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Welcome to the forum, Pedro. There is a wealth of knowledge on this online community/forum with lots of folks willing to share and help. Ask questions and have fun!

Welcome to the forum, Nate! And welcome to GMRS radio. Are there other things you should know before using it? Probably not. Just have fun and be polite and everything will be fine.

Welcome, Nate! If I were you I would find some Notarubicon videos that address your interests. He has them on many different topics that relate to GMRS. Of course the regulations specific to GMRS are here: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E

Welcome!! Have a couple of those 15-pros arriving tomorrow Love Puerto Rico

Welcome. You are in the right place. There is a ton of information and very helpful people here, so I recommend you join and look around. First thing? Turn it on and hit the scan button. You may hear someone. If you do, push the PTT button and say hi.

Welcome! Feel free to register here now that you are licensed

Oh it’s the official CPS software Thank you

Isn’t every radio a Control Station then? And I absolutely agree that I don’t think it makes sense to exclude base stations.

https://baofengtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/F8HP-125m-release.zip

Because that radio, bolted to your desk with a power supply and a big antenna on your roof becomes a "control station" if you are talking through a repeater. That's clearly defined in Part 95. I know at least one or two people are going to loudly disagree with me but they are already on my ignore list. I think this is probably thread number 7.5 debating this in the last two years. If folks "interpret" the rules differently (which means they don't understand them) that's nice for them. Doesn't affect me or the 1000s of other folks with GMRS "control stations".

Hello… I'm new to 5W handheld radios. I did get the GMRS license and I have read to basic rules… are there any other things I should know before using it? thanks in advance, Nate

If you want too…sorry for the delay to answer

but a fixed station is

Download link to Terry CPS please

Yep, I think it is. It's just well set up so it's easy to get around on and you have access to all the radio functions.

CPS easier than Chirp?

The thing that really sets the BF-F8HP Pro ahead of the others is the CPS. It makes it really easy to program the radio. We have Terry to thank for that.

It says that clearly. But why should there be a difference between a 'mobile' radio talking through a repeater, and the exact same radio used as a 'base station,' bolted to my desk or whatever with an antenna on the roof, talking through a repeater? That's the part that doesn't make any sense to me. I don't do that. I'm not the 'hop on the wednesday night net' type and have little use for a radio that's not in a vehicle or backpack. But I don't get why putting the radio in a fixed location should change anything about its legality.

Oh dear! That was my experience when I purchased a triband HT specifically to add 220 MHz coverage. That HT has been collecting dust for years now.

Doesn’t the Quenshang UV-K5(8) family of radios have the most sophisticated library of alternative firmwares at this point? For about $20 from AliExpress and the free IJV-3 firmware, I finally have a 5 watt HT thst an communicate with 2 meter SSB Ham Radio stations. With my 5/8 2 meter telescoping antenna I made a 65 mile QSO to another Ham and he found my DSB transmission good reception quality.

What’s vague about it? Base stations are not listed as being permitted to transmit on the 467 main channels. That’s pretty clear.

A rule soooo vague.. you just do what you think and you be safe, But only if your are concerened anyway... The older i get the less concerned i get

What you said: common sense is free....

I like the Baofeng K61. It covers pretty much all the frequencies I want, including the 1.25 meter band. It's intermediate in size between the UV-5r and the Uv-5RM, which is handy because it's small enough to shove into a pocket but not too small to be easily manipulated. In terms of features, as far as I can tell, the UV-5RM Pro GPS is virtually identical to the BF-F8HP Pro except for the ability to update the firmware in the future. It's about 2/3 the price of the F8Hp. I guess it's a matter of how much you care about the ability to update firmware.