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WREM441, if you open Device Manager on your PC, the USB cable will show up, and indicate what COM port it is using. You can switch the cable's COM port in the cable's settings quite easily. You may need to manually install the cable's drivers if it's not showing up properly in Device Manager.

I am late to the game...just saw this post. Jeez guys, nobody really understood the poster's question. The issue is why would a manufacturer or supplier sell a radio pre-programmed with tone squelch, instead of just carrier squelch? The fact that some may do this was a surprise to me. I just looked up some common "FRS" and GMRS radio models and some in fact come with tone squelch on. This is really a poor idea for the consumer and supplier. It may create incompatibility with other radios and result in poor reviews and a greater number of support calls, and the user can't hear someone if they really need help. (Note: but its also a poor idea to expect to reach someone anyway, but its better than nothing - but only if you run carrier squelch). This is what happens when "drive-by" manufacturers and suppliers get into the game to make a quick buck, then leave the mess with someone else (GMRS licensees) when the profits decline. Like many things in this world, GMRS users used to be a reasonably-trained and disciplined service (not to the level of amateur radio, however). GMRS still is to some degree. But the Commission's goal was to promote the greatest amount of benefit in a given spectrum band. While many in the FCC are aware of the "Tragedy of the Commons" (below), they may believe we are not yet there. But IMO, we are getting really close. It should be our collective goal to push back on this when possible. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons: The tragedy of the commons is a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action.)

Its not like I want to program my repeater for their output code, with a long hangtime, and set a recurring Morse Code ID to fire off every 15 minutes at one word per minute..... We used to ask the user who they purchased their radio from, and then deal with that supplier - usually local. So here we may never find who that is in this case. The last time the Commission dealt with this kind if thing, I believe they went after the US sales representative, not the manufacturer. Its the holidays, so I may have time to follow-up with the Commission. This one is relatively easy.

But it's important to realize when it's not practical to pay for more selectivity. Good commercial handhelds have enough selectivity to allow full-duplex operation by one operator, with a few feet of antenna separation. Good mobiles do better than that. If that's not enough desense protection, there's other issues at play. There's no improvement to be made if there isn't an issue, so it's just wasted money and/or lost functionality. CCRs work just fine as transceivers for 99% of the population. Yes, they don't work in the busy RF environments found at an enthusiast's base station, a command post, or when working near other operators on different in-band channels. They're cheap, show people what the hobby can offer, and include a lot of features (like FPP and ridiculous channel capacity) that new operators need to find their niche within the hobby and understand what parameters need to be configured to operate cleanly on someone else's system. And when they break (probably due to a novice operator blowing out the finals or dropping it), it's not a big investment being lost. They exist in the market for a reason: because they do work, unlike what the topic's title implies. They wouldn't sell if they didn't. It's important to understand their limitations, but they're not as severe as you're making it out to be.

No need for apology. Like an epic novel, you have us hooked. We are waiting for the next installment of this series. Please continue this experiment, and keep us posted using charts, walls of text, epic novels, whatever. Thanks. Which radios work well? Which don't play nice with others? Where are the weak-links in antennas? You are getting down to what works best for your application, which may apply to others of us as well. This is interesting stuff.

Close. Maybe even more accurate. Cheap Chinese Radio.

Its not just you. We have discussed it here a lot. It's irritating to a good portion of the people I have talked to. In my area, its every channel, all day. Construction companies, grocery stores, schools, restaurants, warehouses... like you said; poor mans business radio. I personally find it irritating. Not that they are bothering me, because I couldn't care less who I share the frequency with. My irritation comes from the fact that it was marketed as "Family Radio" for a very long time, is still marketed as "Family Radio Service", and many families use the band as such. I curse like a drunken lunatic. Bad language and talking about work related stuff doesn't bother me, but families, kids, church groups, etc., shouldn't have to hear it. FRS used to be a wholesome place for them, and in most of the nation it still is, but around high population density areas, not so much.

LMRS will never go away... ever. As good as trunked networks, WebEOC and FirstNet are, they will never be reliable because they are all reliant on a single massive infrastructure to exist and be configured correctly to work. Anyone who has ever worked a true SHTF mass casualty, mass municipality response, knows that NONE of those networks work in the affected area. LMRS only requires that an EMP or Nuke hasn't gone off near unprotected radios, and you're moving voice, video and data around the world.

Use of smartphones is way more complex than bubble pack radios. I know plenty of 6 year old kids that can run a smartphone like champs. Adults have no excuses. As far as FRS radio compatibility goes, 100% of all FRS radios are compatible with each other. It is mandatory per federal statute and FCC rule that all protocols must be published before use and strictly adhered to. The original set of continuous signal-controled selective signalling (aka Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System, CTCSS, Tone Squelch) has been published since 1952 with ten code. The last revision was made in February of 1980, introducing the current 38 codes, which still includes the original ten codes from 1952. Today, you would need a working radio that is within months of being 40 years old, before your tone options start to become limited. Even a radio that is almost 70 years old, CTCSS is still compatible with a radio made today. Given FRS was not even a thing prior to 1996... there is zero compatibility issues with any FRS radios from brand to brand and model to model. Also, Continuous Digital-Coded Squelch System (aka CDCSS, DCS, sub-channels) is in the same boat. It was originally released with 38 digital signals, now has 121, including all original 38 codes.

Its not the tone/CTSS creating the potential issues you mention, it's stupid people that are too lazy to invest 3 minutes of their life to read the directions and learn/understand how their equipment works that are the problem..