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If you transmit on a GMRS radio without a GMRS license you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison If you transmit on GMRS frequencies on a UV-5R you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison You can legally use a UV-5R on GMRS frequencies if you just lower the power level.. If you don't, you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison You don't need a GMRS license to use a GMRS radio if you put it on low-power and use the FRS only channels. If you talk a non-licensed person on GMRS "the FCC will come after you" (this one was JUST posed on this forum last week!)

Ditto; all our hubs are recorded 24/7 and retained for 90 days, asterisk makes this cake to do - literally one configuration string and a cron job. I do it primarily for my own entertainment, but also in case there's somebody using it in an emergency and a record of events is needed later on. We're also close to the southern border here so it wouldn't be the first time we've had some 'odd' traffic show up and work its way through the system; that goes straight to BP, and is one of the primary reasons we don't post our tones anymore without a slight sanity check first.

but... but... but... it's the internet. I'm pretty sure its mandatory. LOL

OK, I just had my second mic fail on the KG-1000G unit that I've had for about 1 year now, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue since I believe it is a "thing". I use this radio a lot - it is mounted in my Jeep and it is used all day long for a couple of days every third weekend or so. My first mic failed after about three months of such use. My replacement mic just failed this past weekend (incredibly frustrating when on a group trip and I lose primary comms!). Luckily I had a couple of backup HTs, but I digress....] The "failure" seems to manifest itself in the PTT button losing its tactile feedback (it becomes difficult to tell whether it is being "pushed" just by feel, if that makes any sense). This physical failure is accompanied by a deeply attenuated transmission - where people report that my voice has suddenly become "washed out" or "drowned out" by static. This is exactly what happened the first time, and after checking everything about my install (including replacing antenna and cable) I verified it was the mic. A replacement mic fixed the problem. I am going to reach out to Buytwowayradios today to hopefully discuss this issue, but since I have had it happen to me twice, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue? I LOVE this radio, but this mic problem needs a permanent fix! Brent

An antenna sold for 70cm band will never work on GMRS

See if this helps. This appears to be a popular question. Someone else answered it earlier today in this thread:

My favorite lie was "chics dig it". Also, had someone tell me you can't mimic NVIS by bouncing UHF signals off of moisture or debris in the atmosphere by pointing the antenna toward the sky. Nor can we have actual NVIS propagation during major geomagnetic storms and Arora storms. I guess the GMRS gurus know more than the JPL communications scientists that work for NASA.

Up until I did the rack swap at the site I WAS recording everything on two of the three repeaters. I will be again once I get things completely set back up. Why is it an issue?

If it’s being saved as a csv (comma separated value) file, and you try to open it by double clicking or right-clicking the file and choosing “open,” the default program for opening csv files is your web browser, so it’ll open the file and you’ll see all of the data, but you can’t do anything with it that way. You'll have to go to File -> Open in your radio software and drill down to the directory where you saved the file. (Hopefully you will already be there and won’t have to change directories.) The radio software might open if you double click the file from the file explorer if you set the radio program up as the default program for csv files, but I wouldn’t count on that working.

Heck I'd get giddy for an OLED version.

Everyone in our GMRS group uses MDC so we know who is talking and/or what radio they are on.

Sorry I use it on all my radios so I know which radio is being used. Each radio has its unique ID. With many users on a repeater its nice to keep track of who just called. JMHO

I have three of the RT10's. They do work. RX sensitivity pretty good. TX power is lower than my 6580's but it seems adequate for what I needed them for, use within repeater useful range. TX audio is ok, RX has some strange audio expander, like with M's "hear clear". Does not do "squelch tail elimination" when talking into one of my 927 Quantar repeaters. It is also DMR and does that very well. So for a sub-$100 radio its ok. I'd still make my primary portable a XPR6580 though. Mobiles I use 35 Watt MCS2000's and for repeaters, Motorola Quantar. GeorgeC W2DB/WQYN409 Crowley, TX

I have looked myself (at the last 10 years of enforcement), thats why I dont trust what you're saying.

Not that I dont trust you, or think you're making stuff up out of thin air, but i would love for you to share some actual facts about all these others this has happened to. Perhaps a link to the FCC enforcement database entry? Because as I'm sure you know, every time the FCC breathes down anyones neck, for any reason, by law, the FCC must publish that enforcement.

Just remember, that as predicted in the proclamation video, "some people" will always and forever spew reasons why Ch19 (any channel, actually) is not "the right choice", and will argue about it as they have for years, accomplishing nothing.. Those people are not invited to join with the rest of us normal people on Ch19.. They can go talk to themselves on some other channel.. My name is Queen Randy and I approve this message.

To the OP: As you can see, there’s a lot of fiddling around that accompanies repurposing something based on a high end commercial radio. That’s fine if that’s really how you want to spend your time. But for many people a decent radio, built to be sold as a GMRS radio, such as a Wouxun 805, 905, or 935 will be more than good enough without concerns over software legality, tuning partitions, needing a knob guard, or any one of a number of “perfect except for qualifiers” listed above.

The biggest issue with your plan (as I see it) would be actually acquiring the equipment in today's supply shortage world. DLR (and DTR) 900 MHz Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum radios are great for indoor coverage. If you're looking for some Rental Agreement boilerplate, dial up one of the major players and tell them you're interested in renting 10 or 20 radios. See what they send you (nobody says you've got to sign it & agree to the rental!) As someone who has a fleet of UHF and VHF rentals, I can tell you that the biggest issues are #1 - dealing with someone who has actual spending authority. #2 - getting ALL the radios back after completion of the rentals. #3 - Defining the cost of replacement up front, so that there's a responsible User in charge who will represent your interests in having the radios returned in good shape. You should also consider Gang Chargers as a necessary part of the equipment list. You'll never untangle all the charger cords on single unit desktop chargers if you include them with a stack of rentals.

On that note: I really need help in creating/developing an idea...Need pictures, sketches, links to pictures etc for how I can place a home base antenna so that I can then attach a Retevis RT97 repeater. I would later do something like @OffRoaderX did with his dual KG1000G setup, but I just don't have that budget yet. I figure that as long as I have the home base antenna, I can always switch repeater systems. I don't have a big budget, I just want an antenna system that I can put up on my own and is not obtrusively ugly looking (aesthetics) is a big topic for the neighbors. I will take any tips, ideas that you all can provide. Thank you!

NyQuil is a helluva drug.

The sad-hams would come crawling out of the woodwork like moths to a bright light! ??