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It’s much easier and less embarrassing to act cryptic rather than having the moral fortitude to admit his mistake and take his lumps.

My wife and I took a driving trip last week to Utah and Arizona. We spent most of our time in Southern Utah. Ahead of the voyage I looked up all of the listed repeaters in the areas we would be travelling. I requested access to three repeaters and received a response from one repeater owner (thanks WRVI568). I loaded everything onto my 935G+ and used it with a mag mount mobile antenna. I also loaded 2m repeaters into a VX-6R with a stock antenna. I eventually just used the stock antenna on the 935G+ as well. I scanned GMRS channels and repeaters most of the time. We drove through multiple National Parks where I heard the only GMRS traffic for the whole trip and that was on FRS. I was scanning on 2m and heard a short communication out in the middle of nowhere on simplex. I did test a couple of the repeaters to make sure I was getting out. We stayed out of the larger towns and mainly stuck to the scenic routes. We carried radios when we did some hiking but stayed together so we never used them. When we got back to Northern Arizona I scanned railroad frequencies with the 935G+. I'm a nerd and enjoyed hearing the EOT signals and occasional yard conversations. In AZ we drove old Route 66 from Williams to Needles. Really enjoyed the Burma Shave signage. It was a great trip. That is how I enjoy using radios when travelling.

It's just another excuse. If he gets called out and pushed for more details, he'll make up some lie to justify acting like a dickhead.

Nobody can answer that with any accuracy more than "maybe".. The only way to know is to try it. If you can't reach them, then next step before base setups would be by connecting both radios to mobile-antennas on a cookie-sheet and put them in a high-up window.. This will greatly extend the fars.

What I don't understand is, you can make a friendly post like this and politely disagree, but for some reason, even though I have zero to do with Midland or any other brand or radio industry at large (I'm an IT guy by trade) you attacked my character and credibility in a mean way. Have to be honest, a big part of my issue with you in this thread has nothing to do with you not believing me. You have no idea who I am, so I don't blame you. The situation is comfortably in the category of "not what you said, but how you said it." If you were as cordial with you're original concerns as you were with this post, I would have been a lot more receptive. As I mentioned before, no skin off my back one way or another, but if we're going to play in the same playground, you can't get upset when you behave poorly and people here give you grief about it. I am 100% willing to wipe the slate clean... I don't even need an apology... but there needs to be some understanding that not everyone is a sellout and just genuinely has a different opinion. Either agree or disagree. No need to be rude. Seem fair?

Wow, you just keep going. [emoji849]

You should always listen before sending. With no receive tones you would hear any traffic on the channel,

Not to mention lame.

Sounds like a great trip. My wife and I have taken similar trips out that way. Found the guardian lions of the desert just by chance out on Route 66 Near Amboy, west of Needles.

Well that’s a bit cryptic…..

All good points. The repeater would be at a location away from my home so if there's a problem I'd need to drive there. All I can do is try it and see how it goes.

There is something else that I believe contributes to the GMRS interest exceeding the interest in Ham radio. That's the persona of HAM. Ham radio in at least some instances has been portrayed as nerdy. It's connected to big towers in the yard with big antenna's on top of them. Have you ever even seen GMRS portrayed in a TV show or film? If it's radio related, it's always ham. It's some desk full of radios typically with the operator being some level of eccentric, or otherwise odd socially. Since GMRS isn't put on display in any fashion, people don't understand it, and therefore don't believe it's going to make other people think they are some mad scientist if they get involved with it.

As I recall that has to do with Menu 29: DSPCHANNEL being set to CH, instead of either FREQ or NAME. Push the FUN button to enter the Menu Mode and use the V/M button as UP and MAIN button as DOWN to go to Menu: 29. When you are at Menu: 29, use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to go through the 3 different selections (CH, FREQ and NAME) and pick either FREQ or NAME as you desire and then Push the FUN button to exit out of Menu Mode. V/M should now toggle between VFO and Memory (Channel) modes now.

I didn’t say it was easy. That’s an absolute modifier. I was making a comparison. I said it was easier than getting a license for ham radio. Navigate FCC site + $35 = GMRS Navigate FCC site + $35 + Test = Ham

GMRS is the sweet spot for many who want to get into radio. I've been surrounded by radio most of my life. Dad and I were both in comms in the military. I have family, friends and neighbors with mega ham licenses and have always enjoyed watching them work the airwaves. I'm a PE with a masters degree, so the tech is not intimidating. Folks who don't know assume I have an amateur license, which I don't. FRS works but is very limited while amateur is fantastic but requires jumping through hoops. GMRS is a good compromise.

Yeah, I got it wrong. I’ll edit my comment.

Moral Turpitude was a catch all term used by government employers to dismiss employees back in the dark ages such as the Disco decade. That is essentially non-extent these days but the rule is still on the books. The moral turpitude acts are widely overlooked these days and not considered immoral as they once were.

Been there. Spent a lot of time on the Old Mojave Road in years past.

You may find that you have very good communications with GMRS on 20 acres over simplex, no repeater. In that case you can put your 2k into the jeep instead. At least test things out as is. See how it goes.

I have to admit, I had to look that one up because I had no idea what moral turpitude was, but now that I know I don't want anyone saying I had it when they do my obituary.

The best advice is to read a lot of threads in this forum and start learning what works and what doesn't. Ask a lot of questions as well. There are a lot of topics on improving range and getting the most from your installation on the net. There's so much to learn, just take it slow so you don't get overwhelmed. Again, it's all about research and not thinking any question is not worth asking. Most of all, have fun.

Yes elevation above obstructions is your friend. If you and your contact can safely climb onto the roof of your houses with the radios as a test to see if that helps then you will know that it is possible and that a roof top or high window location for a remote antenna should work. Don't forget to hold the radios/antennas vertical for best performance.

It can help and hurt. Most springs are calculate into the length of the radiating (active) length of the antenna. For instance, the comet 2x4sr (think this post is the one you are referring to) is about the same length as the section that is removed to install it. It would not affect anything. You can actually tune the antenna by unlocking the allen grub screws and increase or decrease the length of the antenna smidgen. But because of it being a collimeter design it can be a bit tricky to do right. Which is unlike cb antenna steel whips. Which are technically too short, most commercial whips are about 102". By adding the 6" spring to the base it brings it closer to the natural resonance length. Give or take with spring it's 108". Resonance is about 108-112" (true 1/4 length) for 11mhz/cb. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I see on RR forum you asked for a GMRS mobile radio recommendation. You should ask that here. For GMRS specific certified radios (which your B-Tech is not). Wouxun is the current leader. The KG-1000G+ and the KG-XS20G+ are the top radios as far as many are concerned. They are however very feature rich and are geared toward what you might call "power users"(or radio dorks) who want all those features. They are well built and perform very well. They are not rebranded or sold under other names (that I have ever seen) unlike most other China brands. Buy Two Way Radios is the place to get them. They are a sponsor of this site. They are the importers and work with Wouxun to design the radios for the American market. Midland is geared toward and popular with folks that just want a more basic radio that is very easy to use and simple to operate. All GMRS radios are made in China including Midland. Some will recommend buying a used commercial radio but there is a lot to learn to use them. Maybe after you become a more seasoned radio operator you could look into that option. Just my 2 cents.

I have the 2x4 on my wife's rig on a mag mount. She likes how it looks. Works fine on GMRS as far as I can tell. We talked 30 miles from base to it with the KG-935G+ hand held no problem. She uses a scanner with it as well and it works great for both uses.

I run a Comet 2x4SR on my SxS and it works well for GMRS right out of the package. I get between 1.6 and 1.8 SWR for 467 MHz and 1.2 SWR for 462 MHz. SWR is also good for 2m and 70cm. And I tested the SWR while the SxS was parked inside my garage so I know it will be better when it is outside and away from the metal garage doors and tracks. I am going to add the spring kit to it.

Aint that the truth. I don't have very many radios but I've seen quite the interesting difference in the ones I have.

It will work just not well. It's just a really kinda compromised antenna. 2m-70cm and gmrs is a real big stretch, bandwidth wise. So the swr values I got it was close to 2.1-2.5 give or take swr on the gmrs repeater. Some got lower swr, but my ditch light mount where the antenna is located is a compromise location. So take it with a grain of salt. It heard gmrs better then my Larson 270. But the Larsen is up on the car. Why? Well the Larsen is extremely flexible and can/has taken a beating. Some con with the 2x4sr. One it is thick (how it gets its bandwidth), tall and stiff. The other con is the hinge (mine started to loosen up in about a months time) as well as I found water starting to go through to the coil. If you do get it expensive. The spring (Highly recommend it) adds cost and isn't included. Mine at least whacked everything. The thickness a benefit to bandwidth, made my antenna move way to much. It rocked the mount violently with every bump, one of the main reasons I went back to the Larsen. In short if you don't need to have 2m/70cm you are better off with a dedicated gmrs 5/8th over 5/8th antenna. Sorry for the long winded post. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

@WRTZ750 I understand the initial question was about keeping tones private. My question is have you already assessed that it needs to be where you are? What I mean is larger city areas seem to be locations that have more of the bad element however where I am the repeaters don’t really get used that much. Most are open and the owners are glad that people make use of them when they do. Even some that require request seem to use common travel tones and I think they just want to know who’s using them. Of course your mileage may vary depending on location and people.

This ^^^

What’s the difference whether the repeater is powered off or jammed? The end result is exactly the same. The only way to prevent it is to not have a repeater.

See that's where my lack of experience shows. I thought they'd need the tones to key up the repeater & jam it. I guess that's where the wifi switch can kill the repeater if someone tries jamming it. Maybe I'm expecting the worse out of people but still like to know how to counteract these things if they happen. Thx for all the shared experience here.

Thanks for the internal photos Lscott. Wow, look at that delightful full sized metal shield. No wonder these radios radiate well, they have a huge "ground plane" for the whip. I stand by my statement that if one puts a true and efficient (read low loss, not steel but rather copper) whip on this radio it will radiate very well indeed.

Here's what it looks like on my GM-30 with no programming....fresh from the factory if you will...

Thank you Sshannon. I believe you're correct. I think my radio is just fine.

It doesn’t matter that one is DCS and the other is CTCSS. In either case squelch is opened up and audio from any present signal is reproduced.

Yes. I just got the Baofeng GM-15 Pro software installed and started using it so I don't know a lot yet but so far, so good. I did notice that some of the TX frequencies on the DIY channels are not correct. I haven't tried to contact Baofeng about it yet. Edit: Just noticed the one I posted is wrong.

And change the tones from time to time.

If you want to keep your family and friends only repeater private, don't list it on mygmrs.com. Also, I would split the tones and use CTCSS on the downlink/repeater output side and an Inverted DPL/DCS code on the uplink/repeater input side.

Nickel and lithium based batteries should be stored at a 40% charge and not connected to anything. I personally also put tap over the connections, to prevent anything from touching the contacts and shorting or discharging the batteries further All batteries will eventually discharge to zero if they are in a radio or a charge cradle that isn't on and in a charge state. This damages batteries and can cause the battery to never charge again. Some highend batteries with electronics in them will sleep after they have been out of a radio or charger for some time. Those will appear to be dead, but just need to be reactivated. Storing batteries in the radio will not only discharge the battery, it could damage the radio. There are issues with corrosion, battery leaks and expansion.

I tell people the test is actually trying to navigate the FCC website and application process.

Never cheap.......L e s s E x p e n s i v e

That was the primary purpose the FCC had for GMRS. Simple communication for the general public.

Ham radio is aimed at people who are interested in the science and technology of radio communications. People who just want to communicate have to jump through some hoops to become a ham. GMRS is easier, covers your entire extended family, and doesn’t require jumping through hoops. Just pay your $35.

I hear people using different words for saying their call sign phonetically all the time. Some will use what ever words they like. It really doesn't matter much when talking to other people who's native language is English. Using the NATO phonetic alphabet does help when talking to foreigners who do not speak English very well or have a heavy accent. In the end use what works best for you and those you are talking to.

I live 20 miles east of Sacramento CA and I'm pretty much inland. Also the radio I'm using is an UV9R+ will that antenna work on that radio?

Thanks for the information

Did the antenna make much difference compared to stock?

Yes but Baofeng's are ... special. They all used to ship "unlocked" with a bunch of random test frequencies programmed at the factory, many of which were in US public safety bands. After the FCC finally woke up and complained, they started shipping locked to amateur frequencies, but of course everyone who buys them unlocks them. But here's another suggestion. Buy a $150 Windows laptop and then you can run the Yaesu software, or the RT Systems software. I have nothing against Chirp specifically, and I am a long-term supporter of "free" software, but Chirp is not the be-all and end-all that many think it is. I cringe every time someone buys a "good" radio and wants to program it with Chirp.

You’re right; I didn’t use the Gordon West books. I’ve never even handled one. But I did use the HamStudy website and app which were very effective for me. Because of my background I could understand most of the answers. The flash cards have links leading to background information that helped me understand those that I didn’t understand intuitively. I studied to understand, not memorize. I’m a VE now and I see some of the new people coming in. I’m sure there are some who try to just memorize the technician pool, but there are also those who seek to learn. Getting their Technician license gets them started along that path and helps foster further learning rather than memorization.