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@Papatree: This is the Icom model that I was referring to that was the competitor to the Yaesu FT-857d at the time (both mobile styled units). Although the 706 had a larger display screen, my recollection is that the Yaesu FT-857d won out in the marketplace. This seems to be confirmed in its higher pricing in the used market today, as well. I originally had the Yaesu FT-817, but it is a QRP low powered rig and my advice is that QRP is an acquired taste that takes much patience and should be postponed until you have a need for a battery powered unit (camping, SOTA, etc.). I sold my 817 on eBay and then immediately acquired my 857d (100 watts on HF and 6 Meters; 50 watts on 2 meters and 20 watts on 70 cm). I initially used to keep my 857d in a backpack with a LDG AT-100Pro II antenna tuner and a collapsable 80-10 meter vertical antenna that I purchased on eBay and take it out for day trips. It is now my dedicated HF rig in my shack: Here was the "portable" setup, including the Duracell PowerPack 600: a 12 volt 28Ah rechargeable power unit, that came with Anderson PowerPole connectors for easy connection/disconnection:

Just got home from a 2000 mile vacation. Lots of interstate and back roads (Despise interstates). Had my APX on the "original" GMRS list. Dead silence. Did have my HT scanning 1-7 and heard alot of chatter on and off on CH1 depending on location. Most of it sounded to be family traveling. Down in some of the "historical" areas we stopped alot of chatter on 1-4. As reference my CB was pretty busy on 95 thru SC as it was dead stop for an hour at one point. Even out on the beach rides CB still had chatter.

You have many options from what you described. That Motorola Astro Spectra UHF could be used if you have software and cable to program it. I know many people currently buying the Yaesu FT-991A for about $1200.00, a solid VHF/UHF/HF rig that can do what you describe. Budget, software, other items you will need that you already have, what brands you prefer, and needs all come into play. I tend to keep separate radios for each band, and for GMRS, find that I use an old Motorola CDM1550 LS+ with an Astron power supply the most. For VHF there is a Vertex VX-3200 and Duracomm power supply. For HF there is a low power Yaesu FT-817ND. CB radio is covered by a Cobra 2000 GTL base station. Good luck on your search and whichever direction you go with this.

Very nice. It looks like the logical replacement for the Rino 120 is the Rino 700, and with that monochrome display, should still work with image intensification night vision, while still having the location sending option, adding in text messaging. I for one am glad that Garmin pushed for this back in 2003, that was very helpful in the past, and some of us still use this when out and about in the wilderness. Thank you for sharing the info. Expanding capabilities through the FCC would be a good thing for those that understand the limitations and capabilities. I may keep my eyes out for some being sold cheaper, by those that get frustrated when they only get a few miles range, expecting to get 14-22 miles on a 5 watt radio/GPS.

Rather than second hand misinformation, here is my review: if you have one of the radios listed to be used with this device, it does exactly what it claims: you can reprogram on the fly without a computer. if will not cook you breakfast, or anything else your friend expected of a $22 device! ?

I kind of like the old setup better, it was more user friendly. I guess I’ll get used to this new one. I can’t find a way to edit my repeater information and when I changed and saved my profile info, it goes back to what I originally had. Happy New Year

Just in case anyone checks the forums before the main site... we have a new myGMRS! After well over a year of fooling around with the new website, I have finally launched it. This is a big leap in technology since the original website was created in 2006 and only had a few incremental updates over the years. This new platform will allow us to put out quicker updates, brand-new features, and bonus features for Premium Members. Premium Membership is an optional subscription where you can remove ads from the website, generate PDF reports of repeaters and licenses in any state, and create your own Club listing (part of the forums) so you don't need to create your own website! All of the existing features of myGMRS will remain free, of course. A new mobile app is also in the works, although we're not close to a release date for that. The long-awaited iOS version will be part of the release, as well as a completely new Android app. Since this is such a radically different website, I'm sure there will be some issues along the way. If anyone runs into bugs or problems of any kind, please don't hesitate to submit a bug report at this Google Forms URL rather than the forums or by email (as it'll be much easier to review): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6XLmCW-UU0Bp9lN9zM3L9gO_TCkArIN2oY-hOLG9x01B3lg/viewform Thank you everyone for the wonderful support and thank you to our Beta testers. You know who you are! Have a Happy New Year!

If you get the 706 there is no pressing need for the 2730 as the 706 does 2M and 70CM.

I would drive up to Saddle Peak with all the equipment and setup shop at the parking area at the top of the hill, with a 360 degree panorama (you can barely see the collapsable eBay vertical on the tripod, with its "rat tail" that reaches to ground for a few feet)! After I got my EV, I installed Anderson Powerpoles in the vehicle and had all the power I needed!

Not a bad price on the icom, though I wouldn't call it a great price unless it's new..they tend to be in the 250-300 range new, depending on sales and rebates. Does definitely fill your crossband need too. On a side note, when I used the crossband at home, I had the tones configured so it only repeated from ht to the set repeate (I had a couple cross and channels set up for various frequencies), but not back to the ht....since I could hear the repeater just fine, just not reach it with the ht from indoors.

The plus + model is very nice, with 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm all in one package. No HF or waterfall display of course.

Funny you mentioned this...it's been in my wishlist for sometime, on Amazon, and I saw this morning it was finally back in stock. It'll be here on Tuesday? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A37V0QGFC9C912&psc=1

They are now somewhat buried in the new website configuration:

There are several sites that provide reviews of units that can be used for a base station. Within your budget there are 2 that cover your needs from Icom. The IC-7100 is a mobile/base covering all bands but doesn't have the waterfall display. The Icom 706 MK IIG is available on the used market again, no waterfall but both are solid 100W units. You can get an SDR radio for fairly cheap that will throw up a waterfall display using a software program downloaded from the net. For my 2M/70cm work I use the ID-5100A and a hot spot for D-Star. Probably one of the best sources for an unbiased review is the ARRL. You may want to consider joining them for their wealth of information available. The other trusted(?) sources would be the ham equipment dealers such as Ham Radio Outlet, DX Engineering, Gigaparts and others. They will, of course, be biased to their new equipment lines but can definitely offer good advice on power supplies and antennas along with other accessories you'll end up needing.

Definately a Cell Phone antenna. Converted many in the past to VHF and UHF. There were 2 models. One had a 6/32 thread on the whip/stud and the other was 1/4-20. It would allow a standard ASP stud to screw on and then an ASP whip. By the time you replace the TNC and find the whip and stud its probably cheaper to buy a new NMO Mag mount.

Forgot to expand on this a bit...I have a batch of simplex channels programmed in 146 and 147 on 2m, and 446.xxx on 70cm to give me some simplex, calling frequencies included. I think eventually, either this truck or the next, I'll pick up an id-5100 or ftm-400dr, and the icom will come back inside, or try to sneak it into the better half's car

Commercial radios generally aren't the most flexible thing., But you can get around it somewhat with programming. I've shuffled my setups a few times, though the alinco dm30 is the one consistent piece, powering everything. There's a couple of tekpower that are well regarded and slightly cheaper. Radio wise, my current setup is a vx4207 for 70cm (bonus being 90/95cert, so legal for gmrs too), paired with a vx4204 for 2m. The 4204 wasn't exactly inexpensive, but the 4207 can be had on eBay for 135+shipping from used-radios.com (username erac1)...it's a little more on their site. Previously, I had an icom 2730a dual band, which was solid, but the fan noise got to me a little; it's in the truck in place of the vx4207. If 95a certification isnt an issue, I've seen other models (I want to say vx2200) with a power supply for base use for 175 on ebay. However, I'm currently doing straight analog FM on the base, plus dmr and p25 on handhelds. (Also tech, kicking myself for not studying up to do general at the same time). I've been scouring for some affordable p25 mobile, or 1.25/6m options but haven't pulled the trigger on any of those yet. Kind of like some members go for Motorola, my 'fleet' is pretty heavily biased toward Vertex Standard.

Congrats on the callsign! From what I read about the look of big bad waterfall display and knobs, I think you know what you want! It starts with Elec- and ends with -raft! Oh yeah, on a budget, nevermind... I have FT-817 (which is not a good base station!), I use it for portable operation from the woods. I'm thinking about something like FT-991A for a base at some point next year.

Hook the antenna up to an UHF antenna analyzer or to a VNA and run the correct tests and you should be able to find your answer. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Michael, Kindly show the world where there is an approved device that covers both the GMRS and CB frequencies and not a unit that covers frequencies outside those two bands.

That's a sign of life! I just drove 16 hours each way to Houston and had ch 20 on the whole way. Nothin' but crickets. But that could be business use at a transfer yard, too.

Yes Michael, there are units that do cover those frequencies but Mr. KIA, the OP was asking as a person not licensed to operate that type of unit and specifically for a unit to cover just the GMRS and CB bands which there isn't a unit. So, quit being an idiot and address the question being asked in the frame it was asked. And further, the Yaesu doesn't operate on the GMRS or CB frequencies without illegal modification so the answer is STILL there isn't a unit that combines those particular frequencies.

That should be exactly the information that the OP needs. As a Anytone AT-779UV owner, tell us more about what you hope to do with your interface?

A topic that has come up frequently in other threads is "How do I program my radios if I'm not using Windows?" (Thank you Michael LAX for the inspiration for this thread) I am not a Mac user, so I'll defer the expertise to others, but the common thread I've seen in this regard is to run an instance of Windows on the Mac using "Parallels." I'll leave the technical details of this to others since I have no experience in this area. I'm also not much of a "Virtual Machine" (Parallels, VM Ware, VirtualBox, etc.) user. Virtual Machines basically create a separate environment within the native Operating System (O.S.) in which a "guest" O.S. can be installed. Most often, it seems to be Windows that is installed in that environment, though you could conceivably install almost any O.S. you want. There are some special considerations to be made when using a Virtual Machine, particularly in setting up the programming cables. They need to have the COM ports properly configured, and the cable drivers must be properly installed in order for the programming cable to work. Again I will defer to the experts to chime in to share their experiences with Virtual Machines. I am a Linux user, however, and I have used Linux exclusively for my radio programming for several years. Here are some of my experiences using Linux Mint 20 (other versions will be similar): Programming Cables: Every programming cable I have tried to use in Linux has worked pretty much "out of the box." The only real difficulty is in knowing what port it's connected to. Typically, it's either ttyUSB0 or ttyUSB1. I can figure that out with a little trial and error. Chirp: Chirp is a somewhat universal radio programming application. By universal, I mean that it works on many types of radios and multiple operating systems. Chirp can be installed and run natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I use the "Flatpak" version of Chirp, since I am running a newer version of Linux Mint, which uses the Python 3 libraries. Chirp is (or, at least, was) heavily dependent upon the Python 2 libraries which are incompatible with Python 3. The way around this is the "Flatpak" which bundles the necessary libraries and the application together in a separate "container" for lack of a better word. To install it on the newer versions of Mint, you'll need to use the Software Manager to install the Flatpak application, and if it doesn't also include Flatpak-builder, you might want to install that, too. I'm not sure about the necessity of the second application, but it's installed on my Mint 20 desktop and works well for me. Lastly, you'll want to download the latest version of Chirp (in Flatpak format) from the download section at chirp.danplanet.com and install it from the command line with the following command: sudo flatpak install ~/Downloads/chirp-daily-20210930.flatpak The command assumes your download was saved in the Downloads directory within your Home directory. If not, you'll need to point the installer to the correct path. Finally, replace "chirp-daily-20210930.flatpak" with the name of the file you downloaded. Manufacturer CPS: For most of the CPS software that is provided by the radio manufacturers, I run them in Linux using a "compatibility layer" called "WINE." To use it, you have to first install WINE. I did this from the "Software Manager" on Linux Mint. Once installed and configured, WINE will open automatically any time I try to run any Windows application (.exe). It will run in its own Window on my computer, and I do that with the setup programs that come from the radio manufacturers. Once installed, the programs can be run from the WINE selection of the "Mint Menu" or what Windows users think of as the "Start Menu." I sometimes go back to the WINE configuration to tell WINE what version of Windows to emulate. I typically default to Windows 7 for this purpose. As with the native Linux configuration, WINE also requires a little configuration to point the "COM port" to the correct USB device that was identified above. This is done by creating a symbolic link in Linux. In this case, I can assign "COM 1" to the ttyUSB1 device with the following command: ln -s /dev/ttyUSB1 ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1 Once configured, I select the program from the Mint Menu, and in most cases it will run correctly. Occasionally there are little glitches that make the program difficult to use, such as windows that don't render properly, or fonts that don't display properly. Some of those issues have yet to be resolved in my case, but the software is, more often than not, quite usable even with those issues. I've only had one or two programs that wouldn't run for me, and those were for radios that are supported by Chirp.

Hi guys thought I'd say hi to the fellow Alaska GMRS guys. Just started in the GMRS world for communication in the local Anchorage area though I'm from Eagle River. My brother in law wanted to sell me on getting a HAM license but figured I'd start with GMRS in my Jeep. So hoping to hop on the E.R. repeater and hopefully hearing some traffic. Channel 20 has had some traffic, but otherwise its been pretty quiet. Hope to hear from you guys and thank you WRFP for setting up repeaters that's super cool and handy.

Interesting, maybe some internal stuff that is causing the desense? In any case, glad you guys figured it out... nothing like good Motorolian gear G.

You and @gman1971are entitled to your opinions about never recommending Baofengs for any purpose, but I still contend they are a wonderful way to get Newbies into either GMRS or Ham Radio and sometimes, Both! I speak from experience...

I picked up two of the KG-905G models. Very easy to operate. Good battery life. Uncomplicated software for quick programming.

Also, if I recall, this is printed on the bottom of your FCC license.

>What's missing from myGMRS.com? A dark theme!

Short answer, yes. Long answer, I used to work in the oil industry, providing emergency communications services through a sort of "insurance policy" funded by many oil industry corporations that pooled their budget for response efforts. During: larger oil spills, a few floods, and some hurricane aftermath response periods, the Federal Communications Commission would check licenses of: vessels, corporation repeaters and radio infrastructure, and personnel. On several occasions this impacted how things were done: no more portable repeaters on ships for example, no more portable repeaters placed on roofs of buildings (each site had to have its own license), and all personnel working on vessel comms needed to get GROL's (General RadioTelephone Operators Licences), as previously there was an "emergency exemption" granted. At the beginning of 2013, all licenses and some radios were checked for narrowband in the appropriate bands that now required 25kHz to be changed to 12.5kHz spacing. When Motorola Trbo series radios were becoming popular, licences were checked for correct emissions designators. However, it was most often the U.S. Coast Guard that checked radio licenses, personnel training records, and with some of the fleet being in Puget Sound, information was also given to Candian authorities, where many of us had to get Restricted RadioTelephone Operator Licenses, essentially the Canadian version of a GROL to take radios into Canadian waters, with all the issues with operating along the border and associated waterways. Besides those instances, I sometimes had airport TSA wonder why I had a better radio than they did when traveling for work across the nation, carrying a multi-band Harris Unity XG-100P handheld. Packed next to it was a copy of the NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) and I still had a military affiliation that kept them at bay, but you could tell they just wanted to jack me up to paw through my gear. It appears you may have some power tripping people in your area. But, as others have mentioned, the FCC lacks funding for enforcement, and seems to go after those that have money and hardware, and then only when something else regulatory is taking place, such as an oil spill or refinery incident. In that case, they may even rely upon other government entities to do the work, such as with the Coast Guard and commercial vessel inspections. In my current work,with many counties public safety radio systems tied into large corporate radio networks, the biggest inspection element comes from the cellular phone companies making sure we are not impacting cell phone infrastructure with public safety radio infrastructure, while merging the two under FirstNet (Band 14).