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Congrats. You've placed yourself in the pile of users that no one wants to help.

No, not by regulation on the main channels. Most handhelds are limited to that but as a practical matter rather than regulations. Kenny is absolutely correct in his post below: Except for the weird case of Fixed Stations, which are fixed in location and may only communicate to other Fixed Stations - they are limited to 15 watts.

Agreed - from actual usage/experience. The XS20G is GREAT if you will be very dusty/wet environments - and it is very small which is great if dont have a lot of room. Also a few $$ less than the 1000G

I have had/used every brand of GMRS radio in my Jeep(s) and almost every model of every brand, and for Part 95 "GMRS" radios, I prefer the Wouxun KG1000G. It is a better quality radio than BTech and most (maybe all) the other brands, it outputs a full 50W, and has a remote-mount removable faceplate. Several of my off-road friends use this radio and they are all happy with it. And FYI - even though its spelled Wooks-On, it's pronounced "Ocean" .

Virtually all the GMRS radios from China come from 3 or 4 factories, so there is little difference between brands. The features are what set them apart, but a higher cost doesn't equate to better quality. The TYT DB-20 is a great radio that will meet the needs of about 80% of those looking for a small mobile.

Those Midland/Retevis repeaters have a very small internal duplexer that can barely create any decent isolation when the repeater is cranking more than 5 watts. There is no magic bullet. You are never going to find a good, cheap, compact duplexer that passes 95% of your transmitter power and still gives you 90+ dB of isolation. It doesn't exist. Every rookie with a wattmeter wants to get the MAXIMUM possible output power out of their repeater. I mean, 50 has to be better than 5, right? In my opinion, the MOST important spec in a repeater system is the isolation between transmit and receive. Especially if you're using portable radios out in the field that can talk back in with 4 or 5 watts of transmit power. What good is it to key up your repeater with 10 or 15 watts of power when you introduce 3 or 4 dB of desense into the system? 3dB of desense on the receiver just made your 4 watt portable into a 2 watt portable, and how well is that going to work? Better isolation = a better repeater. Want to have a cheap repeater? You will get what you paid for. Cheap is rarely good.

Welcome to the new forums! Unfortunately, over the last year or so we've had serious problems with our previous board software (phpBB and vBulletin), so I did some shopping around and decided that Invision Power Board is the way to go. Between vBulletin and this new software, I've had to lay out over $400, so I didn't make the decision lightly. While it's possible to migrate the posts from the previous software, I decided it wasn't worth the effort. I prefer having a clean platform and I will be tying the forum software to your main user accounts, so you no longer need two accounts for the site. This extra step will take some time for me to implement, so I'm going to lock down user registrations so we don't have duplicate accounts everywhere. Keep a look out for an update in the near future! So without further ado, welcome to the new forums! I hope this will be our last migration for many years to come, and donations to help offset the software licenses would be very much appreciated.

If you bought the New GRMS UV-5R BAOFENG, please let us know how it works.

That looks like a nice limited edition. Never seen one. Ive seen lots of people advertising they'll do a full recap on the radio. Or if you want, I know a real good 10-11-12 meter (cb included) radio that will really blow your mind. It has everything for less than 200 bucks. By the way.. if you ever watch one of this guys video, it'll take you back and youll get hooked. This guy is using a regular old school cb radio like yours and he can hit almost any part of the world with no repeater, under 40 watts and he make all kinds of home antenna for a few bucks... 15:39

My only guess on those Hyteras (and it's totally a guess) would be that they are programmed for low power with either .5 or 1 watt on FRS channels. If your school does not have a specific frequency licensed with the FCC, some radio shops and dealers would just plug in some low power random FRS channels as a workaround instead of bothering with Licensing issues.

One other point no one broached is to talk to the local PD. They will help your school with interoperability issues and may even have some units they can provide your administration for use in a situation requiring police presence. You won't use their radios for bus duty and the like as they would be for emergencies only. I would steer away from FRS radios because of the issues with possible interference. Talk to a local radio supplier and get some business band units. Yes the brand name ones like Motorola, Kenwood and ICOM are expensive but others like RCA, Hytera and a few others are reasonable.

Well that model of Hytera is only 3watt and has a very small antenna. Probably not even transmitting 3w with battery age/use. In any event they will be outclassed by a 5watt radio with a bigger antenna like what the UV-9G has. So, the test result you've seen has plausibility. The real question is what type of building & topographical interference is in the area that is causing the need for larger radios? GMRS is a licensed service. So, as long as everyone gets a license, you have some GMRS radio options out there, but really a full keypad radio is not a good option in your setting and end users. Thus, here are some business radios that make sense for you. Look at the Hytera TC-508 (dual band), PD402i-U1 or BD502i-U1 which are much better alternatives for your environment. Also look at Motorola CP100D, Motorola RM RMU2080, Icom F4001, Kenwood NX-P1302AU.

There are lots of funds available for schools under the Safe Schools funding & government grants for security. Take a look here: schoolsafety.gov I'm not sure why those compact digital Hytera radios are being out-performed by Baofengs, but I'd definitely try out some other radios with better durability & performance specifications. Radios used for safety & security at a school should not be purchased based upon cheapest price. Repeaters are not necessary for most smaller sized buildings, but I've seen some strange stuff with newer construction with low-E glass. There are also advantages to using digital repeaters for a district-wide network that allows I'd call in a local wireless company & have them survey the building to see what works. They might also be able to help you out with some direction on grants and funding options available to schools in your State.

I did exactly that and I have a better understanding. Now I know what Cross tone it was looking for. Thanks NobaRubicon

Now that you have it working correctly in your radio, download that into CHIRP and you will see how CHIRP expects to see it/how to enter it.

I forget about the fixed station power restrictions.

The XS20G will last for years. I know 4 friends that have had the BTech 50W GMRS radios in their Jeeps.. 3 of them have failed in 3 years or less. I know ~10 friends with Midlands, 1 has failed 3 years or less.. I know 20+ friends that have KG1000G or XS20G radios in their Jeeps, with 0 failures. The data is anecdotal, but, i think it shows a trend.

A sort of limited explanation of ERP vs power. Where the power or watts measured from a power meter, which is where the 50 watts thing comes in. There is something called ERP or effective radiated power. This has to do with antenna gain. Gain is typically figured off of an Isotropic radiator, which is really a theoretical antenna that radiates power in all directions evenly. All directions meaning up, down and every degree of a circle around the radiator at all angles evenly. It's not an antenna that really exists except on paper as a reference. To achieve gain in an antenna, the elements are configured in such a way that the power that is radiated up and down is redirected more toward a flat plane horizontal to the center of the vertical radiator (vertical antenna). Since even basic quarter wave antenna's have some amount of gain over the reference, it's better to consider those as a reference point when trying to figure out performance gain. But it works like this. 3dB of gain, either from some type of amplifier or an antenna is going to effectively be a doubling of power. If you consider the 3 dB of gain against the reference antenna, the antenna in question will perform at a level as if the reference antenna had double the power feeding it. So an antenna with 0dB of gain will talk as far with 100 watts as an antenna with 3dB of gain will talk with 50 watts, as long as you are considering the antenna radiation pattern. Meaning since the antenna is taking radiation away from the higher and lower angles off the horizontal plane across the center of the antenna, it will talk farther across that plane, but you LOOSE coverage in the higher and lower angles of radiation. Yes, this is a difficult topic to really understand. And not having radiation pattern diagrams posted here make sit harder to see. All that being said. There is no 'limit' to antenna gain in GMRS. Part 90 licenses do have a maximum TX power and a maximum ERP. We luckily are not saddled with a max ERP. So we can run right up to the 50 watts of maximum power, and if we so desire to get totally crazy, we can legally put up a 20 foot dish and feed that dish with 30 dB of gain with our 50 watts of limited power and have 5000 watts of ERP. Now there are some safety issues that need addressed with that sort of ERP, and of course, a dish is gonna be pretty tight with the radiation pattern, but it's still technically legal to do it. As a side note to that. We are NOT allowed to operate with those antenna gain levels on the 467 interstitial frequencies and I don't believe we can do it on the 462 ones either. So bear that in mind when getting crazy with an antenna system.

Quite a few guys in my local club run the Icom 2730A and they really like them. I have no experience with the TYT MD-9600 but I have very pleased with the TYT TH-7800 dual band mobile. I was talking to my brother on 70CM simplex yesterday at 18 miles away. He was at home on his base station and I was in my car using the TH-7800 with a 16" Comet SBB1 NMO antenna.

Another good 20 watt mobile that is IP67 dust and water proof for right at $200 is the Wouxun KG-XS20G. https://www.amazon.com/Wouxun-KG-XS20G-Compact-Mobile-Radio/dp/B09WQK5FGN/ref=sr_1_4?crid=JWWAFV1QOW43&keywords=wouxun+gmrs+radio&qid=1701541677&s=electronics&sprefix=wouxun%2Celectronics%2C118&sr=1-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.17d9e15d-4e43-4581-b373-0e5c1a776d5d From personal experience, the Wouxun radios are better than the Baofeng radios. And I also prefer the Wouxun mobile radios over Midland radios. I am running the Wouxun KG-XS20G in my SxS and am also using two Wouxun KG-1000G Plus radios, one in my vehicle and the other as my base station.

I understand the reasoning, but this is GMRS - a huge percentage of GMRS users just turn on their radio and start talking with their group - they aren't thinking about power levels or anything else, other than "can my friend hear me" ...

This is an assumption or opinion. Around here we go full-blast all the time.

500 milliwatts, fixed antennas, 16 channels analog/32 digital, different frequency from GMRS, and non-licensed.

Welcome to the forum. I recommend that you start here:

The power output is always lowered when using duplexers. Midland and Retevis state the total combines power of their repeaters.

I’ve finally figured it out on both of my repeaters! Sorry about all the confusion, I was burnt lol. After taking a breather & eliminating things one at a time, I interfaced it with 7 wires & no interface board. I think the ICS boards are garbage. PL & crisp audio through wireline. I appreciate you both, gentlemen!

We're not trying to come up with what's best. We're experimenting with all different modes. CW, SSB, AM, FM, systems like APRS, sound card modes like FT8 and a bunch of others, digital modes like Fusion, DMR, D-Star, and others, EME, microwave, you name it. GMRS is not so much for experimenters. It's for people who need to communicate. Ask anyone here with just a GMRS license how they set up their Jeep radio. They'll say they mounted their radio, they mounted their antenna, they (presumably) checked the SWR, and off they went. Ask a ham operator how they set up their mobile radio, and you'll hear the ARRL Handbook read to you.

In Soviet Russia, radio monitors you.

This is a very bad choice for many people because the programming software/CPS has a very steep learning curve, is often difficult if not impossible to find, often (depending on the radio/software) does not run well on newer computers, things like batteries, cables, etc, are also often difficult to find or expensive, and it will almost certainly cost a lot more. And most important: Those commercial radios are not Part 95 approved so it is illegal to use them and they will go to jail!!!!!1 I know this because I've seen this posted on this forum 100 times or more. Sometimes "cheap junk Chinese radios" are plenty good enough for normal people, despite the poor QC, but "some people" just cannot seem to grasp this simple fact and will live the rest of their lives proselytizing against inexpensive radios completely oblivious to other people's needs/desires.

If a Factory-Reset does not help, throw them in the trash and spend $40 on 2 new ones from Amazon - problem solved and lesson learned.. That lesson being that eBay is a den of liars and thieves.

Mine works fine. Seems to receive okay with the antenna out the box. Tested it with my other BF that I am scared to push the button on. No problemo. I really like that I have the USB charger thing so I can charge it in the truck. I plan on using them for "work actually" , I install a lot of Security cameras and its nice to talk to helper in areas with poor cell or when I just don't want to drop a $800 phone from the top of a lift or ladder. I actually hit my first repeater today on it I was driving in the vicinity. (new to GMRS so I only really ever listened in on the repeater)

Mine works just like the non-GMRS UV-5R, except with slightly less guilt when I use it on GMRS frequencies. It is 100% the same radio with just different programming.