All Activity

Don’t worry about the microphone jack, just plug in the headphones to the earphone jack, leaving the other jack empty. You’ll probably need a single 2.5 mm plug to 3.5 mm jack adapter.

My radio has the typical 2 prong Kenwood connection, I don't use it to communicate I just like to listen to it with my headset sometimes while cutting the grass or working outside so I can listen to random chatter or what not... Anywhoozle, Im new to this so please don't rag on me if this is common knowledge but when I try to find an adapter to go from the radios 2 prong to the 3.5mm headset jack they all seem to be with mics and ptt buttons. Isn't there a cheap easy Kenwood 2 prong adapter to audio only 3.5mm? I did try to search but I'm fairly Internet illiterate so again, if this is a stupid question please forgive me. Thanks! Bill WSJQ725

You’re right about everything, although you don’t have to stick to the lower power channels if you need the higher power. Welcome!

Just looking for a point of clarification, I recently got my GMRS liscence and call sign and it's my understanding that only one person in a group needs a license so when I go camping with my family I can give them all radios and they covered by my license? Also looking for some clarification on etiquette via using GMRS/FRS for family communication. I would assume we should stick to the low power channels, obviously avoid a channel someone else is using but if I find an empty channel I'm free to use it for basic chit chat with my family or is that frowned upon and it's polite to stick to short check ins only? Do they need to use my call sign when signing off or anything? Just trying to use the radios in a friendly matter and not be annoying. Thanks in advance! Bill WSJQ725

Ah. Sometimes that stuff doesn't come across well in writing.

I think he knows that. I believe it's called being "facetious."

I have the tri-band version of this radio. They've done something goofy so that depending upon how you set the speaker preferences and/or which jack you insert the external speaker plug into, you get UHF on one speaker and VHF on another OR left side on one speaker and right side on another. Try setting the "Deputy channel mute" to "off" and see if that helps. I solved the problem by getting a stereo-to-mono adapter plug, inserting it into the top jack, and plugging my speaker into that so all the sound comes out one speaker and I can adjust volume on both sides with their respective knobs.

Yeah, well, he's wrong.

LOL! I keep forgetting to check the dates on the threads. I was trying to be helpful, but apparently just beclowned myself.

I have the 7900 version which appears to be almost the same radio, and it will transmit on all the GMRS repeater input frequencies.

I know it’s your first post here, but there’s no point in getting upset about four year old threads.

I have the 7900 which appears to be almost the same radio. I got it to work with repeaters the same way I do all other radios -- by programming the frequency, offset, and tone with CHIRP. Can you give us some more information about the problem you're having? Perhaps we can be more helpful if we know a bit more.

are you the gmrs police?

There are 4 GMRS and 6-8 ham repeaters close enough for me to hear. Many days, I don't hear anything from any of them. You may have to listen for a long time. If you listen for 12 hrs or so and don't hear anything (assuming your settings are correct), it's okay to key up and ask for a signal check. You may not get a response, but you should at least hear the squelch tail and/or courtesy tone. It's been my experience that if you ask for a signal check, someone will respond more often than not. Say something like, "This is WSJV482. I'm testing equipment. May I get a signal check, please?" Most repeaters are being monitored even when they're not actively in use and likely someone will be glad to help. If they do, thank them, tell them you're new and will be monitoring the repeater. Don't make it a long "get to know you" conversation the first time unless they ask. Sometimes I respond to a signal check when I'm in the middle of doing something else just so the other operator knows they're getting a signal out, but I don't really have time for a long conversation. Sometimes I'm just sitting in my recliner, and then I'll usually ask a couple of questions like where they're transmitting from, how long have they been in this area, what got them interested in GMRS/ham radio, etc. In that case, it's perfectly fine to have a chat.

Just to explain what Steve is talking about, this is called "desense." The two radios are so close that the transmitting radio causes the receive radio to go deaf to the signal from the repeater.

No, he was sarcastically implying that a ghost antenna was equivalent to a dummy load.

Then either you’re out of range, the repeater isn’t programmed to provide a squelch tail or courtesy beep, nobody else is listening at the moment (or nobody wants to respond), or you really don’t have everything programmed correctly. You must be using a repeater channel which has the necessary offset for the transmission frequency. You transmit to the repeater using 467 MHz frequencies and receive from the repeater using 462 MHz frequencies. You must transmit the right access tone, whether CTCSS or DCS. You can receive without any tone and you will hear everything but if you set a tone it must be the right one. You must be within range. You can probably hear the repeater farther than you can transmit to it. You cannot count on transmitting on one radio while listening on another that’s set to the receiver frequency. Don’t give up; a lot of people have felt stymied.

Are you seriously using the item you depicted in the picture as a Phantom (stubby) antenna? If you are, you must be intellectually challenged just as much as that load terminator (dummy load) and it is pretty stupid on your part if you are and I'm pretty sure you won't be getting one iota of any gain since that is not an antenna, you dummy. I know I fell off the turnip truck at a very young age many many decades ago, but the last time I checked Bird did not produce any antennae. Did they just start producing antennae the day before you posted this to the forum?

Are you seriously using the item you depicted in the picture as a Phantom (stubby) antenna? If you are, you must be intellectually challenged just as much as that load terminator (dummy load) and it is pretty stupid on your part if you are and I'm pretty sure you won't be getting one iota of any gain since that is not an antenna, you dummy. I know I fell off the turnip truck at a very young age many many decades ago, but the last time I checked Bird did not produce any antennae. Did they just start producing antennae the day before you posted this to the forum?

Are you seriously using the item you depicted in the picture as a Phantom (stubby) antenna? If you are, you must be intellectually challenged just as much as that load terminator (dummy load) and it is pretty stupid on your part if you are and I'm pretty sure you won't be getting one iota of any gain since that is not an antenna, you dummy. I know I fell off the turnip truck at a very young age many many decades ago, but the last time I checked Bird did not produce any antennae. Did they just start producing antennae the day before you posted this to the forum?

What if everything is programmed correctly, I key up, and hear nothing??

I've added a bunch more 70cm Repeaters since I picked up a 9db Yagi for that band. The antenna also has an SWR of 1.01:1 for 70cm and 1.03:1 for GMRS so it should be fun to play with.

Recent Technician here. From my travels on the net so far, it seems you may want to also add the following for simplex communication in 70cm: Discovered via https://www.azfreqcoord.org/bp/bp.htm (PDFs of the bands are on the left menu). 446.0000 Simplex (National Calling, already included in the list) 440.9250 Narrow Band Simplex 441.0250 Simplex 446.0250 Simplex 446.0500 Simplex 446.5000 Simplex Finding these band plans is really helping me program up my HTs. How goofy will I look hanging out on top of a mountain, surrounded by 6 HTs (*one decent one for Tx and 5 or so more cheap ones for dual watch coverage of multiple channels?) Idk but I kind of want to find out.. . There are 2m and 1.25m VHF band plans with similar designated simplex frequencies that can be used, plus repeater listings linked to in the upper left of the menu that's worth a look. My guess is that repeaterbook status info is more up-to-date than static PDFs, but they also sort by location and have maps pinned for some bands in the lists.

I don’t know, but if you click on Repeaters on the menu bar you should be able to look them up either in the database or on the map. Many repeaters give a squelch tail, a short burst of static right after you activate them, but the most reliable way is to monitor the repeater and see if anyone is using it then ask for a radio check. Also, if you leave your R-CTCSS empty you’ll hear everything.

Exactly!