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Hmmm... That's a thought. I'll try that.

Just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating, I tried it gain just now with the 7900. Same antenna, same settings, only changing repeaters. It worked just fine with the Retevis but would not open the BTech. Based upon my (admittedly limited) knowledge of how radios work, this shouldn't be possible.

Try disabling tone on the repeater input. At least it will rule out incompatibility of the tone settings between the radio and repeater.

Read the entire post. I tested the TYT radios on a Retevis RT97L with the exact same settings and they worked. I used half a dozen antennas including the ones that worked just fine with the QYT and the AnyTone. Yes, I checked SWRs on all of the antennas and they were all below 2.0:1. Everywhere from my driveway to several miles away. I carried an HT to make sure I had contact with the repeater at the tested distance. No kidding, Sherlock? Of course it should. That's why I'm baffled.

All the Sky Warn Nets (weather reporting) are normally done on local 2m repeaters. That's not to say a local group could not run a Sky Warn Net on GMRS as long as the repeater owner is okay with it and you have people that can report directly to the NWS. We do not use our GMRS repeater for Sky Warn Nets but most of us do monitor it just incase during severe storms. We were asked about running a Sky Warn Net on GMRS but that would take away from our 2m Sky Warn Net as we are only allowed so many people that can actually report directly to the NWS. We don't have enough people that can report to the NWS to run two nets at the same time.

First off. Are the TYT radios that you are trying unlocked for GMRS? I ask because the TH-7800, TH-7900, and TH-9800 are amateur band only from the factory. Which means they won't transmit on GMRS. Next What antenna(s) are you using and have you checked the SWR on them? How far away are you from the repeater the trying to talk with the TYT radios? I have two TH-7800 radios that have been unlocked and they will connect to any and all repeaters I can reach as long as I have the tones correctly programmed. I've talked on BTech, Bridgecom, Motorola Quantar and other brands of GMRS repeaters without any issue. Double check your setting on the radio as it should work no matter what brand of repeater you are using.

Compander = Compression/Expander It's a method to re-constitute your voice after the insignificant audio has been squeezed out of it. Just like concentrated Orange Juice doesn't taste the same as fresh squeezed - Compandered audio isn't the same as the Original audio. For 12.5 narrowband, it was considered a win in the overall audio picture, but you gave up some tonal quality while it did reduce background noise and hiss. In 25 kHz wideband, I never really saw the benefit to using it. It's also a system wide setting, so if only one radio on your channel is using it, all the other units will not hear him clearly & vice/versa. Better to have everyone using the Compander feature, and not all radios offer the feature - and not all radios treat the compandered audio exactly the same during compression/expansion. It can lead to odd sounding audio. I've also seen some radios display a lack of sensitivity at the edge of coverage when using compandered audio. I played around with that a bit in the late 90's with the onset of narrowbanding. the TLDR was: use if it it works, but you're better off to implement it from the start. Migrating a user group over to it was a PITA - especially if they had a mix of radio models.

This is such a wonderfully succinct way of putting the differences in intended (and, often, the actual) use cases of the 2 services.

Well, unlocked what bandwidth options does it give? 12.5 is always narrow, but 25khz is wide in commercial and ham, 20khz in GMRS. splitting hairs I know, but still. I guess the minute it's unlocked it's not legal on gmrs, so if it's out of bandwidth compliance who'll really know/care?

I just thought they could at least provide a link in the app to the forums in the menu (that could take you to the browser / site... but I guess you would have to re-log in again anyway. oh well.

If you are using GMRS to communicate between multiple vehicles in your group, or have any local GMRS repeaters, then using during storm chasing might be useful... but if you are looking for locals reporting on the storms, more likely to find it on HAM frequencies or MAYBE CB -- I would guess.

Recently acquired a GMRS license and mobile radio with the hope of using it as primary coms during storm chases in Upstate SC, down to the Columbia area. So far... crickets. Like, all the time. Zero activity. Anyone here active in west SC/NE GA?

Not the best if you want to use for repeater work, but good enough if you know the frequencies/repeaters beforehand.

Yup. I did use the software to put in tones though. The total number of channels is limited (only 37 total channels including 1-22, FRS & GMRS)

I would say you're right except that they will connect to other GMRS repeaters. They connected to my RT97L without any problem.

Might want to re-read the specs on the TH-9800 & TH-7900. According to their manuals & specifications, they will receive only on 462.550 MHz (320 to 512 MHz) - but will not transmit on that frequency range. (467.550 MHz) Their spec UHF transmit range is 420 to 450 MHz.

Do they then allow for Repeater transmission right out of the box?

Just because it look like it, doesn't mean it is. But in this case I think the cat squished the roof.

with nothing showing up on the current Military Exercise calendar, and all those transport planes landing at various support centers for the middle east, you kind of have to add 2+2.. Or as my dad used to say $hit+2=4 and a fart = a whirlwind.

I'm doubtful there is anything which can be done, but I'm going to throw this out there. Even if nobody can help, it still might be useful for others to know this. I have a BTech RPT50 repeater operating on 462.55000 tone 233.6. I also have a TYT TH-9800 and a TH-7900, neither of which will connect reliably to the repeater. The 9800 will sometimes connect after holding the PTT button for 5 seconds or so, but the 7900 just flatly refuses to connect at all. I tried them on a Retevis RT97L repeater using the same frequency and tone and they connected just fine. They work just fine on all the other repeaters I've tried, but obviously I don't know the brand/type of those repeaters. I quadruple-checked all the frequency and tone settings and I'm absolutely certain they're right. I tried the radios on the same repeater using various frequencies and CTCSS/DTCS tones with the same result. They'll receive but they won't transmit to the repeater. I checked all the settings and reprogrammed them using CHIRP and also the TYT CPS with no change. Baofeng, Retevis, QYT, AnyTone, and Arcshell radios have no problem connecting to the repeater. I can only conclude that there's some sort of incompatibility between the two brands. At this point, the only thing I can think of to do is replace the radios. If anyone else has tried TYT radios on a BTech repeater, I'd be interested to know if you ran into this problem.

Only that you simply open the forum in your browser. Why bloat an app when phones already have a browser?

I will grant you that my time in the USAF was fifty years ago. But, it wasn't unusual to put folks on alert and shift assets during times of international upheaval. It's possibly a preplanned response to existing conditions. in olden days the USAF had a concept called "Prime Beef" or cannon fodder as we called it. The idea was a group of folks equipped and trained to respond quickly (relatively speaking) to events around the globe. We were supposed to set up what today are called FOP's to rearm, refuel and provide light maintenance of aircraft. In my case it would be tactical assets like Phantoms and Wild Weasels. I can't count the number of times between ORI's (operational readiness inspections) and actual crises we were alerted. The Cold War tended to warm up from time to time. Mostly without the general public having a clue. I'm pretty sure those orders were transmitted with the highest encryption of the time.

Well that message went out then a bunch of tanker planes shipped out overseas. Could be coincidence, might be reality. Strange times right now. I hate this movie.

Maybe I am missing something... I rarely use the phone app for MyGMRS but had a need to check it today, and it seems like there is no way to get to, browse, or post to the FORUMS via the phone App. Is that true or am I just missing it? Seems like you can only access the repeaters on the phone app.

So if I understand correctly, compander is used to reduce noise on weak signals. Why would you not want compander programmed on all of your radios channels?