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I now have the Retevis RA25and the Anytone At-779UV. As far as I can tell, they are pretty much the exact same radio. I have a programming cable that works for both, although I could not open the download for programming the Anytone. As has been said, without using a PC, you cannot change the factory settings, not even the PL tones, because you cannot get to those menu items. I assume that they locked the radio to narrowband on all channels because it was easier than tweaking the hardware to set the "new" GMRS "wide" setting of 20khz, vs the standard wideband of 25khz. I have let both companies know about these problems that make these radios useless. The engineers certainly dropped the ball on this radio. Perhaps they should consider reaching out to the largest GMRS users site in the USA for input:)

I will also agree with mbrun's take, speaking a 50x1 owner with a couple different repeaters in range on the the same frequency. It's kind of a pain not being able to save more tx entries, even if within bounds for gmrs. Midland are very plug and play, and generally well supported, but have their own limitations;if repeater access is desired, the xtalkers are likely out. The wouxun handheld is solid, and easy to set up. I have high hopes for their mobile to be similar, and the remote head is a bonus, but it's slightly pricy, and still a bit of an unknown. Among the 3 options, I think wouxun is the best. If you're willing to mix, you could do a Midland base and wouxun ht. Axorlov also raises a good point about the commercial options being good alternatives.

Na. screw it. Between you and the guy that said I need to get a part 90 frequency pair and run P25 with ASE256 and RAC to keep things private,,, I am in agreement. Why should I care about other license holders. And if I invest in a number of FB6 pairs, I can put up a commercial DMR system instead and sell time on it. Who has time for hobby and family radio users anyway. Thank you for helping me to see the error in my thought process. I will say that we need to quit hijacking this threat. So when a Mod see's all this,,,, please clear it out until it's back on topic.

Where did you find the Firmware download? The only thing I see at Reteivs is the programming software, or is the firmware part of that?

Would those of you that are moderators or admins of this site please private message me so I know who you are? When you message me, could you also please let me know your role, how long you have been doing it, and how much time you generally have to spend per week doing it? If I don’t hear directly from the forum administrator, and you moderators know who it is, could you please let me know who it is ask them to PM me as well? This request is made in connection with the thread concerning getting a master list of part 95 products documented on the site. Looking to start the discussion. Thanks in advance. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well, just tested a bit. The firmware locked to only TX on GMRS. It is a dual band, so set the B VFO to my local NOAA. But it's programed in Narrow for all channels and the .5WATT channels are missing, as the radio will not go that low. I saw Low power channels with 5.6W and High power channels at 19.6W. Surecom SW-102, with Dummy load, its a 1W higher on both low and high. The first 14 function are hidden and not accessible. This might be a deal breaker in its current state. I'm not finding the tone settings. The repeater channels are there, but not modifiable. Also the channel's are not named, so it's only the Freq and memory number. Does not work with CHIRP. Even with the Anytone CSP V2.0, you can not modify the current memories or create any new ones. I was able to switch all memories to Wide band, batch change to all. But without the tone option, it's worthless for duplex. Still testing. Haven't emailed them yet.

Ham VS GMRS. That's gonna depend on what YOU want to do with the radio hobby. And the number of users in your area on GMRS and their willingness to talk to you. GMRS is VERY limited as opposed to ham radio. You have 7 repeater channels and 14 interstitial. Ham had BANDS of frequencies and a number of modes of operation. You can experiment in ham radio with any sort of communications technology... GMRS is wide band FM on UHF. That's all there is and there ain't no more. I am a communications hobbyist. In short, I like radio. I am a ham. I have a GMRS license (which I waited far to long to get) and I am a commercial radio tech as my chosen career path. GMRS is a PART of my hobby. But I can't build a GMRS radio,,, where I have built several ham radios. Mostly single frequency HF low power stuff, but I built it and communicated with it. The only person that will know if a ham ticket is the thing to get is you, all we can do is explain the differences.