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Based on where you are, the frequency you are hearing and your post on the Northwest Houston 725 repeater page where you say you hear them on channel 22. I would say you are hearing that repeater on simplex. They won’t hear you. You need to join their repeater network if you want to converse. You will need to program their tones on channel 30 in your radio which already has the needed +5 offset. Repeater channels/frequencies have an input of 467 and receive on 462. So this repeater is tx 467.725 and rx 462.725. You hear them but you are not on their input frequency and don’t have tones set to access the repeater. You can join their network here. It’s a membership linked network. If you haven’t already I would recommend you download Chirp for programming your radio. It’s easier and you’ll be able to see and understand what is going on more when you see things in this format. Good luck.

I have heard rumors that they will be available for sale beginning the last week of July, and on the same day the worlds most popular and most widely-loved GMRS YouTuber will be releasing a video about all 4 of the new antennas. But, you know, those are just rumors...

Josh at Ham Radio Crash Course is releasing a video? I love that guy. Oh, awkward. You said GMRS.

On the rare occasion I turn the radio on, if I hear someone new (new Ham or new to the area) and if I am not busy with something else, I sometimes look callsigns up on QRZ only because some Hams have their page done up really nice with some nice pics or something.

Thank You, Randy. I just bought one. I watch your info on youtube about the (NEW) UV-5 GRMS—friendly little radio for the money. Again Thank You RANDY.

Your repeater needs an intervention.

Looks like I see another up and coming Kenwood fan like me. TK-780(H)_880(H).pdf

I like spotting call sign license plates. If I can remember the call sign I'll look them up when I get to the office or get home. I'm curious to see if the Ham is recently licensed. It's encouraging when I do see they are.

The group that was recorded were involved with some very illegal activity and were using two way radios to help facilitate it. They had the bad luck of picking the wrong frequency to use too.

I just acquired a refurbished TK880K a couple months ago in a Club raffle. At first, I thought that I would give it away to a Club newbie in need of a mobile radio since I already have several non-CCR mobile radios, except for one unfortunately, that I shouldn't have bought in the first place. I never been a Kenwood fan or had a use for one but, I quickly grown to like the radio once I got into the programming of the radio and learned its radio capabilities, and fit the radio into my radio use choices and inventory/cache. They do make great GMRS radios and the radio features include zone programming, talkaround, a true monitor/PL Defeat that just doesn't blow squelch like a CCR, Home channel, and soft key programming. I like the size of the radio and it allows me to temporarily use the radio in one of my cars that really can't accommodate a permanent mobile radio installation. The radio is really not too shabby. For a quality and inexpensive radio for a person that doesn't have very much disposable income and want to play with radios, and learn how to program their own radio(s), this radio is for you.

The only reason I do this on Ham is because some Hams have their page done up really nice. When it comes to GMRS or Ham in general (seeing I use simplex mostly) I like to see what sort of range I have, so knowing their location (namely the town or area, not so much their physical address) it helps map out my range on radio. Where I live, it is hilly and mountainous and when it comes to VHF and UHF the terrain affects your signals in such a weird way, its worth mapping out. Studying the affects of RF on the terrain around me is something I have always loved to do. It is one of the reasons why I love the VHF and UHF bands so much. I totally understand where you are coming from though. I have had conversations with people on GMRS before and I may have known their name and location before I even talked to them but I never mention it over the air. I let them say what they want to say. The only way to keep your location out of the FCC database is to get a PO box unfortunately or put your work address on your license? (not sure if that is legal but I have known people who did).

Roger- hot tub only.

I had a very early unit and the antenna came right off. Since then I have seen reports ranging from people just needing to give it a rough-twist to get it off to not even being able to get it off with a crowbar and a hammer. For BTech to get certification for the radio the antenna must be non-removable (because it transmits data).. Once word got out that they were easily removable it looks like BTech upp'd their glue-game.

I don't do this on VHF/UHF/GMRS because 99% of the time I'm driving or hiking, but it's very common on HF. For me it's more of a curiosity thing to look up a call sign on QRZ dot com just to see where they are, and many times I've had people come back to me with my name, which like you said, I didn't mention. We did have a crotchety old guy on our repeater who would sit there all day and look up call signs for the sole purpose of calling them out if they had "appropriated", shall we say, a call sign. As crotchety as he was, he did keep some of the riff-raff off our repeater.

@WRXH357 don't confuse "simplex" with "split tones." Simplex just means that Tx and Rx are on the same frequency. Repeaters use a 5 MHz offset. Split tones means you use a different tone for Tx and Rx.

To answer your question, yes. I can send you a codeplug file for Arizona and New Mexico and some Southern California but, I would need to eliminate several repeaters because of several repeaters in AZ and NM are Club repeaters and only Club members are allowed to have the tone information. Several of the Southern California repeaters were given to me by permission and I will have to delete those tones, as well.

Don't have that particular radio and the RT Systems software for it, but I have their software for a number of other radios and you can certainly do that. Just save the codeplug (programming) to a file and send it to someone else. The only thing you might want to watch out for is that the other person might have the settings on their radio different than what you have, so you might have to adjust.

MURS is 154MHz, the 900MHz stuff is NOT MURS -- heck 900MHz is not even a Part 95 service (as I recall, the devices fall into Part 15 and the Industrial/Scientific/Medical band https://afar.net/tutorials/fcc-rules/ )

This! When I’m hamming I’m hamming and I’ll do it on amateur radio frequencies. If I’m GMRSing, I’ll follow practices that make GMRS work well for others as well as me.

You can’t make Fords better by sabotaging GM.

Since this discussion is continuing, I will repeat myself from the previous discussion on hams using GMRS. I think it demonstrates that the amateur radio service is not providing the “service” it should be, to the community at large, in 2023. Many ham radio test questions are out of date or antiquated. They have no real purpose to the users who are entering ham radio, and these questions and tests only serve as a barrier. Some will say they want that barrier to exist, to keep out the unwanted, just as they did with the morse code requirement. To those hams, I say ‘get over it’. The days of most hams being aerospace engineers and having pocket protectors are long gone. Like it or not, we live in the here and now, and it is a “new normal”. It may not be better, but it is new. I thought there was a proposal in recent years to offer an entry level test of 5 questions, to give privileges on 70cm. That would be a step in the right direction for ham radio. What happened to that??? That is exactly what needs to be offered for entry level hams who only want to use an HT or mobile FM radio, with privileges only on 70cm FM frequencies. Give them privileges on 2m FM as well ! And in all reality, why do we even need test questions for those privileges, when it is basically the same as GMRS ? What do you need to know? You have a requirement to ID every so often, and you have to stay on these particular frequencies, and you would be limited to 50 watts TPO. No need to see if the applicant can recognize a resistor or a diode on a schematic. Who can do that today, with SMD components in everything? -/\/\/\/- is futile

Me too. Also, it encourages me to be a more courteous driver because unfortunately a simple internet search will lead anyone to my humble abode. I really need to get a PO box...

Oh wow, I used to know a few people back when I first got my Ham license that would do that. I guess as long as they dont do it aggressively. I used to know a couple of guys who would straight up go mental over someone who was operating 5 watts instead of 2 watts. That, right there, is what gets people so scared of radio that they dont bother with it for fear of going to prison for 20 years and having a $10,000 fine hanging over their head. I am all for the people who turn in those who mess with essential services or military, but those who cry over a few watts or Hertz, and I have known a few, those people need to find another hobby.