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Now that you mention it, yeah it does seem like it’s the Baofeng models that are harder to keep track of. And my favorites so far have all been B-TECHs.

You are not to nice. You are just maintaining great restraint.

I'm not taking anything personally. I'm just trying to help you understand the actual context the word is being used in and what its definition is. Also, the fact that you don't understand the word literacy in the context it's being used just supports my point.

We are talking about GMRS, and there are only 8 Repeater Channels but they can have whatever number/name you want to call them. They are generally referred to as Repeater Channels 1-8 or, or starting after channel 22 - Channels 23-30, or labeled as their shared simplex channel names "Repeater 15 - 22".. ..and in the GMRS world we never need to use the term "offset".. On a GMRS radio one does not have to think or care about the "offset".. This term is usually only used by "some people", for unknown reasons .... actually we know the reasons, but I am far too nice to repeat them here.

GMRS. You are correct that there are only 8 designated repeater channels. GMRS channels 15 thru 22 exist as simplex channels and in most GMRS radios there are also 8 pre-programmed "Repeater Channels" 15 thru 22 where the RX is the same but the TX on all the repeater channels is offset by +5Mhz

Is this for Amateur? I thought there was only 8 GMRS RPT channels?

Wow, you are taking this way too personally. I never called anyone illiterate meaning that you can't read or write, which by the way has nothing to do with this topic. I merely wanted to point out that when someone buys a radio and sees the words "Privacy Codes" They are more than likely going to expect their conversation to be private with whomever when it will not be. If we use the term "Filter codes", which is accurately describing what is going on here, there would be much less of this confusion. If you do not want to be less confusing to newcomers that is your choice but I choose to be less confusing.

Use channel "Repeater Channel 17" or "Channel 24" not regular channel 17, with the correct transmit tone. You have to be close enough to the repeater for them to work — just because you can hear it does not necessarily mean it will hear you and work. Your two radios must be at least ~50 feet away from each other when testing. Disable/turn-off the receive tone on both radios for now — the RX tone is optional and at this point in your process may only serve to create confuckulation.

The "Repeater Channels" will use a +5mhz offset (Duplex) for transmit (TX) meaning that for repeater CH 17 your radio will TX on 467.600Mhz and receive (RX) on 462.600Mhz. This should work as desired when talking thru the repeater which listens RX on 467.600Mhz and retransmits or "repeats" the signal on 462.600Mhz. But if you are out of range of the repeater and are trying to talk directly between the 2 Rocky Talkie radios directly (Simplex) on Repeater CH 17 without the use of the repeater, then your TX & RX will be on different frequencies thus they can't communicate. If, for example, you switch your radios to regular Channel 17 rather than Repeater Ch 17 the radios will be set to TX and RX on the same 462.600Mhz frequency and they should communicate with each other as desired. Also, you only need the CTCSS tone on the TX to activate the repeater. It really isn't needed on RX, so it might be easier to remove the CTCSS tone from RX for now.

Hello and thank you for reviewing my questions. I appreciate anything you would like to share. I purchased two Rocky Talkie 5w communicators. Unfortunately the range is short of where I need them to reach for my purposes. I believe connecting to a repeater will help. I located a repeater in my area and got approval to connect - check. I used the Rocky Talkie frequency chart and programmed each/both of my handhelds with the proper channel code - check. I used the input and output tone listed and referred back to the Rocky Talkie chart and input the code associated with the freq in each handheld - check. I assigned W-wide band to each handheld - check. So why can’t the handhelds communicate with each other? We are standing right next to each other and get no voice in either. What am I doing wrong/missing? Key info - Both units use same FCC call sign (family) Freq 462.600Mhz = Rocky Talkie Repeater Ch17 Input and Output tone 100Hz = CTCSS code 12

Whaooo.. Let's not get carried away!

I'm sorry, but you're wrong... and that's okay. You can either accept that some words have more than one meaning depending on context and in this context the word is used correctly, or you don't. That doesn't mean the rest of us are illiterate.

..Geezus krist.... My guess is now that you will never find anything perfect enough to purchase.

This is a huge misuse of the terminology here and especially if you have to "think of it a certain way" then you are ignoring that misuse. When I first got my radios and had no idea what these so called privacy codes actually did I was expecting them to keep my transmissions from ears other than intended thus meaning my privacy. As we all know it does nothing of the sort. It is at best a filter to filter out unwanted transmissions. Privacy is completely wrong in an incorrect use of the word. "Filter Codes" is accurate and tells the whole story without having to make noobs think they are doing something than what they are actually doing. If they meant it as a private party then they would call it a "private party" code and not "privacy codes". When you transmit on a radio and expect privacy you would expect your transmissions to go to only the individuals you share a code with. that is not analogous to being in a room expecting privacy.

Yes, I agree. Furthermore, some of the fiberglass radome verticals that are supposed to be co-linear arrays are not done well, or are using a 70cm ham band design, which don't give a good radiation pattern at GMRS. Good VSWR can be achieved with a terrible radiation angle, ie way above the horizon, if not careful. I've seen similar antennas on eBay and Amazon that claim to be for GMRS yet even the photos show they are dual band 2m/70cm labeled. OK, I've pretty much talked myself out of this one already. But any real world experience would be nice to know. thanks.

Looks like a CCA!!! (Cheap Chinese Antenna).. But the reviews aren't bad, and at 1/2 the price of the Tram (which i have), it looks like a decent deal.. Of course, someone will come along and post "you get what you pay for".. But sometimes you pay less for something that does the job just fine...

Does anyone have any experience with the "FMUSER" GR100 base antenna? It's on sale for Amazon Prime days now and according to the advertised specs it's pretty good. But is also lower priced than a similar Tram which makes me suspicious. Thanks for any thoughts on this antenna.

BTech GMRS 50 Pro.. I would give you mine but I literally just gave it away on Saturday.... ..But if adding tones is all you care about, that's really overkill - any low-cost mobile GMRS radio lets you easily add tones in just a few button-clicks for half the price or less..

Looking to add a mobile GMRS radio to my Promaster cargo van. I have a pair of Btech hand helds that are programmable thru the iPhone. Is there a mobile version made that I could get that would be just as easy to add the tones to?

Same in central MD. We have 2 1.25m repeaters that only get used by us in the 1.25 mafia

HRO for the win!

I don't have any of that stuff. 30' tower with MA09 High Gain 462~467MHz GMRS Omni-Directional Base Antenna & 50-3 Pure Copper Coaxial Extender Cable For RT97L.

New duplexer from Btech. Same one that's in my repeater with the same tuning. Marc said he's going to try it out as is and get a base level to compare to. I haven't put this one in my repeater at all. Had it in my possession for about an hour before it was on it's way to Marc. The 1st trial was from the repeater that was replaced by Btech and it exhibited the same reception problem I had with it originally that the one they sent me to replace it solved. Marc said on his system it worked nearly as well as what he was running for a duplexer currently. All just experiments to see if I/We can improve on my system. The only thing that should improve is less desense in the system letting weaker signals in without interference. Just how much.... That's why we experiment.

I just ordered an Astron 50 amp linear power supply. From Gigaparts or DX Engineering it’s $200 more than from Ham Radio Outlet.

At one time, Motorola had a Base Station Consolettevwhich was a radio, speaker and power supply in a box with a desk top microphone or a boom mic that were 4 or so channels. I doubt that they still have those, but I sure there are some still out there. I think the last series radios they used may have been the Astro Spectra, not sure if they used the XTL series radios.