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You sure get wound up trying to justify your actions by pointing fingers at others.

Cool. Like to know what you find.

You can try removing the antenna on the radio. That's a cheap kind of signal attenuater. Do that when the signal gets real strong with the antenna connected. When you get close enough to the source the radio should respond even without the antenna connected. One other trick is flip the radio over so the antenna is horizontal. The source antenna is likely vertical and the cross polarization results in may cases another 20db attenuation. Then rotate in a circle. When the signal is minimum either the end of the antenna is point nearly towards the source or directly away from it. Try that in several locations and that can help pin down the area.

I keep hearing "I don't want to have to carry two radios while doing an outdoor activity, while traveling, whatever..." Two radios are not heavy. Also, you get the benefit if having tuned antennas for each, instead of one that might be almost good enough. If you don't want two radios, good for you. I think it makes me more attractive to the chicks to have two on my belt clips.

It's not that I cared that you were using a ham radio for GMRS, it's that you were constantly frustrated and asking for help for issues caused by trying to use a ham radio for GMRS when you could have just got a GMRS radio to start with. There is nothing wrong with having two or more radios to cover your needs/desires. Radios are tools and like most other things it takes more than one tool to get the job done. Don't get me wrong, it's been entertaining following your journey. Can't wait to see where it takes us next.

Don't forget the hand mic, one for each. Cross the cables to make an X on your chest. That really gets them.

I submitted a FCC consumer complaint and am headed out shortly to track it down. I’ll update when I know more

Probably nothing. But today's word today kids is integrity. Following the rules anyway. Sent from my SM-A136U using Tapatalk

Why, this radio doesn't transmit data so the antenna has zero to do with it's Type 95e approval. This is also a Superhet radio so the radio circuit is a lot higher quality than my $20 Baofeng radios. Also, not to get off track but I have a UV-5R, 2/UV-82's a Talkpod A36 Plus and a Yaesu FT-65r, all of which get NOAA and 3 of which were in the $20 price range. The 805g is just my first actual GMRS approved radio.

Not so sure about the "live in the same state" thing. You would need to point out that nuance in the rules, but the actual rule that says who can operate under a licensee's license appears to apply to folks using the licensee's station(s). Not their stations. So basically if your family member lives in Flagstaff and you're in Avondale, and they go out and buy themselves a GMRS radio and start transmitting under your license just because they're your kin, well I'm not sure that exactly qualifies. If they come to your house and you hand them one of your radios for the day, different story. I'll let others pontificate on this, but that's how it appears to me. It says: "Any individual who holds an individual license may allow his or her immediate family members to operate his or her GMRS station or stations. Immediate family members are the licensee's spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws." Also, while it is true that it is unlikely the FCC will ever prosecute someone for violating any of Part 95 unless you're doing something really stupid and angering a lot of people, I wouldn't be taking any legal advice from any influencer.

Those are just fine. Repeater frequencies transmit at 467.xxx MHz rather than 462.xxx MHz, so the SWR changes. But either SWR is just fine. You’ll never be able to tell the difference when using the radio

Before you invest in the Anytone, have someone show you how to program it. I believe it’s nearly the same radio as my Alinco DJ-MD5xt. Programming it from the front panel is very difficult. Using the CPS is very detailed because it’s designed around the data structure necessary for DMR channels. You have to create Talk Groups, Zones, and Channels and link them together, even for the most basic analog channels. Other than that it performs well, but I would hate to have to program it from the front panel. Added, here’s a video showing how to change the frequency:

Got some tracking done today, it’s intermittent and only 9-5. I believe the signal is between Coolidge and crooks, 14 and 15 mile. Couple interesting antenna arrays that I’m going to check out tomorrow.

My employer has a "Spectrum Management" organization, while I fall under the "hardware" side of the equation. I have had to specify this 2017 aspect to them so many times it has led me to send them to some of your videos for layman's term version of FCC legalese. We use everything from Motorola TalkAbout series GMRS, to APX8000/8500 radios.....and where the specific model meets the needs and legality of the area they will be used (nationwide). So many people do not understand that things changed in 2017.

Awesome - gonna do this now.

Management.

The KG-935G+, KG-Q10G & H have them in already and you can program NOAA in to any of the KG-UV9 D, P, G radios. I put them at the last channel spots in memory so if I want to go there I just go back from the beginning. There might be more, that’s just off the top of my head. edit- I haven’t really used the FM radio on my radios so before posting I double checked some of mine to verify it had it and one cool thing I found was if you’re listening to the FM and someone transmits on one of the channels it mutes the FM.

I believe this or its sister the UV9P has been recommended more than once. It’s commendable that you continue to show him where the water is… If I could I would have given a “like”, “thank you” and the “laughing” emoji.

@AdmiralCochrane and @Lscott I like the SDR idea but I don't currently have one so I'll have to stick to Lscott's suggestion of testing with another radio. And since my AC is out, all my planned purchases are on hold for a while. Edit: I do have an old scanner so maybe I can use that to test UHF.

We all understand the lack of enforcement by the FCC. @AdmiralCochrane hit the nail on the head. I'm sure we would all like to keep some degree of civility and usefulness in GMRS.

Some theories some may be wrong: Street lamps/house lamps causing interference Tropospheric Ducting or Radiating Inversion causing far away signals to interfere Heavy night fogs. The repeater is solar powered only and the battery is on it's last legs. (If no one can talk to each other at night and it's not just you).

Bingo! Give that man a cigar!

Not following rules because "I don't have to because I don't feel like it" is the reason CB is now useless. Espousing the same for GMRS hastens its similar demise as a useful band.

I don't know. I think there are some reviews on YouTube on the topic. I would also do some research on-line to see if there is anything. As popular as they seem to be somebody likely has done some recent testing. One other place to check is the FCC site. If the radio is legally sold in the US it should, required, to have an FCC ID. Using that you can look up the grant and test reports. The grant by the way will likely just show just a certification for Part 15, not 97. The FCC's main concern is the radio is blocked from receiving cell phone frequencies. You can do an informal, crude, test using another radio. TX on 146.0MHz on the test radio. Then using a second radio some short distance away tuned for 438.0MHz, that's the third harmonic, and see if you can pick up a signal. If you can you likely have a problem. If not the radio "might" be acceptably clean, at least on VHF. It's no guarantee it's OK on UHF however. Dual band radios typically have two transmit "chains", power amp stages and filters, for each band. Both need to be checked. You can try the same kind of test on UHF but you'll likely will need a scanner that can tune up around 1.2GHz to 1.5GHz to catch the third harmonic. Your final option is try at a local Ham Radio club. Somebody there might have a spectrum analyzer, I have a model in mind on my wish list to get sooner or later, or access to one. You can see if a test of your radio can be arranged. I'm sure you won't be the first person in a club who wants to know if their cheap radio meets FCC emission limits.

DOES ANYONE NEED HELP WITH EQUIPMENT OR EQUIPMENT PROGRAMMING?

In breaking with my tradition of being such a GMRS "Outlaw" by using my unlocked HAM radios I thought it would make some of the GMRS Karens happy to know that I now have a legitimate GMRS Type 95e approved radio. My Wouxun KG-805g came in yesterday and I got it all set up and ready to go. I'm glad I went with it over the 905g because it has Broadcast FM Radio so I can keep in touch with the local news and listen to music. I wish it had NOAA but I guess for $80 bucks you can't have everything. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it so far and once my Nagoya 701G antenna gets in tomorrow I may do a video on it for the YouTubes.

I recently decided to stand up a GRMS repeater in my area since we have a limited amount in Arkansas. It was suggested I use the "Tool Kit" on "support.nautel.com" to see what my coverage area was going to be. I went to the site and had to register and then the "Took Kit" was free to use. It did point to point plots and site plots. I put in all my infomration and it made a coverage plot and placed it on a map. I was amazed at just how accurate this tool was. For the antenna type and car coverage I had to select "custom" from the drop down. I would suggest this site and this tool for anyone who was looking to stand up a repeater or just wanted to know their point to point plot. I kind of blame "notarubicon" for peaking my interest in all of this and getting back into radios after 30 years and multiple deployments in the Army. I was a 25F/W40 in the Army and ranged from microwave to satellite communications with multiple radio's in between. Good to be back.

is there much activity on MURS? I have two of the talkpods and really like them for the ease of use and that you can program the small side button to Push to Talk on the B band. Word of warning. Think before you push one of the buttons to know if you want to xmit on A or B.

baofengradio.com or baofengtech.com? The file I downloaded from baofengradio.com is: Baofeng_UV-5X_Programming_Software_V2.0_20210308.zip 5X and 5G are listed as the same radio. This software installed with no problems for me. I can't find anything for UV-5G or UV-5X on the boafengtech.com site.

What if they don't drive?

Flex-N-Gate is licensed for 462.5125MHz per FCC database. Emission is narrow band FM. Plant location in database is BATTLE CREEK, MI CALHOUN County. https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/licenseFreqSum.jsp?licKey=3494581 I wonder if somebody was miss programming radios for DMR and they ended up at the R.O. location.

Both the Karen’s & Richard’s are the Internet forum versions of the self-appointed “Junior Troopers” who drive at exactly the speed limit - in the left lane - and refuse to move to the right. [emoji2959]

Where did you download the software from and exactly what is the name of the file?

The Wouxun KG-UV9G receives almost everything including FM radio, NOAA, and local emergency services. It’s a superhet GMRS transceiver with a buttload of receive only channels preprogrammed for use as a SHTF scanner. https://bettersaferadio.com/wouxun-kg-uv9g-pro-gmrs-two-way-radio-shtf-scanner/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkuqvBhAQEiwA65XxQLAA8CFffU_wwnqn0gFQlO_pxw25Bdm7q464aSMnJtQXYKlFgPmmsRoCFmAQAvD_BwE

following up on WSBQ451 requesting clarification on repeater 625. Having trouble programming 466. please help.

He is now officially a 'Karen'

MDC "whacker tone" Sent from my SM-A136U using Tapatalk

Blessed may he be who gave the FCC another 35$ to be told "no thou shalt not!".

Behave yourself with it.

Wouldn't an SDR receiver capable of receiving in the appropriate band be the easiest test method? You can even set most of them to show a waterfall wide enough to see ALL the harmonics.

The 935G+ has the Channel Wizard which steps you through the process without having to dive into the menus.

My GUESS is that you are describing an MDC, which is a digital tone that some radios output containing their radio-ID. Similar radios can decode the MDC tone and display the ID, or other person's name on the screen.

That's the usual offset, however the rules don't require it. Note the FCC rules simply state what frequencies can be used for communications through a repeater, sections A and C, but don't mention a required offset. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E/section-95.1763 Some have used a non-standard offset, still using the official frequencies, as a means to keep many users off a repeater since many radios "assume" a fixed 5MHz offset with no option for changing it. That leaves just those people with commercial grade radios that allow programming in separate TX and RX frequencies.

New to radio, pardon me. Is the offset listed correctly for 625 repeater? 462 and 466? Or is it a typo and should be 467? Thanks!

It's just hammered to the wall. Likr I said, it doesn't go anywhere.

Honestly... I (mostly) agree with you. 100+ years ago, we didn't need permission from the government to grow food, fish, use a radio, etc. What was once considered our Rights have somehow evolved into us having permission to do things on a free-range human tax farm. The ATF/BATFE is a great example. Machine guns, short barrel rifles and suppressors are "dangerous and unusual"... but if you pay your tax, all of a sudden everything is fine. The whole concept is ridiculous. I feel like much of our government suffers from the same hypocrisy, with agencies like the FCC being almost as bad as the ATF, when it comes to rule making. The problem is, as part of living in a polite, civilized society, we have all agreed to live by these rules. If there are rules missing or rules we don't like, the people (at least in theory these days) have the ability to change those rules by petitioning the government. However, with very limited exception, if there are rules we don't like, we have agreed to live by them until the rule changes or is repealed. So, with that said, I provided you with fact about why things are the way they are. I don't necessarily agree with all of it due to a common moral compass that many of us share. However, that same moral compass guides me toward typically following the rules we all agreed to follow and not publicly condoning ignoring those rules. I share this at the risk of sounding too political, because I hope this helps you understand where I am coming from. And while I obviously can't speak for others, I have a funny feeling that many people who are protesting using non-compliant radios or FCC rule violations, likely feel darn close to what I do, if not the same.

I don’t think you have turned on us, but you have gotten to the point where you have expressed a disregard for the regulations and it’s clear you don’t understand (or even want to understand) why they exist. There are four sets of frequencies in GMRS. The requirements for bandwidth and RF power (and how measured) vary considerably with some of the frequencies (interstitial) wedged tightly in between others from other sets. You claim the right to transmit on these frequencies with whatever radio you want to use, but you don’t know what you don’t know. So, that’s kind of off-putting to people who are trying to help you learn.

You can either turn the receive tone back on, in which case you will only hear transmissions with that tone, or you can leave it off (and then you will hear anything on that channel, either from the repeater or simplex). Many repeaters do not send a CTCSS tone when they identify, so people running with the receive tone on don't [have to] hear the ID.

Thanks fellas for the advice I’m going to give it a go test swr before and after on railing take pictures and get back to you with results

I don’t think anyone would argue that it’s the best, with all the other devices that are available, but the fact that it doesn’t rely on special hardware or cables makes it potentially valuable in the absence of those devices.