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You mean the car battery? The GMRS20V2 is a mobile radio. There would be other symptoms with the vehicle if the battery had an internal short.

Or keep it and use it for spare parts that are common with the 880-1 version. Sometimes finding spare parts for old radios is nearly impossible. That's why a few guys keep junk chassis's around to pick over.

getting that hot, i would suspect something gone wrong with the battery.. i.e. a short ..

To limit range. FRS is intended to be used for short distances using handheld radios and no licenses. As soon as a high gain antenna is installed the range for two watts is basically the same as GMRS radios.

Definitely a problem for it to be that hot. I wouldn’t expect the voltmeter to reflect a significant voltage drop unless your battery were nearly dead. You’d have to view the current on an ammeter to see how much the radio was drawing. Let us know how the replacement works.

Simple Answer - No Suggest You Trade Or Sell The 880-2.

Have you noticed if the radio is getting to hot to hold (i.e. >130F)?

I had it connected to the Midland MXTA25 Ghost and it had an SWR of about 1.05 before the radio crashed. I'm going to get another one and give it one more try. The form factor and convenience is worth the effort.

Used an IR gun after it nearly burned my hands to confirm the actual temp. I had to wear gloves to handle it. I agree that it should not have been that hot but it was turned off but still plugged in. I was curious about the drain as well, but I did not notice any significan draw down on the volt meter on my truck. I did box it up and will exchange it today for another one. When it did work, I was very pleased with it. I was able to hit my preferred repeater in BR from my office parking lot about 25 miles away. The small size was convenient. I wasn't sure how I would like all the controls being on the mic but I eventually found that to be one of the biggest selling points for me.

A dual-band FRS/MURS radio would be extremely useful. FCC would have to change the rules to allow a detachable antenna on FRS. TBH, I don't think it's even on their priority list, so it's not going to happen, but it would be really handy. BTW, what's the reason for requiring a fixed antenna on FRS? I understand the restrictions on bandwidth and power, but not the reason for the fixed antenna.

I've had this same radio in my truck here in Arizona for well over a year and it's still working fine. I monitor the local DPS channels while I'm driving to keep track on what's happening on the roads. It gets really hot inside my truck in the summer here but(knock on wood)the radio keeps working. I really like the controls on the handset as well, I just wish it had more power. My test showed around 16 Watts, not the claimed 20 Watts but most radios I've tested never lived up to the claimed wattage.

I have the ham version of this radio. It's pretty much the archetype of a "cheap Chinese radio", and as such, quality control is very spotty. I burned out the finals on the first one by keying up for a few seconds on an antenna with a high SWR. A few seconds is all it took. However, before that happened, I used it with a Nagoya UT-72 mag mount antenna on a trip from central Oklahoma to western Missouri and had no difficulty communicating with multiple repeaters along the way. While it worked, I was perfectly satisfied with its performance and I really like the form factor and the tiny size, so I bought another one. I've been careful to check SWR on any antenna before I connect the radio and I've had no problems. It works fine on GMRS simplex and repeaters and on ham repeaters. All this is to say that it's likely you just got a lemon due to poor QC. I recommend you send it back for a refund. Whether you replace it with the same radio is up to you. You might get another one that sucks, or you might get one that works just fine. I have read an anecdotal report of the radio getting really hot while plugged in even though it wasn't turned one and another report of it getting "hot enough to scorch the desk" with heavy use, but I haven't experienced any issues with excessive heat. I really like having all the controls in the handset. I wish one of the top-tier or even mid-tier manufacturers would make one like that. There are several with detachable head units, which is better than a conventional radio, but it's not nearly as convenient as having everything in the handset. The CB radio in my truck also has everything in the handset, and it's quite convenient. It might be difficult to cram all the functionality of some of the multi-band ham radios into the handset alone, but for a GMRS or straightforward 2m/70cm unit, there's no reason it couldn't be done with a bit more quality at a reasonable price.

How do you know the temperature of the unit was nearly 200°? If the unit was truly off it should never get that hot unless the inside of your cab was nearly 200°. Was the unit itself in the direct sun? If something inside the radio case is generating that much heat even when off, then there’s a problem. What’s the electrical drain when powered off? It sounds like you should send it in for replacement or a refund.

I got a few radios in trade, including a Kenwood TK-880-2 -- meaning the 485-512 MHz model. I have an 880-1 (which covers the GMRS frequencies) and I love it. Forgive what I'm sure is a whole lot of misunderstanding in the request that follows, I'm still relatively new to amateur radio: Is there an easy way to modify the 880-2 to cover a lower frequency range -- swap crystals/semiconductors? I'm likely going to sell the 880-2, but if there's an easy (I'm handy with a soldering iron) way to get it working on a frequency range I'm licensed for, that would be fun too.

Thank God that the closest affected repeater is 425 air miles, twice the distance of his 200 mile range capability from Phelan, I would think we would be well out of range especially with a hill or two in between the two points. Although, the two Crown King repeaters are at 7,800 feet in elevation, I guess there may be a slight possibility only for his radio.

What radio are you using?

Mine has been working great over 2 years. I'd write btech for an exchange if it doesn't work after a cool down. Sent from my SM-S911U1 using Tapatalk

Not sure what you mean. I believe most repeaters only have one tone. Have you tried clearing things and starting over? Maybe try the other radio. Transmit on one and listen (or have someone listen) on the other. It’s not uncommon to not get an answer back from anyone randomly listening.

I think you are confused with display symbols on your radio. Pull your manual and become familiar with them so you know what they represent. Unless you are on a trunked system, your radio will have no way to detect presence of a repeater while in idle mode. GMRS radios do not operate in Trunk.

With all due respect, go back and read my last comment here, it was very clear. And as stated in prior comment, pulling data still works. It’s just not as easy using common software such as ad Excel.

You seem troubled. You previously described something that by your own admission “used to work” or requires using a compiler. It’s far easier to just run a report to generate the CSV file in a method officially provided by the owner. Premium membership is a small price for such convenience.

There are a couple of possibilities: You are very confused about what your radio is doing/how your radio functions Your radio is broken and my guess is that your radio is not broken.

My radio will show a tower in the display screen for repeaters, in simplex transmissions the tower doesn't show on the display screen. I have all the GMRS repeaters in my area programed into my radio, when someone uses the repeater the tower icon pops up on my display screen. The frequency for GMRS channel 4 does not match any frequency for registered repeaters in my area. It appears someone in my area is using channel 4 on a repeater. I have no clue what's going on or why. At times the transmissions sound like a government organization, other times transmissions are personal in nature.

Thats what I figured, I was afraid that my radios were not working but they seem to work fine. The repeater has a bunch of different tones that work with it, I have tried a few of them with no difference in results.

very limited. And no, not the only way.. as i stated above