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This is correct. A phone that has been turned off but still has its battery in can be traced through the built in GPS chip. And most new phones don't have an easy way to remove the battery. As far as the rioters using GMRS or amateur radios without licenses, I don't they even care.

Surprised it wouldn't put out full wattage. Those packs can put out some good amperage.

It's just a ping. Sends out the phone ID, ratting you out. Yes it would make it harder, but not impossible. Best option is to leave your phone. And while an HT is an open communication it doesn't ID itself or give it's position away easily. You can communicate discretely while not technically legal it gives an alibi.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t replace it yourself for just the price of the parts. See if the LED is getting voltage. It’s probably less than a volt to turn on and under 1.3 volts (dc) at max brightness. If it’s not getting voltage then it’s probably one of the chips upstream. Just trace them upstream. Or just start by changing the LED.

As long as they don't use on of those radios wtih GPS in them

Afraid not... oh well; will probably buy another one. Maybe I'll try a Retevis and see how they hold up.

Yeah I checked that. Thanks!

I checked the menu and it was not set at 0 so I am guessing it is a hardware problem. Like I said it works great in bright light so technically still useable!

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about it being a surface mount. Out of warranty and Btech said they would charge me around $150 to replace it. Thanks for responding.

No, and when I called Btech they wanted to charge me around $150 to replace/fix it.

I have a 25' telescoping mast from Max Gain Systems and a mount I can attach to the trailer hitch of the truck or RV. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't prohibitively expensive either.

I've used one to power a base unit in my living room. It wouldn't do the full 50 watts, but it worked fine otherwise.

Of course, but anecdotally at least, it seems like there's a whole lot more DB20-G / AT779UV / RA-25s out there than DB25-Gs, which would *seem* to have made it a better candidate. But I really have zero visibility into whatever logic they use to choose what radios to develop drivers for.

Would having it turned off make it harder for them to do that?

That might work. Strong signals can leak through those bags. If the cops are operating a Stingray machine it might be close enough to ping the phone in the bag.

Faraday bag doesn't care if your phone is on/off/battery removed. As an aside, late third generation Toyota Tacomas had a fob to open and start the truck. Someone figured out the fob was constantly sending out it's signal unless steps were taken to shut it down. Didn't take crooks long to figure out how to intercept the signal, clone your fob and then just drive away in your truck. I'm pretty religious about disabling my fob, but sometimes even I forget. So, it automatically goes in a small faraday pouch.

Off is not off with a cell phone. It's still pinging unless the battery is removed.

i think it is safe to say that most people know to turn your phone off when attending anything political and defiantly a riot. I've known this for a least 3 years now and i did when i attended a confrence on voter fraud in Utah in 2023.

They will learn the value of using radios after the tracking-data from their phones are used during their trails to prove they were at the scene of their crime.

There are lots of power supply options today. Jump packs, as I mentioned, can do much more than jump start a car. I use small lithium units for things like my insulin refrigerator. Decades of using frozen media to keep it cool ended when we get usable/portable power supplies. For all the scare tactics about lithium, it's a heck of a lot less potentially dangerous than the tank of gas you drive around all day.

Thanks everyone for the battery education. I was concerned because the power supply I purchased (above) has a warranty dependent on the buyer cycling the unit every quarter from 0% - 60%, while storing at 30%. I have done this once so far with no issues going to 0%, so the BMS must be kicking in at some point. The app offers complete control over the charging SOC, so I may set the lower limit to something other than zero, just to be safe.

I don't know... I am guessing they are all using their phones to text each other. I doubt that "walkie-talkies" are even in the world-scope of any of the protestors. To the younger generation radios are so "retro"

I have not heard anything on GMRS/FRS channels or repeaters about the protests or riots or anything so far

I didn't pick up anything on the repeaters that cover the downtown are and my own. If they are using simplex they'd have to be in a high rise to have line of site with me. So I didn't pick up anything with my radio set to scan. But, I am on the coast so it's a few miles away and if they were on the ground they are in urban canyons. About the only thing happening is some idiot transmitting rap music on 462.575. But we get idiots like that from time to time.

How do they know the users were GMRS licensees or using GMRS radios? My money would be on FRS, and like @AdmiralCochrane, I'd be more surprised if they didn't use them. It's kind of an obvious tool for quick coordination. And, yes, I have no doubt law enforcement agencies are listening.