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You can use the USB cable or K1. If you have a K1 cable, use it, though make sure it is seated fully, the K1 ports on most CCRs are either too loose or too tight. If you don't, go through that drawer you have of USB-C cables and find a good one, ones that come with tablets and\or phones should work. The one with the radio is not a good one. It works for some, not for others, but programming via USB is an option. The data cables for me that consistently work are the ones from my iPad, iPhone, or Samsung tablets.

I'm wondering what coax your using. I'd recommend 7/8 heliax or similar due to the length involved. You can often find some good used cable from radio shops that they have removed from service on a commercial site. Also run a jumper from the main feedline to the antenna to allow for movement between the two in order to take stress off the connectors. A loose connection will cause desense and drive you nuts. I'd also recommend a RX preamp from Advanced Receiver. I have a handful of them and they make a big difference. To your comment about getting above the trees, your right on point there, just getting above the tree line will make a big positive improvement. Also, ground the coax toward the lower end of the tower above where it bends to go into your repeater location and take the ground straight down towards the ground to a proper ground rod. The lightning arrestor should be located just outside the building. Repeater Builder has a section on Motorola site standards that is helpful. Here is a site you can model your coverage on https://www.ve2dbe.com/english1.html

Whoops

The same USBc cable can charge the battery (with the USBc port on the bottom of the radio) AND... you can program the radio with CHIRP or other propitiatory program on the computer by plugging into the SIDE USBc port on the RADIO under the rubber cover .. under the Kenwood Port.

Actually... wrong. The USBc cable that comes with the radio can both charge the battery via the plug on the bottom of the battery... and the radio can be connected for programming with the same cable by plugging into the USBc port on the side of the radio under the Kenwood plug ports.

Yes, just click on the map option and zoom in to where you are.

Kenmore is a washing machine or refrigerator; Kenwood makes radios (and made stereos back in the day).

I think the Kenmore (Kenwood- whoops) plug is easier to use than the USB. There are some USB cables that won't work properly with programming. The cable that comes with the radio works for programming. Cheap cables only designed for power might not work.

I'm on Starlink so my ground station is shown as being up around the Dallas area. This means when I use that option to see the repeaters near me, it only shows the ones up around the Dallas area. I guess I could spoof it with a VPN, but is there a way here to set my position?

Is the kenmore cable more apt to be seen by Windows? I assume it's USB-A on one end and then the dual (3 mm?) plugs on the other? It' be a bit odd that it would pick that up and not the USB, particularly since it is seeing other things plugged into it. It appears Tidradio has them and it looks just like the Wuoxon (SP?) ones I've seen before Firmware issue or something?

Not true. I did scan the manual. I did search the WWW and Tubes. I did see this. You are not correct. There are 2 USB ports: one on the bottom of the unit, which is the battery, is for charging. The other is under the cover on the side and it is shown to be used for programming. Heaps of people are using it for that. Example below. Not sure what the problem is with it not being picked up as another port on my PC, so I was hoping somebody would have some other input based on some more experience. I thought perhaps maybe it was a firmware thing or something else that I'm not sure how to address and thought somebody here would know better than me. Do you run or have you used a H3? If so, how did you program it?

The H3 can be programmed with the standard Kenmore cable or a USB cable in the USB programming port. You are correct that you can't program it using the charging port, but that isn't even connected to the radio, it's internal to the battery itself.

Pretty sure this was addressed months ago. You do not program the radio with a usb charge cable. The radio is programmed with a programming cable with a build it driver and plugs I to the programming port NOT the usb charge port. Good ness. A quick read of the instructions or a few minutes watching you tube and this is solved.

I'm seeing none of this, only the two standard ports. I've never seen a port named that either (CH340). I get a USB serial port showing up when I plug other things in, such as a Meshtastic node, but nothing when I plug in the H3.

Has there been any forward movement on this? I have H3's. I've used CHIRP for other radios in the past but for some reason Windows 10 isn't recognizing anything when I plug the USB in. CHRIP doesn't see any port other than COM1 and LPT1, which are not the USB port. I know I can connect to other things via USB (Meshtastic nodes for example), but CHIRP sees nothing. The "help me" part doesn't recognize any cable being plugged in either. I see all these guys on YouTube doing it without a hitch. I'd rather use CHRIP on a PC. There's no way you can convince me doing the same work on a 6" screen is any more effective than on a 30" monitor with a full keyboard and mouse.

Lots of good options have been discussed here. All work relatively well. For a base radio, pretty much any 12 volt battery will work. Keep in mind that TX power can vary greatly with battery voltage. 1-2 volts can mean the difference between 35 watts and 50 watts, depending on the radio. Granted, this is only a couple of dB, but those may be the dB's you need. Battery power for base radios can be pretty easy, and all the options above are pretty good and will work for your application. Repeaters are a different story, while you control the use of your radio, repeater use can vary quite a bit and be a lot more demanding. A typical radio is built to TX with a 20% duty cycle, a repeater is built for a 100% TX duty cycle. I run a 50 watt GMRS repeater with a large footprint, a 100 watt 70cm HAM repeater, and a remote RX station for a very large 70cm HAM repeater out of my "repeater shack". The GMRS and remote RX are Kenwood TKRs which run on 13.8vdc, the GMRS has an amp for duty cycle at 100%, and both are running pre-amps at 13.8vdc. The power supply for them is a Astron 50amp with built in battery backup. Its battery backup is 12vdc. The 100 watt 70cm repeater is Motorola MTR3000 (100% duty cycle at 100 watts), which requires 28vdc and a battery reverting charger (its also equipped with a pre-amp that its built in supply handles). Battery capacity is sized to run the repeaters under full power with moderate usage for at least 24 hours before they have to transfer to an inverter generator (regular alternator generators produce very dirty power). Its essential the 70cm remote RX stays on the air because its part of the SKWARN network. The other HAM repeater may join it in SKYWARN service in the future, likely in digital or mixed mode. Its also pretty important the GMRS repeater stays on the air because users have expressed they want and or need it for emergency comms with family and friends. Currently I have to transfer power to generator manually, but I'm planning an auto start and ATS project for that so its all auto. The best power / battery backup option for you is one that works for you and costs what your willing to spend on it.

Copy and paste is your friend. That was the only way I could get anything in there. Low power on the repeater is 5 watts I believe.

Welcome!

That's interesting. I can't enter anything into rows 9-16. I'd like to do what you did. After I posted, I realized that it could actually function like a base station. Since a base station exceeds the power limits for channels 1-14, it functions on 15-22 anyway. It won't scan, but otherwise it will function like a base station; i.e, transmit and receive on the selected frequency without having to use the repeater function.

Where did you find that on the ARRL website? I used their search function and found nothing other than mentions. Thanks!

Okay, found this definition on the ARRL website: Actually, after everything I have read in the ARRL 10M Contest Rules pdf and learned reading other ARRL website stuff, I probably should not have responded to his CQ. I was not in the contest and so would not have submitted a log to ARRL, which they would have compared to his log. So he would have lost the QSO. So this rookie has learned a lot today. Thanks for all the input and help!!!

I think some of us do know the relevant regs (ham and gmrs for me) and understand them fully to the point the wording is clear. We obviously can't know what isn't there. But that is not due to not reading or not understanding the language. Courts interpret any ambiguity in contracts against the author. Applying the same logic to regs, it's the agency responsible that has to make the regs clear, not for us to use a crystal ball. Socal may come across abrasive to sensitive folks, but he is right that not enough newbies bother to learn before bugging eveeryone one else with questions that would be answered just by studying the rules. And RTFM (reading the fine manual) for their radios.

Welcome from another newcomer! From what I've read/watched, you'll probably be really happy with those TD-H3s.

Which is exactly the how the comm went. I think perhaps (after scanning the ARRL pdf page 3 item number 4.3) looks like a "foreign" DX station is sending some kind of serial number. Perhaps he thought I was in the same boat as he. But we did exchange callsigns, I sent him a 57 and "Delaware USA" as I normally do with a DX station.

That’s how I read it also.