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Setting the duplex to OFF will disable transmission. The easiest way to do this is within CHIRP. You actually have four choices for duplex: blank (for simplex use), + , - , and off. Selecting off disables TX for that memory channel. Here is a screen shot of CHIRP so you can see what I am talking about.

Did you try setting duplex to "off"

Most people do not approach GMRS as a hobby to itself. They’re not really interested in making and logging QSOs. I use GMRS as a communication tool while pursuing my other hobbies. But, there’s nothing wrong with what you suggest. Just don’t expect QSO cards or log verifications like you get on QRZ.com A friend of mine uses a composition book for logging his ham QSOs. I use the logbook built into HRD for my ham QSOs. I used to just use QRZ.com ARRL makes a nice compact paper booklet for logging. Amazon has it for about $8.

Here's a sweep I just did on the GP-6NC per your request...

He may consider that a challenge. Don’t encourage him.

Yeah, I checked the radio and CHIRP; I go up to 48 currently. I store the fully open set (no tones) in 1-30, then actual repeaters with their tones, then some family-use simplex configurations. We have configured one channel in the 1-7 range and one in the 15-22 range, the latter in several power configurations. When using the radios in known close-proximity such as assisting backing up a tow vehicle to a trailer, we use the lower-powered channels and stay away from the channels that repeaters may be using. When we need more simplex range we'll shift over to the 15-22 area. So that ends up getting me up to about 48 programmed channels.

Here are a few options I found that does both MURS and GMRS. Comet GP-9NCA $210 Comet GP-6NC $150 The GP-9NC is 16' 6" long and the GP-6NC is 10' 2" long. For comparison the Comet CA-712EFC is 10' 5" long but is not tuned for MURS There are other antennas but most are listed at only going up to 465MHz.

While the CW ID transmit isn't done on a timer, the function has to be assigned to a front panel key, it has to be manually selected each time to send. The one FM digital radio I have has the CW TX function built into the radio. The radio is also Part 95 certified too in case someone wants to know. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/251-nx-300jpg/?context=new

Cornell Law Correct. You must use either voice or Morse code. Those are your two choices. That's what this excerpt from FCC 95.1751 tells us. Also, when you ID, you are not fulfilling an obligation to your fellow licensees. Whether they know CW or not is none of your concern. You are fulfilling your obligation to the folks who issued your license, whose rules you claimed you'd obey when you applied for it. (a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted: (1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and, (2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes. (b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone.

Scan mode issue has been reported: https://chirpmyradio.com/issues/11372

That worked! Thank you to both of you who had the answer!

It's actually a 2" or 2.5" (can't remember) aluminum 35ft sectional flag pole. I thought by clamping it to the side of the house it should be able to handle the wind load of the antenna without much of a issue without guy wires. The mast is located directly behind my radio and during high winds I could hear it creaking a bit and it swayed a bit more that I wanted. It was really bad when I had the GP-9 on it. I guyed it with some outdoor rated paracord from DX Engineering and it's been great since then. It's pretty easy to put up or take down (one man job), just loosen the clamp on the house and remove/add sections.

The addition of coax typically reduces the measured reflected power, resulting in a lower observed SWR.

The GP-6NC is tuned about as good as it gets for GMRS. SWR of 1.02 at 462.5MHz and 1.05 at 467.5MHz. Also usable across most of the 70cm band. I've also got a GP-9NC but was disappointed with it. It worked a bit better in the VHF bands but a bit worse on UHF. Don't know if its my terrain, height of antenna (30ft), big oak tree near the antenna or what so put the GP-6NC back as UHF is a bit more important to me than VHF. Here's a sweep of the GP-6NC from 430MHz to 470MHz:

From what @MarkInTampa just posted, I would say that the Comet GP-6NC will work great for you. A SWR of 1.8 or less is just fine for any band/frequency. Sometimes people get hung up on chasing after the perfect SWR. Most of us are guilty of that. But anything 2.0 or less is fine.

I will throw out one other option if you don't mind using a mobile antenna for your base station. The Comet 2x4SR mobile antenna will cover all of the MURS and GMRS frequencies. The down side to using a mobile antenna is that you will need to install it onto some type of metal ground plane for the best results. A large cookie sheet works well for this. Comet 2x4SR-NMO $69 The 2x4SR is only 40" long. It is listed at only going to 465 MhZ but I can tell you from personal experience that it works fine on GMRS repeater channels (467 MHz). I am using one on my SxS and the SWR is 1.8 at 467 MHz and 1.2 at 462 MHz. There are other options from different brands that list 465 MHz. I can't tell you how well they will or will not work since I have not tried any of them.

6 negative votes?! That may be a new forum record!

I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re all a bit nerdy, but that Morse code station ID is some next level pocket protector stuff.

All four of my amateur repeaters ID with CW. But I do know of several that have voice IDers. And voice messages for nets and time of day. One of them even has the real Dick Van Dyke as the voice.

Im not a lawyer, but I play one on the internet.

This worked thanks! WRWE504!

Has any one ever think of making a GMRS call log app for IOS & Android just like the Ham radio operators have so you can log the call sines and there names how that you have talked to on drifrent repeaters that you go on when you travel just a idea

So I have the 20inch Signal Stalk I just took some SWR readings and im pretty happy with what I have out the box no modifications. Don't think I'll be needing to make any adjustments So far so good. I like how its not too big of an antenna and it barley noticeable which I Like

Ah, a bit more work than I'm willing to put in, but I'll keep it in mind. Appreciated.

Thank you!

And use 12 Ga. Cable with a 15 amp fuse.

I had a very specific spot where it stopped responding to the HT. I perceived that as range of the repeater. I thought it should go farther but there's those trees. And after seeing the squelch level default it occurred to me that the squelch setting might be what is limiting me and not the transmitter power and leaves. I'm at the shop right now and I'm going to set it to zero and see what happens. Thanks Steve

Press MR key for 1 second. Pages 9 and 10 in the manual.

1. Yes, theoretically, but you’re really asking about how well the various body parts are bonded. If you have enough impedance between where you connect the black wire of your radio and the negative post on your battery, you’ll see a voltage drop to the radio, worse at high current. 2. Yes Your chassis ground is a DC ground used as the return for the car’s electrical system. Your ground plane does not need to be connected to your chassis ground. You could use a sheet of metal completely isolated from your vehicle as your ground plane, but your radio requires a good low impedance path for its dc power source.

A big Thank you for the great tips/info everyone. Okay, the radio is now programmed with channels 1-40 and 98 and 99. Errors that I realized today programming again with Chirp Next: The Simplex frequencies I had been inserting into channel slots past 30 (31,32,33,34,35) using Chirp were being ignored and not writing to the radio. I failed because I was copying and pasting "good" lines of other working channels into these (Ch.31-35) slots... but I failed to delete the + symbol in the duplex column. Once I corrected the + symbol mistake, I then copied and pasted the A and B bank's frequencies exactly alike. The radio accepted it. All the channels past 30 (except 2 lines on B bank) took. I then tracked those issues down and found that the + symbol was still absent -- but the bandwidth had changed (to a 5) during copying and pasting = easy fix. Resaved and written to the radio. All are now appearing past channel 30. Thanks again!! After sleep, and thinking more clearly.... Update: I now know that the + symbol issue was not completely the total fix to my programming problems. While it is still relevant to have the duplex + off for Simplex channels, I recall now that I had been trying duplicate lines of working repeater channels (installed/working above Ch.30) and that they would not write to the radio for Channels 31-35 either. Hx: I had been having reset issues with the radio and had contacted Retevis for help as my manual reset operations from the radio face were never fully resetting the radio. I now think that the Reset Help (a code plug/dat file) that Retevis sent to me (and I used it several times) also played a part in the success I am now having. I know it helped my Left Bank regain the lost features I was seeing there. It was locking up/ no mode options. I won't post the file attachment here, but I have saved it, and I can forward it to any RA87 user using their personal email if desired, or you can request it directly from kam@retevis.com You run the dat.file inside the RA87 software. You open the file (just like you would open a saved channels list file) and then write it to the radio. The radio then resets and power cycles. I ran it three times to be sure and no brick. Another site that helped me with reset concerns is: https://twowayradiocommunity.com/how-to-do-retevis-radio-factory-resetting/ FYI, attachment of an earlier test example on the Retevis software with random tones for the Writing to radio test-- and not to TX with.

I'm not sure how anyone could use an H3 and a UV-5R and not see that one's got a good bit more capability than the other. I have multiple of each. Haven't touched the 5Rs since the H3s came in.

looks like the small signal stalk (as the larger one has a bit more of a "salt shaker" base); just measured mine at 20 3/4" from the base of the plastic to the end of the whip.

The Comet GP-9NCA is probably the best you'll find specifically tuned for murs/gmrs. It's not cheap though.

My fault for not mentioning coming from a UV-5R. Charging with a USB-C was an upgrade? Scanning CTCSS codes and STILL seeing information on the COLOR screen was an upgrade? Power at the antenna being over 5w on the TD-H3 was an upgrade. Having 2 PTT buttons instead of switching from A/B manually, upgrade. And to be fair, the only thing I see as a downgrade is not being able to listen to a channel while the other is scanning. You must have nicer boofwangs.

Some repeater controllers ID using Morse Code. The 70 cm repeater we use as a ham repeater does this. However, my understanding is that it does its identification without CTCSS. That helps in two related ways. The users of the repeater who have CTCSS set for receive don’t hear the ID, but anyone listening without CTCSS will hear the Morse code.

I've got channels programmed to 37. They load in and work on the radio.

I reviewed my pictures earlier in the thread, and it appears I do have entries in the 30s. 37 is the highest currently. I'll do some more experimentation with CHIRP tomorrow.

Not on GMRS you cant.

Why be “that guy” when speaking your callsign isn’t exactly a heavy lift.

Better question is, does the FCC care? Honestly, the only reason why I use my call sign is because there is only one person with my call sign, but there are a lot of people on the radio named Marc. Makes it easier for people to call me by call sign instead of saying "hey, Marc "

I received mine within a day or two of you -- probably a couple of days earlier, also directly from Retevis, shipped from China. Given that there is no new firmware on the Retevis site for this radio, and that I received mine very close in time to you, I believe we have the same firmware. I don't know how to see the firmware version, though. First, let me say you're right about the manual, it's thorough but thoroughly translated in a version of English that is nearly incomprehensible without reading several times to understand the odd word choices. And it's also correct that the table of menu items refers forward in the manual to pages that don't exist. Fortunately the explanations are included in the manual, just not on the right pages. You are also correct that the memory slots 8-14 cannot transmit, which was called out in a different thread for this radio. Somehow in designing the firmware they thought that memory slots 8-14 were somehow significant, rather than understanding the actual FCC requirements which are based on frequency. You can put whatever you want in those seven slots -- 8-14, but you can only listen on them. On the other hand, with that in mind, you could leave those slots completely empty (CHIRP allows that), and the channel dial will skip past them. Then you can look at the radio as having 186 memory slots, not 200. However, I think your power levels concern might be incorrect. I've got the latest version of CHIRP right now (not "next", but the latest production version), and it does support multiple power levels. I'll include a screenshot. I have also looked at the code for the RA87 driver in chirp, and it hasn't received an update in the actual RA87 driver code since May 18, 2024. So I believe that whether or not we're both using the same version of CHIRP, we're probably using the same driver. Unless there's a code branch that isn't in the repository, that driver hasn't changed. And that driver supports five power levels. It is correct (from what I can tell) that the *manual* is wrong in stating that you can cycle through multiple power levels from the radio's keypads. You cannot. But you can configure them using CHIRP. I will also show pictures of the radio's display showing L2, L3, M, and H. In the attached pictures you'll see that I have GMRS channel 18 stored in multiple memory slots in the radio so that I can quickly/easily switch between power levels for that frequency by turning the memory selector. They're labeled FAM18x where x is L2, L3, M, and H. I use "FAM" or "FM" for "Family channel." That's just my own names for them so that I can quickly switch between them. You'll see at the top of each of those pictures, L2, L3, M, and H in small letters. That's the radio actually telling me in its own words that it is set to a power level other than L and H. In the last picture you'll see a screenshot of CHIRP where I have those "channel 18" configurations set up. And you'll see the drop-down menu showing them. Also here is a screenshot of the CHIRP code repository showing the power levels defined in the RA87 driver for CHIRP. This driver hasn't changed since May 18. I don't know about the Retevis software for this radio, as I don't run a Windows computer, and haven't bothered getting it set up using Wine under Linux since CHIRP does everything I need it to do. I've been meaning to provide some thoughts on this radio after a week of use, but I'm not at a week yet. Nevertheless: The manual is relatively complete but completely obfuscated with terrible translations and tables with page number crossreferences that don't match up. It was probably ported over from the Amateur version of the radio which would have had more pages in the manual. Power levels can only be set "low" and "high" from the keypads. But in CHIRP can be configured to one of five settings. It's a single-band radio. As such, it's configured for being able to listen to 400MHZ-480MHZ. There are versions of the radio configured for the 2m band and for a 300MHZ band, but they're sold by a different vendor under a different name. Memory slots 8-14 are listen-only, regardless of what is programmed into them. The sound quality is very good. I've gotten good responses from those listening to me, and I've also tested with a VOX-activated voice recorder so that I can listen back and hear the quality myself. Power levels are pretty close to accurate. Those complaining that it doesn't produce the correct power level (40w for example) are probably using it with a 12v battery only, not a 13.8v power supply, and not with a vehicle running its alternator, which produces more like 14.5v. If you run it at 13.8 it seems to be very close to 40w on full power. The mic is very light weight; I prefer the weighted feel of the MXT275, by comparison. Also the PTT button is a little less "sure" than I would prefer, but works just fine. Turning off the button-press and other beeps is the first thing I did. It's really annoying to have it beep every time the scan mode finds someone talking. The left and right sides of the radio each have 100 memories, of which you can transmit on 93. You can't transmit on memory slots 8-13. This is a bug in the firmware. But also, if the bug were in memory locations 94-100, would you care as much? If you put nothing in those slots, they won't come up as you turn the channel selector knob. It seems to have a scrambling mode which I think is not allowed by the FCC for GMRS. I haven't tested it to see if it's actually enabled. But it shows up in the manual, and in the menus. You cannot transmit on anything that isn't a GMRS frequency, even if you store the frequency using CHIRP. (A friend loaned me a dummy load.) It will give you the "no way" beep if you try. But you can listen to 446.0000 just fine. I've tested it with a 3dbi antenna and a 6dbi antenna, both easily reaching a repeater 63 miles away with good signal quality, and good quieting. I have line of sight to that repeater from my home (my home is at 5000 feet, and that repeater is about 6800 feet, with the valley floor at 4200 feet). I've also hit a repeater about 22 miles away, another about 15 miles away, and worked simplex within a couple of miles just to test. I have a lot more testing to do to see how the 40w compares to my old 15w radio. Probably less difference than one would think, though. I haven't found a way to turn off dual watch. So if you want the radio to not annoy you with flipping over to the other side as you're monitoring a GMRS frequency, find a never-used frequency, and put a squelch code on it so that it will leave you alone. The "Call" button is confusing, given the oddly translated instruction manual. It seems to be for storing frequencies into next-empty memory slots, but I haven't gotten it figured out yet. The memory labels are only six-characters max. All caps. I really like having a squelch dial rather than only digital settings. For my uses, it's a great value; I paid about $159 for it. And it outputs the power I want, and with scanning and channel storage features I wanted. It's a better radio than my old MXT275 in most ways except for size and the feel of the mic. Sound is better. Flexibility is much better. It has some quirks, for sure. But they're pretty easy to work around once you get it configured with CHIRP.

Please tell us more.

What? Hopefully none. Now if you intended to ask: Are there any repeaters in ME? (Maine) We might be able to show you how to find them on the repeater pages of this site.

@WRFF835 - although it’s not something very many people do, it’s your radio and your time. If it’s important to you, go for it. I don’t know why you couldn’t just use one of the existing apps, although probably none have been programmed to automatically look up GMRS users.

You're absolutely right, the ten codes vary from state to state and county to county. I remember when I was an active member of the Town Watch, the Ten Codes were not necessary used in Philadelphia Polce, because Philly PD & FD just use plain langue with abbreviations from certain things. Tacony Watch 10-4 Affirmative 10-20 Location or What is your Location? 10-36 Time Check 10-100 Break 10-Double 100 Off Radio End of Tour / Shift However, I always use 10-7 The other codes we use were same as PPD and PFD........ FLAST = INFORMATION ON SUSPECT OR LOST INDIVIDUAL LOCAL = FIRE NAT = NO ACTION TAKEN RTF = REPORT TO FOLLOW 5292 = NOTIFY THE CORRENOR'S OFFICE FOR POSSIBLE DECEASED INDIVIDUAL Well that's all I remember using when I was actually working, may have been volunteering, but work is work.

I was chastised by a "helpful" HAM two decades ago for inadvertently using a 10-code with a fellow off duty LEO on 2m. It just amazes me how HAMs will use Q codes on voice and end their transmissions on 2m with 73s and then complain about other people. Of course, I don't play well with others.

If you go to this link https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchGmrs.jsp and input your FRN it should show up, as long as it has been granted.

That’s a big 10-4 ?

My radio, my choice.

Not that I dont trust you, or think you're making stuff up out of thin air, but i would love for you to share some actual facts about all these others this has happened to. Perhaps a link to the FCC enforcement database entry? Because as I'm sure you know, every time the FCC breathes down anyones neck, for any reason, by law, the FCC must publish that enforcement.