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Thank you for this tip!!

Clarify, because while you understand your original post, I do not. You have two identical radios programmed and one does something the other doesn't? or you have two channels and one doesn't work. Tsquelch means it will only allow you to hear signals with a matching PL tone. So if you're wrong, you'll hear nothing. TONE is transmit, and if it's wrong you won't activate the repeater, but you'll hear it just fine because you have nothing filtering the receive.

are we honestly worried about only having one 30 dollar radio for both ham and gmrs? nobody is going to hear you with it anyway, so buy the band you're most likely to be on and monitor the other with it. I am curious tho, to those of you 'unlocking' the ham style, how are you complying with the bandwidth of gmrs? Oh, ha ha, that's right, to heck with the rules! LOL Seriously, keep it simple. They are 30 dollar radios. You'll need spare parts quickly enough anyway.

thats good to know... sounds like i picked up mine at the right time. - thanks

O,K. The bag works fairly well, Put both cell phone and my Hytera HT in the bag. Tried calling my cell phone, no ring, straight to voice mail. So i'm assuming the cell phone is protected. The HT???,, Within a few feet of the bag i can break the squelch with another radio, 20-30 feet away, no go. My guess, the bag is supressing 50-60 dB of signal. Would be interesitng to take the bag with cell phone in close proximity of a cell tower to see what it does.. Maybe someday, but right now, gonna go grab some breakfast.

Yes - All the newly manufactured ones destined for the U.S. are locked and cannot be unlocked.

I havent bought one for two years, the half dozen or so i purchased prior shipped unlocked which i thought was the norm.. Are they shipping these locked now? If they are, can you un-lock as easy as some of their other radios?

What if the UV-5R is locked also?

Congrats to your mother! Being old is not for the weak.

if you are wanting to 'un-lock' a UV-5G you actually need a UV-5R

Watch this! He mentions in the first pinned comment that this may no longer work unless you have the original software.

Sure, first change your radio to the correct repeater channel. Then set the radio to transmit using the correct input CTCSS tone or DTCSS code required by the repeater . Put your radio in Tone mode, at least at first, rather than TSQL mode. In Tone mode you don’t have to have the receive tone or code set to hear the repeater. Listen first, to make sure you’re not interrupting someone. Then, when the airwaves are clear, push the PTT and speak clearly into the microphone. Identify yourself by speaking your call sign at least once every fifteen minutes and when you’re all done talking. Most people will use it as an introduction as well, but that’s not required. That’s all there is to it. Welcome to the forum! Hope you like it.

Im new to gmrs and connecting to a repeater. Can some walk me through the set up?

I just emailed the owner. just to see what he says.

Still not getting any response from the repeater itself....

I would buy a pre tuned antenna if just starting out in radio. It will be much simpler and easier for you. A good antenna analyzer or NanoVNA is a must if you are going to properly tune any antenna. There are plenty of free online calculators and phone apps for figuring out the lengths of different types of antennas. A friend has a big roll of solid core 75 ohm cable that he uses for making 2m, 70cm, and GMRS j pole antennas. It's not difficult with knowledge and the proper tools to include analyzers/NanoVNAs. I will say that there is a bit of a learning curve with a NanoVNA. A good antenna analyzer won't be cheap. I have made a few wire antennas for the HF amateur bands but I could not have done it without an analyzer or NanaVNA.

How close are they to each other. You might be experiencing desense. Make sure you separate the two radios by about 50 ft or so and try again.

Here is my findings. I have setup an HT programmed via CHIRP with two different tone settings for this REPEATER: WRPB502 WX4DAB REPEATER 1 set with TSQL 123.0 REPEATER 2 set with TONE 123.0 Second Radio is on GMRS CH15 which is received on REPEATER B clear... but cant transmit back out of REPEATER 2 or 1 to Second Radio.... Any thoughts?

Microwave ovens are faraday cages. You can always put your phone into a faraday bag and then into a microwave. I don't suggest turning the microwave on while the phone or bag are inside. Faraday clothe, just like any other type of clothe, will have holes in the weave which will let some RF pass through. Ideally one would want to use the tightest weave faraday clothe and place that inside a metal container. Ideally one would remove the battery also. But most modern smart phones do not have removable batteries without having to disassemble the phone.

Probably why an EMP bag will let high frequencies through at strong signal levels. The bags are designed for a dc generated pulse.

The higher the frequency the shorter the wavelength and the smaller the opening that can penetrate.

I like making my own wire antennas for ham radio and I have an antenna analyzer and a nanoVNA which both help with tuning (interchangeably-you don’t need both). It’s one of the more rewarding aspects of amateur radio, and tuning an antenna that is designed to cover the range of frequencies to a specific frequency such as for GMRS is straightforward, but there’s a learning curve for the process and the tools. Like many hobby projects it can be very frustrating if you don’t have a mentor close by.

Thanks for the responses guys. I think now it is just easier to buy one. I might try to tune one eventually just to get the experience. Looks like there are a couple with good reviews on Amazon.

Let us know how that goes.

Thanks for all the input! Oh, and if you are a DAD, Happy Father's Day in advance!