GMRS or HAM radio?

Bigmac said:
Thank you, sir! wait... why are we sad?
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It just happens, I don't know why. You can be a happy sad ham, that wont bother me.

view.jpg
 
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Wildman said:
OK folks give me your input.

Any good? Too much? Not enough?

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-017683
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Go all out! The mars mod takes about 20mins and a good loupe, the resistor is tiny.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014544
We run three of these. I have the aprs settings all ready if you need the file. I can run run all the race channels, GRMS, FRS, etc.. Plus it is a touch screen. I have the head mounted on a schoshe xl magnet. It works great. I have a private (crank up tower with a high gain dipole at 70') GRMS repeater that covers most of the inland empire. I can open it on Gold Mtn too. It is a lot of fun to build. each one gets better, clearer, etc.
 
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WSS said:
Go all out! The mars mod takes about 20mins and a good loupe, the resistor is tiny.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014544
We run three of these. I have the aprs settings all ready if you need the file. I can run run all the race channels, GRMS, FRS, etc.. Plus it is a touch screen. I have the head mounted on a schoshe xl magnet. It works great. I have a private (crank up tower with a high gain dipole at 70') GRMS repeater that covers most of the inland empire. I can open it on Gold Mtn too. It is a lot of fun to build. each one gets better, clearer, etc.
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Would love one of those crank up antennas. Don't know if I need 70' but maybe something to put on the roof of my 5th wheel camper for a base or repeater.
 
NOTNSUV said:
Would love one of those crank up antennas. Don't know if I need 70' but maybe something to put on the roof of my 5th wheel camper for a base or repeater.
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There are many of sites with extensive antenna reviews, you might try those. A camper trailer generally has plenty of room for a great base plane and that really opens up your options.
 
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NOTNSUV said:
Would love one of those crank up antennas. Don't know if I need 70' but maybe something to put on the roof of my 5th wheel camper for a base or repeater.
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My dad runs one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D7C8M7R/?tag=wranglerorg-20
He moved to a "leisure compound" and has restrictions on height. He can drop it to under 9' and no one notices. He is running a tuned tram antenna that has good gain and is near invisible.

The pole just needs something it can slip into, maybe a tube on the bumper??
 
I started off buying these from ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1547912056...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
After a while I was buying up all the old motorolas locally and sending them to a guy who had the software to program them. I would buy good duplexers and have this other guy with a scope tune the duplexers for my freqs.

Add one of these and your looking like the real deal:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3214325512...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
Oh, ya the tram antenna:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1811927907...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
You tune the tram to your spectrum by measuring. Not bad little antennas.

The units themselves fit in a cheap tool/tote box. I prefer a pelican or at least a HF style pelican box. I also add temp switches (109º IIRC) and little box fans. The id o matic can be programmed and wired to kick on the fans when it is TX'ing too.
 
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pagrey said:
There are many of sites with extensive antenna reviews, you might try those. A camper trailer generally has plenty of room for a great base plane and that really opens up your options.
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Have considered mounting an 8 x 8" ish aluminum plate (1/4") and a simple 6" 1/4 wave antenna to the crank up TV antenna that I never use. Would get me 12' or so off the ground for around camp.

Also thought of getting

Retevis RT97S Portable GMRS Repeater​

which I can haul to 7000' with a little effort in my hunting/wheeling area. Would need a power source and antenna. Not sure how much range I might get at 5w but clear LOS up to 100 miles and several miles before the nearest mountains obstruct. $600 experiment, tho'.
 
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WSS said:
My dad runs one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D7C8M7R/?tag=wranglerorg-20
He moved to a "leisure compound" and has restrictions on height. He can drop it to under 9' and no one notices. He is running a tuned tram antenna that has good gain and is near invisible.

The pole just needs something it can slip into, maybe a tube on the bumper??
Click to expand...
Now that would be the bees knees but would require a revisit to YouTube to watch the conglomeration a guy put on his RV to crank that puppy up and secure it. More than one way to get it done tho'. Might well come in handy for an elk hunt.
 
NOTNSUV said:
Now that would be the bees knees but would require a revisit to YouTube to watch the conglomeration a guy put on his RV to crank that puppy up and secure it. More than one way to get it done tho'. Might well come in handy for an elk hunt.
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The mast is like a window washing extenda pole, it is all done from the ground, push up the thinnest section and so on. The mast is free standing like a flag pole.

IMG_4226.JPG
 
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NOTNSUV said:
Wondering if it's LMR-400 or... ? 30' is substantial.
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It is stiff and outdoor rated but thinner than 400. I’ll have to check. It’s about 5/16 in diameter, where the LMR-400 is over 3/8” I think. It may have been RG6 or maybe 62. IIRC, the LMR type is more flexible. Probably a better choice for a portable setup.
 
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Something you might consider, raising the antenna 30 feet at the expense of 30 feet of cable really doesn't get you much unless your antenna is lower than local trees or vehicles and the 30 feet puts you above them. The cable loss is fixed and always going to be there which might have a bigger impact on how useful your setup is. The only reason to hoist up the antenna is to clear stuff very close to you and not really for terrain in general. For example, repeater antennas generally are placed high enough to clear people and service vehicles but that's about it.
 
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pagrey said:
Something you might consider, raising the antenna 30 feet at the expense of 30 feet of cable really doesn't get you much unless your antenna is lower than local trees or vehicles and the 30 feet puts you above them. The cable loss is fixed and always going to be there which might have a bigger impact on how useful your setup is. The only reason to hoist up the antenna is to clear stuff very close to you and not really for terrain in general. For example, repeater antennas generally are placed high enough to clear people and service vehicles but that's about it.
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Yeah, where we camp the trees are always 100'+ and somewhat dense. On the other hand we talked mobile to HT (both ways 5x5) at 23 miles from camp and not a totally clear LOS. I'm thinking a simple 1/4 wave on the TV antenna and a plain old NMO mount at 17' or such should work well. Keep it simple.
 
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pagrey said:
Something you might consider, raising the antenna 30 feet at the expense of 30 feet of cable really doesn't get you much unless your antenna is lower than local trees or vehicles and the 30 feet puts you above them. The cable loss is fixed and always going to be there which might have a bigger impact on how useful your setup is. The only reason to hoist up the antenna is to clear stuff very close to you and not really for terrain in general. For example, repeater antennas generally are placed high enough to clear people and service vehicles but that's about it.
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There is another way to look at it too. 30’ high is 25’ higher than a handheld antenna generally. In trees, height will usually help. Not so much in the concrete jungle.

I had an old yaesu that would dual band repeat. VHF to UHF and back. I tied it to drone and was able to see the gains every foot the drone went up. I stopped at 100’ as I did not want to risk crashing and losing both.
 
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WSS said:
I had an old yaesu that would dual band repeat. VHF to UHF and back. I tied it to drone and was able to see the gains every foot the drone went up. I stopped at 100’ as I did not want to risk crashing and losing both.
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Sure but you had the same length cable the whole time and man, a drone that can lift 100 feet of cable and an antenna is practically unbelievable.
 
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