GMRS Radio

Iam using this one from Midland

MICROMOBILE® MXTA26 6DB GAIN WHIP ANTENNA, and I made my own mount. Those that know better than me do you think I will have any reception issues ? I have not yet tried it out​


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bobthetj03 said:
Can you elaborate on the wave factor? I have a 5/8 wave antenna that is supposedly no ground plane, I have read that no ground plane antennas perform better with a good ground plane? So, is a no ground plane antenna a compromise for us that have less than desired mounting location?
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A full wave for CB radio (27MHz) is 36'. A 1/2 wave is 18' and a 1/4 wave is 9'. A 5/8 wave is 22'.

A full wave for GMRS (462MHz) is measured in inches, so 24". A 1/2 wave is 12" and a 1/4 wave is 6". A 5/8 wave is 15".

A 1/4 wave antenna has no gain. A 1/2 wave antenna has a gain of 2.1db and a 5/8 wave has a gain of 5db...approx for each. Think of gain as an amplifier or volume control. It takes your radio signal and increases it.

Most CB antennas are 1/4 wave because they could get too big if they were 1/2 wave. Some say they are 5/8, but thats bullshit. They are playing on words.

In the VHF and UHF bands the frequency is high enough that their physical wave length is small. So its easy to have a 1/2 wave or a 5/8 wave, or a colinear which is one antenna stacked on top of another.

They all have their advantages and disadvantages. A 5/8, while having the most gain, may not work as well in a canyon as a 1/4 wave with less gain due to their antenna patterns.

For the Jeep world, a 1/4 wave is more than enough, and easy!
 
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Plumber1 said:
Iam using this one from Midland

MICROMOBILE® MXTA26 6DB GAIN WHIP ANTENNA, and I made my own mount. Those that know better than me do you think I will have any reception issues?​

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You'll be fine. You have a colinear antenna which is actually two antennas in one. One antenna below the phasing coil and one above it. Its how they get a gain figure of 6db.

Your only issue is the roll bar and it will cause a little bit of shadowing, but I doubt you will ever notice it.

Nice job getting the coil above the tub. This helps with the tuning and operation of the antenna.
 
Plumber1 said:
Does it work ok ???😁
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Mine works great(when cb is not in place. Ill be moving one antenna to the opposite taillight to give space between the two) I tuned/trimmed mine to read 1.14 SWR at the highest, and 1.01 on the lowest. Paired with the mxt275, I was able to talk to someone crystal clear from Burlingame CA to pismo beach and paso robles CA from using one of my known repeaters
 
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Apparition said:
Installed and tested my GMRS last night. It is much clearer than CB. It works great with my intercom. Kind of glad I got it although I don't know anybody else local to use it with. Thanks to @Dino - KX6D my handhelds work great with the system also.
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FM is a lot nicer than AM for sure. You're going to enjoy it.
 
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Dino - KX6D said:
GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) Radio is becoming very popular with off-road enthusiasts thanks to a few "influencers" and Midland. GMRS is basically a throw back to the the days of licensed CB radio which was intended for the general pubic. However GMRS uses UHF frequencies (467MHz) rather than HF (27MHz) and FM (frequency modulation) rather than AM (amplitude modulation). What sounds better, your FM stations in the car or the AM? Clearly FM is the winner! GMRS is a LICENSED service and therefore you need to buy a license, but it does NOT require a test like ham radio does.

The other advantage to GMRS radio is the higher frequencies. The higher the frequency, the shorter the antenna. While a 1/4 wave antenna for CB is 9' (remember those long stainless steel whips?), a 1/4 wave antenna for GMRS is 6". You can mount a GMRS antenna almost anywhere and barely know its there!

GMRS also gives you the ability to use "repeaters" which simply stated are nothing more than a receiver and a transmitter tied together on a mountain top to increase your broadcast range. Just as standing on top of a mountain lets you see farther, a mountain top repeater also allows your radio signal to travel farther. The receiver picks up your transmission on frequency A and sends it to the transmitter that sends it out frequency B at that exact same time, as if you were actually standing on top of that mountain. When your radio is in repeater mode it LISTENS to frequency B, but when you push the button it automatically switches to frequency A, then switches back to B when you let go of the button. This is called DUPLEX. If you want to know more about repeaters, let me know.

If there is any disadvantage to GMRS its that its only "line-of-sight" transmission. In other words, if you can't SEE it, you can't talk to it. Wheeling in groups is rarely a problem but its important to point out that if the rest of the group is on another side of a hill, they may not be able to hear you until you get back in sight with them. VHF and HF frequencies are a little more forgiving in this respect. However, the good outweighs this one minor drawback.

You can increase your range by using a radio that puts out more power, like a mobile radio permanently installed in your Jeep. You can also increase your range by running a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave antenna which gives you more "gain". Its like turning up the volume on your stereo. But a simple inexpensive handheld radio will work 90% of the time.

If you are committed to GMRS radio, do yourself a favor and buy a mobile radio and install an antenna on your Jeep! All you really need is a 1/4 wave antenna that's only 6" high. it will need a ground plane of sorts so mount it to the hood, cowling, or fender while trying to keep it away from any other metal. I've seen them mounted INSIDE the Jeep in the back on the rail the hardtop sits on and it works great. If you want the best of the best, you mount it on the roof or top of the roll bar if you don't run a top. if you want to install it on the fiberglass hard top, you can buy a 1/2 wave antenna (12" long or so) that requires no ground plane.

I just bought two UHF 1/2 Wave NGP antennas from Rugged Radios that are on clearance for $24.00 to experiment with. They will be mounted INSIDE my Jeep in the rear.

When I wheel, most everyone is on VHF and I like it better. But with the surge towards GMRS in the UHF band, its important that we get the right information out to people who want to make that move from CB. If you have questions, let me know.
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Thanks for this post. Found it while trying to read up on the trend toward GMRS, which still bothers me a little bit. Seems like a lot of change (equipment, etc.) for these benefits, which are also all true of Ham radio. Would you agree? Not trying to argue, just wanting to understand the appeal of GMRS. Thanks again.
 
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Chris said:
I recently bought this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2DZSTL/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I don’t have anyone here local to test it out with so I am really looking forward to testing it out at TJ Fest.
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Hi Chris,

If I remember correctly (from hijacking your SWR thread!), you've installed both CB and GMRS relatively recently. In terms of both performance and also user-community (who uses what), which do you prefer? Good reason to have both, or will you likely end up dropping one?

As mentioned in my other reply to the OP on this thread, I'm a bit confused by the appeal for GMRS, especially when we already have Ham with all the same benefits.
 
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MountaineerTom said:
Here’s a question, and I think I know the answer, but will ask anyway just for the sake of asking.

What if a CB antenna and GMRS antenna were mounted next to each other on the same mount? And the antenna ran along roughly the same route?

Would the proximity of the two antennas cause problems with each other compared to if they were mounted and ran in different areas?

I want to say you don’t want them next to each other, but don’t know. I know I’ve seen pictures of multiple antennas next to each other, but I don’t know what kind they are.
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I'm late to this, but I know someone recently posted a thread about this issue. They were having problems with this setup and were troubleshooting it. Sorry not to offer the direct link—writing hurriedly.

Edit: Nevermind. I see that the OP also tagged that someone into this thread. Unhelpful post on my part.
 
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SSTJ said:
Hi Chris,

If I remember correctly (from hijacking your SWR thread!), you've installed both CB and GMRS relatively recently. In terms of both performance and also user-community (who uses what), which do you prefer? Good reason to have both, or will you likely end up dropping one?

As mentioned in my other reply to the OP on this thread, I'm a bit confused by the appeal for GMRS, especially when we already have Ham with all the same benefits.
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I haven’t installed the GMRS radio yet, I will soon though. I’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff.
 
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