Radioguy7268

Happy April Fools day.

Business/LMR users are still held to an ID requirement by the FCC - but if they use a repeater most of them just allow the repeater to use the automated Morse Code ID. Most business users who are just using simplex routinely ignore the Callsign/ID requirement - but that doesn't mean the requirement doesn't exist. Call a local radio shop in the are who has experience with what your doing. Internet advice is full of holes.

Do yourself a favor & search the term "intermod" as it relates to RF. What you're seeing is likely a product of 2 (or more) frequencies mixing & creating an un-intended 3rd frequency. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the water tower has some high powered stuff that's throwing out birdies & mixing with something else nearby.

Not applicable if you don't wish them to be applicable. Keep on arguing/discussing the meanings.

They're not - which is part of the FCC's problem of using terms defined in other classes, then bringing them over to Part 95 without full definition or clarification. We've been through this all at least 4 or 5 other times. My thoughts haven't changed. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/4835-fixed-station-what-does-that-mean-to-fcc/?do=findComment&comment=47430

A Fixed Base (FB) is transmitting on the lower (base) 462.xxx frequencies. A Fixed Base FB2 is a repeater. It listens on the higher side frequency, but re-transmits on the lower (base) side of the frequency pair. Yes - changing the frequency can change the functional definition.

I think that linking 2 repeaters across a distance, when those 2 repeaters are carrying a conversation between 2 (or more) people can be a useful option. I think state-wide or regional systems with 5, 10, or more repeaters being keyed simultaneously is a waste of spectrum.

OP - the cable you are showing is for making a cross-band bidirectional repeater out of a set of UHF & VHF radios. Great if you want to link 2 groups of radios, one using UHF and another using VHF. Not so great for basic UHF GMRS repeater operation. The uni-directional repeater cable is the one you want. I'd tell you to spend a few dollars more though, and get one from a guy on Ebay named Kurt Meltzer - MRE Direct. He will use the correct tabs which force (OK, actually allow) proper tab orientation, and he'll include instructions with the cable kit(s). You can reach him at: mre1032 <at> yahoo.com or look him up on Ebay. Repeater-builder.com is also a great resource for DIY radio and repeater info.

Assuming you do not own the repeater, you should ask the repeater owner if the system is capable of multiple PL groups. That type of setup was commonly used back in the day for Community repeaters, where each user group (plumber, HVAC, Landscaper, etc.) had their own PL tone, but they all shared a common frequency, and each user had to monitor to make sure that the repeater was not in use by one of the other groups before they would Key up on their PL. If the repeater has Multiple group capability (Every Kenwood TKR-850/851 came with that feature right out of the box) then it's simple to just request your own separate PL tone for your group. Expect to pay for that feature if it's available. Listening to a repeater's output in Carrier Squelch would defeat the purpose of having a separate PL tone. Set up properly, your daughter would only hear you when you keyed up using the special PL tone. Other traffic on the repeater would be nothing but a flashing receive light on her radio. It's 1970's technology, so don't expect any actual privacy or miracles - but it would do what you're asking for.

Be careful of aftermarket products for the XPR3000 series. Otto is probably one of the few good alternatives to Motorola OEM. The side connector on the XPR3300e series is a unique connector, and not all aftermarket products work well with that connector. I'd also comment that there are a bunch of audio profile settings in the CPS programming, along with some "licensed" audio improvements that your Dealer can license and install, and the 'out of the box' audio settings on the XPR3300e can be improved. SINC+ enhanced noise suppression is what you should ask them about. Unless the area that's giving you a problem normally requires hearing protection, a properly configured 3300e radio should be able to function quite well with just a good speaker mic.

That Sirio CX455 antenna requires tuning. The center section slides in/out to adjust the tuning. What frequency did you tune it for? What did you use to adjust the tuning? If I am reading your post correctly, you've got the repeater putting out 7 watts, with a measured VSWR of 1.0:1 on 462.725 ? What's the VSWR on 467.725? Those RT97 repeaters have a really small internal duplexer with poor isolation specs. If you go above 5 watts, you pretty much guarantee desense. I'd try turning down the power to see if the overall performance & balance of the system improves.

I'm sorry, but if you're using a Baofeng (or other CCR with a Direct Conversion receiver on a Chip) then you're missing half the show if you're just focused on transmit power & ERP. The real game is played on receiver selectivity & desense. Sure, the CCR's have some good/great specs (on paper) for sensitivity in a laboratory testing environment. They fall short when you start looking at adjacent channel rejection and desense. Stuff like that matters in the real world. Measure your Signal to Noise and Distortion and now you've got something worth measuring on the receive side. Do you have tools that can generate a low level calibrated output to test receiver performance? 10 watts in a handheld looks great on paper, but it doesn't take into account how well the other party receives. I'd rather have lower ERP with a more selective receiver that can actually pick out a desired signal at -120 dBm & recover it into understandable audio. If your CCR is still sitting silent in the presence of a -114 dBm signal, you're missing out on more than 6 dB in the math of Signal to Noise. The ERP side says you'd need to quadruple your transmit power to achieve the same S/N ratio. Take a look at the Motorola XPR "e" series and the Vertex EVX radios if you want to see what a SDR chip coupled with good electronics and a little filtering can look like. Heck, even the older CDM mobiles had great analog receivers with some nice audio. Focusing on transmit power alone is missing half the equation.

If you try to go the legit way for current model software for Motorola, you're probably going to be disappointed. Motorola is not interested in supporting Ham or GMRS at a corporate level, and getting things like Wideband entitlement for CPS software is nearly impossible. The newest CPS2 software for the XPR/Trbo series is not out in the wild, and the older CPS software won't even read new radios fresh from the Factory. If you are dealing with older model analog radios like the CDM1250 mentioned above, the PM400, M1225, etc. then there are plenty of unofficial resources and available software, but it's still not 'Plug and Play'. If you are starting from nothing, you would probably be best served to purchase a radio that's already programmed for what you need, and then try to acquire the software & cables to read that radio & save a baseline profile that you can begin to experiment with.

If you plan to work repeaters for most of your mobile driving, it's really hard to beat a simple 6" hatpin antenna. They're inexpensive, low profile, and they simply work. If you're trying to impress the ladies, then by all means, get the longest possible antenna.

Duplexer is the preferred method for achieving isolation on repeater antenna systems. The OP is talking about a CCR portable as a fixed base - so I won't go any further off topic, but I'd still recommend a used mobile instead.