You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?

[WSKF315]

I got my multimeter, unscrewed the coax from the repeater and tested that end of the coax (center pin and then outside of fitting). There is definitely continuity where there shouldn't be.  I know I will need to pull the antenna off the roof to verify, but is it possible that the coax has a short in it causing the issue rather than the antenna?  Honestly, I fully expect it to be the antenna with the whole righty loosey.  I'm just trying to guess on what I need to order so I can hopefully replace the antenna same day I take it off the roof since it will take two people.

Lastly - if I end up replacing the coax (whether due to a short or just upgrading quality) is there an online source you recommend that sells the higher quality coax to length and will add the necessary fittings so I don't have to fart around trying to solder the ends introducing more opportunity for error.

Thanks for your help.

[LeoG]

The Antenna Farm or Buy Two Way Radios

 

Pretty unlikely the coax has a short in it, but always possible.

[SteveShannon]

13 hours ago, WSKF315 said:

I got my multimeter, unscrewed the coax from the repeater and tested that end of the coax (center pin and then outside of fitting). There is definitely continuity where there shouldn't be.  I know I will need to pull the antenna off the roof to verify, but is it possible that the coax has a short in it causing the issue rather than the antenna?  Honestly, I fully expect it to be the antenna with the whole righty loosey.  I'm just trying to guess on what I need to order so I can hopefully replace the antenna same day I take it off the roof since it will take two people.

Lastly - if I end up replacing the coax (whether due to a short or just upgrading quality) is there an online source you recommend that sells the higher quality coax to length and will add the necessary fittings so I don't have to fart around trying to solder the ends introducing more opportunity for error.

Thanks for your help.

It’s possible that the coax is damaged, but it’s far more likely that it’s the connectors between the antenna and the the cable. See what it looks like when you disconnect it. Also test the continuity when it’s disconnected. 
There are some antennas and impedance matches that will appear as a short to a multimeter at DC. The J-pole is one of them. Antennas that use a delta match will also. DC isn’t RF. That’s why an antenna analyzer is nice; it tests with the frequency you intend to use. 
If you decide to order custom cables DX Engineering has an excellent reputation. 

[BoxCar]

10 hours ago, WSKF315 said:

Lastly - if I end up replacing the coax (whether due to a short or just upgrading quality) is there an online source you recommend that sells the higher quality coax to length and will add the necessary fittings so I don't have to fart around trying to solder the ends introducing more opportunity for error.

Thanks for your help.

My recommendation for good quality coax made to order is The Wireman (thewireman.com) out of South Carolina.

[WRTC928]

On 6/25/2025 at 1:52 PM, UncleYoda said:

...a lot of HAMs want to only have meaningless social chat, which is not what I got radios for. 

It wasn't what I got radios for originally, but it has turned to be a part of the hobby which I enjoy. To each his/her own. In Alaska, I had GMRS radios so I didn't die beside the road in a blizzard or bleed to death alone after being mauled by a bear. I did a little chit-chat with people I knew, but mostly, the radio was a safety device. After Helene, I decided to get an amateur radio license and equipment for emergencies, but if you're going to use it in emergencies, you need to practice with it routinely. As it turned out, I rather enjoy "nets" -- just chatting with other people, mostly in my area. 

[WSKF315]

I ordered a brand new replacement, exact same as the original.  I just opened the box and checked the antenna continuity before doing anything else.  Unless I have misunderstood something, I should NOT be getting a reading when I touch the outside of the fitting and the center pin, correct?  Well, I am clear as day.  When I test my handheld antennas the same way I don’t get a reading.  What are the chances that two antennas have shorts right out of the box?

[WRTC928]

10 minutes ago, WSKF315 said:

  What are the chances that two antennas have shorts right out of the box?

I'd say that depends upon the quality control of the manufacturer. If they have shoddy QC, they could potentially make a lot of antennas with a manufacturing error before they picked up on it. What antenna is it?

[SteveShannon]

22 minutes ago, WSKF315 said:

I ordered a brand new replacement, exact same as the original.  I just opened the box and checked the antenna continuity before doing anything else.  Unless I have misunderstood something, I should NOT be getting a reading when I touch the outside of the fitting and the center pin, correct?  Well, I am clear as day.  When I test my handheld antennas the same way I don’t get a reading.  What are the chances that two antennas have shorts right out of the box?

In general you should not see continuity between the center pin and the shield of most antennas, but it really depends on the type of antenna it is.  Remember, your multimeter is measuring with DC. Your radio signal is an ultra high frequency AC signal.  A coil added between the shield and radiator to match impedance will appear as a short at DC but will appear to have lower continuity as the frequency rises.

So, you really have to tell us more about the antenna or even contact the manufacturer.  Unless you have an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA.

[WSKF315]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BZVLK1GV?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
 

that’s the antenna.  From previous suggestions I thought it was as simple as checking continuity to see if there is a short.  
 

I have sent an email to product support with Retevis.

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, WSKF315 said:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BZVLK1GV?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
 

that’s the antenna.  From previous suggestions I thought it was as simple as checking continuity to see if there is a short.  

For the cable, yes, but as I mentioned in my comment that I’ve bolded below, it’s possible that some antennas will show continuity.

On 10/28/2025 at 6:54 PM, SteveShannon said:

It’s possible that the coax is damaged, but it’s far more likely that it’s the connectors between the antenna and the the cable. See what it looks like when you disconnect it. Also test the continuity when it’s disconnected. 
There are some antennas and impedance matches that will appear as a short to a multimeter at DC. The J-pole is one of them. Antennas that use a delta match will also. DC isn’t RF. That’s why an antenna analyzer is nice; it tests with the frequency you intend to use. 
If you decide to order custom cables DX Engineering has an excellent reputation. 

 

[WRKC935]

removed

 

 

[Thanatos]

On 6/25/2025 at 2:59 PM, GreggInFL said:

Reminds me of shooting at the range. There are some long-range rifle shooters who consider clays (trap/skeet/sporting clays) to be beneath them. "I shoot at 1,000 yards. What's a long clay shot, 50 yards? Pfft. Too easy."

I'd love to get him on the skeet range with a ringer, a 14 year-old girl who recently hit 197 out of 200 at a national tournament.

As someone who has shot everything under the sun for more decades than I care to remember, skeet shooting is more "difficult" than 1000 yard shot at a still target...in the real world, VERY little that I'd ever shoot is "still".  99.9% of the time, I have NEVER needed to make a 1000 yard shot...for ANY purpose, in most of the areas that I've lived (except current location) you'd never get that long of a shot to begin with.  Most game I hunt, at best, you'll manage a 300 yard shot (and that's EXTREME for the area and terrain).  This is why the range that I have on my property is set up at 300 yards, but I could easily move it out to 1000 yards if I wanted to have to mow that much further out than I do now.  There's also a LOT of ducks and geese where I live, but I have never seen a deer, here, in the roughly 30 years that I've lived here....I deer hunt around my hometown, which is in another state and COMPLETELY different type of terrain.  I never bothered with skeet until I moved here, because there just wasn't any waterfowl where I lived before, but there ARE a lot of deer, bear, elk, turkeys, and other ground game....I adapt to my surroundings.  If someone wants to really impress me, they'd better be able to shoot skeet with a bolt action .308!
 

To the meat of the post though, I have a GMRS repeater set up because there is only ONE GMRS repeater in my entire county, it's mounted on top of the old police station, on Main Street, dead in the middle of the "city".  It's a little 10 watt repeater that you MIGHT be able to hit from 6 or 7 miles away, doesn't transmit much further than that, and doesn't go in the direction that I need it to go in most of the time.  So I put one up that transmits more in the area that I need it to.  Where I live is VERY flat, with mostly zero trees or buildings...I'm surrounded by a few million acres of cotton and soybean fields, with the occasional small town here and there with no buildings over a single story in most places...with a CCR Baofeng UV-5RM, I can talk approx as far with it as going through that repeater in town, plus we all (family) have 50w mobile radios as well, besides the repeater and base station.  Most of the time (except on handhelds), we get better range running simplex than using the repeater, with the mobiles and base running 50w, but the repeater is only 20w...not to mention that the base and mobile antennas are the highest gain that I could find.  If we are out of range of anything, then we just either use Zello or text.

I could have easily passed my Amateur test 30 years ago, and could still walk in and take the test today and pass with flying colors.  However, I have ZERO interest in becoming a HAM because I don't want to talk to strangers over a radio.  My radio usage is STRICTLY for family, and none of them want to screw with getting a HAM license, so GMRS it is.  I don't want to mess with call signs (NO ONE here uses a call sign, not even the VERY few people that I've ever heard use the one repeater over the years.  Repeater owner, who's about 40 miles from me, in another state, who I got permission to use his repeater, told me that he didn't give a crap if anyone using his repeater gave a call sign or not - and he didn't care if they had a GMRS license either.  Hell, except for the monthly group meetup on the 70cm repeater, 300 yards from my house, I've never heard anyone on it give a call sign either - just a few old fart farmers on it, talking about their doctor appointments.  There's literally NO radio traffic anywhere on VHF or UHF here, and I scan the entire bands 24/7 for the last 5 years or so...it's a radio wasteland here.  What traffic there is, are the factories/businesses in the area, and they all went to DMR LONG ago, so I never hear them at all.