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If God the FCC gave us 50 watt channels, I'm gonna use all 50 watts. Edit: Theoretically. All I have are a bunch of 5W handhelds. But I would if I could!

Allow me to rephrase: Please do not try to make GMRS something that it is not, nor is intended to be.

I still need to get out and give it a try on some of the further repeaters. I really want to give it a try on simplex to see if I can TX/RX further.

Using the lowest power that will do the job goes all the way back to my military and law enforcement careers a good 40 years before I got a ham license.

Make sure you do as @OffRoaderX suggests to prevent desense. Also, with DCS there’s both a normal and inverted codes. Make sure you use the right one. If it doesn’t have an I after the code it’s assumed N. Finally, I recommend leaving the receive squelch tone or code unprogrammed at first. That way you hear everything.

Get back 100 feet and try again..

Yes, I am. The Midland does see it as a repeater channel because it has an 'rp' next the channel number.

Very close. I also moved back about 20 feet and still nothing.

No REAL (meaning not H.A.M.s disguised as GMRS users) GMRS users think this or do this..or care.. Please do not drag your H.A.M.s radios dogma into GMRS

Just to expand a little on what @SteveShannon said, it's considered good manners to use the lowest power that will accomplish the mission. If you only need 0.5 watt, use that, but you're not going to be raided by the FCC Police if you use 5 watts. Also, just because you're on one of the higher-power channels, you don't have to use the full power.

Have you noticed a major improvement in reach/distance with the yagi?

Are you using a repeater channel?

How close is the Baofeng to the Midland when you are testing?

I am using a local repeater on 462.600. Works fine with my Baofeng HTs. Input and output tones are DCTS 246. I programmed the Baofengs with CHIRP. The Midland cannot be programmed. You have to use the menus on the unit. I turned on the repeater settings using the Midland menu. I can hear traffic from my HT through the repeater. I can talk from my Baofeng to the Midland just fine. But I cannot transmit to the Baofeng from the Midland. I set the DCS Privacy number to 90 which corresponds to DCS code 246 according to the chart in the Midland manual. I am pretty new to GMRS. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks, David

I made a mistake once. I bought an eraser. Waste of money.

Based on what he wrote in his post, I didn't pick up on that. At first, I did think that may have been the case and I did go back and reread the post a couple times and didn't see a connection in the possibility. I did think can anybody be that stupid and if they were, they wouldn't even know what a dummy load is, and even a have an ounce of intelligence to get a picture of one. I guess I incorrectly assumed and added another second mistake in my life to my long list of second mistakes. Now, if he was using a VHF Phantom (stubby) antenna from that retailer in that town near the Dunes on the Central California Coast as an example, those antennae would be an excellent example and equivalent to a dummy load, and I would have had a better understanding and example what was being conveyed.

Don’t worry about the microphone jack, just plug in the headphones to the earphone jack, leaving the other jack empty. You’ll probably need a single 2.5 mm plug to 3.5 mm jack adapter.

My radio has the typical 2 prong Kenwood connection, I don't use it to communicate I just like to listen to it with my headset sometimes while cutting the grass or working outside so I can listen to random chatter or what not... Anywhoozle, Im new to this so please don't rag on me if this is common knowledge but when I try to find an adapter to go from the radios 2 prong to the 3.5mm headset jack they all seem to be with mics and ptt buttons. Isn't there a cheap easy Kenwood 2 prong adapter to audio only 3.5mm? I did try to search but I'm fairly Internet illiterate so again, if this is a stupid question please forgive me. Thanks! Bill WSJQ725

You’re right about everything, although you don’t have to stick to the lower power channels if you need the higher power. Welcome!

Just looking for a point of clarification, I recently got my GMRS liscence and call sign and it's my understanding that only one person in a group needs a license so when I go camping with my family I can give them all radios and they covered by my license? Also looking for some clarification on etiquette via using GMRS/FRS for family communication. I would assume we should stick to the low power channels, obviously avoid a channel someone else is using but if I find an empty channel I'm free to use it for basic chit chat with my family or is that frowned upon and it's polite to stick to short check ins only? Do they need to use my call sign when signing off or anything? Just trying to use the radios in a friendly matter and not be annoying. Thanks in advance! Bill WSJQ725

Ah. Sometimes that stuff doesn't come across well in writing.

I think he knows that. I believe it's called being "facetious."

I have the tri-band version of this radio. They've done something goofy so that depending upon how you set the speaker preferences and/or which jack you insert the external speaker plug into, you get UHF on one speaker and VHF on another OR left side on one speaker and right side on another. Try setting the "Deputy channel mute" to "off" and see if that helps. I solved the problem by getting a stereo-to-mono adapter plug, inserting it into the top jack, and plugging my speaker into that so all the sound comes out one speaker and I can adjust volume on both sides with their respective knobs.

Yeah, well, he's wrong.

LOL! I keep forgetting to check the dates on the threads. I was trying to be helpful, but apparently just beclowned myself.