Leaderboard

Downloaded from the Dropbox and it worked like a champ! Joined the regional NET last night and it worked great. Just purchased a usb connector off amazon. No issues at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Marc, I dont know what a Red Rock is. The Miami 725 is up and running. Just got on from Homestead and machine is downtown. A preamp will be added in near future to improve receive sensitivity. I have to edit listing as it ended up on backup site for .325 ham repeater which is at 750'. ----------------------------------------------------- The responses I've seen here are interesting and I guess I can attribute it to location. Most ham repeaters here are personally funded. The clubs are broke lol. Those putting up the machines do it for all to use. The few closed ham repeaters are looked down upon and heckled. You want a closed repeater? Get a cellphone. This mentality carried over to GMRS repeaters put up by hams.To each their own. You guys are all welcome to use the Miami 725 when in town. No permission needed.

I would agree ham radio can probably be safely classified as a hobby. But, I would not make the same statement about GMRS. Yes, for some GMRS is a hobby. But, as @wayoverthere notes, probably a greater percentage of MyGMRS members than of the general GMRS population fit that description. Look at the history and licensing to get a feel for what GMRS is. It's roots were as a business service, and those early licenses are still grand-fathered in, and business use is still perfectly legal on GMRS. Licensing is by family unit, not individuals. This encourages use of GMRS as a practical communications tool, rather than as a hobby. Another point of comparison is repeaters. GMRS repeaters are limited to 8 frequency pairs, have no coordinating body, and commonly share frequencies using PL, etc. to control access. GMRS repeaters tend to be used for short, task oriented communications and less for rag chewing. So, sharing channels works well. Ham radio, with frequency coordinators, etc. seeks to limit the number of repeaters in an area to avoid interference. There are many other differences, but I think I have covered the main points. But, I would add one more thing. Where is it written that either as a hobby, or a personal communications tool, that getting people interested in two-way radio is, or even should be, a commonly agreed upon or shared objective? I think that is an admirable goal. But, I would also not fault someone who did not share that goal.

Also note that they can woods don't actually show the channel it's looking at when it scans unless it hears a signal.

Probably the biggest thing I see to clarify is the tones...think of them as a filter. if you have the right tone, the filter opens. So when you transmit on .625/xxx.x tone, SEATAC hears (right tone to pass the filter), and retransmits. However, since Seattle#4 has no filter (no tone), it ALSO hears and retransmits. And individual entries is how I organized mine, I have separate entries for each repeater (central 1, Sierra 2) with the appropriate tones, saved by name. On my ht, I also programmed an extra set repeater channels again for travel usage.

There are a lot of possible reasons for the errors. One: The 8180 scans single "Zones" Another words, if you have all simplex channels in one, repeaters in another zone, you would only be able to scan one or the other. Two: You may not have added the channels into "scan" In the channel edit screen confirm the channels you want to scan have the "Scan add" checkbox checked. Three: Off hook scan. Ensure "Off-hook scan" is checked in the Scan Information Window (Edit>Scan Info) Last, The radio may be in scan however your PL/DPL tones may not be set properly. The radio still checks for PL/DPL tones even in scanning. The same with "Opt Signal" if you have that set up. If none of the above is the problem, feel free to PM me and I'll send you my e-mail address so I can take a deeper look at the settings. I can tell you the 8180 will scan both repeater and simplex frequencies.

Hi Marc, Redrock JK is a leftover username from when I owned a 2008 JK that was the redrock color. Definitely not the $100K version... I wish!

Just looked up the 4740, it's a familiar face! I have one buried at my moms place somewhere. Early October we have a hamfest in Melbourne Fl. If I spot one in the cheap pile I'll grab it and let you know.

Did you miss my post from 24-August? There is software that will do what you want and someone on MyGMRS (I can't find the post at the moment) has reported that it worked. However, as @marcspaz has pointed out in another thread, changing the radio from narrowband to wideband would void the GMRS certification. (Changing the PL settings would apparently be ok). So, if you were going to do that you might as well just buy the exact same radio without GMRS certification, as sold by vendors mentioned in the thread I linked to previously.

You're welcome, sir. Just remember: I started out with only a couple of Baofeng UV5Rs... IMO, its all about the tools you have, not the radios: they say tools, tools, tools, you can't get anything properly done without the proper tools. Having a VNA, an SG, or an ISOTEE, a RF power checker, etc, a far more important thing to have than having fancy Moto radios. G.

Hi there, I own several Motorola and Vertex Standards radios and I am not an expert, far from it. I also have a very large CCR collection, radios like the Wouxun, etc. These CCRs served their purpose which was to got me hooked in this hobby, unfortunately I kept buying them for too long before I realized I made a mistake. Why? B/c after trying nearly every other CCR out there, the moment I tested my first XPR6550 I realized I wasted all my time and my money for far too long on these CCRs. Yes, you can call me a Moto snob now, I am not BTW,... whatever... its your money... Point is I am not an expert, and just don't hate CCRs, but they sure have a lot of limitiations. Once you acquire enough knowledge/gear/equipment to perform useful measurements on your own, you'll begin to realize the same thing I did: why these radios are just called CCRs. If you need range you are going to need a lot more than a portable Wouxun, especially if you live in a suburban area; a lot more than a high gain antenna and an 11 feet pole (like Moses ). For these CCR radios, i.e Wouxun, et. all, you'll need a lot of filtering, and I mean, LOTS of it... Then, the more gain you have in the antenna, and the higher up you raise it, the more RF signals you'l pick up, which is good, but unfortunately not so good for those CCRs which can't deal with such a rush of incoming RF, why? b/c they lack any front end filtering (back to why you'll need filtering)... So what do these CCRs do instead? they desense like its going out of style. What is desense? Desense is like when you have to close your ears at a rock-and-roll concert to hear your friend trying to scream you something... radios have to reduce sensitivity (desense) to be able to hear anything. Don't believe me? well, I guess I would've not believed myself talking about this when I got started either... But here are some real numbers obtained with an ISOTEE and a signal generator. So, hooked up a GD77 to my a Hustler G6 GMRS (6dBd) antenna, placed 40 feet AGL. Measurements read the GD77 desensed ~40 dBm... Yes, you heard that right, -40dBm... it doesn't sound like much... but a -40dBm desense means the radio is now useless. I wish I could tell you this was the only CCR radio that showed this massive desense, unfortunately ALL my other CCRs (under 180 dollars) that I tried desensed about the same figure: -40dBm. That is why they are called CCRs b/c they aren't that good. Now, for comparison, on the same Hustler G6 antenna, placing a portable Motorola XPR6550, also unfiltered, I was able to hear the Signal Generator (SG) all the way down to RF site noise threshold. The usable sensitivity on the GD77 was measured at -72 dBm, and the Motorola XPR6550 usable sensitivity was -116 dBm (unfiltered). To give perspective, on the stock rubber duck antennas, the GD77 had a -100 dBm usable sensitivity, whereas the Motorola XPR6550 had -118 dBm usable sensitivity. (see correction values at the end) If you want range, you should start by acquiring measuring tools. To me, a VNA, a Signal Generator and a simple ISOTEE changed how I see the hobby completely... Now I can unequivocally measure things and make an informed decision, rather than an educated guess, or a guess, or "bro'science".... and those tools are just "basic tools" compared to what more expensive service monitors can do. Once you have measuring equipment you'll be in a position to measure things like noise floor, cable quality, connector quality... and you'll be able to tune your own filters, cavities... After you have those tools, then you'll quickly realize you need better radios than a Wouxun. Nowadays, when high quality radios like the XPR6550 can be found used on eBay for ~100 bucks, there is literally zero reason to own a CCR for GMRS... While some XPR6550s might be a bit scratched, some might be rehoused... etc... they still work great for GMRS... and how much better than a CCR? At best, ~21 dBm better than nearly all CCRs I measured with rubber duckies... at worst, -44dBm better using a high gain 6dBm base antenna placed 40 feet AGL. Again, I don't hate CCRs b/c I now I own Motorolas and everything else is is crap. I still own a ton of them CCR and they are great, just not when the word range is involved. For small stuff, like giving to your 3 year old to start liking radios, loaners... plenty of uses.... all great, but once you find you like the hobby, don't be fooled by the CCR's fancy color screens, bells and whistles, gazillion contacts, etc etc... Buy high quality used commercial grade radio(s)... which might or might not even have a screen, screens don't make radios great... good RF performance does... and there are a LOT of good used commercial grade great radios on eBay (like the XPR6550.) There are also many very helpful members here (like @Marcspaz, thank you) who will help you setup these commercial radios if you are stuck. G. EDIT: Correction, after going over my notes the ISOTEE figures I quoted from memory for the rubber duck are actually for a 1/4 wave magmount, and the Motorola XPR6550 UHF is -116 dBm and the GD77 is -93 dBm... I am sorry for the mistake. EDIT2: The rubberduck I just performed the test with the ISOTEE, and the Motorola XPR6550 yields the same -116dBm as with the 1/4 wave, and the GD77 is -96 dBm. This was measured in the quietest RF place in my house with a noise floor of -123 dBm average. on 462.600 MHz.

Used this instead of 7 zip and it appears to have installed properly. Thank you for the suggestion and link WQYR510! 73

Here's the thing, for some of us, its entertainment or emergency communications. However, my family use our radios around the house while working in the yard, while racing my car to talk to my corner spotters and crew from the track, while fishing, 4wheeling, hiking, spending time at the park, caravaning somewhere with multiple vehicles, and on and on. The list of things in our lives that we can integrate radio for the better is endless. Therefore the "image" to draw people in are endless. The best way to advertise isn't with someone specific to radio or activities you can improve with radio, but rather, find a common image that will have the most amount of impact on the heartstrings of your target demographic. The radio really has nothing to do with it. People buy toys and non-essential products based on emotions, using how they feel to justify spending the time, money and effort. That is... if that's really what the end goal is. If you're trying to sell radios, learn your target demographic. Asking folks like us is going to be a mixed bag of tricks that's just going to cloud that even more.

I hate to admit it but I had set the privacy tones incorrectly. Still learning, that's for sure. I was able to hit it with the 115 with no problem. Yes - I have line of sight and since swapping the 115 with the 400, I can hit the repeater easily even on the low setting(about 5 watts) at 31 miles away. I do like the way that the 400 works better than the 115 or the 275. It's seems to be more sensitive on the receive side as well. Is it worth the extra $100? Maybe. I'm wondering now if I should upgrade my antenna or if this is good enough to do everything I want? Also, SWR is in the 1.15:1 range.

Hello WREC915, I am currently using the same radio and it is my first GMRS radio. Also using the same antenna, but haven't had any luck talking to anyone on a repeater or even on simplex. I know the radio is working because I have two motorola hand held radios and I can hear my mobile on them. It is hard to find a repeater in my area that is not private use and I'm not able to get the PL tones to them. Let me know how your MXT 400 works because I am thinking of doing the same thing you are, but not sure about midland. Good luck retiredpc in Tennessee.