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I understand your position. But in our case, it makes sense. We can currently sort of daisy chain comms as Steve lives about 3 miles south of Bob who wants to talk to Billy who lives 3 miles south of Steve. Bob calls out for Steve who relays it on to Billy. But if Steve would just put up a repeater, Bob could get Billy without bothering Steve. The spot we have to put up a repeater is above the line of sight of all trees and buildings in the area so while it won't get us to the moon, we feel confident it will link us all up.

That was quick.

It came today! Now I just got to find some one to go up on my tower.

Are there any “legitimate” domestic (US) uses for this radio?

That's good. The engineer in me would like to know a bit more about the "how and why" that is the case.

Well I just got a clean looking license free TK-3701D dPMR446 radio, NOT DMR446, which is the other allowed digital mode. The idea is to run some tests between it and the Icom's I have with the more functional dPMR digital voice mode. I want to see if they will communicate. There are some slight differences that might bugger it up. I won't know until I can get around to running some tests. Other thing there radios are the functional equivalent of FRS here, but in the EU where it's license free, 0.5 watts, and digital voice is allowed. I'll bet some Ding-Dong will bring their radios here on vacation and try to use it while at some major tourist attraction like Disneyland, Yellowstone etc. The radios only work from 446.0000 to 446.2000, the Ham 70cm band. Anyone ever bump into something like this on the air? If one has a spectrum analyzer, or SDR, it would look like the ultra narrow band NXDN mode, the modulation is the same but the digital protocol is different. https://kenwoodcommunications.co.uk/files/file/comms/uk/brochures/TK-3701D_20191030_LR.pdf https://kenwoodcommunications.co.uk/files/file/comms/uk/pmr446/PMR446-White-Paper-V6_18AUG2016_JT_KB.pdf

I always appreciate your detailed reporting and if you come across one such report on testing, please post it. In the meantime, if my 1/2 wave 2 meter HT antenna does not get me satisfactory results, but switching to my more bulky 5/8 telescoping antenna does, I will accept the positive results as proof enough for me!

Oh, yea. Whoops.

I think you are confused about what we are talking about. This is the microphone/handset - these are the only controls on the radio.

I went and did this. And it's quite easy; no problem finding it and downloading it to print. . And yes, the Official Copy I printed today does not have any mention of Line A that the one I printed in '20 did.

You know those loose azz buttons you complain about because of the jiggle confuckulation? That's how you change the channel

A definitive test, or comparison, should be done with a field strength meter and a uniform standardized test stand. That removes any personal bias and different physical antenna setups. Any changes in the far field has to be due to gain and pattern variations. Qualitative comments about hitting a repeater with one antenna and not another doesn't revel any insight on why that might be the case. Too many variables to control, any one or combination, can affect the results. I've tried this just for antenna matching. It's much more difficult to do than one realizes. I found just slight changes in orientation and ground plane made a big difference. https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/ht-antenna-comparisons.html https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/antenna-testing-jig-swr/14791 Antenna Testing W9MDB.pdf

uhm..what? The microphone/handset is the ONLY way to change the channels.

Of course it can. You don't use the microphone for changing the channels.

As I have mentioned previously, I have used Parallels in my Mac to run Windows as far back as Windows XP for programming my non-Chirp radios. It is not well known that you don’t actually have to activate Windows for it to operate properly. To rephrase without double negatives, Windows operates properly without having to pay for it

Do they have anything like WINE for Linux that you can use on your Mac to run Windoze stuff? I run quite a bit of Windoze software on my MX Linux install without any issues what so ever. GNU/Linux has come a long way since I started using it way back in 2012. It's so easy to use a caveman could do it. LOL.

ahh yes.. right where someone would intuitively look for that setting.. Any idea if the channel can still be changed when locked?

We are talking HT antennas here and the human body holding the HT acts as the ground plane. In my anecdotal experience, I have always had better performance using my 5/8 2 meter telescoping antenna on my HTs, including my DSB Quansheng UV-K5(8), than either a 1/2 wave or rubber duck. Especially for those times a little extra “umph” gets me into a repeater or successfully complete a simplex QSO

Noticed Shaw Butte is back up this weekend, but the PL tone seems to have changed. I can hear it but can't get in.

A 5/8 wave requires a good ground plane. The reason it has a slightly better gain is the reflection off of the ground. Without that reflection it's basically no better than a 1/2 wave. And for an HT antenna you have crap for a ground plane. https://www.w8ji.com/VHF mobile vertical.htm

Based on your comment, I took a look at this “5/8 rubber duck” on the Smiley website. It seems a contradiction in terms: an antenna is either cut to 5/8ths length or is electronically made into a “rubber duck” with coils; but it seems to me it can’t be both! A true 5/8 should out perform a 1/2 wave or rubber dick.

Back to the original topic: according to comments on the Facetime Baofeng Owners Group, the DM-32 is limited to 50,000 Digital IDs, hence making it impossible to download the complete Digital ID library into memory. That plus it’s inability to use OpenGD77 firmware (or separately emulate its benefits) severely hampers the usefulness of the DM-32. I suspect that Baofeng does not want this model at its lower price point, to cannibalize sales of their more expensive models. To the OP: enjoy VHF/UHF and when you can get into HF, 10 meter band openings while we can enjoy the current sunspot cycle, but keep an open mind on the 24/7/365 availability of QSOs with DMR, of which low cost models with OpenGD77 continue to exist.

Under "Repeater Data Settings" Keypad Lock. Turn it off. Randy. You should take it back and give it to me. I could use the spare just in case. At least I know how to use it.

Pretty much any and all federal regulations were written by lawyers for lawyers. None are easy for the average person to understand. And as we see with FCC regulations and NFA/GCA regulations, some portions can and do conflict with each other. I don't blame you for wanting clarification if the line A issue might affect you or not. I also would not take what is posted on any forum as 100% correct without first verifying the information. I dealt with enough conflicting and/or confusing regulations back when I had my FFL. And it has not gotten any easier when dealing with the NFA and GCA.

You might want to look at the Diamond SRH320A. Not exactly cheap. SRH320A Triband HT Antenna.pdf