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This bubbled up on my local feed today. I am not sure if this was an honest error or if this dude was legit trying to get into the law enforcement system, but the FCC only sent a no-no letter. Part of me thinks that if it was an honest error and the person was just trying to repurpose the radio, that's fine... don't do it again. Another part of me is thinking "he admitted to putting the radio on that frequency himself, which implies some nefarious behavior and he should get more than a warning." Anyway, just a reminder to try not to cause interference when you are attempting to repurpose those older LMR Part 90 radios. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-410850A1.pdf Snip of text...

No, not GMRS, ham. Sorry for the crossover.

I really like the 5RM (AR-5RM, UV-5RM). It has all the features I would ask for in an entry-level HT. As much power as is practical in an HT, 3 power level selections, 3 bands tx/rx, airband and NOAA rx, USB charging, and it uses accessories which are robustly supported. IMO, the UV-5r is too small to manipulate easily, but the 5RM is a good size and it feels solid in the hand. In fact, I don't have any significant complaints about it. I have a couple of spares unopened, but so far, neither of my "regular use" 5RMs have shown any sign of quitting. I invariably get signal reports of full quieting on repeaters. Some users have reported that they get poor audio output quality, but I haven't experienced that. It doesn't do digital modes, and I'll want that eventually, which is why I describe it as an "entry-level" radio, but that isn't a factor on GMRS and it may be all the HT radio you ever need for simplex and GMRS usage. It remains to be seen how well it will hold up over time, but it was so inexpensive that I bought spares, so I'm not too concerned about that.

Just an FYI.. One thing I did not understand about my RA87 is that certain menu features can easily become deactivated as you experiment with the buttons/settings. On page 9 (see Channel Display) is a list of these menu functions. Please note the reference for a simple RESET process of pressing the REV button while pressing/powering up the RA87. This info might help you as you experiment. When you wrote Pre-programmed channels, I don't know if you are referring to the limited factory test channels or channels you manually entered or entered using software. I highly recommend Chirp software for the programming of your radio. A valuable evolution is to use Chirp to save your Code-plug/choices, and then write the CP to the radio again after any experimenting goes sideways. Afterwards, your RA87 channels' names are displayed again --- provided you set your Chirp settings to show channels by Name instead of by Frequency. Chirp is your friend. In case you do not have your original manual: https://www.retevissolutions.com/Assets/files/20230518/1000309129/RA87-ENGLISH-MANUAL--1-.pdf Best Regards!

Right. It happens easier than most think, and I'm sure Many have decided to let a ham license lapse, or a commercial, or gmrs license lapse, then one day you decide to make the investment again ... Guess what ? Too many Frn's and which one was which ? The gentleman I talked with at CORES said this happens quite often, and sometimes even the commission has been known to mouse up your file and Frn's as well.

I do as well, 40+ years worth in technology and coms. But AI is not something the industry has explored enough with yet, and autonomous learning in certain devices needs to be handled carefully.

That's because you have radios from a vendor who either feels that a) what you got was good enough, b) you don't need to know what was fixed, and/or c) if we deign to provide firmware to you out of the goodness of our hearts and it bricks your radio, tough - buy another one. For a look at what REAL firmware release notes look like, and the sorts of new features that can be provided: vers.pdf

It’s possible that the club license is grandfathered. Since 2017 no new club GMRS licenses have been issued.

that would be an interesting one to look up.. Hmmm Alias name? is that legal?

For GMRS? When did the club get its license?

The meter working was as addition. Before it just indicated it was receiving a signal. No it also shows a basic signal strength.

I’d be very willing to bet the owners manual says how to do this. If not I’d also bet there are already several places and tutorials online that could have helped faster than posting here. I’d even bet if you just started pushing buttons you would eventually figure it out.

In 30years and 1000s of radios I’ve never once not ever never before have I done one firmware upgrade or down load or what ever and every radio that I still own still work like the day I got them. What Is the big deal about firmware. Other then I’ve seen many a radio bricked because of it. Why? Who cares? if the radio didn’t work in the first place why wasn’t it returned? Such as above noting the meter works. If a radio doesn’t work out of the box it goes back. End of story. As for new features? Why it’s a radio. It tx and rx on 22 + 8 channels and it has dcs and cts tones. That’s all it needs to do. Everything else is just more junk to go wrong.

Our club owns several repeaters, which operate under the club call sign. A "trustree" carries the club license (and responsibility) for their operation.

Interesting! I know the KG1000G Plus, as do several of the KG series hand-held GMRS radios, have an intermittent issue with the CTCSS and DCS squelch not opening, some times with some radios. I have noted the problem when trying to receive other Wouxuns, Motos, and WLN's, as well as possible other brands. I have experienced this with every Wouxun KG GMRS radio I have owned, as well as a few that friends owned. Many have been quick to tell me they never experienced the problem. I guess they have been very lucky, I have been very unlucky, or they haven't used their Wouxun KG's in CTCSS/DCS mode enough, yet. A few weeks ago, I reprogrammed a friend's 50V2 for him. He had been experiencing similar problems with a DPL repeater. He could Xmit and key up the repeater, but the repeater was not opening the DPL squelch on his receiver. I checked. He had the proper DPL code set for encode and decode in his radio. For the heck of it, I tried using my KG935G Plus on that repeater's output to see if it would open his DPL decoder. It would not. Sounds like another decoder issue. I re-programmed his radio with my normal format for GMRS channels 1 thru 30. I then added all the repeaters he wanted. This time, just in case, I programmed each repeater to encode and decode its respective PL or DPL, followed in the next channel slot with the same parameters but encoding only and receiving in Carrier Squelch (CSQ) mode. That way, if his radio started acting up as it had done with the DPL protected repeater, he could move up one channel slot and hear with CSQ. We tried it out on the antenna at a mutual friend's home where I was programming it. All PL protected channels worked as they should, to include the DPL protected repeater channel that would not open up for the repeater or my ht. When my friend got his radio home, he reported all channels worked (and decoded) as they should. A week or two later, the finals in his 50V2 burned out, same as his first 50V2, which this one replaced. I have one UV5G Plus. I use it in the house to monitor two repeaters, 24/7. Thus far, I have experienced no decoder issues but I am painfully aware that just because I haven't, doesn't mean you did not. To the credit of Baofeng, I have owned or used several UV5R's and UV5G's and never experienced a decoder issue.

Man, you guys are going extreme. Next you'll attempt to put a condom on a pachyderm. Just wrap it with good quality 3M electrical tape and be done with. I have wrapped with that stuff and it's still working after 30 years. You can get rolls of 2" wide from your local utility worker for free, just ask.

Most updates are released to fix bugs the software developer overlooked while rushing to get the product out the door and on the market. You're the customer and have no need to know what was done in the firmware.

You will likely have better results with CTCSS as it is analog tones instead of digital codes. For a somewhat strained comparison, consider an over-used VHS tape (if you're old enough to remember such things) - it's analog and when there's a worn spot on the tape you get streaks of the wrong color on the screen, or the picture rolls, or something similar that usually clears up. Compare that to a scratched DVD where the picture will just turn into a bunch of digital blocks and freeze, and you can't even fast-forward your way out of it. That's digital.

I hate updates that either just appear with no documentation whatsoever, or with something that says "fixed some bugs, added features". That's why the firmware release notes for the BTECH BF-F8HP Pro list every single thing that was changed, even if it is something the user will never encounter (how often do people go into the power-up diagnostic info menu?). Unfortunately, the only radio I have that level of control over is the BF-F8HP Pro.

Thanks. I like the bubble wrap description

Some of the radios do not have that option but I put the squelch to 1 when I started having this issue. I am in the process of changing to CTCSS. Got access to a couple of the remote radios today so will be able to do more real world testing soon.

All radios listed in my original post have the issue at one time or another.

The signal meter works.

I've tried to keep up to date on the firmware for my H-3 radio(s) and sometimes I find out about a new feature released through a YouTube video or browsing a forum. But earlier this year they released the .BIN file that upgraded my radio to version 250317 and I don't see any difference between that and my previous version of 240702. Does anybody know what the newer software does? I stepped through all the menu items side-by-side but didn't see any difference. And in GMRS mode, it still won't transmit on any stored channel over location 054. I like the radios, I just wish I knew more about what they're doing. (Mods: Almost all the posts about the TID H-3 seem to be in General Discussion so I posted here. If it's the wrong place, please correct.