Enthusiast III
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GMRS Radio!
- Thread starter TheRealMcCoy
- Start date
Member III
There are some antennas marketed as GMRS antennas, Midland offers a couple.
However, if you are looking on your own for other options you can look for a UHF antenna that operates around 462/467 Mhz.
As @Downs noted the antennas your looking for typically operate 450-470Mhz though they won't specifically mention GMRS but will work fine.
Member III
Just kind of getting started in the whole outfitting a rig. Might be a really dumb question but can all three be tied into the same antenna? Maybe should have read the whole thread before posting this...
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Member III
Not really, antennas are frequency specific and the 3 radio services use very different frequencies.
Ham radio (70 cm aka 440 MHz) is close to GMRS (462 and 467 Mhz) but CB is way off at 27Mhz.
Now there are one or two companies that make an antenna for 28Mhz, 50MHz, 144MHz, and 440MHz but when one antenna tries to do all that it doesn't necessarily do all of them well. And since it's not really tuned to CB or GMRS, though close it would not be the best option.
Influencer III
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In general, no. You MIGHT get an antenna braod enough to cover UHF ham and GMRS frequencies, but you'd still need a switch or diplexer of some sort to isolate each radio to prevent destruction of one when the other is transmitting. You'll be better served with an antenna per radio. Locating these becomes another challenge, but that is mostly physical.
It seems more and more that we use GMRS over CB in the last few years in Colorado. The Midland units all work well including the handhelds for easy hiking when you stop for a break.
We've used a CB for many years but now the trend with the groups we go out with is GMRS. I think having both, for a while at least, is good practice. We're in the process of doing a custom install of a Midland MXT275 and 6db antenna in our 4Runner. The video will probably be available in a couple days, if you're interested
.
.I have a 4Runner too so i'd be interested in seeing your install of this. Looks like a good location to hide everything out of sight.
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Radio Communications is one of the seminars I plan to sit in on at MOORE next weekend. That, and I plan on asking a LOT of questions at the first meet-up I go to locally. Haven't played with CB or anything in more than 20 or so years.
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What's the impedence of the CB antenna at 462MHz? And what is the SWR?
Our GMRS radio install and test video is uploaded, if any of you are interested.
We went with the popular Midland MXT275 with 6db antenna. We tested it against our Cobra 75WXST cb with 4' Firestik antenna. The GMRS blew its doors off! But we assumed that would happen. We also tested the range of a couple handheld units. They were pretty impressive too.
We went with the popular Midland MXT275 with 6db antenna. We tested it against our Cobra 75WXST cb with 4' Firestik antenna. The GMRS blew its doors off! But we assumed that would happen. We also tested the range of a couple handheld units. They were pretty impressive too.
Influencer III
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Enthusiast III
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Most new GMRS radios from Midland and BTECH are repeater capable. Yes GMRS Repeaters exist. Check out MyGMRS.com and search your area to see if there are any local, or search where your trip is headed. This is the only GMRS database that I know of. If someone else knows of another, please chime in. It's free to search, and you don't have to join unless you want to chat in the forums.
Advocate III
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How far does a GMS Repeater reach? I’m asking because the closest one is about 100 miles a way with a very tall mountain between us.
Enthusiast III
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Not going to reach it with a mountain between you. Line of sight and all. Otherwise, being UHF it would work like a HAM radio repeater...dependent on terrain, elevation, and transmit power. Try to hit it from the top of that mountain.
Advocate III
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Enthusiast III
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Great answer Prerunner!
Tex.Proud:
I have been to my games.com and tried sending messages by going to the map, clicking the repeater icon and requesting access to the repeater but I have not received any messages back. Am I missing something?
when I hit a repeater is it as simple as choosing the channel and picking a ctcss that the owner selected for it?
thanks,
Enthusiast III
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Correct. Tune to that channel and enter the CTCSS Tone. Depending on the radio you may need to make sure it's set for repeater operation. It transmits on a different frequency than the channel frequency for repeaters.
If it says "Open System" in the repeater info on MyGMRS.com there's no need to request access. Really, as long as you can program the CTCSS there's no way to restrict access to a repeater. It's just an honor system / protocol sort of thing.
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Ive got a GMRS repeater local to me. Its got a 40 or 50 mile radius on it depending on position. We dony have much but rolling terrain here.
They're certainly a lot less common than HAM units and some owners can be quite protective of them. But i get more conversations on it then my local HAM units. Go figure.
Im still trying to convince more in the local Jeep club to make the move.
They're certainly a lot less common than HAM units and some owners can be quite protective of them. But i get more conversations on it then my local HAM units. Go figure.
Im still trying to convince more in the local Jeep club to make the move.
