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Hey! I reassemble that remark! LOL

Lately, there has seemed to be a large number of folks asking for initial configuration files because they have written to their radio and now their radio is not working as expected. In some cases the result is a bricked radio. I don’t mean this to be critical; it’s exactly the kind of mistake I have made in the past. So, I would like to remind everyone who is getting a new radio to always, and I mean always, read and store your initial configuration using whatever software you choose to use. Save it with the date you read it and the name of the software you used to read it. Also, if you’re going to flash your firmware, make a backup beforehand AND after. Second, don’t change software in the midst of configuration. It might work just fine, but it might not. In other words, don’t read your configuration to a file with one software and then try to write a new configuration using that file but a different software. There may be something in that file that makes it incompatible jumping between software programs. Finally, as a last resort, I wonder if we could create a depository of initial configuration files, files that are pristine, just as shipped from the factory. If so, where on this site is a good place? I can contribute a Radioddity DB20G initial file. Steve

As some of you may know, we have been trying to get myGMRS integrated into CHIRP, a popular open-source radio programming software created by Dan Smith, for several years now. I finally heard back from Dan in December and shared our API (Application Programming Interface) resources to him and test credentials for the website. Given that this was a new feature and a big convenience to users, we wanted to offer it as a perk to Premium Members of the website who support our efforts to be the go-to GMRS community. Dan expressed concerns about having any paid services such as RadioReference.com in his application, because developers would be unable to test unless they had a membership at the website. We agreed to table the discussion until we had a solution for developers to test the myGMRS integration, and he implemented the new feature into CHIRP-next, the next generation of the CHIRP application. Dan released a version of CHIRP-next on December 24th with myGMRS integrated into it. Yesterday, I sent Dan an email letting him know what changes to expect to the API once I require accounts to have a Premium Membership to download repeaters through CHIRP, so he had time to make the required changes to show the appropriate error message rather than a cryptic "Got error code 403 from server" message. Long story short and omitting the gory details, Dan decided it was best to completely remove the myGMRS integration that he had finally added, rather than work with us on how to reach an amicable agreement that makes everyone happy. We offered several solutions to provide developers with Premium Membership so they could test the feature, eliminating the concern from Dan. We are surprised by this but respect his wishes, even though it hurts the GMRS community which utilizes his product for GMRS and/or Amateur Radio. Understandably, I know many people will wonder why this wasn't just a free feature and that be the end of it. However, myGMRS is a small business and it needs to be profitable to survive. myGMRS is a one-person operation (not withstanding all the amazing members who contribute the repeater listings and forum posts) and it takes considerable resources to just to keep the lights on with there being so many users. Since the founding of RepeaterFinder, LLC, the corporate entity behind myGMRS, I have not taken a salary. We intentionally minimize the number of advertisements we show because we hate ads too, but they alone don't cover the cost of running the website for nearly 50,000 users. Very few members have been kind enough to support us by subscribing to a Premium membership, so we're always looking for new perks to add for Premium Members to draw more people to sign up. To those who do support us, I sincerely thank you! If you'd like to utilize the myGMRS lookup feature and are a Premium Member, you can download the last working version of CHIRP-next from 01/09/2023 here: https://trac.chirp.danplanet.com/chirp_next/next-20230109/ If you receive "Got error code 403 from server" when trying to authenticate to myGMRS, it means you do not have an active subscription and you can subscribe by going here: https://mygmrs.com/profile/subscriptions You can see the commit notes from Dan regarding the removal here: https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/repository/github/revisions/12301814e238458766f1f7bf06476b39a4e3ab93 Here's the original ticket tracking the feature request: https://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/9169 Thank you for understanding!

Some of what you mention as far as amateur licenses was already tried and it failed epically, leading to the licensing scheme we have now. Also, I may be so bold as to say that Ham radio operators use GMRS for the same reason anyone without an amateur license would use GMRS. There is no mysterious or hidden agenda. We want to talk to people we know, while using a radio, or have some form of communications when traditional communications is not an option. For what its worth, the core of the definition of the purpose for GMRS is "a mobile two-way voice communication service... for facilitating activities of individual licensees and their family members". Nothing says it must be used to talk to anyone about anything in particular, for some specific purpose. I think while the dialog is healthy and I like the conversation, I wouldn't support running anyone off because their usage of the service doesn't fit some preconceived notion of what I think they should use the service for. If anything, I would encourage more people to take advantage of the fact that services are available. Everyone should be familiar with GMRS, FRS, MURS, CB and Amateur Radio. There is no such thing as 'not enough room' to accommodate everyone. Again, just a thought.

Some of what you posted is accurate, but some is distorted and some is just plain wrong. Although GMRS is used by people as a short range radio communication medium, at least for the people I know in radio, it's not an alternative to ham radio. It's just a way to communicate. I use GMRS for one reason only, to stay in communications with my friends when I'm out chasing rockets. Someday, I'll also use it to talk to my grandkids. I've given them FRS radios to play with. I don't ever leave my GMRS radio on so I can have conversations with people. Even when I use my GMRS radio for rocketry I don't have conversations. I simply use to to provide directions or notify someone of an impending launch. But there are a lot of other reasons I am a ham radio operator. Primarily I am interested in the technology and learning more about it. I learn about antennas, digital modes, propagation, etc. Occasionally, I listen to other people talking and sometimes I join in. You're wrong also about ham radio losing participants. The growth is not phenomenal, but it is positive. I didn't check on CB. At the end of 2018, the total number of hams in the US was 755,430, following steady growth for the previous several years. At the end of 2022, the number of hams in the US was 768,942, 13,512 more than in 2018. I didn't find the statistics for 2019 - 2022, these were the easiest statistics I found. The fact is the GMRS is growing, not because ham radio is shrinking, but because it has changed into something that attracts more people. Perhaps repeaters are part of that. Certainly, extremely lenient licensing is a driver. GMRS is suffering growing pains. To blame those pains on any other service misses the mark. To change the other services to fix GMRS is ludicrous. You might just as well suggest that GMRS licenses go back up to $70 and for a shorter term, or implement theory and regulation testing to slow down the growth, or prohibit networking repeaters. Or issue a test to weed out sad hams. You cannot blame the problems in GMRS on amateur radio. Nor can amateur radio problems be blamed on GMRS. I suppose that means I should GFM. That also isn't going to happen.

As reference Radio Reference is $30 a year. Others I belong to are $50 a year for download or limited access. Some sites use points systems to allow you to view or download certain items based on how many points. I think that's complicated. I think 2 levels would make things better with a basic package with no adds and maybe limited downloads to a premium package that lets you download other data (maybe base codeplugs, firmware, etc). I hate to say this as I run multiple sites also but it costs to do this stuff and most want everything for free.

This is part of my issue. There are many 70cm channels to put a repeater on the air and chat or hold nets or what not. I agree ham is not for everyone and I get that. But I have yet to hear chatter on some repeaters between wife and kid or family member. Its normally 2 hams chatting about lunch or doctors etc. I have no issues with using repeaters but with only a few repeater pairs available it wont take long to clog up the airwaves. On top of the linking that every feels we need in GMRS its not going to be good for those that still want a base repeater to use with family. Landscapes change but its frustrating for those who have used the service for 2+ decades.

That makes me nervous about GMRS repeater usage. It is too small a band to become a "public airways" chit chat service. Let's see what happens.

Hi Steve, Thanks for the suggestion! I was kicking around the idea of a way to allow users to support by going ad-free for a little less per year, but without the extra features just like you describe. I will mull it over but I'm interested in feedback from other members.

Please see the above post we just shared regarding this topic.

“Why are there so many hams getting into GMRS ?” When I read through the reasons given, I see a distinct pattern. I have copied the pertinent responses below to illustrate my point. I also include some personal accounts that are occurring within my “local” area, regarding amateur radio operators and their use of GMRS. There are those on this forum that believe the purpose of GMRS is clearly and concisely stated by the FCC…” The GMRS is available to an individual (one man or one woman) for short-distance two-way communications to facilitate the activities of licensees and their immediate family members”. There are others who interpret the intent and purpose of GMRS as something beyond the scope of the above description. Based on the responses to the OP’s query, it seems that the two primary reasons offered here for a licensed amateur radio operator to use GMRS, are: 1. There is more opportunity to talk to people. (beyond the scope of facilitating activities of their families) 2. A desire to have a means of communication with an unlicensed family member. (completely within the scope of facilitating activities of their families) Here are the responses that specifically address the OP’s question… “There's actually people to talk to on GMRS”. “Ham is in an activity null” “Availability, coverage and the people using it” “Around the Detroit area 2M and 70cm are dead most of the time. On GMRS you only have a handful of frequencies to use so it doesn’t take much to find activity” “I can give one of my GMRS radios to my wife” “In my case a GMRS license allows me to give a cheap and useful radio to all family members” “I use GMRS out with the family unit all the time” “I use GMRS because my wife and I can communicate with it. I'm a ham, she's not” “I am a ham… Talked to Corey and Buddy with that group and got interested in linking. I never looked back. Got a group that's local that gets on a chats on the 675 locally and many of them get on the linked system as well” As we can see, based on the responses, those licensed amateur radio operators utilizing GMRS in order to talk to their family members, have no other reason as to why they prefer GMRS over amateur radio, other than the desire and need to communicate with their family members who do not have an amateur license. Their possession of an amateur license does not really factor into their utilization of GMRS. Those hams who specifically cited a reason they prefer GMRS over ham radio is because of the likelihood that they will find someone to talk to. They can increase that likelihood by linking GMRS repeaters. There is little-to-no ham radio activity local to them. So this is an indication that they are looking at GMRS as an activity within itself…the hobby of talking. They want to use GMRS to talk to people beyond their families, and even to talk to people in locations beyond the RF footprint of their radios or repeaters. In fact, they are saying that they are using GMRS as a substitute for amateur radio, since amateur is not meeting their expectations. They don’t particularly care if GMRS is not really intended as a suitable radio service for this activity. Local to me, members of an amateur radio club is encouraging other members to get a GMRS license, and is scheduling a GMRS simplex net. Those members who are encouraging this action, are doing so because it is clear they are not happy with the people they are finding on the amateur radio bands, and openly state they prefer the people they find on GMRS. There were a few responses from members on this forum that also included a dissatisfaction with those they encountered on the amateur bands. This further indicates to me, that many of these hams are looking to strike up friendships and connections via the airwaves, and are looking for camaraderie and fellowship. To engage in conversation and chat. None of these things are why I use GMRS. Also, these hams may want to possibly exercise control of a channel or group, via controlling a wide coverage repeater that makes it difficult for others to utilize, or an organization of people, to control who is allowed in the club, and who is allowed to use their repeater. Oddly, this all sounds just like ham radio to me. As the old saying goes…”be careful what you wish for”. It indicates that the amateur radio service has not fulfilled their desires, and they are using GMRS to fulfill that desire. Also, unrelated to the OP’s question, many that are obtaining GMRS licenses are coming from CB radio, and are moving their local “round table” CB radio sessions to GMRS repeaters. So now we have dissatisfied amateur radio operators and CB radio operators, leaving the RF spectrum that is available to them, to move to 8 available repeater channels. It’s gonna get crowded fast. While not within the scope of the OP’s original question, perhaps amateur radio better reassess it’s current requirements and mission, and see if it can provide an environment that entices people, particularly hobbyists, back to that service.

That's always an excellent practice! Due to the large number of models of HT's I own, or just wanted to mess with the programming software, I have to be VERY organized in the way I save and track the code plug files. I use a separate folder for each model type. In each folder if there is more than one sub type or band split I have a folder for it. I also save any original code plugs from the used radios I buy as well. I've attached some screen shots of how I do it. Note the code plugs are all tagged with a date code: xxxxyyzz, xxxx - year, yy - month, zz - day. Saving old code plugs sometimes helps if I'm making a major editing change and screw something up. At least I have the older version to fall back to.

I’m writing to suggest creating lower cost ways to support this site. I would gladly pay $20 per year. I think you might get more subscribers at that level, even without the benefits that a $50 subscriber receives. To me, $50 is just too much, a psychological hurdle, but I would like to help.

I'll throw this thought out there. Every year here in southern California, hikers get lost or hurt in our local mountains. Most of them have no way to communicate, because they think their smart phones will save them. Where we go there is limited or no cell service. My ham friends and I never go out without radios. We have pre-arranged simplex frequencies and repeaters so we know that when 20+ people in our group get spread out on the trail, we can always communicate. If these hikers in distress had any kind of radios, ham, GMRS, MURS, FRS, or even one of these new CB HTs, they would have a much better chance of being located sooner, or possibly not getting lost in the first place. Getting hung up in an endless debate is rather counterproductive. Use whatever services you want. They all have pros and cons, so pick what works best for you and the people you want to communicate with.

Hello everyone, Getting back into this hobby after 40 year layoff ?. I recently received GMRS license (WRON306). I work In NYC, and wondering if it is possible to communicate from NYC to lower Westchester using HT’s and repeaters. If so, which repeaters and how would I go about getting permission to use them. If more info is needed just let me know. Any input/info is appreciated Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks

Be careful what you wish for.

I'm a ham because I enjoy the technical and experimental aspects of radio, and I enjoy making contacts around the world on H.F. I also like using it locally for communication with my many like-minded ham friends during outdoor activities like fishing and hiking. I use GMRS to communicate with my wife and other non-hams when I'm out hiking. That's why I got a GMRS license and GMRS gear. I'm not moving away from ham radio, I'm including it in my "tool box", as it were. Hopefully I'm not destroying both services by using both services.

GMRS is a radio service for people who want to communicate while they are doing stuff. HAM is a radio service for people who want to communicate while they are doing nothing. HAMs on GMRS are people who want to live vicariously through people who are doing stuff, while doing nothing. I am kidding. I am truly thankful for all of the knowledge, experience, and information that generous HAMs have been able to pass on to me and others so that we can use the airwaves effectively. If not for them, we would all have to figure it out our _______ selves...or not at all.

So the problem with GMRS is that too many hams are rag-chewing on it? ?

Ya most of them did not come with this PS. The standard one in the GR500 case is to be honest the better one. This is what the revert kit looks like. It would of been added after and you would not use the screw terminals on the outside for it. http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola/r1225/pix/hln9455a-battery-revert-kit.jpg Also it will take forever to charge a dead battery. If you do run on battery for any length of time I would pull the battery and put it on a good charger to verify. Short power outages are fine but if it goes until the battery is dead and repeater shuts down use a good charger. Also always fuse the battery cable as close to the battery as you can.

As a side note if you have to deal with industrial equipment water, even water vapor, has corroded electronic components. This was particularly true of leaded types, not SMD. The leads are cheap steel wire which are copper plated. Crack or otherwise break the copper plating then the steel wire underneath starts corroding. I've seen enough PCB's where the parts have fallen off due to this.

The slick part about it is it does use a external antenna connection. It talks about installing the external antenna. The rubber duck would probably work in one mile but I think a standard VHF quarter wave on a NMO mount would double its performance. It appears to be an SMA connection but they don't specify. I'm trying to decide if I'll order one or not. I just replaced my overlander in the Jeep but adding MURS in the same unit and not worry about another radio seems slick.

How about just order it from Motorola. Shows in stock online. Not sure who you called but its not discontinued. https://shop.motorolasolutions.com/dual-tone-multi-frequency-microphone/product/AAG22X501?gclid=Cj0KCQiAtvSdBhD0ARIsAPf8oNnoEOx1A42kkF7yOiEoC_Bx3JhegPOmuDGI22zXsNj0-gbzzAR5bAYaAk1YEALw_wcB

I was referring to the "Typical 1 mile range" in the specs. Much better than the typical "up to 25 mile range" I'm used to seeing.

http://www.wouxun.us/category.php?category_id=94

I highly doubt the FCC will open up more GMRS frequencies for repeaters. Today its all about money to the FCC. They make millions on frequencies. But with all the griping about hams maybe we can petition the UHF Ham band to get moved to GMRS. It sounds to me many don't use it anyway.

Ask as many questions as you have a need to do! The "bothered some" have too much time on their hands.

Well if it gets crowded enough maybe the FCC will expand the number of frequencies allowed. They eventually did that with CB, went from 23 channels to the now 40. In Australia, and some other areas, have a UHF FM CB service with 80 channels. It seems to work for them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHF_CB Example radio. https://www.ohmelectronics.com.au/products/ic-450

Well at least on GMRS you don't have to deal with the idiots on the "Super Bowl", CH6, on 11M running multi KW stations with their echo mics trying to own the airwaves.

My GMRS PRO has removeable antenna and yes it does transmit and receive on all 22 simplex channels. I wasn't lucky. My radio only transmits on FRS/GMRS frequencies. It is a scanner to monitor AAR Channels and some Amateur Radio frequencies plus MURS. I like get another one to keep my Father's vehicle, because he doesn't have a Cell Phone and he doesn't has an amateur radio license. My Father will not install GMRS mobile, but I guess he'll allow me to keep an HT in the Glove Box

Thank you for your help! I have requested permission from both the West Milwaukee and the Waukesha repeaters. So far my experience on this forum has been outstanding. I once was looking into ham radio but unfortunately encountered a handful of extremely rude people. I realize that not all hams are rude, but apparently my area is saturated with the bad ones. I love to learn new things and ask many questions while building off of the answers from past questions. However; I must admit that I don’t deal with condescending jerks very well. It never comes out well.? I’m a nerd that loves technology. I’ve been dabbling in two way communication for forty plus years and know just enough to be dangerous.? Now that I’m retired I want to learn more. I hope to be an asset to other newbies some day and be part of keeping GMRS from turning into another Children’s Band Radio fiasco. Again; thank you for your advice and help.

Or maybe we just leave things the way they are. Maybe all three services mentioned (CB, GMRS, ARS) are simply evolving into their next versions, for better or worse. I really liked your post and agree with almost all of it. A lot of people are making GMRS into a hobby, but unlike amateur radio, a hobby they can do without convincing their family members to become hams. I don’t see how Amateur Radio could change to accommodate that.

Truth mixed with sarcasm... I read that as "get off my lawn". LoL

Unfortunately, Gman1971 hasn’t posted since July 3, 2022. I hope you get a response.

Apparently, if you join RadioReference.com for a short period of time, you download Railroad scanner frequencies in either pdf or csv formats: RadioReference Railroad download RadioReference.com Railroads Source page

Back to the topic at hand. I am a ham. The guy that owns the tower is as well and got his GMRS license a few years ago for family use. He got me turned on to it and actually gave me the money to get my license (70 bucks). I don't remember if I was on here first or the MidWest group on facebook. Talked to Corey and Buddy with that group and got interested in linking. I never looked back. Started with putting a single repeater at the tower and now have three. The first one is the owners call sign on my hardware. The other two are all me. Built the interface out of a CM108 USB dongle sound card and just kept rolling. Got a group that's local that gets on a chats on the 675 locally and many of them get on the linked system as well. I wanted something on the air that folks would actually use. And I wasn't disappointed. The 600 (midwest link machine) gets hundreds of PTT's a day and is busier than all the other local ham repeaters combined. Next project for the site is to link my VHF P25 repeater to the P25 system in western Ohio around Dayton. They are seeing a good bit of traffic on it and I am hopeful that they are interested in furthering their coverage to the Columbus area.

I use GMRS because my wife and I can communicate with it. I'm a ham, she's not, so it works for us. I don't use 440 on ham frequencies because there's not much activity on it where I am. My ham friends and I use two meters all the time. There shouldn't be animosity between ham and GMRS, because it's simply two different methods. There's bad eggs on both sides. Don't be one, that's what I think.

Regardless of any previous interactions you’ve had with the OP, it’s a politely presented and reasonable question. If you don’t have an answer or don’t wish to comment, that’s easily done without being negative.

This is a conversation group. It's just a subject to talk about. Not a big deal, I think.

KD4MOT: Some people just love to hear the sound of their own voice...

They wont be for sale until the 18th so nobody has one..... I have one, but i cant talk about it until the 18th..

https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Squelch.php

Besides the slim choices of GMRS repeaters in NYC area, the ones that are useable appear to be silent. I don't hear any traffic at all on my BTech V1 which is about 4W output. Anyone else experiencing the same with silent traffic? Thinking about going for an amateur technician class license as well.

To my understanding, GMRS users are required to identify, but repeaters are not. I do use a CW call-sign on my repeater just in case something goes wrong or there's interference someone can identify it and contact me, but it is not required.