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RG58U is a wrong cable to use for 50' length. You reduce power of your signal 10 times. Use LMR-400. Coax attenuation chart: https://www.w4rp.com/ref/coax.html If you have to have thin cable, at least opt for LMR-240 or RG8X.

RG8x is better than RG58 but is still terrible for UHF - spring for the LMR400; it'll give you a noticeable boost in performance. It's worth the cost: https://abrind.com/product-category/abr400-solid-ultraflex-assemblies/ I can't comment first hand on the antenna; but the Browing BR-6353 works well at GMRS for what it is, it's only slightly more than the TWAYRADIO brand: https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3580&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkbuKBhDRARIsAALysV7PYMkBxYiCxyoQ5dSVENW9I2CnZc0eMgrFmNlvt_oP7ufbQQW9qdYaAiPhEALw_wcB. It's fully welded and pre-tuned, it's surprisingly tough for how cheap it is. I recommend getting away from Amazon when shopping for radio stuff. Bonus points for the type N connectors too - while PL259's are also called "UHF" connectors it's because when they were designed UHF was anything above 30mhz; Type N is mechanically a better and lower loss connector, and are better for weatherproofing too. edit: Back on the coax; you're putting up a 7.1dBi yagi antenna, with 50' RG-8x you will lose 4.246db of that gain for a net system gain of 2.9db. In contrast; with the LMR400 - you're 'only losing' 1.371dB for a net system gain of 5.7dB For the hell of it - using RG-58 results in a net system gain of 0.2dB; it'd almost completely negate the benefit of your antenna to an isotropic radiator (which is below the performance of a basic dipole as it is already). For reference; a basic dipole 'unity gain' antenna is 2.15dBi (aka 0.0dBd) see: https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Coax_Calculator.htm

Thank you for sharing your input and experience. The different perspective helped. I'm glad I posted here, gathering all these knowledge nuggets, so I can be confident that when I'm ready to order, it will be everything I need and nothing I don't.

That's what I figure. I suppose I could have just loosened the screw and left it in. I just don't want it to accidentally loosen enough to fall out of the antenna. This way I know where the screw is as I put the Ziploc bag in the radio box. Even if I lose it at some point, it doesn't matter as the rubber duck secures nicely without it. I use the longer whip or mobile magnet-mount most of the time anyway. Now if I can just find the belt clip. As the saying goes, "it didn't walk out of the house....."

I bought the UV88 for ham use (mostly monitoring), since I already had the GM-30 for GMRS use. I liked the idea of having interchangeable batteries, and I wanted the drop-in charger, too, since it's very easy to use to charge my radios and spare batteries. Initially, I wasn't sure if the batteries were interchangeable, or if the drop-in charger would work for the GM-30, so another part of the reason for buying the UV88 was to satisfy my curiosity about these things. That way I would know, and could share that information with others.

Here is a link to radio that may be of some interest. https://www.amazon.com/Eton-Classic-Clear-Sounding-Shortwave-NELITE750/dp/B08BVSCY8G?ref_=ast_sto_dp A blind ham friend of mine has this radio and loves it. I played with it a bit when he first received it so I could educate him on its operation. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Also try changing channels. BTECH is good with tech support so drop an email to them and see what they say.

Quick update. With some help and the GM30, I was able to hear 484.96250 (LA County Fire Dispatch), so that's good to know going forward. It was shared that many of the emergency stations may be using digital tones. Gonna play around with it some more tomorrow.

So it's getting power...if you press the power then press and hold the channel knob, does it show a blue screen and password prompt? That might hint if it's a bad connection in the screen or something in the firmware. (No idea what the password would be, and I have t found any hints online)

Enough. You have 272 posts on here... do you ever read what others have said? You certainly can't be that obtuse. The guy has a for profit business hosting GMRS repeaters that you have to pay a fee to access. He has a list of at LEAST 20 repeaters on this site through out central and southern Ohio. Some of them are at tower sites that I can say for a fact he has ZERO access to. And I have been in them and NO GMRS equipment exists at these sites. And when I say business, I mean established business with a State of Ohio issued business license, tax ID number and these documents indicate it's a for profit business. Which if you had read the rules pertaining to GMRS and fee's you would KNOW that's illegal. Now, how profitable his business is. How many actual subscribers he has. The real number of repeaters he has on the air. I have zero clue on any of it, and don't care. But specifically to the "whats' wrong with that?" question.... it's against the FCC rules. Using DMR or ANY digital modulation (MDC and other positoning data transmissions are NOT digital modulation) is against the regulations for GMRS. And since I know someone will disagree, you are allowed short data bursts for ID and GPS location, but they are analog modulation of digital data, not a digital modulation as defined by the emission designation . And I am thinking that we need to get this thread back to the original topic of the tower build out.

I'm with you, nearly lifelong Mac user and avoid anything Windows related. But I have a few niche applications that require it, and they're pretty lightweight so I don't need a full BootCamp install. But no need to buy a whole new computer. VMware Fusion Player works if you have Catalina, but I don't (long story short, I'll lose a lot of compatibility if I update), and Oracle VMBox is also free and runs Win10 just fine. With either, just install the software, download a copy of Windows, and install it while telling it you don't have a product key. Alternately, if you have a public library nearby, chances are they also use virtual machines that wipe themselves clean after use, and sometimes will allow software installs. I've had no issues doing that at my local branch. As for a cable, FTDI chipset based ones are the way to go (Wouxun's own, for example) but I have the Retevis that seems to be an authentic Prolific chip. (Believe me, I know, I had one heck of a headache connecting a serial printer through a counterfeit one once.)

I just set the screw aside in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping. Makes it easier to change out antennas on the fly, as the screw really isn't necessary to hold the antenna in-place.