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Old 04-07-2017, 06:53 PM   #2
Radio
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Fayetteville, GA, USA
Posts: 3,017
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Welcome aboard.

In a rural area, a handheld isn't going to do a whole lot with repeaters 7 miles away. You need a good dual band mobile rig with a decent antenna. I'm running up to 50 watts out into a 5/8 wave magmount in the middle of the truck roof. Perhaps a better antenna would be the next step, in preparation for the mobile rig and just run the HT into that for a while. HT antennas are poor performers.

And it's sadly true that a lot of casual everyday conversations that used to keep repeaters so busy they were almost useless, are now gone to other media, so the repeaters are nearly useless for lack of participation. The chatter on all my local ARES and club machines is not what it was years ago.

You might look to see if there are any local nets you could check into. Perhaps the locals would be more likely to respond to someone they've already spoken to.

As far as upgrading to general and getting a nifty HF rig? Yes. You should definitely do both. Just because the opportunity is there, if for no other reason.

Some of the other guys will be along to help. Knowing what your RV set up is like would help us help.
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KU4OJ "Wade" Ships Captain, CFO, Chief Engineer
KG4DQQ "Kathy" 1st Officer, Navigator, Best Friend
2007 F-150 SuperCab - 2009 Rockwood 8280SS
Lot's of mostly Kenwood stuff

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