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Talking to the space station or satellite is a little different since there is a completely open sign of sight from the ground up to space. And I am glad to hear that you can talk that far. But that is definitely not going to be the norm for most people. And it doesn't matter if it is a $20 hand held radio or a $1000 hand held radio, UHF is only going to reach so far depending on location and terrain. UHF is a line of sight. After a certain point then the curvature of the earth will come into effect. UHF doesn't skip off the atmosphere like HF does. My last reply to this thread is based on personal first hand experience using VHF and UHF while I was in the military. Now if we were on top of the Granite Mountains on Ft Irwin, then we could reach farther with a hand held, but we still weren't getting the range you say you are getting.

It's not a HT, it's a mobile unit , 20W's. I'll keep working on it. There are trees in between though, that may be it. Thanks for the answers !

If the repeate comes up and you still can't make it. Might be worth finding a high peak closer to the repeater. Especially, with a ht. Not all repeaters are created equal. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

So I have the Encode set correctly at D423N as shown in the original post. Ok, I'll keep working on it. Interestingly, this repeater has been down for 4 days, Not a peep on that channel.

Ummm since you brought up the high desert of California (fort Erwin) our clubs repeater is on the mountain in crest line ca. we have many people in our club from Huntington Beach that reach it with hand helds all the time. As well I get from wrightwood area to Rosamond and even tehachapi and Barstow as well as calico on a $20 ht. So it happens all the time. You’re the same type of guy that tells me I can not talk to Las Vegas with a 20w $125 base station over 200miles away. Again 4/5w and even 8w doesn’t really matter as far as what maker of radio you have for distance. People talk to the space station with $20 uv5rs all the time. A $20 ht will for sure transmit just as far has a $500 ht. So it’s still all about features and quality. Those are personal decisions that no one can decide but the end user.

Everyone's most favorite hand held radio is the best.... And not a single sole can change that

You do not have to have a tone on receive. Since the tones block incomming messages that don't have matching tones. You would hear it if no tones are set on your radio, even if they have tones enabled. If you don't have tones on receive you will hear all transmissions on that frequency. No tones on encode shouldn't not be done (most repeaters have tones on input). So that it will ignore and not repeat any transmission that don't have matching tones. To complicate things more, there is cross repeater talk as well as repeaters with multiple tones. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Do I have to set the decode to transmit? Or can I leave it blank for hitting a repeater ? I can hear the repeater w/o a decode tone no problem. Reason I'm asking is I can't hit a repeater 5 miles away with a 20w radio and mag mount rooftop antenna. I have the encode set to D423N.....

Simple answer yes. You encode a transmission and decode on reception. Is a simple way of thinking of it. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

You would think as old as radio is, these would be standardized by now. Also, is D423 the same as D423N ?

Hello and welcome! Have you contacted the seller or Retevis? That's the first thing I do when I have an issue with a product I just purchased.

I looked into them and you can get a Bridgecom repeater for close to the same price. And you get excellent customer service/technical support from Bridgecom.

I have used both military issue and commercial Motorola radios while in the Army. I have never gotten anywhere close to 50-60 miles range with any hand held radio even in the wide open deserts of California or the Middle East. We used commercial Motorola radios when I was stationed at Ft Irwin California. We had to use repeaters on base due to the mountains. Otherwise we could not talk to main base while on the live fire ranges on the north part of base.

Hello, I am new to the forum and am a licensed GMRS newb. I recently purchased a Retevis RA86 for my Jeep kayak fishing expeditions, and when I tried to go into program mode by pushing the PTT/Power button simultaneously, the radio displayed "Host Error". It does same thing when I hook up to my desk top computer to program radio. When I disconnect radio from power and hook back up, the Host Error message comes back up and cannot seem to get rid of it. Do I just have a Lemon Radio here or what? Any assistance much appreciated. Scott

Nice. I didn’t realize that was an option.

Have you guys seen the new repeater available from BTECH? https://baofengtech.com/product/gmrs-rpt50/ This looks pretty cool. Too steep of a price for me, but still looks pretty cool. General Specifications Feature Specification Product Analog Repeater Model GMRS-RPT50 Frequency UHF Zone capacity 16 Channel capacity per zone 16 Typical RF output 50W Frequency range GMRS Dimensions (HWD) 88 x 483 x 366mm 3.46 x 19.02 x 14.41 inches Voltage demand 100-240 VAC (13.6 VDC) Weight 11kg (w/o antenna) 24.25lb (w/o antenna) Current consumption: – Standby 1.0A (100 VAC), 0.5A (240 VAC) – Transmitting 4.0A (100 VAC), 1.8A (240 VAC) Working temperature -30 to +60 °C -22 to +140 °F Max work cycle 100%

You’re making the assumption that it’s a “bad habit.” That’s a value judgement on your part that’s simply not true. If it was true the other choices would not exist. Teaching the OP about them is not wrong, just because you wouldn’t do it. Some people want to hear all transmissions on a particular frequency, especially when traveling. Programming a squelch tone prevents that.

I see the benefits of having a Motorola or Kenwood and would go that rout if I could. But my budget doesn't support that. CCRs are better than no radio at all.

Why do the 1/2as’d “easiest” way when one could do it right from the beginning and not have to learn bad habits. This is one simple issue that as soon as it gets learned it won’t be an issue ever again.

Your Input Tone is what Keys the Repeater, leave the RX tones section blank.. Populate the TX / CTS DCS field with the correct tone for that particular Repeater. Make sure for TX you are using a +5 offset otherwise your simply using Simplex. Example RX Frequency: 462.600 MHz TX Frequency : 467.600 (TO KEY REPEATER) IF INPUT TONE IS SET CORRECTLY & You are within Range of Said Repeater... Input Tone: 69.3 <--- DOUBLE CHECK THAT... Repeater Owners sometimes Change Tones to Cut down on Riff Raff. Output Tone - Leave Blank for now. This also may be redundant but if the repeater is not "OPEN" make sure you have permission from the Owner to use that Repeater.. Have FUN!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Can Radio be an Addiction? A: Depends on the Frequency. ----------------------------------------------------- > Today I saw an ad that said "radio for sale, $1, volume stuck on full." > I thought, "I can't turn that down." "LIFE IS GOOD" - Hickok45.

The easiest thing to do is choose Tone for squelch type instead of TSQL. That’s the same as having no tone for your receiver. Then it doesn’t matter what the output tone is, your radio will reproduce it. You still have to match your transmitter tone to the repeater input tone or the repeater will ignore you.

Ah! Come to think of it, the latter is probably what happened. Live and learn. And Thanks!

I'm not sure about "most" but for a UV-5R I've done several tests in my neighborhood and the stock antenna doesn't cut it from my house to a particular point at the end of a bike ride. Both the 701 and 771 do make the trip with the 771 a little clearer than the 701. Mind you there are a lot of trees and houses full of f...furniture in my neighborhood.

@WRUU653 & @WROA496 check this out. And a cheaper one here.

I wish Josh would get right on that