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I think you will have better results writing to customer support for whatever company you bought the radio from. This is a public forum, not dedicated to any specific company. The owner of the forum has an online store as well and perhaps that’s where you bought the radio, but that might be better handled by looking at the contact information on the invoice. Good luck!

That's about right in flat single-two story suburban area for a decent handheld. But outside of the town when camping and four-wheeling, it will be different. Both much better and worse, depending on the terrain. If you have line of sight, your Tidradio HTs will talk to each other at 40 miles distance. In my experience, 2m is better in forest and rolling hills, and GMRS/70cm is better in rocky canyons. That is if we are talking about handhelds. You can install mobile radio with more efficient antenna, better receiver and more power, increasing outdoor range somewhat, but still remember about line of sight. No LOS, all bets are off. There is also much less RF interference outside of the town, improving the reception.

Also for my GMRS HTs I sometimes use a Nagoya NA-771G, or a Nagoya NA-701G when I get tired of poking myself in the eye. These both are optimized for GMRS, like the previous antennas I mentioned. Notarubicon has good videos on YouTube if you want to get ideas without breaking the bank, but @OffRoaderX will tell you that you are his favorite viewer. Don't fall for it ?

You refer to sending messages between radios, so can we assume the audio transmission works as intended? If so; have you tried the messaging on a simplex channel and if so, does that work? On page 47 of the user manual, it indicates messaging can not be done on channels 23-30, which are the repeater channels as I recall. The messaging feature may be designed for simplex only. https://baofengtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/gmrs-pro_cmk1_may-25.pdf

If the digital was kept to those channels, then yes, that would be the least impact, provided you don't sit in a busy area where every business and school is using all the channels. I'm not sure how other areas are. Some places are more busy with the bubble pack radios than others. NXDN looks like it would be a likely candidate with the low bandwidth. I just hate to see anyone get negatively impacted, that's all. I happen to live in an area where they add one repeater after another, and no matter how many repeaters they add, none of them work for me when it comes to base/mobile comms. Either the base can hit the repeater and the mobile cant, or the mobile can hit the repeater and the base cant, or neither of them can, so I am limited to using simplex on one of the 8 channels, but I have to pick one that will have the least impact on all of the other GMRS users who are lucky enough to be able to float all over the state and have their base and mobile both be able to get into most or at least some of the repeaters. I just happen to be that guy who only has analog equipment and has to use simplex and that is how I invested because GMRS is analog. But that PDF is very informative. Thanks for posting that.

In the test today as outlined above they were 1 meter apart. It's going to take some coordination to run the test again but far enough apart to rule out interference from each other, as my helpers in this testing process are my kids... No programming via computer, as I don't have a cable to do so yet. I think I'm going to put this on a hiatus for a bit. But if I find the cause, I'll be sure to share. Thanks for the thoughts and tips everyone.

Because your callsign has an I not a one between the X and 7. Hope that helps.

I can tell you from experience, if you carry a radio and put on a black shirt that says "STAFF" on the back, you will definitely get a lot of attention from those "chicks". For the duration of the concert, anyway...

Incorrect. He has stated that the wrist strap is the component that impresses the chicks ?

I have a load of radios. Hasn't help me any. ?

I am familiar with the channel. Your assertion makes one speculate on the opinions of those that aren't his favorite viewer.

what he said...?

Hi Keith, Please double check your callsign format, it should be 4 letters and 3 digits. Many people are confusing the I with a one currently.

Agree - it really has to work this way.

For GMRS, I have been pleased with my Nagoya UT-72G (mag mount), and Midland MXTA25 (NMO mount) when I wanted to save some height to stop running into my garage door. The Midland MXTA26 (NMO mount) seems to get terrific reviews for GMRS also, that may be my next GMRS antenna.

You'll need the right charge controller for that battery type. You can look at these. https://sunforgellc.com/product/gv-5/ Look under the GV-5-Li spec's tab. I think the one you want is the GV-5-Li-14.2V model for the Lithium Iron Phosphate type battery packs. The solar panels from these guys seem to be reasonably priced. The 30 watt panel is likely the largest you would want to carry around. https://www.renogy.com/30-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-solar-panel-new-edition/ If you're looking at the folding semi-flexible solar panels, the ones that fold up and can fit in a backpack, those are nice, AND expensive! https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products These guys are good for the battery packs. I got the 4.5 ah and the 40 ah packs. https://www.bioennopower.com/collections/12v-series-lifepo4-batteries I've purchased the items above myself, except the folding panels, so I do know they will work.

I am trying to get someone on site to read my FR4000. Its been on the air for 10 years and it does ID. Normally hear it after a conversation. If I can get someone on site to read it I'll advise. If you want to add the ID-O-Matic I would think using the MIC jack may be simpler that the rear but either should work. Manual for it is here - https://www.repeater-builder.com/icom/pdfs/fr3000-4000-im.pdf Also here is the document from ICOM on CWID - https://caraham.org/resources/Documents/Learning Conference 2013/ICOM/ICOM CWID repeater setup.pdf

I agree with this. Also off-road/over landing seems to have gained in popularity over the years and with it GMRS has become the radio service of choice, much better than CB for the reasons @Lscott mentioned, you can fit it in your pocket. Of course as Randy, aka @OffRoaderX, aka Notarubicon has indicated “chicks love a guy with a radio” ? ( I really don’t know about that, mine loves me despite the radio).

Covid. Combination of people stuck at home and lowering of gmrs license cost. Are big factors. Some migrated from cb, which really is a shit storm 80-90% of the time now adays. I know of 6-7 people whom left cb and went gmrs. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Yes, very good catch, if the OP means sending text messages instead of analog voice. The regulations prohibit sending digital data on the 467 MHz Main channels: 95.1787 (5)GMRS units must not be capable of transmitting digital data on the 467 MHz main channels.

Good catch. I was thinking of audio transmissions not data/text.

I had thought about the impact on FRS by using those channels. IMHO as GMRS users we pay a licensing fee to use the spectrum. In my view that should give GMRS users priority over FRS users who get to use the spectrum for free. If FRS users also want the perk, well they can pay the fee and buy the appropriate radio.

Assuming those are the correct tones (I didnt verify), then, yes.. You can simplify even more by omitting the RX tone, which is optional.

Sorry but in the event of a disaster 90% of those links will be down. Most are on consumer internet circuits at homes with no generator. Ham is in the same boat 95% of the time. Unless its a hardened site with hardened internet it can't be relied on for anything. Again if you want to talk across multiple states pick up your cell phone or get your ham radio license.

it exist already, it's called ham.

Yes, with a bit of community spirit and technical ability, just one strong repeater can connect with another repeater linked to the GMRS Hub (see blue lines), effectively enabling the entire region to transmit/receive across the broader county. Then, if other local area repeaters connect with that repeater, this creates a state-level hub system (see attached image). I connect (Chicago area) with an enabled repeater and am able to speak with GMRS operators in Idaho, Minnesota, Florida, Nevada, Georgia, etc. This is really important, I feel, amongst the broader GMRS users to have the capability to communicate when there are national emergencies, downed cell systems, etc....would be great to communicate with like-minded people in different regions, etc. There must be someone in your state willing to do this. Just having the limited ability to talk to other locals about barbecue recipes, ones bursitis, or lack 'o fish in the local podunk fishing hole may be nice, but truly having the ability to reach out to beyond their respective states is an incredible ability to possess.

I'll throw a note of caution on totally trusting that fccid.io site, as i've noticed a few glitches in the data (they list a couple of my radios as 'part 9', when FCC lists them as part 90). it takes a little more doing (breaking up the id correctly), but you can search fcc's database from this page: https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm?calledFromFrame=N here is the listing for that TK8180 a couple posts up: https://apps.fcc.gov/tcb/GetTcb731Report.do?applicationId=mQJdXuk4NgS25wdTS%2BjTOA%3D%3D&fcc_id=K4437313110