Widowsson Posted July 12 Report Posted July 12 Just wanted to introduce myself here. From Adrian MI. A friend gave me a Icom HAM radio years ago and I always used it to listen to police and fire bands but never had any interest in transmitting. Now my local emergency services are all digital so that doesn’t work anymore. Was looking for walkie talkies just for friends and family and stumbled upon GMRS. Kinda became obsessed overnight. Of course I was thinking about setting up my own repeater until I read the slap of reality post on here. I am curious if the cheap simplex repeater on Amazon will boost my uv9g so I am clearer on the repeater I am able to reach. I can hear them fine but I’m being told I’m not coming in very good at all. I ordered a magnetic base antenna I’m going to put that on the roof this weekend. We’ll see if it helps. Anyhow, I’m having fun with this and learning. Nice to be here. WRZK593 and TrikeRadio 2 Quote
BoxCar Posted July 12 Report Posted July 12 Welcome to the S*** show that's radio hobby use. You'll find that any external antenna mounted the higher the better will be an improvement. Along with a better antenna, good quality coax is required. The baseline for coax is Times Microwave LMR 400 or equivalent. RG-8 coax is a big No-No. SteveShannon, WRUU653 and Widowsson 1 2 Quote
SteveShannon Posted July 12 Report Posted July 12 26 minutes ago, Widowsson said: I am curious if the cheap simplex repeater on Amazon will boost my uv9g so I am clearer on the repeater I am able to reach. No, but welcome! The mag base antenna may help, but see if it requires a ground plane. If it does then use a steel cookie sheet. A better antenna would definitely help. WRUU653 and Widowsson 1 1 Quote
Widowsson Posted July 12 Author Report Posted July 12 4 minutes ago, BoxCar said: Welcome to the S*** show that's radio hobby use. You'll find that any external antenna mounted the higher the better will be an improvement. Along with a better antenna, good quality coax is required. The baseline for coax is Times Microwave LMR 400 or equivalent. RG-8 coax is a big No-No. Thanks! The previous owner of my house left behind a big spool of coax cable that I was hoping to use. However it is black and unmarked so probably a no on that. 5 minutes ago, SteveShannon said: No, but welcome! The mag base antenna may help, but see if it requires a ground plane. If it does then use a steel cookie sheet. A better antenna would definitely help. Thank you! It was a review on the listing that said it boosted the range of their transceiver but I’m slowly realizing this would not be the case. Quote
SteveShannon Posted July 12 Report Posted July 12 5 minutes ago, Widowsson said: Thanks! The previous owner of my house left behind a big spool of coax cable that I was hoping to use. However it is black and unmarked so probably a no on that. Thank you! It was a review on the listing that said it boosted the range of their transceiver but I’m slowly realizing this would not be the case. That big spool of coax might have a use, but you’ll need to figure out what kind it is. I suspect it’s cable tv coax which is 75 ohm. It has its uses, but probably not much for GMRS. When communicating through a repeater you’ll be transmitting on a different frequency than you receive. By definition the simplex repeater would not do that. WRXR255, Widowsson, WRUU653 and 1 other 3 1 Quote
WRQD922 Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 Welcome ! A cheap mag mount tuned for Gmrs may be a temporary fix with decent results. Remember stick it on a pie or pizza pan for a ground plane. As mentioned above that left over coax will probably be a know go. Have fun and welcome to the hobby. Quote
WRQI663 Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 Yeah, that spool is most likely RG59 or equivalent -- I installed CATV for a while and needed to carry a spool on my truck. Most mag mount antennas have some coax already and might be enough length depending on what you want to do. Quote
FreshPrincex21 Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 On 7/12/2024 at 1:00 PM, Widowsson said: Just wanted to introduce myself here. From Adrian MI. A friend gave me a Icom HAM radio years ago and I always used it to listen to police and fire bands but never had any interest in transmitting. Now my local emergency services are all digital so that doesn’t work anymore. Was looking for walkie talkies just for friends and family and stumbled upon GMRS. Kinda became obsessed overnight. Of course I was thinking about setting up my own repeater until I read the slap of reality post on here. I am curious if the cheap simplex repeater on Amazon will boost my uv9g so I am clearer on the repeater I am able to reach. I can hear them fine but I’m being told I’m not coming in very good at all. I ordered a magnetic base antenna I’m going to put that on the roof this weekend. We’ll see if it helps. Anyhow, I’m having fun with this and learning. Nice to be here. Welcome! Relatively new myself to GMRS but this forum has been great, bunch of helpful people and tips. GreggInFL 1 Quote
nokones Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 And the only forum with a genuine GMRS Queen that will be straight with the facts and no smelly brown stuff. GreggInFL 1 Quote
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