WRVD487

#1 · November 24, 2022, 6:29 am

Hello everyone!

This is my wife Ramona and myself. We are new to GMRS and our setup is just two little mobile radios by Befenton, model TM-8118. We use the same radio for both home and mobile. At home, the radio is connected to a Pyramid PS14KX power supply with a Diamond x30A antenna mounted on my second floor porch fed by 100 ft RG8x coax cable. ( I may possibly extend the antenna at a different location hence why I needed the extra length). It is mounted underneath my office printer in our home office. In the car, I use the same radio with a Nagoya UT-72 19-inch magnetic mount antenna. We also have two Baofeng UV-82 portables.

Thanks to WRFD401, he informed me about nodes with the use of a Raspberry Pie. I find this technology fascinating, especially with repeater linking! I know nothing on how all this works but I am learning and doing my research. I hate sounding like a rookie but we all have been there once. This is my starting point.

My wife and I have used CB for many years. We actually met through CB 24 years ago. I only wished that we knew about GMRS, repeaters and nodes a long time ago. We are originally from New York City. We moved to Providence in 2013. I work in North Attleboro and again, thanks to WRFD401 with his NA Repeater and thanks to WROV324 with his NP repeater, I have a stable connection to and from work with my wife and everyone else on the repeater network.

Looking forward in getting to know everyone on the network and many thanks for allowing my wife and I to join in!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Best regards,

Armando WRVD487

Uploaded files:

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#2 · November 24, 2022, 6:42 am

Not sure why only 2 photos posted out of the four I have uploaded but here are the others...

Ok so not sure what I'm doing wrong with the photos not uploading. 🙁

(They are under 5mb each and only 4 was submitted but only two were uploaded. Tried the other two to no avail.)

#3 · November 24, 2022, 10:31 am

Welcome to the Network we are happy to have you aboard. You mentioned the 100 foot of coax, just so you know UHF has a lot of signal loss. You can download the loss chart here https://newenglandgmrs.com/library/

If you have to run over 50 feet of coax, be sure to make up for the loss with a high gain antenna. UHF is a lot different then the CB when it comes to your feed line.

Thank for posting the pictures, I'm not sure why the others did not upload. Might be some anti-spam thing that I am not aware of. I am new to WordPress so I have a lot to learn.

Have a nice Thanksgiving, don't eat to much 🙂

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#4 · November 24, 2022, 11:36 pm

I’m am aware of the signal loss but there may be a possibility that I may relocate the antenna from where it is now. Thanks for providing the info chart. My Diamond X30A antenna is currently mounted on the inside of my second floor porch. The only issue with that is that I have an overhang on the porch covering the antenna.

My landlord is very strict about any kinds of antennas mounted on the property. There is a chain link fence on the side of the house as high as almost to the second floor. I was thinking of installing a 20 foot mass pipe with the Diamond X30A antenna onto one of the steel post and just run the coax through the office window to the radio just a few feet away from the window. Should take about 40 feet of coax or less. That should bring the tip of the antenna right at the roof or higher hopefully.

If my landlord rejects that idea then I would have no choice but to leave the antenna where it currently installed and just shorten the coax to about 20 or 30 feet and solder a new PL-259 connector.

I’ll try to upload the two photos that didn’t upload earlier with two additional ones of the antenna. If you don’t see them, then that means they did not upload for some reason. It could be what you said, who knows.

Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Edit: The photos aren't uploading. I even tried just one photo in jpg format about 2mb in size and that still didn't work.

Edit 2: Ok so I figured it out. The photos can not be no larger than 2mb each. I went and resized the photos since they were just a little bit past the limit. Hopefully they upload this time.

Uploaded files:

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#5 · November 25, 2022, 4:21 pm

Very nice setup. The Antenna blends were it is. To bad you can't get it above the roof, but you sound good on the network, so I would leave it as is. Everyone is happy that way.

I know about the pictures, I had the same problem, I had to resize them also.

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#6 · November 25, 2022, 6:33 pm

Thank you. I decided to place it under the printer which sits right in between my workstation and my wife's workstation, that way we can both access the radio easily. I also have a very old scanner there as well that I use to monitor the local Fire Department.

As far as the antenna goes, I really do like how it looks there, although I would prefer it on the outside of the porch but it is what it is for now I guess since I'm not allowed to install it on the roof or anywhere on the exterior of the house. That chain link fence on the left side of the house, which is not shown in the photos (only a short section of it shows towards the front) may be another option since it's a very high fence that almost reaches the second floor. But then again, it may cause an issue with my surrounding neighbors and of course my landlord now that I think of it. Well, like you said, everyone is happy the way it is now. Maybe the next place we move to will allow antennas.

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#7 · December 23, 2022, 1:55 am

So it turns out that the antenna really wasn't at a good spot. I tried repositioning it around the porch to no avail. Everytime I key, there is white noise and a little static with my transmission. I took the chance and installed the antenna on my fire escape. Hopefully this works better. I tried getting a radio check but no one was on at the time. Hopefully there would not be any issues with my landlord.

I was able to get my hands on a Pie 3. I would like to use it as a node for the mobile if possible. I really do like how Hot Spot Radios build their nodes but I am not sure if that is for home use only or does it really matter either way? I also have a Pie 2 and a Pie 400 with the built in keyboard. Check it out here.

My idea would be to use either the Pie 2 or the 400 as a node for the home base and the Pie 3 for mobile. For right now, I would prefer to get the mobile node first then worry about the home base later on if needed since I can hit the NP repeater. If I continue to key with white noise and static, then a node for the home base would probably be ideal. Am I allowed to have more than one node on the network?

#8 · December 25, 2022, 11:37 pm

Merry Christmas!!

I don't have the best of hearing, but I always thought your base radio sounds good. But ask 10 people you will most likely get 10 different reports. 🙂

I have done the mobile node, and they work out pretty good. I have not tested on the Pi 2, but it should work. I am uploading the latest image as I type this. Super easy to setup.

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#9 · December 28, 2022, 9:26 pm

Merry Christmas! Hope you had a great one with the family.

I do have the Pi 3 model B which I would prefer to use for the mobile. If I order the Radio Hat kit from HSR, do I just download that image to the Pi and follow your instructions you have in the library section? I noticed the kit also comes with an SD card with software. I'm a little confused if that is all I need, or do I still need that image you have uploaded?

HSR's order page requires some info such as an Allstar Node number and local node input / output frequencies. Is that something I would have to request from you?

My apologies for asking so many questions.

#10 · December 28, 2022, 10:27 pm

There a few ways you can go, you can send them your Pi and they will build it for you with the GMRSLive image. You can order just the Hat and build it yourself. If you are OK soldering a few wires, that's the best bet. Either way you will have to download our image to get on the New England GMRS Network. The GMRSLive software will not work over here.

Once you have it assembled, put our card in the slot and start the software. You will most likely have to plug in a keyboard and Monitor since you won't know what you IP address is the first time you run it and with out the IP you can't get in with the Putty software.

Follow the prompts like we show on the Setup Page. Once you run through the setup you will have to follow the instructions supplied with the Hat to configure the frequency and PL tones. It is pretty easy.

If this is going to be a mobile unit, I would go with the 462.625 TX & RX with a PL of 100. If it's for the base, you will have to scan the band for a bit to find a clear channel. Kiddies with walkies can be a pain.

If you have any trouble or issues, contact Rob or myself and we will help you out.

And yes you will get your Node number from me. Just send an email to support@newenglandgmrs.com and I will send that out to you.

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