do it all over, he'd spend 2k on a tower and go cheap on the radio.

[couger100101]

I am making contact with a couple of ham operators locally. I have at least one just a couple miles away. Hopefully they can help me out so i can get off the ground, if you know what i mean. trying to get my family involved too but i think that will take a awhile. 213 is what in looking at for now. I did find a antenna mast at my dads. 20' section with a rotator already on it. I think i will go with a directional. Logan5 I believe mentioned a Yagi. Any other decent antennas with high gain that is easy on the wallet?

[couger100101]

OK, so this is what I'm looking at for my setup. 75' TM rg8/213 mil spec. Browning 410-490Mhz uhf fiberglass land mobile omni base antenna, and for now mxt105. Plan on upgrading the radio later. Is it safe to say I should be fine? I'll be about 35' up

[coryb27]

OK, so this is what I'm looking at for my setup. 75' TM rg8/213 mil spec. Browning 410-490Mhz uhf fiberglass land mobile omni base antenna, and for now mxt105. Plan on upgrading the radio later. Is it safe to say I should be fine? I'll be about 35' up

 

Find a different antenna if all you plan to use if for is GMRS a 460 to 470 would provide better results and from what i have personally tested Browning antennas are junk.

 

Corey

[Soladaddy]

OK, so this is what I'm looking at for my setup. 75' TM rg8/213 mil spec. Browning 410-490Mhz uhf fiberglass land mobile omni base antenna, and for now mxt105. Plan on upgrading the radio later. Is it safe to say I should be fine? I'll be about 35' up

A 75 ft run of 213 will lose about 3.3 db or just over half of your power; that's 2.4 watts max getting to the antenna. The connectors will lose a hair too. The loss will also effect the radio's hearing ability as well. This can be recovered with a gain antenna, but will eat into the gain it provides; i.e. a 6db gain antenna will be down to 3db.

 

Many type of antennas with Omni-directional and yagi beams being the most popular. Omni sends and receives in all directions while a yagi will concentrate in one direction. The yagi can get more coverage (gain) in one direction and loses coverage from other directions to make that happen (very basic terms here). 

[couger100101]

Toughest part for my location is I have a hill right behind my house. I can get up to about 35' without a bigger structure for the antenna and i did some coverage calculations and it seems the yagi still wasn't shooting much more than the omni.  

[bradbrownjr]

I'll be following this and similar conversations. I'm also in Maine, down in York County. Since the wind storm back in October, that knocked out the Internet and cellphones for a couple of days, I've been trying to talk my father and brother into getting into amateur radio so we can keep in touch during the next one. They don't have the time to study, and I found that GMRS was good for the family, so I've moved to pushing that agenda.

 

None of the repeaters on myGMRS for Southern Maine appear to be online these days. The channels are quiet and the fellow listed as owning the bulk of them hasn't responded to my inquiry. I do hear a morse code ID occasionally on 462.675, but I haven't caught it to record and translate it into a callsign I can lookup. I'd love to find out whose it is and ask to use it, as it seems to cover Sanford to Scarborough. In the meantime, I think I'm building my own.

 

I'm in Waterboro, Dad's in Limington and my brother in Poland. I think if I were to set up a repeater on a battery at the folks', we'd have the reach to cover the three houses and our commutes. I'm interested to see what you come up with, WRAV269. Good luck, and maybe we'll connect sometime when I'm in your neck of the woods again!