2019 Lone Star Toyota Jamboree @ Barnwell Mountain, Gilmer, TX May 2nd-5th

Why does everyone have to be running 16s

 

I’ve got 17’s

 

Because you are a baller.

But do you want to buy some tires lol.

 

Ha, far from it! 295’s would be too small for the runner I think.

 

Nawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww not at all!

 

​

 

In preparation for Jambo, here is a small sample of the presentation that I will be offering on Friday. I am honored to offer two sessions covering "Radio Communications on the Trail"

This has become a common issue during wheeling weekends, so thought I would share to provide a little self help.

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Some of this content is courtesy of the following

Radioreferance.com

Wikipedia.com

Motorola.com
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But…. If we are both on channel ONE; why can’t we communicate?

That’s a great question, and a common problem

Believe it or not, there are a number of reasons this can happen..

The Channel to Frequency assignments have evolved, and in 2017 the FCC swizzled the FRS and the GRMS frequencies.

Channel “ONE” on old FRS; and old GRMS channel “ONE” are on different frequencies. See the chart below. (I highlighted a common frequency, as an example)


GEEZZ.. How do I tell if I have old VS new frequencies?

Good question, spunky..

The documentation included with your radio will list the channel VS the actual frequency.



You can see, this radio is programmed to the 2017 standard, but was manufactured over 10 years ago.



OK; we have old FRS and GRMS radios, so we just need to select FRS ONE and GRMS NINE and we are all peachy!

Hold on, Buckaroo. Not quite.

Another common problem, is the enablement of a “PL” tone.

CTCSS is often called PL tone (for Private Line, a trademark of Motorola), or simply tone.

Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System or CTCSS is one type of circuit that is used to reduce the annoyance of listening to other users on a shared two-way radio communications channel. It is sometimes referred to as tone squelch. It does this by adding a low frequency audio tone to the voice. If your radio is not set to “Monitor”, “open squelch” or pass audio; CTCSS circuitry mutes those users who are using a different CTCSS tone or no CTCSS. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a sub-channel because no additional channels are created. All users with different CTCSS tones on the same channel are still transmitting on the identical radio frequency, and their transmissions interfere with each other, however the interference is masked under most (but not all) conditions. The CTCSS feature also does not offer any security.

Family Radio Service (FRS), PMR446 and other consumer-grade "bubble pack" radios often include a feature called "Interference Eliminator Codes", "sub-channels", or "privacy codes"

Adding tone or digital squelch to a radio system doesn't solve interference issues, it just covers them up. Interfering signals masked by tone squelch will produce apparently random missed messages. The intermittent nature of interfering signals will make the problem difficult to reproduce and troubleshoot. Users will not understand why they cannot hear a call, and will lose confidence in their radio system. In a worst-case scenario in a life safety environment a missed message, or a misunderstood message, may result in fatalities.

Using coded squelch systems can prevent weak signals from being received, for example, when the person transmitting or receiving is in an area obstructed by buildings or terrain or is a long distance away. A well-tuned receiver that isn't configured to require CTCSS or DCS tones to open the squelch might still carry the weak message along with static noise, while a coded squelch enabled receiver may not perceive the tones and will ignore the message entirely.

OK. I get it. If I have “PL”, “Tone“ , “Privacy code”, “Sub Channels” or whatever else, we just need to set that number to the same value on both radios?

Almost, Skippy. Almost.

Unfortunately.. GMRS/FRS radios offering CTCSS codes typically provide a choice of 38 tones, but the tone number and the tone frequencies used may vary from one manufacturer to another (or even within product lines of one manufacturer) and should not be assumed to be consistent (i.e. "Tone 12" in one set of radios may not be "Tone 12" in another). When a radio offers more than 50 codes (121 is becoming common), the higher ones (e.g. 39–121) are usually DCS codes.

Holy Radio Waves, Batman.. what will we do!!

The solution is most simple, Favorite son..

Disable all “tone” codes on all of your radios. So what, if you hear someone else on your frequency. At least is someone calls for recovery, you could respond.

Below is the display of a typical radio.

Set the Channel to a Channel that you have verified as “common”. Set the “Code” number to ZERO, or NONE.




HEY.. I can hear you now! Can you hear me?



Yes Skippy; I can hear you.. Now, go get a strap.. I’m high centered…Again

 

Very good info here! May I ask that you post it also in this thread? As it IS a common issue, that you addressed very well!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trail-comms-what-and-how-hopefully-a-sticky.603601/

KG5TNK

 

GPS map for Barnwell Mountain

Post up your favorite choices..

Here is one I used last year.

Plus: Zero cost
Super Plus: Seemed to be accurate

For Android and IPhonies

MAPs Me

https://maps.me/


Step one: Install from your store of choice. (no cost, Free)
Step two: Enable GPS
Step Three: Start app, and it should prompt you to download a map, for the area you are in (determined by GPS).

You can also select:

Menu: Download maps:

select United States: Texas (The Great State of)

and then select "Tyler". Gilmer is located in the "Tyler" map data set.
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Step Four: Once installed, just scroll to Gilmer, then Barnwell; and you will see the trails appear.

Ezy Pzy

OK

Your turn

 

Cool, just did it

 

I had ordered an OHV sticker from Texas Parks and Wildlife web site. A month later no sticker, so I shot them an email. 2 weeks later still nothing, so I drove down to Conroe to buy one. TP&W resent one so i have an extra to bring with me in case someone needs it.

 

I'll pick it up from you

 

You got it!

 

Nice! Downloaded.

 

Any chance I could get that from you prior to Jambo?

 

Sure. I'm actually off work early if you want to meet somewhere this evening, or I'll be around this weekend.

 

Sending you a PM

 

Me too...

 

would one of you wonderful citizens REMIND ME to purchase my OHV sticker when I'm at the park?
(Thank you)

 

I had purchased one from their online site as well and never received it, bought another one from 4wheel parts.