All Activity

I just picked up an H8 HAM bundle off Amazon. I've unlocked it for all frequencies. When I tested the power output on High Power I got 11w on MURS 1, about 9w on 146.200, 8w on 446.00, 6.5w on GMRS 1 and 5.5w on 467.725. The power definitly drops as the frequencies go up.

Yeah Negative Nancy is being real helpful again isn't he.

Oook.

Good comment ...

GMRS is another tool in the toolbox. Where some people might not have a ham license, the Gmrs license is good alternative. Even MURS is a good choice for people without Any license.

I have to agree with what @BoxCar, @SteveShannon, and @AdmiralCochrane said. My local club is quite friendly to GMRS users. We have our GMRS repeater setup at the same site as our 2m repeater and main 70cm repeater. We also encourage GMRS users that are not club members to use the repeater. We had a few naysayers when we started discussing GMRS. We sold the idea to them by letting them know that GMRS is another tool in the toolbox for emergency communications if/when needed. The other main reason we used is that GMRS is an easy way to get into two communications and some GMRS users might use it as a stepping stone to get their amateur license. And we don't have any problem if people that have their GMRS license never get their amateur license. A lot of the naysayers ended up getting their GMRS licenses after we put the GMRS repeater on the air. And they enjoy and use the GMRS repeater on a regular basis.

Well, it's take a few weeks getting all the bits and bobs to complete my mobile radio setup. This involves (for the present) one radio, Radioddity DB20-G, cup holder mount, four antennas, one mag mount, an NMO mount (permanently installed on one vehicle), a AC to DC power pack and an old unused Max Expedition Fat Boy pack. My primary vehicle is a Toyota Tacoma. So, the NMO mount is permanently installed on the rear of the truck. The other two vehicles '82 Jeep CJ and '78 Ford LTD II Sports Touring Edition will use the mag mount as will the "base station". Four antennas because I couldn't find a satisfactory way to carry one, so those live in each vehicle and my den. Although I likely will install some sort of permanent antenna at the house. With this setup I can simple grab the bag and have everything I need to be up and transmitting in just a couple of minutes. I'm in the programming phase with the radio. Currently using factory software. Frankly the programming is a heck of a lot simpler than what I used to do with process control equipment, just repetitious as all get out. But, I have tested tested all of the installations and my SWR ranges from 1.01 to 1.03.

Keep after Retevis! I have had positive results with Retevis Support in China AFTER they understood what I needed them to do for me. I became convinced over time that the agent, that I was working with, was having a Major Failure to translate/understand my written points/claims/needs. The Agent was always businesslike in written form but clearly did not understand English very well. This Agent was not advising me of any action they planned to take and it was mostly just unknown if they planned to do anything for me. Ample emails were sent every few days including numerous "proof" pictures ---that I thought they could use to ensure I was being honest with them. Each time I worded my email a little differently trying harder to get my points across -- and so that someone over there might understand and pass this need up the chain for a command decision. After several more emails were sent to China ( thread style with all replies copied in) I finally received a message from a different person asking me to explain the problem / what I needed. I believe he was probably a Supervisor with more English comprehension and authority. I sent him the email thread and my pictures. The result was a fast response and immediate action was taken. The issue was resolved. WOW! That took time and effort but I was made whole once I got to the right person. Best Regards!

Hams in my area are completely friendly to GMRS. Maybe a reciprocity problem some places.

I missed the hat. That’s a classic!!!

This is my experience as well. Most hams are welcoming GMRS users. I’m sure some of that is motivated by a hope that people will want to expand into amateur radio.

Caca de toro - or BS to those not understanding Tex-Mex. You can't make such a wild assertion without empirical truth to back up your WAG. Hams in my area are actively reaching out to GMRS users to the point where they have collocated GMRS repeaters at their stations. The clubs I belong to are talking to GMRS users and preppers actively helping them make the best use of the equipment they have.

The Hat!!!! With a sad face like that, I feel even worse for him than I did before. Cheer up SoCal. All you have to do is turn your radio around. Now you won't have to throw it in the trash.

Webster defines Hobby as an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. Now, the Amateur Radio Service Operators (a.k.a. Ham Radio) was considered as hobby way before the evolution of GMRS. A majority of the HAM Radio Operators prefer to not associate themselves with GMRS users so there is a good reason for not calling GMRS a hobby since the Hams do not want recognize and/or want to associate with the GMRS users. So, let's not call GMRS a hobby since the Hams hobbyist already call their hobby a hobby. Ham radio hobbyist essentially don't get in involved in or support other hobby activities like GMRS users and groups do. GMRS Users and Gtoups are active people and always on the move and don't sit around. All Ham hobbyists prefer to do is sit around and talk on the radio during POTAs, Nets, and go to Hamfests, so those activities really can't be called a hobby. GMRS people use radios for their selected hobbys, such as hiking, trail riding, and other outdoor hobbies, Ham radio hobbyist don't do that. GMRS radio people are users and/or groups and proud to be a GMRS User..

This is why I started this thread. Exact problem I am having...

I think the concept is that the parts are less valuable than the assembled item. They'd still have to pay a tariff, but it wouldn't be as much as if they shipped a completed item.

I'm almost certain the tariff is on the value of the item at the point at which it enters the US. Most of the retail price is incurred after the item is in the US, so it wouldn't make either logical or economic sense to place a tariff on it at the point of sale.

Ok, thank you! This was was where I think I ended up, leaving the DTCS/Tone off on receive. I'll try to confirm I'm good later today. It's been suggested to me to just get a different radio, but I liked the idea of having the dual band, GPS, etc. as a mobile unit. Thanks again, everyone, for the help.

It is a different anima, even Chirp treats it as one. Very much like the difference between the Baofeng 5RH vs 5RH Pro vs 5RH Pro Max. They look almost identical but they are not. the Pro is not an upgraded version of the 5RH, that is the Pro Max. The Pro has different hardware, this is apparent to me with the Pro having an ASCII handshake vs Binary for almost all their other models.

Well that's different than entering the program mode for the original TDH3. It's just push the PTT and turn the unit on after you've activated the firmware update in the IAP app. We don't need to push the 1 button.

That's also why I typically see P25 radios selling for ridiculously high prices. The seller seems to think everyone is going to get a piece of the government money pie to offset the higher cost. Even used P25 radios seem to be priced at a premium.

All I know - I only have the H3 Plus (beta) - is this is for the FW released today for that specific model, FW 1.19.

Correct. Usually. That is not the case with this update. After failing, you cannot get into DFU mode (PTT+1+Power). The keypad lights up and nothing happens. The expected behavior would include the two LEDs on the top turning green. No joy. 100% of the 21 people I know (there's an FB group for this beta radio) have the identical result. It fails with a checksum error about 75% in. It attempts a repair 4 times, then it gives a fatal error. And fatal is accurate at this time.

Is this just on the H3 PLUS firmware? Stock firmware? The TD-H3 (original) update files seem to be named different from that... latest for the (NON PLUS) version seems to be H3_250317 Does anyone know anything good or bad about that one?

Usually with this type of hardware you can just put the previous firmware back into the machine and get it going again. It has a ROM memory that is the basis of the radio and the firmwares just update that without affecting it. So turning the radio off, push the PTT and use the previous version and it should start up again.