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5A on transmit, 90mA standby

It's indeed widely mentioned by many online resources and radio enthusiasts that transmitting without an antenna can cause damage to your radio, applicable to various types of radios including CB, GMRS, and Ham radio. The primary function of the antenna is to radiate the radio frequency (RF) energy generated by the transmitter into the atmosphere. Without an antenna, this energy has nowhere to go and may reflect back into the radio, leading to overheating or damage to the transmitter circuits. Regarding the qualifiers you mentioned, there indeed are discussions. For instance, some people might point out that older radio equipment may be more susceptible to the effects of transmitting without an antenna as they might lack some protective features found in modern radios. Additionally, some might mention that the damage may not occur immediately, but the risk of damage increases if transmitting without an antenna is done for extended periods or repeatedly. To protect your radio equipment, it's always advisable to ensure that an appropriate antenna is connected before transmitting.

The travel tone is 141.3. Its up to the repeater owner if he/she wants to enable the travel tone and allow folks to use it. Long before GMRS became ham lite GMRS users had used different PL tones to keep the channel clear at home. For decades we had a base radio at home and the only people we would hear is a parent calling base. At 2 in the AM we really didn't want joe calling testing his radio. It was used way different then that folks seem to use it for now. As others said its costly to put up and maintain repeaters. That's why none of mine are listed. None are open for use other than family and close friends. That was the intent. I use GMRS for other stuff on jeep rides and off road and all comms are CSQ then. So the KISS method of standard tone is already there if folks want to use it. Many do not for multiple reasons. I enabled it for a week on one of my sites. After 3 days of two guys rag chewing for hours on end I disabled it.

This is for my RT97 not the "S" version. I would imagine it is the same but I cannot confirm this. Pin 2 + Pin 1 - I have not checked the currant draw.

Yep, I think the problem was that my HT was about 8" from my Wifi/router when I programmed the HTs so I associated it with programming in the repeater. Just because "A" proceeded "B" does not mean that "A" caused "B"

Is it just me, or are the GMRS/FRS rules and regulations among the most convoluted, ill-conceived and poorly-written set of rules the FCC has ever come up with? It could be just me. Maybe not. It could be others too. Or just me, I don't know.

Unfortunately a lot of people drink at the font of ignorance. They got it from a friend who got it from a friend… They feel very superior in their ignorance in fact And there have been some radios that were vulnerable to finals failure; anecdotally the Yaesu ft-817 may have been one, but most modern quality transceivers simply fold back power to limit current in the finals. With the right combination of transmission line length and open (or shorted) termination the current in the final transistors will be twice as high as they would be with an appropriate termination. If the final transistors cannot withstand the current and nothing happens to reduce the current they will overheat. There have been cases where they have been damaged, but unfortunately some people interpret that to mean that the damage always happens immediately.

In this ARRL image, we can see what happened when a Baofeng UV-5R was keyed without an antenna. This is dangerous stuff. Not to be taken lightly.

Frankly, unless someone requests your call sign phonetically because they cannot understand it when you ID, I wouldn’t use phonetics. Use your names and ID with your call sign. And, if someone does ask for it phonetically, you’re more assured of them hearing it correctly if you use the NATO phonetics. They were chosen to reduce the chance of misunderstanding by people with accents, and people who natively speak other languages. That’s important to the military and to hams who might be communicating with hams internationally, but has less importance for GMRS, where coverage is limited to within the USA.

Hi everyone, I am new to the GMRS community and using a HT TIDRADIO GM-5R, so nothing big yet. Just wanted to reach out as I was hoping in the Denver/Aurora-border area in CO are some GMRS users whom I can connect to. I was hoping also to maybe create a GMRS radio community watch in order to maybe be aware of some suspicious activities in the area. I know, there is also NEXTDOOR, but until you get a notification, it might be already too late. Let me know, if there is someone nearby. As mentioned, I have only the HT and would only go and install a base station, if really necessary. I was using CB radio long time ago, but wanted to join the GMRS-community as you are just more serious and also more professional, due to the license and the quite low amount of available channels. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I don't think anything I mentioned was any more complicated than what the FCC has given us to work with. Except for the cousin-spouse thing. That was meant as pure sarcasm. There's a reason that people say navigating the website and actually getting to pay the fees is passing the GMRS test.

As far as I understand the family part of the rules is that everyone in my family is covered, except cousins. Meaning I can hand an HT to my father-in-law, who is technically only family because I married his daughter. I can also hand one to my aunt or uncle, but their children are out of the question. Because of that, I don't think bloodline is really the right way to explain it. The way I've explained it to my wife is "practically everyone on both sides of the family except cousins". Now, because the regulation specifically says in-laws, does that mean I could let my wife's cousin use my call-sign? What about those areas of the country where cousin-wives are a thing? Could a license holder let his cousin use his call sign if he's married to her? That can of worms is likely to give anyone a headache...

Sorry no. Its was @WRFP399 His repeater is here - https://mygmrs.com/repeater/4893 One of his posts on battery stuff is here -

2.5 miles with houses and trees in between is a long way. This is one place where more wattage actually comes into play. An antenna upgrade usually does help. Height is might always holds true. But when trees and houses are in the way, power is definitely a factor. You may need more power to penetrate the trees and houses. Just this Saturday, I proved that to myself by hitting a repeater 10 miles away with 8w that I could not hit with 4w, all else being the same.

A good repeater is a significant investment. It is up to the owner to decide how open it is. Yes, it would be nice if it was all easy but repeaters are not a primary part of what GMRS is intended for. Repeaters are just a side benefit. I use a repeater almost every day and I'm glad they are available but I'm not about to demand anything of the owners. Rather I am very grateful to them for making the repeaters available even if I do have to dig a little to figure some of them out.

Always a good reminder! I retired as a Computer Security Manager with the DoJ. If I fail to save backup files, then shame on me because I preached backups until I was blue in the face

I had to change the squelch settings for my UV-9G to better dial in this issue. I did this in Chirp. I'll include them down below. Your settings may vary depending on the sensitivity of your radio so you may need to just play around and see what works for you. I always save a back up of all my settings and programs so if I mess somthing up I can go back to what I had before.

Correcting myself to add “or if there’s a strong wide spectrum source of interference, such as some LED lights or a bad connection in a utility panel.”

It's QUITE annoying, and the thing is that it is on every channel. The squelch ranges from 0-9 and was factory set on 5. I just changed it to 9, then tried 0, and it seemed to have little to no effect. I will mess with it a little, then wipe out the repeater channel to see if that corrects it. If it does (and I think it will), I am not sure what to think. Back to an earlier point, NotaRubicon Productions reviewed this HT and said the channels were set to narrow, and all channels had privacy codes set. That was not the case with my units.

I think the rules are pretty clear. But it’s extremely important to read all of them to put the puzzle pieces together correctly. But some of the rules are poor rules. It makes no sense to prohibit something that cannot be detected.

I can't testify to authentic Nagoya but the Abbree 771 is definitely an improvement to the stock antenna. I would like to get the "tacti-cool" antenna some day and try it out. I've heard that it is the best HT antenna for the Baofeng radios.

I rarely hear much when driving during the day. I do hear the brunswick and lakewood repeaters identify on schedule, but never heard another user. My repeater is down due to a broken antenna, but never reaches that far either. We really only use GMRS for family events and trips, being we can often be out of cell phone coverage, and its a ton easier to hit PTT and get their attention rather than pull the phone out and attempt a call. I know some neighborhood groups use GMRS to keep track of each other, especially during long power outages.

It's just you...and me...and everyone else on this site.

I looked at the manual and on page 12 it indicates that it does support this. No indication on how to stop scan regularly though. I don't have this radio but all the HT's I have pressing any button other than the directional buttons stops the scanning.

If the radio supports it I would program it to automatically stop when it detects a signal and not to resume until you click on scan.

I just want to give you guys an update. I received my ID-O-Matic Saturday. I also spent some time studying the schematic as Pin 7 wasn't the right one for this task. What I found was, though the manual states Pin 13 and 14 aren't used, the circuitry is in the schematic and the parts are on the board. I got my meter out and checked the test points and nothing. So, I went into the software and turned on PTT and nothing. Amazing when I turned on "AF Mute" I got my 5v when the carrier broke PL!! Everything is together and working perfect. The ID-O-Matic is powered from the receiver's DC OUT Pin 4. No mods to the radio, just I nice neat cable and box going between the two radios.

The rules can definitely seem convoluted at times. People having different opinions and interpretations of those rules don't help matters either.

I might have went overboard a little with my GRMS antenna. I have a Comet CA-712EFC mounted on a 40" J mount on top of the roof. I couldn't go any higher without chopping a tree down. I know the Comet and Tram antennas are popular here for a base antenna. I don't have my dual band antenna mounted yet so I am just using a magnet mount mobile antenna mounted to the side of my house with two shelf brackets and a cookie sheet. It working okay for 2m. I can hit a couple of repeaters that are within 30 miles of me.

You could try pressing the 'Scan' button on your radio (usually labeled as 'SCAN' or a similar indicator) to halt the scanning. If that doesn't work, you might need to hold down the button for a few seconds. Additionally, some radio devices allow you to stop the scanning by pressing the PTT (Push-To-Talk) button on the radio again.

No,, its the truth....

Its all a blatant lie - nobody, ever, anywhere on the planet, has ever said this:

CB World has this: https://www.wearecb.com/how-to-tune-cb-antenna.html SWR 3.0+: Performance will be severely affected, and you're likely to damage your radio with extended transmission use. You SHOULD NOT transmit with your CB at SWR levels above 3.0. If your SWR needle swings all the way to the right (off the charts) when getting your 3.0+ readings, you almost certainly have a major installation problem. This is almost always the result of a poor ground or incorrectly assembled stud, but on rare occasions can indicate a faulty coax, antenna, or incorrectly attached SWR meter.

I don't think it's an issue of how to prove you wrong. The issue is that there is no desire to. Big difference.

This ^^^ . I think a good practice is if I live around family members using my license that works for me. If we’re on a trip and I hand out radios we’re still good. If they’re on a trip of their own perhaps they should have their own license. If my adult son or daughter in another State is using radios with their kids it would be best if they had their own license. I know you can make an argument against this but it maintains some control of your license and is in the spirit of how the rules are written. If some family members were or are interested I would even get them a license as a gift.

But: 95.1705(b) Individual licensee responsibility. The holder of an individual license to operate GMRS stations is responsible at all times for the proper operation of the stations in compliance with all applicable rules in this part. and 95.1705(f)(2) The licensee must maintain access to and control over all stations authorized under its license.

I used to have a stereo system in my room as a teen, and living less than a quarter mile from the freeway, occasionally I would hear CB transmissions come through the speakers when the stereo was turned off. I'm guessing these guys had amplifiers, because most likely a cheap 4-watt CB probably couldn't do that.

but you don't have to.

Many radios have a status bar that shows receiving signal strength as well. That's a good indicator that someone is using the channel even if you don't hear them do to some tone settings.

Don't know about that exact model but every radio I own will stop a scan as soon as you press the PTT (transmit switch).

Is the other end still connected to the tv?

I has considered the Icom, but after adding in the price of the mounting accessories (sold separately), it made less sense for me.

@WRHS218 Thank you for the information. It seems like, I am in the same situation as it seems like there is nobody around me. The FCC website allows me to search for people with ZA (GMRS) license and I have found at least 30 with their addresses even posted. But I cannot reach out to them. I was hoping, that posting it on this platform would make it easy for them to reach out and respond to me in order to create a community where we could utilize the license to our benefit. I don't know how far my device can reach, as I am in the basement of our house. But it should reach at least 1 mile, which would be more than enough in diameter to create a chain of people to contact in case of an emergency.

If you’re looking for a GMRS radio, I certainly wouldn’t even consider the Anytone 878. I have the same basic radio with the Alinco nameplate. It’s a fine DMR radio, but you really have to learn how to build codeplugs in order to get anything to appear as a channel for selection. Most of the advanced features of the radio are useless in GMRS. Why spend the extra money? Here’s what’s involved: For analog channels it’s a little easier than for digital. You enter each channel by hand. The radio isn’t capable of the 1/2 watt PEP requirement for some of the interstitial channels, so you cannot cover those channels, at least not in full compliance. Then, after entering the channels, you must enter them into zones. You can have one big zone or multiple zones. You could have a different zone for each different repeater or city or any other way you want to slice and dice. Zones are a bit like memory banks and channels may be included in multiple zones. The CPS has some inconsistencies as well, mostly poor English translations that appear in some spots. In use, you use the up and down buttons to select the zone and then you use the rotary switch to select channels within the zone. I have added both analog and digital channels from the front panel, but it’s not really intuitive, requiring you to be deep within the menu to do so. Scanning is absolutely unintuitive. You can create a scan group in the CPS, but when the radio asks you to select the group, and you do, you’re presented with a list of all the channels within the group. You must also have added the channel to the scan group when you defined the channel. That’s the most frustrating part of the radio. I suspect the same thing is true of both of the commercial radios you have listed; you must use the dedicated CPS before anything appears on the front panel to use. If you’re trying to avoid Chinese GMRS radios, I really like the Garmin Rinos. They’re made in Taiwan, rather than China, and they are well built. Now, you cannot change the antenna because they transmit GPS coordinates. They can also be used to send text messages, to another Rino, but that’s not why I would buy the radio. They are type 95e certified. Honestly, I would just recommend getting something like the Wouxun KG 805 or 905, or even the 935 or the new plus model. By all accounts they’re easy to use, very reliable, and don’t require a background in commercial radios to care and feed. The experience won’t sour you on radio. If you still are interested in either the Motorola or EF Johnson you’ll find they are nearly bomb proof. I don’t have either, but I understand the desire to have really high end equipment. Others can advise you on other type 90 alternatives such as Kenwood TK-3270 etc. Good luck!

It depends on your climate and how much use it will see. The RT97 draws about 2 amps on high power and .09 amps when in stand-by. I am running an RT97 on solar power here in Alaska. During the summer when we have lots of sun a 9 amp hour battery and 30 watt panel do just fine. Everytime I checked on it the battery was at 100% capacity. During the winter we have a few issues that make it more difficult. During winter solstice there is only around 4 hours of sunlight. We also have cold weather to deal with. Drop a lead acid battery to around 0 degrees F and you are down to around 80% of its capacity. Last winter I had it running on a 30 watt panel and a 14 amp hour battery. It wasn't enough. By November the battery was already being run down to the cut off voltage of 11.2 volts. 75% of last November the repeater was down. We didn't have enough snow to prevent me from getting to the site so I was able to get to it and swap it battery out for a 9 amp hour one I had. Yes it is smaller but I wanted to save the larger, more expensive, battery from damage. It lasted for about a week before going down again. I would come back up after a week or two for a few days and then go down again. From there it only got worse. The solar controller shut down the repeater for the majority of winter. Low voltage and cold temperatures resulted in a frozen battery sometime between December and February. Once frozen the voltage dropped to near zero and the solar controller shut down completely. My repeater site is inaccessible once winter sets in due to snow level and steep grades. This spring I changed a few things. Keep in mind all my components need to be hiked up to about 2400 feet by hand. The components had to fit in or attach to a backpack or two. POWER GENERATION: This spring I added a 50 watt panel. This brought up the solar power to 80 watts total. The 80 watts of panels should generate enough solar energy on a 4 hour cloudy day to replace the 2.2-ish amps that the RT97 uses while in stand-by for 24 hours. I based this on monitoring the output of the panels on an overcast day this summer. I waited until the sun's elevation (as informed by a smartphone app) matched that it in the winter and saw the battery being charged at a rate of about 800 milliamps. 4 hours at 800 is 3.2 amps. That is 1 extra amp...in theory. POWER STORAGE: I upgraded to a 35 amp hour battery and put it underground by over a foot. Just being a foot underground shields the battery from the extreme highs and lows. At that depth theory says it should be at the avg daily temperature. If this setup works through the winter I am relocating the repeater to an even more remote location and will try to get the battery further down. Being underground also has the benefit of keeping the battery cool in the summer, which in theory, should prolong it's life. This 35 amp hour battery chould, in theory, keep the repeater running in stand-by mode for about 13 days or it could support about 14 hours of non-stop transmission in the winter with ZERO solar input. This factors in a 20% reduction in capacity due to cold temperatures. With these two upgrades the battery should really never be run low unless we have significant activity on the repeater without any days of decent solar generation. The larger battery helps store "extra" power from the sunny days and/or the additional hours of overcast days before/after winter solstice. This keeps the battery at a higher level of charge. Being kept at high charger levels and buried underground protect it through the colds snaps. Since I implemented the changes the repeater has been running 24/7. The past several weeks have been COLD here. The avg daily temperature as been between -5 and 5 degrees fahrenheit. Lows have been down below -20 degrees. For the past two weeks I have connected into the myGMRS national net for about 4 hours on Sundays. This has resulted in about 3 to 4 hours worth of transmission time each Sunday on the repeater as people talk across the nation. So far the battery appears to be doing fine as the repeater has not gone down. Hours of sunlight will continue to decrease through December at which point it will start picking up again. The skies will also start to be clear of clouds more often as we push past mid winter. So for me, it looks like 80 watts of solar power and a 35 amp hour battery are needed but again that is due to cold winter conditions with low sun levels. I don't know where you are but if you are in the lower 48 I would say the system could be more like my first attempt, 30 watts solar and a 9 amp hour battery and I would bet a 50 watt solar and 14 amp hour battery would give some extra head room. I have a few other posts up detailing my experiences with the RT97. If you register you can browse them. Solar Panel: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Efficiency-Charging-Applications/dp/B07GTH79JP/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2OBPM6JH5RIF2&keywords=50%2Bwatt%2Bsolar%2Bpanel%2Brenogy&qid=1637621917&sprefix=50%2Bwatts%2Bsolar%2Bpanel%2Breno%2Caps%2C318&sr=8-4&th=1 Solar Controller: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q79TC2L?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-ypp-ro-model_ypp_ro_model_k0_1_10&crid=LSOHLRTW8QW2&sprefix=10+amp+sol Battery: https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/slaa12=35c Battery-S-12330.pdf

Yes. But in reality it is not that big of a deal (IMO). I am both a licensed amateur and GMRSr. Because of the large volume of amateur repeaters in my region, I did find it helpful to be able to download all of the area repeaters from repeater book via Chirp and the organize them for my radio. But 1/2 of them have no published tones, so I can’t use them unless I contact the owner. In contrast, the number of open-to-the-public GMRS repeaters in Cincinnati and Dayton is about a dozen, and 1/2 of them are not in any public GMRS database. Regardless, in about 15 minutes or less I can program a radio for them. Not a big time investment. I also developed a pattern for programming all my GMRS radios to make it simple to add new repeaters on the fly to handle those that may exist in a city I travel to. That technique involves creating a series of several dozen place holder memories pre-configured for standard repeater pair frequencies (labeled 550A-G through 725-A-G). If I travel to say Columbus or Cleveland, I already have plenty of empty repeater pairs in my radio. All I need to do is enter the CTCSS/DCS tones via radio FP controls and I am good to go. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM