WRZD720 Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 Q: Is all this as simple as putting the same repeater information on my two GMRS-PROs and...they will talk to each other instantly through my local repeater (whose information I confirmed)? I first tested my two radios at home, and they talked perfectly to one another on GMRS CH 22 and Local Repeater 16 (20 mi radius). Then I left one at home with my wife and I drove out with my other radio to do a distance check across mostly same elevation land near our river. We started on GMRS 22 until our communication became broken after a mile. Then we switched to the repeater and...it was worse! Any thoughts? b Quote
WRQC527 Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 I need to ask. Were you using the HT in the car without any kind of outside antenna? Because that RF energy gets trapped inside the car. Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 Hi! I was using it inside the cab of my truck with no outside antenna. And...it was lightly raining. But both radios have a Nagoya 771 whip antenna attached. Quote
Socalgmrs Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 How far away from the repeater were you? Anything in the way? Mountains trees? Ect? Did you stop and get out of the truck? Stand on top? People think repeaters are some type of magic. They are just 2 radios hooked up to eachother and usually up high on a hill. With only a 20mile radius for transmitt the repeater is either very weak or you live in hilly or woodsy area or urban. Most 50w repeaters got 50-100 miles or more. Your hand held is going to get a mile or 2 or up to 20-30miles depending on line of site. Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 The repeater is 1-2 miles away from my house and where I was driving. Trees yes. Houses yes. Elevation dips and rises of between 50-100 ft. I did not get out of my truck. Quote
WRQC527 Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 21 minutes ago, WRZD720 said: Hi! I was using it inside the cab of my truck with no outside antenna. And...it was lightly raining. But both radios have a Nagoya 771 whip antenna attached. That won't work. You need to be outside the car or use an outside antenna connected to the radio. RF can barely get out of the car. You lose most of your transmit power. WRPG745 1 Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 Ah...OK. Will go do another test now. The weather is good. I'll get out of the truck each time I stop. But sounds like I need to invest in an outside antenna immediately. Any recommendations for something that would connect to my handheld or is that silly? IOW, do I need to purchase a mobile under-dash radio to be able to talk while driving? Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 Btw, back to my first question...here's the repeater I'm under. And here's my settings on both my GMRS-Pros. Do these look like I've set things up correctly? Quote
WRPG745 Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 27 minutes ago, WRZD720 said: Ah...OK. Will go do another test now. The weather is good. I'll get out of the truck each time I stop. But sounds like I need to invest in an outside antenna immediately. Any recommendations for something that would connect to my handheld or is that silly? IOW, do I need to purchase a mobile under-dash radio to be able to talk while driving? Depending on your truck, you might use a magnet mounted Tram or Nagoya. you will also probably need an adapter for your radio (depending on the connector on the antenna cable). There are vehicle specific mounts (what truck make/model/year do you have?) and options for front hood, rear stake body or 3rd brake light. if you have an aluminum body or for instance you have racks and such. Or just hate the idea of putting a magnet on the paint. Long term, you may need to drill a hole somewhere to run cable for a permanent installation. I get great coverage using a Tram 1180, fender mounted, cable running through the firewall. It's driver side front mounted. All in I think I spent about $110 because I used a firewall boot and a stainless steel mount. YMMV WRQC527 1 Quote
WRPG745 Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 7 minutes ago, WRZD720 said: Btw, back to my first question...here's the repeater I'm under. And here's my settings on both my GMRS-Pros. Do these look like I've set things up correctly? If it were me, I'd change the Tx power to high... WRUU653, WRXB215 and WRQC527 3 Quote
WRUU653 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 I do not have this radio so here is a question for those that do. I couldn’t help notice that “talk around” has a check next to it. Does that mean it’s enabled? What I’m asking is with this checked is the TX going to the repeater? see @WRZD720’s image above Quote
WRQC527 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 1 hour ago, WRZD720 said: IOW, do I need to purchase a mobile under-dash radio to be able to talk while driving? If you're talking about legally like hands free laws, then you would need to check your local laws to see if a radio needs to be hard-mounted with a microphone. If you're talking about power-wise, I often use an HT with a mag mount and that 5 watts does fine with my local repeaters that are 5,000 feet up and 15-20 miles away. WRUU653 and WRPG745 2 Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 12 Author Report Posted March 12 Just did my test. No go. Got a bit more distance with my handhelds on non-repeater channels but as soon as switched over to repeater 16, nothin. Quote
WRXB215 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 @WRUU653 I don't have that radio but on mine (AT-778UV) it just means it is able to be activated. I have to push a button on the mic to actually make it active. WRUU653 1 Quote
WRXB215 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 @WRZD720 Did you do like @WRPG745 said and set the power to high? If you are trying to punch through a bunch of trees, this is one place where power matters. WRUU653 1 Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 12 Author Report Posted March 12 This new repeater has TT and ORI checked unlike the previous repeater. Not sure what this means or what I need to do differently in my handheld set up. Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 12 Author Report Posted March 12 Do the notes suggest that I need to ask permission to join? Quote
WRQC527 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 Just now, WRZD720 said: What does PL code mean? PL means Private Line. It's the same as a CTCSS tone. Motorola patented the Private Line term. WRUU653 1 Quote
WRXB215 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 It's using a directional antenna. Unless you are in the path, you will have trouble with it. WRPG745 and WRQC527 2 Quote
WRUU653 Posted March 12 Report Posted March 12 26 minutes ago, WRXB215 said: It's using a directional antenna. Unless you are in the path, you will have trouble with it. Good catch. Quote
WRZD720 Posted March 12 Author Report Posted March 12 I found local help! One of the repeater owners replied to my email and we are going to be talking more today to get to the bottom of all this. Thanks to everyone here for getting me further ahead. Quote
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