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First the earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil. And then the Arabs came and ...

think of it like a lock on the squelch opening, rather than just opening for any signal above a certain strength. with tone squelch it only opens when the received signal also carries a matching tone, be it CTCSS (also called a PL tone) or DCS (aka DPL). (side note: this is also why the correct tone is needed to access many repeaters)

The perfect SWR for any antenna is always 1.0:1, but an SWR up to 2.5 is acceptable if you have low loss feed line. That's true for GMRS as well. An SWR meter for a CB might not work for the UHF frequencies of GMRS. The antenna connectors for CB are usually the same as GMRS, but long lengths of cables that work just fine for CB can really absorb the power of at UHF frequencies, but you probably aren't running more than a few feet in your WWII Jeep. As far as whip length, the length of your CB antenna is probably about 103 inches or something like that; that's a quarter wave whip. The wavelength of CB is 11 meters, or around 33 feet. The wavelength of GMRS is about 64-65 centimeters or right around two feet, so a quarter wave whip would be around six inches. That would look pretty tiny compared to the long CB whip. If I were you, I would just hook up to the antenna and test it to see how it works. Run at low power at first. Modern radios are amazingly resilient to damage from high SWR. See if anyone can hear you. Or stay disconnected from the steel whip and just run your radio with a stubby little GMRS antenna hidden on the Jeep somewhere.

This! The vast majority of people who buy and use GMRS just want to talk to each other. Most don’t even know or care about this site or repeaters, much less linked repeaters. Whether they use repeaters or not, if they end up unable to hear each other because of chatter that’s coming from linked repeaters, they probably won’t be impressed. It turns out I’m not in favor of linking, but I also don’t think the FCC is handling this correctly. I don’t think the regulations amount to prohibiting linking, even though their interpretation now says so.

not sure what you're referring to with the "FM" part, but RT Systems is a company that makes programming software (and sells matching cables) for a wide variety of radios. Some find their software easier to use than free options or manufacturer software, or appreciate convenience features to import data or configurations from other sources to save time on programming.

Any look at that here wouldn’t likely represent the vast amount of people that get GMRS or FRS radios and just use them for every day activities and aren’t part of a radio forum.

I think that scanning isn’t the likely use case here. More likely in this case you will know the frequency of the aircraft and airport so if you are hanging out by the airport while your son is getting lessons you can listen to him. Sounds like a cool use of the radio.

So I thought this might be an interesting topic. Maybe it will die on the vine, maybe not. I see a lot of chatter here about SHTF comms, both GMRS and amateur radio. I'm curious what a SHTF scenario looks like to different folks, and how they think GMRS and other radio services may be incorporated. For me, a SHTF scenario doesn't look like a nationwide "someone hit the EMP switch and knocked the whole country back to the 1700s", it looks more like a local disaster like a major earthquake, where radios could help like they did a couple of weeks ago here when we had a 4.3 and I purposely tried to make a cell call just to see if it would work, (it didn't), but my repeater at 6,000 feet worked just fine and lots of us were communicating over a wide area.

Awesome information. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks very much.

Don't forget to see if you spilled some on your keyboard.

Yes. The KG-1000 plus does. They asked about mobile GMRS radio.

Have you considered a scanner? They are much faster at scanning than any two way radio. Also you may need a different antenna to receive air band well for a two way radio unless you are close to the action.

GMRS repeater linking freedom I am writing to you as a concerned citizen and a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) operator to respectfully request your support in advocating for the reinstatement of GMRS linking, which was recently banned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Website Petition

Yes, several.

A critical part is emergency power. Forget about gasoline generators. If the power goes out even gas stations won't have power to run the pumps. When your gasoline generator runs dry it's back to square one. Back in 2003 great blackout only ONE gas station had emergency power. That one was only pumping gas for emergency vehicles and police. No exceptions. I had no power for about 3 days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 Your options then are a natural gas powered generator. A propane powered one, at least you might fine bottled gas someplace. Or solar power with battery backup. Ideally you have a combination of the above. You can have all the radios in the world, but if the battery packs are dead, well you have a lot of paper weights.

Not a lot of research I guess. GMRS is a family radio service for close communications with the ability to access a repeater to help out range. The linked repeater thing has been going on now for months and months and repeater owners have been disconnecting there linked systems to avoid FCC reprisal. If this post was a year old then that would be one thing, now most of us know the FCC has reiterated that linked repeaters aren't allowed. Still better than no communications during SHTF times. I'm sure the $35 didn't hurt that much.

So what's the correct way to address a repeater conflict? Where I'm at seems to have 2 active repeaters on 550 141.3 and any transmits are coming back heavily stepped on in the region between. Is there an official way to contact both owners that isn't going to offend them? WRJZ925 and WRFL895 EDIT: WRFL seems to have noticed my comment and deconflicted. PS: It seems like this would be a great chance for MyGMRS to do something really cool and check their database automatically for conflicts when new repeaters are listed. Don't know how complicated checking estimated range overlap would be, though.

This is true but it has never been a problem for me.

Are you able to analyze and trim the whip to the right length?

Similar to the Retevis RT97s https://midlandusa.com/collections/mxr10-midland-repeater/products/midland-mxr10-repeater

Yes, the eff sea seas is shutting down illegally linked GMRS repeater systems and now there is no more GMRS. Step me through that logic please...

Motorola, Harris, Kenwood/EFJ - almost all commercial/public safety radios will offer what you're looking for. GMRS doesn't have it in the radios you normally see because to be totally blunt, most of them are all rebranded from the same reference design and "radio on a chip", and most of those manufacturers won't bother putting anymore more than DTMF SelCall on the feature list. Motorola calls it MDC1200, Harris of yore called it GE-Star or similar, Kenwood called it FleetSync... its a small "data burst" you initiate and the receiving radio stays muted until it receives a burst with its ID contained within it. When the receiving radio does receive a call/page, it will either beep and then unmute, or beep incessantly until the user hits PTT to say something at which point you know they're "free". This was used primarily in situations like GMRS where there's one repeater, tons of users, and no one wants the radio going off 24/7 with irrelevant traffic - like cab companies. As for "legality" - GMRS allows it by rule. Repeater owners and other operators that barely grasp PLs will get mad about "that digital crap on the radio". We run it almost exclusively here to keep the channel muted.

I missed the mobile part. Thanks.

I have Wouxun Q10G and KG9X - both can do air band receive only. Also have Radtel RT-730 although not GMRS only but much cheaper than both Wouxuns, can receive air band too.

In my opinion, I think the TD-H3 scans too slowly and you may miss some conversations based on how many air band frequencies you will be scanning. I purchased the Quansheng k6 and it receives air band, and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it scans. My go to though, is a Yaesu FT-60. I like that radio so much I bought a second. I hope this helps.

Yeah, we have a local ham repeater that is like that all the time. The trustee thought it had to be open squelch so it was. It has two different IDer's on it. It's actually fun to play with. Top and bottom of the hour it will ID. Actually ID's every 9 minutes without use. But top and bottom the hour, Let it ID. Then key up and ask "WHAT REPEATER" It will ID AGAIN. THen ask what did it say. It will ID a third time. All this in a course of 30 seconds. And it ID's overtop of who ever is using it too. It's so bad it ran off all the local users because of that BS. I had to pull the thing out of the logging recorder because it was filling up the hard drive. Had 30 resources in the thing. That was always top of the list for record time

First, welcome! Suggestions? Give us more details. Do you have the right channel? Do you have the right tone? Have you ever connected? With no tones do you hear anything?

You’re in great company and it sounds like we’d like your wife too! Welcome!

@WSEI278 welcome. There are lots of repeaters around San Antonio. @WSEI509 welcome. That's a great story. Sounds like my wife.

Welcome! Now you are on your way to becoming a "radio dork".

Welcome! I hope you enjoy it here.

Greetings, New member and licensee, I carried radios most of my adult life (retired peace officer) from the bricks of the 80’s to modern day. Never cared how they worked before and now I’m in learning mode. Really appreciate all the great videos out there and this forum which I intend to read through in detail. I’m Northeast San Antonio area and have a pair of TidRadio H3 to start with.

the second I read your post I could hear Mr. Hopkins in my head.

I have been thinking about the Topic on whether it's legal or illegal to link up GMRS repeaters via commercial Telephone or Internet systems. I sincerely understand that the General Mobile Radio Service wasn't design for casual conversation as you may find on the Citizen Band Radio Service. I also understand that GMRS isn't design for Commercial Business, although it can be used for business. Now, I can't say that I agree with the FCC's Rules and Regulations, because I have enjoyed for short while the benefit of talking with other GMRS stations. However, I got to respect the FCC's wishes and maybe someone out there will get a petition to change the Rules and Regulations. Hey, until a petition is drafted circulated and approved for GMRS repeaters to be linked. For those that have interest in Radio Communication, but don't have a desire to take the test for an Amateur Radio License, get a CB Radio!

@WSDD439 Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing with you, I'm just explaining the issue that some people have with linked repeaters. Personally, I don't care whether they are linked or not. They are useful linked, they are useful unlinked, and simplex is also good.

I'm talking about someone who is out of simplex range but within repeater (or especially linked repeater) range.

There are technical differences, but I have never observed any actual, real-world difference - in the real-world, they both do the job just fine. also, FYI, I have owned/used virtually every GMRS radio manufactured since ~2017 and I do not recall ever seeing one that does not support DPL/DTC/DCS tones. Not saying those radios do not exist, but if they do, they are very old, very rare, or, both.

Thank you everyone for all the great advice! I would like to get a permanent mobile unit in the near future for the truck but, was looking for a cheap alternative to play with in the mean time. I live near Roanoke, TX (actually more near Texas Motor Speedway) and there is a repeater tower in Denton, TX (Denton 600) with a stated radius of 60 miles. I am approximately 20 miles away. It has been hit or miss whether I can get someone to respond to a radio check with the 18" antennae. Granted there are hills, houses, etc.... between me and the tower so, I expect it to be difficult. The other Denton, TX repeater (Denton County 550) I have yet to get anyone at all to respond back and yes, I have the right tone. I feel like Robin Williams in RV trying to get a signal, LOL!!!! Ironically, we are full time RV'ers so it really hits home!

You make a good point. SHTF can take many forms and cover everything from a neighborhood, to the whole country, even the world. If there were a widespread cellular outage lasting days or weeks, I imagine CB radios would start flying off the shelves in affected areas. Believe it or not, they can still get your voice out, and bring others' voices in, just as they did in the 1970's. Something that helps you find a working or stocked gas pump in time of shortage, is as valuable today as it was in 1973. Just knowing you have the means contact another person and ask them to send help; in the event of a vehicular breakdown, collision, or perhaps being targeted by a hostile person or groups of people, could mean a lot. When I talk of ham radio, it is not because I think hams are the greatest, the best, or anything; but the fact that there are a lot more ham repeaters in most places than GMRS, and they usually have greater range, makes it worth mentioning. Although most hams do not participate in it, hams have a neat thing going for them called the National Traffic System or NTS. This consists of long established nets, usually on 75 meters and 40 meters, that handle message "traffic" in the form of brief formatted messages, known as "Radiograms". These nets meet daily or nightly and handle traffic coming into or going out of a given area, coming from or going to another area. Frequently, these messages reach the final recipient in a day or two. In the event of a situation like 9-11, health and welfare messages to loved ones who had no other means of knowing the status of a friend or family member in a disaster area can mean so much. Learning how to format, copy, and relay these messages is an integral part of these hf (shortwave) nets. In an area with a GMRS repeater with good coverage, as with CB, being able to communicate with others and knowing you are not totally alone can be a huge comfort.

i just made a video about Scientology so obviously i don't care about my reputation, but I dont want another one of those electronic abortions of a repeater.

Please no more, we’ve had enough of the linked repeater drama.

I will agree with everyone, get a good antenna along with the adaptor to go from the antenna coax to the radio will be fine. A lot of people have ran that way for a mobile setup without issues. Yes your range won't be quite as good with a 5 watt radio versus a 50 watt radio, but you will still get out just fine. A lot of times I don't even run my 50 watt dual band and 50 watt GMRS radios on high power. I also would not worry about getting an amp for a hand held radio either. Put the money towards a mobile radio of your choice instead. Yes having a 50 watt radio is nice when you need the extra power but a 20-25 watt radio will suit your needs most of the time.

There are cheap foreign made amps that cost WAY less than a GOOD mobile unit. But I agree that the UT-72 by itself is the absolute best investment in this scheme. I advise against the amp regardless of its price. The relatively minor increase in clarity of signal to those you transmit to will be of no really use.

I'm not the smartest person on here. It took me a while to figure it out myself. I have a Radioddity GM-30 and used a SMA male to UHF female. The SMA end consists to your radio. Yours might take a female? I used a Nagoya lip mount on my driver side rear door with a Motorola 3db ghost antenna, both of which I got off of Amazon.

Basically the only difference between the Midland SPK-100 and SPK-200 is the SPK-200 has noise cancellation and an amplifier that requires a power source. If the SPK-100 works fine in my SxS, it will work in a Jeep. One won't go wrong with either speaker.

I can vouch for the Midland SPK-100 being a good speaker and plenty loud enough to hear in a noisy environment. I have one attached to the top roll bar on my Honda Pioneer 500 and I can hear my rain just fine while running 35 mph down a gravel road. And the Pioneer 500 is pretty noisy going down the road/trail. Yes the SPK-100 cost more at around $65 -$70 but it is IP rated for water and dust. The IP rating and being 20 watts is why I went with the SPK-100 for my SxS. The SPK-100 works well with my Wouxun KG-XS20G and my TYT TH-8600 radios.

And this is where I have my speakers mounted in my 23 Jeep Wrangler Rubi 2 Dr. The Motorola Speaker is my for Motorola XTL5000 UHF radio I use for GMRS and the Cobra Speaker is for my Cobra 25 LTD Classic AM-FM CB Radio.

Had the first visitor on my GMRS RPT-50 this morning. A Paramedic that lives in my neighborhood. I can’t think of a better contact to have Also, integrated a Sony Digital Voice Recorder into my mix. It plugs straight into one of my BTech GMRS Pro’s and only records when there’s activity. Photo of my “shack” attached. @OffRoaderX I hope some day you have another opportunity to look at this repeater. Maybe we can get BTech to send you one. You already did the pay to play option. If they want to sell more units they need to go the extra mile here.

I still have most of the gear and plenty of woods. I may repeat the test with "like-model" comparisons. I have to see how the calendar shakes out and if I can find a volunteer with a proper CB install.

I have a couple of MP31s and I love them. They were my first GMRS radios. Sound quality is better than I expected. Easy to use and quite durable. These are my go-to radios for anything short and simple like going up in the attic to work. Used them on the beach once and talked for exactly 1 mile clear as a bell. Up in the mountains in New Mexico they did fine. Every time my son disappeared around a finger out of sight, we still had coms. Down at White Sands, the dunes were no problem. Nice little gems these radios.