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I have a couple of 862G Kenwoods, and they are great. I assume the 863 is about the same, but 256 channels instead of just 8 like mine have.

I am glad you're happy with the GD77s, but if you really want to see mind-blowing performance then you should get yourself a pair of XPR7550e and see... Also, if you are using the GD77s on DMR then it is not legal. GMRS is FM ONLY. Also, to be 100% compliant then you should be using 20 kHz wideband, and because I know that the GD77s won't do 20 kHz, then you should be using 12.5 kHz instead. If you're using 25 kHz then it is not legal either. You speak like people here in the forum don't know what they are talking about, they are called CCR for a reason. Don't mislead people, dude, grocery store could be 1/2 miles away from home. That is hardly mind-blowing. One radio sitting on a 10 floor building to ground level, not really mind blowing either. I've reached 30 miles using a 2W VHF MURS Ritron portable... does that mean the performance was mind-blowing? Certainly not, why? b/c the receiving radio (a TYT8000E with crossband repeat) was strapped to a drone flying some hundred feet up in the air in the middle of nowhere. Also, for the GD77S, at 75 dollars a pop you are being ripped off, man. If you want cheap, try the Baofeng DM-V1, which is basically a GD77s, except its 25-29 dollars a pop. The DM-V1 will also do DMR if you really want to have DMR (not legal in GMRS). Then there is the Baofeng BF-1801, 45 dollars a pop and its a GD77 clone, with a REAL screen. However, at the price you paid for those overpriced CCRs you could've bought a TYT MD380 UHF (single band, not the dual band), with a color screen and, IIRC a real superheterodyne receiver too... and have a better than mind-blowing performance over the GD77S... I think paying 77 bucks for a CCR without a screen is a ripoff, fortunately tho, it is great to know that, at least, the performance is mind-blowing. You could've achieved the same kind of mind-blowing performance with a pair of BF-888S, except for 18 dollars, and have enough cash left to purchase a used Vertex Standard EVX-531 on eBay, maybe 2 if you look hard enough.(since you seem to like no-screen DMR capable radios) Also, I didn't make this post b/c I am brand name snob that just wants to bash on CCRs for the heck of it, so, without further delay let me introduce you to my extensive CCR collection, and the reason why I made this post. -15 BF-888S, yep, at 9 dollars a piece, they work great for my house intercom, and if anybody destroys one, guests kids, anybody, be it by throwing it the toilet, smashing it with a hammer, etc, etc, won't be crying over it. Receiver on those is BETTER than the GD77s. -10 Baofeng BF-1801, basically a GD77 clone. Those work great as intercoms on both DMR and FM with the signaling stuff. -5 Baofeng DM-V1 (which is basically a GD77s, but UHF only, can be modded to do VHF, but haven't tried to do that) Great for store floor intercom, and at 25-29 bucks a pop, its hard to argue with that. -2 GD77, I got ripped off twice before I found out that the Baofeng BF-1801 was the same radio, at HALF the price. The GD77 is a ripoff, get the BF-1801 instead.-4 Alinco DJ-MD5 DMR/GPS. Not exactly a CCR at 189 a piece, but these are usually our carry around radios, one for each member of the family (old enough to use a radio) Good balance between features and RF performance, for the price, of course. -5 Baofeng GT-3, (3 dead now) those were the radios that got me into FRS then into GMRS.-4 TYT 8000E. -1 Anytone INSTG8R Forgot to state what I no longer own but that was also extensively tested. -1 Retevis RT52, one of the worst, if not the worst radio front end I've ever benched, returned. -3 Anytone 878UV. Too big, I liked the Alinco MD5 beter, returned them all. -2 UV-5R. All dead. -2 UV-82. Gave them to friends. -2 UV-3R. All dead. -Ailunce HD1. Very poor performance, returned. I've tested all these radios in nearly every possible scenario you can think of, with several types of ducks, high gain antena, etc, and with the exception of the Alinco DJ-MD5/Anytone 878 (which seems to have better front-end filtering that all those CCRs) none of these radios can compete in terms of range and overall performance to my commercial grade gear, especially when operated in crowded RF areas, which is pretty much anywhere where computers operate these days. Inside a mall the difference is night and day. G.

Related to the Travel Tone, the Open Repeater Initiative is a program that lets people set up a channel 20 repeater at 141.3 for the use of anyone who wanders in.

G, here is a good link you can use. It will help you understand how a horizontal quad loop works, why its omnidirectional, and why there is such good natural noise reduction in the design. I am building this to scale for 80 meters, but you can easily build a VHF version. My friend has his fed with ladder line in the corner closest to his house and its 35 feet off the ground, due to the frequency its being used on. You cut the ladder line to length for tuning the SWR, as the ladder line is part of the antenna design. http://www.caarc.ca/articles/horizontal-quad-antenna

Just a comment.... the M1225 20 channel model can actually do 24 channels if programmed without channel names and preferably without Talk-Around. That may be of use to some and others may may not like it.