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Caca de toro - or BS to those not understanding Tex-Mex. You can't make such a wild assertion without empirical truth to back up your WAG. Hams in my area are actively reaching out to GMRS users to the point where they have collocated GMRS repeaters at their stations. The clubs I belong to are talking to GMRS users and preppers actively helping them make the best use of the equipment they have.

The Hat!!!! With a sad face like that, I feel even worse for him than I did before. Cheer up SoCal. All you have to do is turn your radio around. Now you won't have to throw it in the trash.

Webster defines Hobby as an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. Now, the Amateur Radio Service Operators (a.k.a. Ham Radio) was considered as hobby way before the evolution of GMRS. A majority of the HAM Radio Operators prefer to not associate themselves with GMRS users so there is a good reason for not calling GMRS a hobby since the Hams do not want recognize and/or want to associate with the GMRS users. So, let's not call GMRS a hobby since the Hams hobbyist already call their hobby a hobby. Ham radio hobbyist essentially don't get in involved in or support other hobby activities like GMRS users and groups do. GMRS Users and Gtoups are active people and always on the move and don't sit around. All Ham hobbyists prefer to do is sit around and talk on the radio during POTAs, Nets, and go to Hamfests, so those activities really can't be called a hobby. GMRS people use radios for their selected hobbys, such as hiking, trail riding, and other outdoor hobbies, Ham radio hobbyist don't do that. GMRS radio people are users and/or groups and proud to be a GMRS User..

This is why I started this thread. Exact problem I am having...

I think the concept is that the parts are less valuable than the assembled item. They'd still have to pay a tariff, but it wouldn't be as much as if they shipped a completed item.

I'm almost certain the tariff is on the value of the item at the point at which it enters the US. Most of the retail price is incurred after the item is in the US, so it wouldn't make either logical or economic sense to place a tariff on it at the point of sale.

Ok, thank you! This was was where I think I ended up, leaving the DTCS/Tone off on receive. I'll try to confirm I'm good later today. It's been suggested to me to just get a different radio, but I liked the idea of having the dual band, GPS, etc. as a mobile unit. Thanks again, everyone, for the help.

It is a different anima, even Chirp treats it as one. Very much like the difference between the Baofeng 5RH vs 5RH Pro vs 5RH Pro Max. They look almost identical but they are not. the Pro is not an upgraded version of the 5RH, that is the Pro Max. The Pro has different hardware, this is apparent to me with the Pro having an ASCII handshake vs Binary for almost all their other models.

Well that's different than entering the program mode for the original TDH3. It's just push the PTT and turn the unit on after you've activated the firmware update in the IAP app. We don't need to push the 1 button.

That's also why I typically see P25 radios selling for ridiculously high prices. The seller seems to think everyone is going to get a piece of the government money pie to offset the higher cost. Even used P25 radios seem to be priced at a premium.

All I know - I only have the H3 Plus (beta) - is this is for the FW released today for that specific model, FW 1.19.

Correct. Usually. That is not the case with this update. After failing, you cannot get into DFU mode (PTT+1+Power). The keypad lights up and nothing happens. The expected behavior would include the two LEDs on the top turning green. No joy. 100% of the 21 people I know (there's an FB group for this beta radio) have the identical result. It fails with a checksum error about 75% in. It attempts a repair 4 times, then it gives a fatal error. And fatal is accurate at this time.

Is this just on the H3 PLUS firmware? Stock firmware? The TD-H3 (original) update files seem to be named different from that... latest for the (NON PLUS) version seems to be H3_250317 Does anyone know anything good or bad about that one?

Usually with this type of hardware you can just put the previous firmware back into the machine and get it going again. It has a ROM memory that is the basis of the radio and the firmwares just update that without affecting it. So turning the radio off, push the PTT and use the previous version and it should start up again.

Firmware 1.19 is bricking radios. So far 100% of people applying the new FW have a dead unit. If you have one, do NOT do the FW to 1.19. TID is aware of the issue. No resolution has been communicated yet.

Tram 1711 on my Outback. SWR is 1.02 in the middle of the VHF band, no higher than 1.22 at either edge. A bit higher (1.3-1.4) in the UHV range but still acceptable. Rx and Tx range is acceptable considering vertical location and length of antenna (40-50 miles with 5-9 signal reports at 40w VHF and 25W UHF.

I did look at their site and also Baofeng which does not show any firmware updates.. I remember reading here at some point that both BTECH and Baofeng radios are identical radios but i don't know if that is confirmed or not. Hell, i have an old Baofeng UV-5R laying around i never use, I'll try the BTECH firmware update on it. . If it bricks the radio,, the trash can will own it..

I believe the new encryption and radio inoperability requirements for Federally and some States funded systems may be the reason why most agencies are migrating to P25 Phase 2 Sysitems

That sounds more like a language barrier. Is it still under warranty?

I purchased an RT92 repeater, programmed up and for the site one last programming check, front display didn't come and didn't work, sent a nice email to support......reply was "RT92 no longer available, we have no answer", 1800.00 dollars for no longer available a no answer?

According to the first sentence it’s for the GMRS-Pro or UV-Pro. You might want to look at the BTECH site.

Is that firmware good for all UV-5R"s Baufangs included?

The issue of harmonics isn't as simple as it seems. Harmonics at the wrong frequency can mix with a wanted signal to generate a signal frequency which will appear in the radio's IF stage. This unwanted signal generation can even take place in the radio's front end amplifier stages before the mixer. That's why better radios have tunable front end filters before the RF amplifier stages. They can be adjusted on the fly to limit the bandwidth of the signal to just the range the radio is designed to receive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_response I've attached a section of a schematic for a very basic Kenwood TK-3360 16 channel analog only commercial radio. The signal path from the antenna to the first IF amp is the heavy black line. The electronically tuned band pass filter is in the red box. Many cheaper radios don't have this, particularly the CCR's. This is why many people prefer to use the more expensive commercial radios.

I have no idea if it’s related, but BTECH posted this notice: Monday, April 7, 2025 ARLINGTON, SD – If you own a GMRS-PRO or UV-PRO from BTECH, the new 0.8.3 firmware update is worth your attention and comes packed with fixes and improvements. One of the biggest highlights is the UV-PRO’s refreshed display, which is much easier to read in direct sunlight. Both radios also get a fix for a stubborn receive problem that showed up when NOAA alerts were enabled. This bug sometimes caused weaker reception and odd scanning behavior. It’s finally gone, and the radios now handle NOAA alerts the way they were always meant to. Below, you’ll find a full breakdown of what’s changed and why it matters.

They have 1035 transmitters. Currently 20 transmitters are down.