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I have to agree with you on this. We setup our GMRS repeater for local use only. It's intent is for families and such to use during normal times and as a backup to our 2m and 70cm repeaters during actual emergencies.

I just want a list of radios and instructions on how to unlock them.

Uhhh....no..... I am not going to ask or demand that the FCC allow unnecessary clogging up of the eight few channels we have for repeater and 50W simplex use, thereby turning GMRS into something it was never even remotely intended to be.

I purchased this from Powerwerx instead and kept the best of both worlds:

Yes I have unlocked my GMRS certified Baofeng UV-5R GMRS HT's. And they transmit just fine.

That just means that they are really serious about the temper-tantrum they are throwing in the cereal-isle of the grocery store...

*stares at ~55 of my ~60 GMRS radios that cannot be unlocked....

*stares at 5 of my 7 GMRS radios that are unlocked* Uh huh.

I use the USBc cable into the programing connection under the mic cable connection. You are using a programming cable into the two prong microphone holes?

https://www.change.org/p/demand-fcc-to-allow-all-network-connections-to-gmrs-repeaters-and-radios Demand FCC to Allow All Network Connections to GMRS Repeaters and Radios Take the next step!

Has she found you yet?

They will! ... and then you'll wake up and it will be time to catch the bus.

I don’t know how many people here play around with these sorts of devices, but I recently decided to purchase the Argent Data ADS-SR1. Previous to that I owned the Surecom SR-112 simplex repeater box. They’re pretty useful things if for no other reason than to test your own equipment. They can serve as your helping hand on your remote station to key you back and let you know when you’re still hitting the home station. And to play back a recording of how you sound coming in. The problem that I always had with the Surecom version is that it just didn’t work sometimes . It seemed like it made a bad connection in the audio jack, and it could be solved temporarily by just unplugging it and plugging it back in, twisting it, or just otherwise agitating the connection in some way to re-gain electrical contact. Then it would work again, for a while.. Additionally it had a tendency to chop the first couple of seconds off of the transmission, so I had to be in the habit of keying up dead air for the first second of every transmission. It just wasn’t reliable. Cheaply made, and you could feel it by holding by the box. It was just kind of junky. But, it was $60 and the Argent one was $90 and you had to purchase the connection cable separately ($10 more). So about a week ago I had a use for the simplex repeater that I had for a test that I wanted to do, and found that the Surecom box was dead. No longer held a charge on the internal battery and the way I needed to use it required it be on battery power. At that point I just trashed it since it never did work well in the first place. So that’s the end of that thing… I placed an order for the Argent Data version of this device as well as the appropriate cable. Firstly, the best part about this one is that it just simply works. It uses an RJ45 connection at both ends which isn’t really susceptible to a “bad” contact like an audio jack type connection could be. No chop off in the recording. Basically this product is the version of the thing that I think all people are trying to get when they buy these things, that actually just WORKS as intended. Buy once, cry once. Get the Argent Data simplex repeater. It’ll actually do the thing you’re trying to accomplish with it..

Not going to work. Why???? Read my signature. That will work. This will not. It doesn't give a fix for the issues, just makes an unreasonable demand.

This is a technical question. The answer is a very qualified “maybe” and it will be specific to a particular model radio. Now for the technical dive into why it might be an issue. Some of the more expensive radios, commercial grade, use a type of electronically tuned filter on the radio’s receiver section for better selectivity. That could be a variable capacitance diode fed with a variable DC voltage output by the microprocessor. That’s how the filter is tuned when the RX frequency is changed. That component would be OK. However I have spotted what appears to be a variable inductor, again using a variable voltage/current, to adjust the filter frequency. If it has a magnetic core the inductance could be affected by a very strong magnetic field in close proximity to the radio. That would bugger up the filter frequency and thus the receiver performance. I think for the vast majority of radios people use a strong magnet isn’t an issue. It’s usually the high end commercial radios that use the tunable receiver input filters. And just about all of them typically use the variable capacitance diode in that circuit. Which are not affected.

The total cost of both the ear pro and the walkie was about 70 bucks, not too bad considering what they are, but do understand wanting to get other things first.

Ahh, another wallet in the wishing well!

Sorry, should have been more specific. A strong magnet to mount the H3 to my dash. Its a pretty strong magnet to hold the radio with a metal plate attached to the battery. More specifically a Scoshe mount. I was thinking the magnet may mess with the H3, or any radio.

Yup, welcome to the zoo!

Welcome!

There are plenty of good 20-25 watt mobile radios that will work just fine without breaking the bank. A good antenna and quality LMR400 or equivalent coax is important. I have had good luck with the Jet Flex400 coax from R & L Electronics and the DX Engineering 400Max coax.

Hal, did you resolve the problem? Just wondering if the USB cable connection solved the issue instead of the "programming cable" if that is what you were using.

Older homes with foil backed insulation, aluminum or steel siding and metal roofs can cause issues. All metal buildings are even worse. My brother built a metal building as his home and it acts like a giant faraday cage. He can't use his HT's inside the house even with the repeater being 5 miles or less from him. 70cm and GMRS are worse than 2m .

Being a YouTubes superstar and maintaining the world's largest Jenga-Wall-Of-Radios is a big responsibility.

My DB-20G is also unlocked, as well as several GMRS Baofengs (I actually forgot I had those sitting on the shelf) and my GMRS TD-H3s

"Demand? That's a strong word." -- King Harrod in Jesus of Nazareth

I'll keep running my old Exploder. Proudly assembled in Canada with world sourced parts. Can count on one finger the number of times a Jeep pulled me out of a stuck. Can count on both hands the number of times I've winched out Jeeps from stucks! Mostly I run solo, and I have had to winch myself out a couple times from mud or deep snow, but it keeps on keepin' on.

Just an FYI, I have several H3s and one H8 that I have reprogrammed several times using CHIRP on my Linux desktop, I've also used odmaster as well but find CHIRP much easier for programming. I also found that I can program any HT I have, of which I have different variations of Baofengs, Wouxun, Tidradios, etc. using just the Wouxun PCO-009 WXUSB “Red” Programming Cable that came with my KV-UV9GX radio. Current firmware version I'm using is 240702.

The USB cable is very convenient, eh? Wish my D878UV II Plus had the option. I bought the programming cable for my TD-H3s but never use it. No need.

It's cute that you think "signatures" on a website are actually going to accomplish anything (HINT: it wont).

Yah, the NMO mount could be too close to the light bar. But it doesn't matter anymore. The Jeep is a poor radio antenna platform.

Most of the above post sounds like 11 meter crap to me. Very sad.

After posting my test results on the performance/evaluation of the Firestik II antennae about 2-3 weeks ago, and of course there were forum members that said the Firestik II antennae where one of the worst antennae and the placement of the antenna on my Dutch-Corporation Owned American made Non Asian Wrangler Rubi was also one of the worst locations, and that I should be using a NMO Trunk Lip Mount clipped to the rear edge of the Hood at the cowl, and a C27 base load antenna, for better performance results in the Farz. Well, I decided to bite into that carrot and I purchased two Antenna Specialist/Antenex/Laird/T E Connectivity C27 Base Load antennae and the NMO Trunk Lip-Mount and I conducted my Farz test today identical to the test as I did with the two Firestiks. I ran the same route and used the test point locations. The transmitting and the receiving vehicles, radios, noise floor level were identical, as the previous test. The C27 antennae were tuned and the VSWRs were in the very low 1's. Today's results revealed that the Firestik II antenna outperformed the C27 base load antennas. Just to recap the test with the Firestiks, I was able to have readable communication at 2.25 miles in the AM mode and 3.25 miles in the FM mode. With the C27 antennae, the AM mode revealed readable communication up to the 1.25 miles and the FM mode revealed readable communication up to 2.5 miles. Guess what my Jeep Creep friends, I will be using the following antenna for my CB Radio communications: because this did not work to be the best:

Jeep is owned by Stellantis, a Dutch corporation. So it’s literally a Dutch car company building Jeeps in Toledo, Ohio from 70% US parts and 30% foreign parts.

Probably because you are making it up. But when the FCC puts them in jail I will be the first to say I was wrong.

As usual there are always a few different solutions. I use a single antenna with a scanner(sdr) and gmrs (wouxun kg1000). I use a antenna switch between the two. The antenna I use is a compactenna (there are probably less expensive solutions), however this seems to work quite well. The swr numbers for gmrs are in the 1.2-1.4 range, the antenna is advertised as a SCAN-III antenna. The scan ranges given are 100mhz to ~1ghz. I went with a single antenna for a few reasons and so far it has been a very good solution. Whatever you choose just make sure and use good lmr400 coax. Low quality coax can really attenuate any signal to or from the antenna. Best of luck

Thank you. I was looking at these for awhile and then stopped. I should just go try a pair on. I have the factory stock on my 870 still because it was comfortable enough when I put a better butt on it. I agree on the advantages of being able to use any HT you desire. I shoot ambidextrous as well so the option to switch sides would be sweet. The FRS side might be really nice for off-road groups and maybe even hunting parties during a a drive or something. I can see value in these in a bunch of scenarios. Kids would love them, too, I am sure. Keep them busy for hours at camp, heh. I guess I need to start looking into these again because I can't stand earplugs.

Are they really comfortable shooting trap and sporting clays and hunting? I am an avid shotgun shooter. My most preferred firearm is my trusty Remington 870 which I use for everything shotgun, multiple barrels and extended tubes. Even have it setup for scope during turkey and deer seasons. The headset seems a little on the bulky side for this application, so hoping to be wrong here.

@WRTT642 Those are cool. I'd like to get a pair some day but I have other purchases that are ahead of that for now.

I didn't care for a boom mic that is only held on by velcro. That is the only thing I could find where I could put the boom mic on the right side. I ended up buying a headset designed from the get go for active ear protection and coms. Plus I can hook up any HT I want to and am not stuck with just FRS. Nothing wrong with the Walker FRS radio and Razor head set if that suits your needs. The setup definitely works if one is okay with FRS only and having the boom mic on the left side.

I agree the purpose of this forum is to assist new user and give him/her advice on how to operate their radio the proper way not to shoot down their request for help

You will need that "tone", whether PL or DPL. Check your e-mails if you sent in your money to them on-line. They likely sent you one with the PL or DPL they use in it. You will need to transmit that tone to access the repeater. Being that you are new to GMRS, I have a feeling that you will need additional help getting the tone into your radio. If so, no shame in that. Let us know once you have the tone, what type radio you have. Somebody else or myself will be glad to get you where you need to be with this process.

Ham offers more frequencies, more options to explore as a hobby, more repeater coverage, while GMRS offers ease of use with family and friends that have no interest in radios other than to communicate. One may help you get assistance where there is no cell coverage while the other may help you spot that tire placement off road or keep you in touch with your wife at camp while you paddle a kayak around the lake. Is one better? Sure the one you need to do the thing you want in the moment. I fully am in favor of both.

If you can take the practice 3x and pass each time with about 85%. Your are way over ready to take the test. Remember, you just need to pass. No one will ever know the score. Study for the general and technician at the same time. They crossover informatuon for both the test is like 75%. If you pass the technician, they will let you test for general on the same day. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

If you need to ask, you should not be doing it.