Newb

[reid]

Hello All. Got a midland bundle as a gift. Applied and received my callsign. New to the GMRS world and curious about terminology and etiquette. Used various comms in the USMC and marine VHF and don’t want to cross over into old bad habits. Questions:

Callsign at beginning and every ten mins?

Terminology: how copy? Mayday? Out? Nothing heard?

Any particular “don’ts” to be aware of?

 

Thanks

[berkinet]

...Any particular [dos and] “don’ts” to be aware of?...

Welcome.

DO try to make some time to glance through the Part95E rules. (sorry, I don’t have the link handy)

DON’T be afraid to ask for help with any questions you have or problems you may run into.

[marcspaz]

Welcome!  Below is a link for the rules for GMRS.  It should help a bit. 

 

Basically, plain English is fine.  10 codes are okay, but I never hear anyone use them except on CB.  Most people just speak casually, as if on the phone.  Roger, Mayday, and other radiotelephony on-air protocol and voice procedures are all acceptable. Especially in high signal to noise ratio comms.  From what I gather, deceptive or coded comms to hide meaning is not aloud.

 

In general, round robin in group chat, be courteous and most importantly, have fun!

 

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=97171040479f3204c959e615b906317d&mc=true&node=sp47.5.95.e&rgn=div6

[berkinet]

BTW, GMRS is intended (but not reserved) for family type communications (see the scope in the fcc regis). As a result, you will hear a lot less general traffic and people looking for someone to rag chew with than on services like ham or CB. For the same reason, there tends to not be an accepted lingo or slang or jargon in common use. Users tend to talk in plain language.

[reid]

Thank you for the responses!

 

Now that the radio is in the truck, I’m already thinking about upgrading. Any advice on gear?

[marcspaz]

What Midland bundle did you get? Radio and antenna? What models?

 

What do you mean buy "upgrading"?  What do you want to upgrade?  Get better accessories or antenna?

 

Can you tell us a bit about your primary and secondary use goals?

[reid]

I got the Midland MXTTR71 bundle. I already upgraded the antenna to the midland MXTA11 6db mounted to a bolt on the fender since the magnetic antenna is pretty pointless on an aluminum cab truck.

 

As to upgrading, i was thinking of getting the MXT115 as it looks to have a similar small footprint and obviates the need to program the GRMS channels. The MXT400 could be an option, but I would have to redesign my mount-setup. It would still keep it as a mostly off-the-shelf solution.

 

These are intended to keep us in contact around our small town and when we camp/hike/bike, etc. plus I wouldn’t mind getting my feet wet in the radio community. To that point, was also thinking about this as a non-mobile (less mobile) option: https://www.portableuniversalpower.com/our-products/operator-115/

[Glider]

Welcome from Florida.
These folks here have helped me immensely and I am learning everyday from them.
Unfortunately for them I have a tone more questions LOL.
Enjoy

[marcspaz]

I got the Midland MXTTR71 bundle. I already upgraded the antenna to the midland MXTA11 6db mounted to a bolt on the fender since the magnetic antenna is pretty pointless on an aluminum cab truck.

 

As to upgrading, i was thinking of getting the MXT115 as it looks to have a similar small footprint and obviates the need to program the GRMS channels. The MXT400 could be an option, but I would have to redesign my mount-setup. It would still keep it as a mostly off-the-shelf solution.

 

These are intended to keep us in contact around our small town and when we camp/hike/bike, etc. plus I wouldn’t mind getting my feet wet in the radio community. To that point, was also thinking about this as a non-mobile (less mobile) option: https://www.portableuniversalpower.com/our-products/operator-115/

 

 

The MXTTR is a neat little radio.  The bundle is nice, too.  I tried out the MXT115 and may buy one to install in my 2016 Challenger.  I love the small form factor.

 

The MXTA11 antenna is a great antenna.  I go back and forth between a Tram quarter wave and the MXTA11.  I use the Tram for short distances, truck to truck, while we are off-road in a group, but I run the MXTA11 when I need to talk longer distance or to use a repeater.  It has a great match on the 467 MHz frequencies compared to the 1/4 wave Tram.

 

That portable power supply looks really neat for a stationary unit.  Could be a fun and useful tool to have setup at a camp site, etc.  Kind of expensive for what you are getting... but has a wow factor as far as appearance goes, which is always a plus.

 

If you are looking for a bit more range in the vehicle in an over the counter solution, the MXT400's are nice, too. I ended up buying three MXT400's to put in my off-road vehicles.  There are a few folks here that don't like them for repeater use, but I have had really good luck with them.  Using the MXTA11 and 5 watts, truck to truck in a densely wooded and hilly area, I get about 2.5 miles on the regular bases, and upwards of 5.5 miles.  When I am at a high elevation (2,500+ ft) use high power (advertised 40, measured 35) I can talk 50+ miles and have full copy with no problems.

 

I would recommend waiting for a short time before buying another new OTC radio. There are a few new radios that are in the process of getting type approval from the FCC that will likely perform a little better than the Midlands with regard to audio and transmit/receive on the upper channels.  The Midland radios are all narrow band, but the upper channels are approved for wide band use.  I know at least one of the radio's pending approval provide support for wide band use on those upper channels.

 

I'm still fairly new to GMRS myself, so my experience is somewhat limited.  There are some folks here who can give you some great advice on other radios that are available on the used market, which require programing, but perform very, very well.  Hopefully, one of them can cover those options for you too.

[Elkhunter521]

As much as I dislike Midland, I do like their MXT275. It fits the same bracket as the XMT115. This bracket ia a well engineered mount. Ideal if you move one radio between 2 vehicles. (Unfortunately this is another narrow band radio)

 

All radio controlls are in the handset, allowing for a remote mounting of the radio.

[reid]

This is how I have it set up right now in my truck. I was considering the MXT275 for my Wrangler since there is leas room.

[reid]

Where’d the attached picture go?

[Ian]

This is how I have it set up right now in my truck. I was considering the MXT275 for my Wrangler since there is leas room.

You'll find a lot of Australian hardware based around that form factor; it's very popular with their UHF-CB stuff.  Toyotas as well can be pretty trivially fitted with the RJ45 passthroughs to make a radio install look like a factory option.

 

I really like my MXT275, but the mic holders are garbage.  I've gone through two, and they keep falling apart, and the adhesive fails repeatedly.

 

Not the adhesive's fault, swapping it out for Command strips (which normally last at least a year holding my phone to the dash) resulted in a two month failure.  I've recently been advised to look for a "buddy hook" and frankly, anything would be better than those things.

 

Still, I love the form factor, and narrowband or not, I've had results hitting and hearing repeaters in the Space Coast.

[H8SPVMT]

Bummer.  The magnetic mount has screwed up my Jeep paint on the hood.  Looks like burn/blister marks.

 

Update 9/14: Made my own mount that gets the base off the paint altogether.  We'll see how that works.

 

Could it be that the antenna is putting out so much signal that it is burning the paint?  I wouldn't think that possible.  I think it is the rubber compound causing this issue.

 

Any thoughts?