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I use a Pecron E1500LFP for this, and also as AC backup power for the fridge and freezer. It has a 12VDC "cigarette lighter" socket, but it also comes with a cable that has alligator clamps to attach to your 12-volt power leads. For AC power it can be used as a UPS, if you so desire. PECRON E1500LFP Expandable Portable Power Station There are larger and smaller models available. Portable Power Station

There's an option in signalling that is CSQ that I think will run no tone. But I think it's global. I can't see a way to do no tone.

Okay, I can live with that. I have other radios. However, I definitely want to be able to program 8 repeater pairs with tones and 8 without, but my program doesn't have any option for "no tone". It has CTCSS, DTCS, and inverse DTCS in the dropdown menu. No "none' or blank space. I'm away from home right now, but I'll email BTech when I get home and see if I can get it clarified.

Supposedly, you can enter a bunch of frequencies to scan but not transmit. Not that I really need it, but if it's supposed to do that, I'd like to know why mine won't. Mainly, I want to have one set of 8 repeater pairs with tones and one set without. For some reason, the software I have won't let me enter a repeater pair with no tone set. That seems to me to be a major flaw.

Good to hear. Wonder if some of those other USB ports were USB2 instead of USB3? 9or if that even matters) but glad to hear you have it working.

Oh hell no! BTECH =

So I went through every single port I had (6 on hub, 4 on back of PC, 4 on front of PC) with 4 different USB cable. 45 minutes later I've identified 2 cables that work with 2 different USB ports. Yes, one cable works on one port but no others and another cable works on another port but on no others. Can't make this stuff up. What the actual... I'm hoping the TD cable I've got coming in will work with any port. Anyways, it *seems* to be working with CHIRP now and has increased my grey hair count by several dozen. Geeze I hate debugging. Thanks for everyone's input.

Have you tried a different USB cord? The cord that comes with the radio works. I'm using Win7 and I can get it to go

There is no doubt that a known brand helix is the best way to go. For my GMRS repeater, my LMR400 coax run is just shy of 50 feet, with an arrestor, but it is a known quality brand coax used by commercial radio shops. Also, I am using a Laird FG4605 Omni 5 dB antenna with the tip at 30'. On relative flat terrain, I am able to hit the repeater with a portable approx 15-17 miles away.

Yes, I've tried every combination of power on/off, plug in/out, USB port, and nothing. It always shows up as that same error. I have several radios and all of them produce the same error. I've wizzed away hours on with this and am pretty close to chucking the whole thing in the river!

That's lame. You powered on the radio after everything was up and connected? Its the little quirks that seem to be an issue when i try.

Yeah, that's exactly what I attempted, but everything seems to be a massive turd nowadays. I have the programming cable on the way. This is total BS that things just don't work correctly anymore.

Yup, just upgraded to the newest version which was March 9, 2025 and it includes the H3 GMRS

I know the option won't come up for me. Maybe the newer version of the app includes them.

Hmm... I thought I had done it without the login once on my H3... but maybe I don't remember it right.

A lot of people make that common mistake of assuming one can overcome the loss of using that crappy coax by brute force and throwing more watts at the problem. The main issue they overlook, whether intentional or ignorance, is how much the receive is attenuated. You can pump the same amount of water through a 1/2" pipe compared to a 2" pipe by turning up the pressure on the pump. A wasteful exercise in futility.

For a real world comparison, a roof mounted antenna on my F150 vs trunk lip mount on the hood of my Lincoln (Glass Roof) yielded the same performance measured by my trusty Seat-O-Pants meter driving the same long distance route. I reluctantly fought the idea of mounting it on the corner of the hood since it is such a crappy location. Both antennas were Larsen NMO 2/70B. I was surprised by the REAL WORLD performance.

CW = Continous Wave, or morse code. And yes, if the letters can be construed as an expletive, DMV might balk. Althought my buddy's amateur call that ended in FKU was no problem with DVS here in MN.

Don't know what "cw" means (again, I'm new). As for the call sign, the DMV is unlikely to let this particular combination of numbers and letters fly on a vanity plate. I apologize if I'm coming off as a troll. I was genuinely asking. "Tongue twister" is actually a spot-on way to describe it, come to think of it, but this is a family forum so I'll leave it at that.

I complained to them that I had to sign in and they gave me a dummy email account so I could log in. Without the log in some of the radios don't show up and the H3 is one of them that won't show.

You can just skip the log in to use the app. not necessary. But I agree... I much prefer CHIRP to odmaster.

Good advice. Thanks for that!

Thanks for that input! For occasional 2m/70cm I use a very good local linked repeater network without any problems. For GMRS, I use mostly short distance simplex when travelling with a group or at the lake or other destination. The performance from my current mag mount which I usually place on the cab directly in front of the 3rd taillight, (basically where the antenna would be if I use one of these 3rd taillight mounts) works just fine! I like that location (up and centered) because it keeps the antenna up and out of the way of getting things in/out of the truck bed and I don't have to stare at it while driving. All the discussion about the effectiveness of the ground plane, while interesting, and not at all irrelevant, is just not too significant of a factor for my purposes. That's why my OP was a question more about the antenna mount itself (water leaks, strength etc.) and less about the RF propagation characteristics associated with its location which seems to be the direction the thread drifted. I'm not going to drill into my roof and I'm sort of tired of taking the mag mount on and off, so without any specific feedback that indicates that this type of mount is structurally problematic to my vehicle, l will probably give one of these mounts a try and hope for the best.

You would create a user and pass, but its just a formality. Use a throw away email, though i never received any spam. Small phone would be annoying, but the app is simple enough. I actually prefer it, but i don't use chirp though. You can program to Chirp via USB-C. Make sure to use a USB-C data cable. Here is a how to do it via USB-C:

Another easy solution is to use the short cable with a RJ45 coupler and a standard cat6 cable. That’s my setup and it’s working fine.