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I didn't have room for it, but I am getting good quality from the ghost MXTA25.

I picked up the Laird BB4503 for use with a mag mount and RG-8X. Out of the box it is tuned right about 452-453 MHz (using a Rig Expert Stick Pro). They give you exact trimming lengths to use, spaced at 5 MHz intervals (450, 455, 460, 465, 470 MHz). I'm within 1/8" from their 465 MHz measurement and have a nice flat curve throughout the entire GMRS band, IIRC about 1.2:1. I wouldn't have any issues picking up another one, and just might. The Midland MXTA26 is an exceptional antenna as well if you have the room for it. Another option is the Browning BR-450 UHF, which also requires trimming and is a tall antenna. Those that I've spoken to that own them have been very happy with their quality and performance.

They seem to be harder to find now, but I had good results with a Browning br-1713-bs. It's a little less gain than the Midland, still 2x5/8 wave, but trading the gain for wider bandwidth, I want to say it's rated for 410-490mhz, and a great option to combine 70cm and gmrs (dual certified LMR radio, perhaps).

In reality its actually only 2 watts as 90% of the users would be on FRS. While I agree with the "issues" again I'll go back to they did something. That's more than most. I'm sure if any of you on the forum wanted to donate thousands of dollars to help promote a channel other states would be happy to take your money.

Not accurate at all. Yes GMRS and Amatuer Radio cannot use encryption but there is no laws on business LMR nor public safety on who can or cannot use encryption. All our work radios are encrypted as are some of our SAR stuff (both simplex and TLMR). You will also see alot of encryption on military and federal comms.

Here's an article which outline the step-by-step instruction to program a repeater into your radio. Programming in a repeater To find a repeater, use the home page on this site. At the top of that page you'll see a label "Map". Click it, then click the bubble nearest your location. When the bubble splits, click the one closest to your location. Repeat this process until a small antenna tower appears. Click on it, a box will appear giving you the information about the repeater. If you see a repeater in your area, click on the gear in the upper left of the map and ensure show stale repeaters is turned on.. You need the frequency and the input tone, enter that information into your radio as per the instructions outlined by the link.. Save the configured frequency to a channel. Out of the box, UV5Rs will not transmit on GMRS channels..

You are going to answer to Motorola Coca Cola company!

I see what you did there ?

@Sshannon Really great PDFs. What you say is true about bonding and potential between things. Bonding is often mistaken for grounding and while trying to avoid the rabbit hole into the topic and sounding like I am preaching I feel it is important for people to understand potential dangers exist and these codes and guidelines exist to keep people safe.

This is absolutely correct. A lot of people assume that if a tower is grounded at its base, it provides some level of protection, but it must be bonded to the electrical service ground system as well. It's not uncommon to measure a voltage between two different points in the ground and without bonding, that voltage is being carried on the shield of your antenna feed line and through your radio equipment. A simplified and illustrated reference that's pretty understandable is this one. It refers to "Radio Telescopes" but don't let that hang you up: https://reeve.com/Documents/Articles Papers/Reeve_AntennaSystemGroundingRequirements.pdf but the ones WRUU653 posted above are good to have as well. A denser article is the one I've attached below from Polyphasor. It's not as easy to digest (at least for me), but it's more specific for some things. Some of the most important points, such as the importance of a single point ground, can be too easily overlooked. Steve 1485-013.pdf

Look for a local radio dealer. Google will be your friend here.

The Midland MXTA26 is a decent antenna, and arrives well tuned for low SWR on GMRS frequencies. The mount is separate.

Some folks don't understand that there is a very good reason that an external power supply that is 20 years old cost $250... until they waste about $1,000 and a year of their life. Same idea applies to repeaters.

You can't be serious! If people read what they were responding to, 79% of the content on the internet would just disappear!

Thank you for this information

And my next thought, ha ha ha.... is... Everyone wants a repeater until you have a REAL one for sale, and then no one wants to pay what it's worth!

It doesn’t matter. You will always want one more radio. You might as well buy one now. ?

I have a theory that they wait until I purchase a certain radio and then wait a short time to release the new and improved "plus" model. It has happened too many times to be coincidence.

Someone finally got tired of the endless circular arguments to see who has the biggest antenna and actually DID something... It's now officially channel 19 .. Argue, complain, whine, list your credentials all you want, whats done is done.

Got the radio today, genuinely impressed with it. It is certainly a huge step up from the AT-878 I tested (and returned). I would say its closer to Hytera territory in terms of RF performance; except this one is a tribander (rather than a single band radio). I think the specs printed on the brochure, based on quick testing, appear to be worse what the radio is capable of: Sensitivity is probably closer to the 0.16uV @ 12dB SINAD mark than the advertised 0.25 uV @ 12dB SINAD. It also doesn't seem to be hammered as bad as the TM-V71a on VHF with intermod, and the NOAA station that pops in and out of whatever channel I am parked at on the TM-v71a doesn't seem to be an issue with this radio, so that is huge. I will bench this radio vs the EVX-5300, hopefully tomorrow, so I can see how well it receives. So, it has true dual receive, crossband repeat, and a single frequency repeater in DMR... which is awesome, so you can use a single frequency to link multiple radios... nifty little toy. You can have the audio come from the microphone, rather than the radio body, which is very nice too. So for my velomobile I can hide the radio and just leave the microphone. I will probably link the radio to my helmet Senna Bluetooth intercom, see how well it works. (haven't tried that yet) Radio is fairly small, when compared to the XPR5550e this thing is a little radio; while not as short as the EVX-5300, its about the same width and height. fan is dead silent. No faceplate relocation kit as of yet, but it seems it might be coming since its just a ribbon cable with a small GPS micro coax connector, similar to the XPR radios. The included Bluetooth PTT is super nice, but requires disabling the single frequency repeater, not sure if this will change down the road. In my TYT8000E the Crossband repeater mode allows for using the radio as well, so not sure why the radio won't transmit on the band its selected. There were a couple of bugs on the software that crashed to desktop, but other than that, the software seems to work well, wish it was as versatile as the Vertex CE142 CPS for some of the input stuff. I had the codeplug made from the 878 I tested (and returned) a few months ago. I changed the band mode to allow for GMRS operation, with no front panel programming, nor VFO. Want to keep this like a commercial radio. However, if need be I can re-enable that functionality back with the software, but needs a PC to do that. For GMRS is probably a bit overkill, but for ham and/or commercial usage its a great radio. Wish it had airband too, and there is room in the PCB for a third receiver, which is unimplemented ATM, but when that happens I will be selling both my TM-v71A radios... listening to airband is the only reason why I am keeping those Kenwoods around. Being able to hear all the Mototrbo traffic from nearby business in both VHF and UHF is super cool; can't do that with the TM-v71a anymore... most of the stuff I hear around my house is all DMR these days... G.