Leaderboard

2nd the RT-97.. Its portable, light, small, rugged, and it works great

This is a very good use for the Retevis RT-97, which is an all in one repeater and duplexer. Add an antenna and cable and you have a small low power repeater.

When shopping for an HT radio, what feature is most important to you?

If you don’t already, binge watch Notarubicon videos on YouTube. That will give you a background that will help you choose. One thing to keep in mind is that no matter what radio you get now you’ll get another.

Why compromise and select 1. Sure, getting everything costs more, but in my experience, its worth it. You also forgot selectivity/sensitivity, which is hugely important. Don't forgot availability of support locally. That's not even starting a discussion about uses beyond GMRS, which may or may not be important to others.

I have several HHs and each was purchased to fit a specific requirement,

Great Poll. Hard to pick just one, as you really hit all of the major factors.

Me thinks thisem' sarcasm in these posts. Not sure. Just in case, I'll use my power supply as an example. When any of my 50w radios run full tilt on the bench, to create 50w out of the final PA, it uses about 95 watts of DC power. However, for my power supply to be capable of creating that 95w DC, it burns about 165 watts of AC power. At about 60%-65%, those are about average efficiencies for this type of good personal use power supplies. And private use radio efficiencies just kinda suck, too.

For anyone who finds this thread looking for this answer in the future. I was able to get access to the password by using a new to me software key which let me read , but not write the radio. Once I could read the radio , I was able to look up the password in the program. Then with the password , I was able to write the radio. So, for me it took a special key to the software, the first key I had would not let me read the radio without the password. Thanks so much to the members of this forum !

Nah... I am sending you a PM in just a minute to help out, but worst case, we are close enough that we can just meetup and we can go over it in-person.

Wider is better.. Unless you plan on using narrowband radios.

Good explanation Corey. Its also important to note that even repeaters have some form of duty cycle and that the duty cycle can change depending on output power. A great example is the motorola 1225 series repeater. At full power, 45 watts, the repeater is limited to a 50% duty cycle. In low power, 25 watts, they are 100% cycle. Luckily, good repeaters have protection in the form of a Time Out Timer (TOT) and usually a ReSet Timer (RST) When set up correctly, the TOT should cut off the TX BEFORE the duty cycle is reached, and the RST should prevent transmissions until the appropriate rest period has passed. This helps extend the life of the repeater even when your not there to monitor it. Almost ALL radios now-a-days have a TOT as well. Typically I set mine for 2 minutes which is more than I need to transmit for, but is less than the duty cycle permits thus protecting the transistors. I've had people tell me its dumb to do as no idiot would want to talk non-stop unless they are in a net or special operation. That's when I give them this story: A while back when I was on the first aid squad, I was getting ready to go to sleep. Turned out the lights, laid my head on the pillow, then came the sound of a soft moan from a woman. Now, this would have been great, if there had been a woman in bed with me. The moaning continued and a bit confused I began looking for the source. Didn't take long to find my squad radio was receiving, and after turning it up a little, yep you guessed it. Turns out, the LT's portable radio had fallen between the bed and the night stand and as they and their lover were going at it, it was all transmitted quite clearly to the repeater, then retransmitted for the ENTIRE COUNTY to listen to. To make matters worse, the radios all had ID numbers so we knew whos radio was transmitting, and even worse, the LT had shut their phone off, so calling them to tell them their private session was public was not doable. Finally, the radios did not have TOT's at the time and so for a good while (I just shut my radio off but a friend at the county said they heard every minute of the 15+ minute incident. When the portable finally cut out, either from overheating or a dead battery or from falling loose of the PTT button, there wee quite a few catcalls to let them know everything was public including a few repeats of nick-names used during the session. So folks, learn two things from this story. A: TOT's work, especially when a mistake is made or you don't realize the transmit button is pushed, it will work and save your radio from damage and possibly you from some embarrassment. B: Someone is always listening, so keep in mind what you say or do on the radio, especially if you work for a public safety organization because if you say the wrong things you could find yourself in quite a bit of trouble.