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If I may make a suggestion. Consider taking one or two FRS/GRMS radios and hooking it up to your computer and use the computer as a recorder. Set the computer to record on low quality so you can record for a long time with minimal memory consumption then let the computer record continuously. The headphone out of the radios can easily adapt to the sound card input of a typical PC. This would certainly be easiest if the offender is predictable in terms of frequency. Even better if they are predicable in terms of time. If you are technically inclined, you could rig up two radios to record at a time, one to the left channel of recorder, one to the right channel of the recorder. The basic gist of the idea is to be configured and actively recording before you actually need it, just like a video surveillance system. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The more I learn about the FCC's General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), the more I am fascinated by RF in general. It touches everyone's lives every second of every day, yet few people pay much attention. How cool is it that after 42 years and 14 billion miles away, the 22-Watt radio on Voyager 1 is still sending data back to earth every day (how important is that antenna?). So why aren't more people interested in GMRS or RF in general? There's no test to get a license like amateur (ham) radio. It's $70 for a 10-year license, and is really easy to get started. So here are some theories. People don't know: GMRS exists Why GMRS exists Why they'd want to use GMRS How to envision themselves participating in GMRS What it takes to get started with GMRS What it takes to continue and improve with GMRS Technical information they should know about GMRS Etiquette when transmitting (TX) on GMRS What a GMRS "Net" is and why Most people within the GMRS community are helpful once you're in, but the community is very inviting in a go-figure-it-out-yourself way, and no one has assembled everything you need to know about GMRS all in one place. We GMRS people are putting the onus on outsiders to sift through thousands of painfully esoteric webpages with a winnowing fork, separating useful info from useless, poorly written, or incomplete info. When I first heard about GMRS on a 4x4 trip, I arrived home and Googled around and settled on a Midland MXT-275 because it seemed perfect for mounting on my truck dashboard. At the time, I had no idea that Midland doesn't manufacture a GMRS radio capable of operating on split-tone repeaters (Dear Midland, I know you're reading this: why do you squander so much potential?). Edit 6/28/2021: Midland heard our cry! They just updated the MXT-275 to include split-tone programming on repeater channels. So for example, now this radio is able to reach a repeater that receives (RX) incoming transmissions on 467.550 with a PL tone of 103.5 and repeats the transmission (TX) at 462.550 with a PL tone of 88.5. I didn't even know what "split tone" was or even what "tone" meant, or carrier or squelch or hundreds of other little things you all take for granted. Since then, I realized that if the big, bad manufacturers like Midland, Kenwood, Motorola, and iCom can't even invite the public to learn more and provide useful content for each stage of the customer journey—Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, and Loyalty—the 2-way radio industry has much deeper problems and aren't there to help guys like me. As we get involved deeper into GMRS, there's little-to-no hand-holding going on at each level of knowledge. I ending up relying on the Ham community here and there and a guy who is basically a saint at a little radio shop in Phoenix, Arizona (hope Tim over at Procomm and the others at the nonprofit AZGMRS.org don't mind me giving them a shout-out). Edit 4/14/2020: By the way, AZGMRS made this awesome list of FCC-approved GMRS radios that they recommend. If you live anywhere near Arizona and are reading this, now would be a great time to become a member. Their repeater network covers some 100 miles around Phoenix with more and more repeaters joining the network (check out their sweet coverage map). But it's still frustrating. I wish a GMRS expert—presumably a manufacturer—would just come out and say exactly what a total newbie needs at each stage of their involvement or level of need. Two-way radio manufacturers should stop wasting time trying to sell, and start marketing and branding, which means educating the public about the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, Why [+how, +how much]) without trying to sell to them. Most new users don't know what they need because they don't know what's possible. For example, I wish I knew that manufacturers don't typically include the best antenna on their radios right out of the box. It took me over a year to realize that the best bang for the buck for a portable base antenna to include in my go bag is N9TAX's Slimjim and that Smiley Antenna makes the best bang for the buck antennas for hand-held radios (which by the way, everyone just assumes newbies are supposed to know that hand-held walkie-talkie radios are called "HT" for "Handy-talkie" and what a "QSO" is). How would a newbie know that the cheap Nagoya 771 "upgrade" antenna for Baofengs that everyone talks about actually isn't the best bang for the buck for the GMRS frequency band of 462–467? How would a newbie know that antennas work best when tuned exactly to what they call a "center" frequency that accommodates 5 Megahertz in each direction (+5 and -5 Megahertz) at the expense of hearing other frequencies? I learned the hard way that in order to properly install an NMO antenna mount on the roof of my truck, I would need a drill bit specifically made for drilling NMO antenna mount holes, and that yes, it is worth the money to do it right the first time. I'm still in the middle of learning how a "quarter-wave" or "5/8 wave" antenna works, the difference between dB gain vs. dBi gain, mic gain, antenna gain, because again, everyone seems to just assume I already know what all this means. I still don't understand what antenna "tuning" means and why you have to "cut" an antenna to "tune" it. Can I make my own antenna right now in a pinch with a copper wire in my garage? Ok, show me! How do I measure it or test it? What is SWR? Can I measure it myself? What do I need in order to measure it? Is one SWR meter better than another for my level as a newbie? Is there something I should learn to make it worth buying the better meter that opens up a whole new world of capability? Is it worth learning all that? This graphic did a great job beginning to explain what dBd gain means for those of us who know next to nothing about it, but now I need to go find out on my own and sift through a thousand webpages to find out if dBd is something new I need to know. Speaking of dB, I know that "dB" is a decibel, but is it the same as my stereo volume? Why do I see manufacturers saying that the microphone and cable have a dB rating? What is going on here? This is madness! We can Google things all day, but which info is true and correct and the most helpful? I think that the entire industry is sitting on a Gold Mine of consumers sitting at home for weeks on end who would love to buy GMRS equipment and communicate via GMRS to friends, family, neighbors, and other GMRS users. Whoever provides the most useful, relevant, and engaging content that stops making assumptions about what people know or don't know will win. STOP ASSUMING. START EDUCATING.

I inquired about BTech advertizing. Background They say in their ads for the GMRS 50X1 that there are 8 "modifiable" channels. While that is technically correct, you MAY NOT change the frequencies of any of these 8 channels. I have access to a couple of repeaters that use the same frequency, but with different tones. It's hard to know, sometimes which is which, on the same channel. So, I wanted to reprogram one of these unused 8 channels, with a duplicate frequency, and store it in one of the 8 unused channels. BUT the 50X1 cannot be changed. It keeps reverting back to the original frequency. I asked BTech engineering and they say it's very easy to do by "quick" access to the tone menu. Well that "quick" access requires a minimum of 8 key strokes on the mic. Or lots of scrolling from the radio. They also said the FCC prohibits that. I believe they are wrong and just using the FCC as an excuse. This is a Memory Channel. The FCC says nothing about how memory channels can be used or which frequency can go on which memory channel. I believe the FCC only prohibits the user from selecting a frequency and using it outside the certified limits. But BTech puts this on the FCC. Solutions Option 1: They could just make it clear in their advertisement that while the 8 "modifiable" channels are modifiable, the frequency is not. I think most people reading that would think the frequency would also be modifiable (although ONLY within the repeater frequency options) but it is not. Option 2: BTech could very easily have "hard coded" channels for the first 30, like they do now. All parameters that are allowed to be changed can be, like they are now. Frequencies can't be changed. For all the rest of the channels, they could be receive only, EXCEPT for copies, of existing hard coded channels. For instance, channels 1-30 are hard coded, you can't change frequencies. It would be very easy in software, to allow COPIES of these 30, to any of the other channels, and have them modifiable, and allow transmit, WITHOUT allowing the frequency to be changed These other channels would just be pointers to the existing hard coded channels, BUT allow parameters to be modified, per the channel in question. So, if you copied CH1 to CH40, You could operate channel 40 as it was in CH1, but only be allowed to change parameters per what was allowed in CH1. This would allow 2 legally hard coded GMRS repeater frequencies, to have different channels, on the same frequency, with different tones. I doubt this would be a violation of the FCC. Where am I wrong? If I am. And if I'm right, this would add a very useful feature. Mike GM

On the MXT400, you can program all 30 memory channels to the same frequency with 30 different PL's if you wish

I just found the proper software on the Buy Two Way Radios page for the radio. If people would mention this on their posts it would be a big help for those searching for it. I was happy to see you can use the Baofeng cable. I also downloaded the owners manual so I should be good to go now. Thank ya'll for the help! Jerry Swindle Jr. WRJU443

Officially, No. Unofficially (partially), Yes. Use at your own risk. Channels can be configured, radio settings cannot. You must read from the radio first as your starting point. Do not start a fresh file from scratch. Use the model with 816 in it (if I recall correctly) You cannot use offset settings of + or -. Instead you must use the ‘Split” option to establish Tx frequency. Failure to do this will program the radio incorrectly. Make sure you have a factory backup of the original settings before you use chirp. You could do something that makes the radio non functional. To date, I have programmed (4) KG-805G successfully using Chirp. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I was prey to the cable loss BS scam, apparently the low loss cable myth seems to be targeted towards beginners just to sell them low performance LMR400, misleading them into believing that a .3 dB loss is going to render your radio useless. Not so. FYI, I currently have a 2.3 dB insertion loss between my preselector and the 3 TX/RX bandpass cavities combined on my house base setup, even with a 2.3 dB I can easily reach 20 miles on 25W base to mobile... again, don't fall for the cable loss BS. A 1 dB loss is not going to hurt anything. Go with Heliax, and not b/c of the lower loss, but for the lower noise, which means better signal to noise ratio, since with LMR400 chances are the noise floor will increase by a few dB, which will certainly hurt things a lot more than losing a 0.3 dB of your signal. Again, don't use UHF chrome connectors, use N trimetal. Impedance mismatch and PIM will also ruin your range too... and will be an absolute witch hunt to find them. G.

If you, or one of your children, can state you heard the conversation then call the local PD and talk to someone in their vice section. They will probably come ot and interview the people that heard the conversation and then take action. They will bring in Federal assistance from the FCC and possibly the FBI. The FCC involvement is unique in that they do not require a warrant to inspect a building looking for radio equipment.

There are things called access codes for most repeaters. you will need the input and output code (usually CTCSS or DCS) These need to be entered into the radio as well in order to activate the repeater and talk into it.

I have seven UHF CP200 for sale. These are older radios, never issued, brand new condition. Come with radio, belt clip, antenna, charger and battery. The batteries don't hold a charge due to their age. I'm askling $150.00 each, I'm willing to entertain other offers. I would love to make someone a package deal on these.