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Just an update that Premium Members can now export a CSV file compatible with CHIRP from the myGMRS Reports page: https://mygmrs.com/reports Note that there was a bug in CHIRP that prevented cross-tone DCS codes from importing properly, but this has been fixed with today's latest update of CHIRP-next.

Exactly- you don’t (and shouldn’t) need a bunch of radio theory to use GMRS, but you have agreed to follow the rules (cryptically written though they may be) so a licensee needs to know and understand them.

Ham Radio operator uses his satellite mapping skills to save a missing hiker

A whole family can get i to GMRS with a single license that doesn’t need a test. My family would not touch the amateur side of radio but GMRS and jumping onto a repeater if needed is much easier for my family. I know many hams that got their GMRS license simply for this reason. (Well, maybe it helped justify buying new radios for the family…..)

There is an easy way to fix this: Turn the knob to a different channel.

I gave it a shot on different channels, power levels and distances...same issue. I'll email Radioddity support. The box was damaged and the interior packaging was a little off so I'm wondering if this was a previously returned item. Thanks for the quick response. Enjoy your evening.

I wrote these "tips" back a couple of years ago; hopefully they still work:

Correct, being that the exact allowed frequencies/bandwidths and power levels are directly outlined, it's must simpler than amateur radio. The point of the Part 95 rules for type acceptance is so that the average joe can buy the license and purchase an off the shelf radio and be within the rules. While the concepts are identical between ham 70cm and GMRS, there is more responsibility on the operator in amateur radio. This includes coordination of repeaters/operating frequencies as well as RF exposure evaluations. The idea of GMRS is that frequencies are not overlapping/spaced too closely, and the FCC has already done the RF exposure evaluation in a general sense. Not saying there won't be someone trying to use a 45w mobile with antenna attached directly to the radio placed 4' from the user, but they did a good job simplifying it.

Pardon? I've owned CB HTs since the 1970s... And still have RatShack and Midland units sitting on a bookshelf.

The young ladies in my area come with USB-C!

You want less for the same price? ?

The Mike Holt videos are excellent on YouTube. He understands and clearly explains the actual requirements of the National Electrical Code as seen by a Professional Engineer . Here’s one of his more recent videos discussing antenna grounding: https://youtu.be/WRv8AKVAfyc Ward Silver does a very good job of explaining it from the perspective of an amateur radio installation. In fact, he wrote the book for ARRL on Grounding and Bonding. Here’s one of his videos: https://youtu.be/WizvvhQgtoA The short answer is that yes, your tower, antenna, and coax may share a ground. In fact, their grounds are required to be bonded (connected) to each other and to your electrical system ground. Here’s how I understand it: A four legged tower would have a ground electrode for each leg. Then, all four ground electrodes would be bonded to each other with a ground conductor ring and a sufficiently sized solid ground conductor would then run from that ring to the electrical system ground which is connected to your electrical panel. The bonding is as important to the grounding because it prevents differences in ground potential (between ground electrodes) from creating currents that flow through your radio equipment. You really want those currents to flow through the ground conductors or bonding conductors rather than through your radio or your body. Then, where your coax enters the house, it passes through a lightning protector. The lightning protector is connected to a ground or ground plate, which is bonded to the electrical system ground. Inside your house, all of your devices (radios, power supplies, amplifiers, etc.) are connected to a single ground point (frequently a copper bar), which is also bonded to the electrical system ground with a decent sized conductor. Steve

Just like everything else they do. Have to keep the starving lawyers employed.

If it isn't swearing and racial slurs, it is who is smarter, has better radios, antenna's, cars whatever. This happens on every type of medium. "Feeding" them often makes the situation worse in the long run. In southern California there are amateur types that even throw out their call signs bashing certain people, using profanity, and trying to get a rise out of other users. so much so, it is almost a containment frequency for those users. Never ceases to amaze me, but on my own network, have a radio ID and a logging recorder that helps keep people honest.

Because they were written by bureaucrat lawyers, not 'normal' people. LOL

Amen! We had a case of P&B control relays which were designated to be used in automating a hydroelectric plant which we had to replace because mice urinated on them. Plus, a lot of times when an electronic device is submerged the water has contaminants in it that become deposits as the water evaporates. All that must be cleaned off in order to assess damage and possibly restore functionality.

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.

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!

See if you can figure this one out: VFO A is set for VHF and has the common 0.6000 MHz set for OFFSET (Menu 10) VFO B is set for UHF and has the common 5.0000 MHz set for OFFSET (Menu 10) (those VFO settings come from my codeplug I believe). In any event, if we have to change Menu 10's setting, is there a way to enter it manually? I have had to scroll from 0.6 MHz to 5.0 MHz and back and it is a slow process to watch it scan up or down.

I grabbed that out of my folder of radio images, so that may have been a work in progress file (the base read, post reset). I'll try to pull a fresh read from the radio this evening, or I can reset it to stock and read that. In terms of the radio, it isnt actually limited itself, but the combination of it normally having no vfo access in the menu and the software only allowing programming within bounds for gmrs are the limiting factors. It does go into VFO mode when you factory reset in the wouxun software, but thenwouxin software would normally prevent loading any tx channels not in bounds.

Oh no, I’m thinking of getting a second at some point (after I upgrade my HTs from the UV5G). I’ve done a fair amount of googling to get all the features listed and unlisted figured out. Some, like the “1” key moving Channel Name cursor to the right, I came across by messing around with the radio. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

Oh wow, mouse urine - that's probably a great conductor for shorting circuits. This KG-805G was basically in rain water - which is... pretty much distilled water? Anyway, RX/TX seems to be working - I'm thinking I'm just dealing with programming/CHIRP issues at this point

IT WORKED! Setting up a new channel in vfo does save. Not the handiest thing but it works without a computer.

Why is this the case. Repeaters have been permitted since its inception. Ham radio has repeaters and many at that that never get used. The more I think about it maybe I'll just throw a 70cm repeater on the air and use P25 to keep it quiet

Chirp is updated very frequently, to the point where there’s a daily check for updates built into the program when you start it.

You rock, thank you! I was just using the CPS to configure my HT, but now I will have to install CHIRP.

Here is what I ended up with on my UV-9G. It is close to what is shown in the link Lscott posted but a bit different. I found this to work good for me but you may find your radio and area a little different. You'll notice I set my GT-3WP (same radio but HAM) a little different as they seemed to behave a little differently. I first came to do this because I noticed The UV-9G would always show reception even when no one was keying up from a local repeater that is close by and that wasn't happening on my GT-3WP even though they were exactly the same settings out of the box. I also noticed if I was monitoring that repeater on B and something else on A, that B always saw the repeater as active I wasn't ever hearing anything on A. Having two radios really helps when diagnosing issues. I just played around with settings to quite out the noise in my area while scanning and to give myself some room to play with. The first one is UV-9G, Second is GT-3WP...

Just so people have an idea what these antennas look like and the performance I attached a datasheet for the DB408. For repeaters there is one spec that often gets overlooked, that's the "down tilt" angle if it has one. That's important at high gains and you need close in coverage to the site. https://www.kpperformance.com/Antenna-Downtilt-A-Practical-Overview.html https://www.telecomhall.net/t/what-is-antenna-electrical-and-mechanical-tilt-and-how-to-use-it/6388 DB408-B Product specifications.pdf

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.

How do I sign up to pay more for more ads?!?

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

the problem here is that FCC doesn't enforce any rules at all. so a question on FCC rules and regulations means nothing when Laura Smith and john Kuzma at FCC are useless as heck. I've been dealing with FCC directly for years now and I'm at a point to file lawsuit on them. just look me up on QRZ or Youtube under Rawlin Harrington KE8TIQ and you will see I'm their most hated. lol

Also update there is a new repeater listed in Palmer and one open net in Fairbanks.

I decided that I am building a 20x20 shop in the spring with power and heat to it. Great time to make a dedicated repeated spot I think for Wasilla/Palmer

The EVX-R70 has better specs for the receiver, it has a bigger (better) cooling fan than the 7000, and it also has an added heat sink on the transmitter. It will also do DMR Digital or work as conventional analog. As JohnE alluded to, it's really just a re-badged Motorola XPR8400 machine - but uses different CPS software. (make sure to toggle the software setting to 'expert' mode if you want to see all the parameters available.) That said, for all it's good qualities, it's still really just 2 XPR mobile radios inside a box. I've been happy with the EVX-R70's I've set up. It's also nice that you can buy the EVX-R70 used for 10 to 25% less than the same thing with a Motorola label. The EVX-R70 is good and reliable for "regular" service - but they're really not 100% duty cycle 24/7 machines. I would never run one over 25 watts if I wanted it to live for years.

It looks like the myGMRS node 177 "formalized" and separated itself from the mid-west 169 node. A fair amount of nodes and repeaters popped up in the PacNW. They hold a simple check in net every 2 weeks on Tuesdays at 6PM Alaska Time. They call for people to check in state by state including Alaska. They usually just ask for your Callsign, first name and what you are talking on (IE a handheld with 5 watts or a mobile radio with 15 watts etc). At the end they open it up to general convo but usually there is none. I make every attempt to connect into this net using the EagleRiver 575 repeater. The last one was 11-15-2022 and the next will be 11-29-2022. Here is the audio from 11-15-2022 when there were only a few people. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19nlg_xlVQhvwjVHga7N08XYHHke9oseb/view?usp=share_link

Been a dead issue since June 17 2021

I was wondering what the coverage is like in Anchorage and the Palmer area I will most likely be in Palmer sometime next year early to midsummer for training for a job I'm currently applying for was wondering what gmr's frequency and tones I would need to communicate in those areas if somebody could please help me that would greatly appreciate you can email me at fire_rescue14@yahoo.com that would greatly be appreciated I would like to bring my radio with me when I go I have radioddiyy UV 5G I have the chirp software to program the tone guards if somebody could help me thank you very much

Frequency change. The EagleRiver 625 is now 575. I also decreased it's output power.

The antenna is a Laird LG4603. The "0" gain version is FG4500. The "5" dbd gain version is FG4605. You can link the RT97s together using the myGMRS network. The RT97S has a port (DB-9) on it to connect the myGMRS node to where at the original RT97 doesn't. You can get the RT97S at myGMRS.com: https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/featured-products/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater Or direct from Retevis: https://www.retevis.com/rt97s-full-duplex-portable-gmrs-repeater The linking bundle is found here but is sold out due to the chip shortage. https://shop.mygmrs.com/products/repeater-linking-bundle?variant=31585827848227 Obviously the myGMRS linking relied on the internet, so when the internet fail the links fail and it is a stand alone system at that point. If you have a building at the place where the repeater is and it has access to power, I would very much recommend going with a better repeater. Something like a Vertex would outperform the RT97. https://www.ebay.com/itm/195289552939?hash=item2d782a182b:g:zMQAAOSw8Tpi-wXQ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBnQJ%2BCKPCwO8wardYyOb521OxW0d6orfX8eY9KcgYKx4DpoViV%2FtMX5qtLirHrlfZAOLOdDk6fZI62JsC2N%2BDTNZs6XotXvWzN90Bq3guAwQmGTE%2FUNKp3QDRo9%2BkxmGmUrNCfCOsozXmC4dp3zanOq%2B4BvaAlXBkiHGduTrEovYZ20wEFPPluGBheHkbrgE5X%2Fgv8XF9wHwBXNqE%2Fpdh8%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_6q88zVYA https://www.ebay.com/itm/115365686337?hash=item1adc54ac41:g:4KsAAOSws7dibT1j&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoAzUUUGmyw9qbzeLy4dJ40OWasd7odjVwBdCf1%2BZyOASOg6GL8QbEqfoeFvqw3jAzc5zIvy1irSL1CD0eeUk870A%2Fo6dsRCkX5MWIxOHobzUWq3K5rjiZ43PRhkxHYHcEjJol9h4FcKDHgMttnleCQ0CM4PNlsj2HmRFENwEN%2BEme%2FYjBS4VXo6YSm2VrgmfETl9BHnrsBWR2mKM2hKbs64%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7C4_8zVYA The Anchorage 700 repeater is probably up on Flat-Top and part of the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club.

WRFP399, Thanks for keeping your repeating up and running. I was wondering about your repeater. It seemed like it was performing better in the Anchorage area. Now I understand why - new antenna. What is the gain on that one? I have ideas about setting up an RT 97 in area of Birch and O'Malley. I'm hoping my daughter will allow me to set up the repeater in one of their out building. It's your system that has got me interested taking on the project. Thinking ahead a bit, would you be interested in linking your repeater and mine, Or, is it even technically possible with the RT97's? Thanks, Jim WQCG563

Hello All, Name here is Jim. GMRS call WQCG563. I agree with WRTT642 about having a club to get some more repeaters up and running in the Greater Anchorage area. Personally, I would like to see repeaters linking Homer to Fairbanks and all points in between. However, that would take great deal of time and money. We would need to get lots of folks from many locations interested in funding these repeaters. But, if we could get Anchorage and the valley linked up with good coverage of the whole area, we just might see a lot more interest across the state. WRTT642 if your willing to start up a club, I'm willing to help out as much as I'm able. I have several family members who, I believe, would be willing to help in some way. I have a question for the group. There is a repeater in Anchorage operating on 462.700/467.700 (Ch 21) with tone of 100 HZ. I appears to have good coverage in Anchorage. But, I have no idea who owns it, because there is no ID transmitted. This repeater is not to be confused with the repeater WRCA670 had operating on the same channel. His system has been down for months. I have made many calls on this unknown repeater and have never received a response. It's strange that a repeater like this one would be installed and no one using it? So, anyone out there have any info on this repeater. If we could get a few folks using it we just might find out who is responsible for it. It would be great if this repeater could remain operational and possibly linked to other repeaters in Alaska.

sounds like spring/summer should be good times. Anyone know a shop to help me install my new 50W in my 1997 Dodge Adventure Ram. We are building up a slightly tame overlander and of course GMRS will part of it.

Nice! Ive been hoping for more gmrs people up here, it's practically radio silence on the peninsula except for spernard builders supply or the odd snowmachiners with a rugged radio. So where are you on the 19 or 20 travel channel debate?

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.

The main 625 repeater is "off" as it ran low on power from all the "abuse" I was putting it through. While that is off and charging I am thinking about putting up the second RT97 tonight near Mt. Baldy to see how it works with that national net. Just gonna drop it on the ground somewhere with a battery and roll up J-Pole stuck in a tree.

Nice to see more Alaskan people here I'm down in the kenai area

excellent I will do that.

I was replying to your "think-of-the-children" remark. Of course my comments do not deserve a response from you! Just put me firmly on your ignore list and be done with me. And no peeking!

Wow Corey, are you always so GRUMPY?