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There is made in China and there is CHEAP made in China.

I walked into the Ham Radio Outlet in Anaheim a few months ago. I was (and still am) pretty much a noob as far as radios… and I had my new H3… I just went in to browse since it was all new to me. I asked the sales guy a few questions here and there and he asked what I was using so I pulled my little H3 off my belt and showed him… his response “Yeah well those are not legal”… I showed him the certification under the battery and he says, “sometimes they just re use numbers from something else”. I went home and looked it up on the FCC site. The old sad ham was full of $h1t. Kinda turned me off to that place.

Just got mine and I absolutely love it, I went with the stubby antenna and maybe its my old military days but I prefer 2 knob radios , 1 for channel and 1 for audio. I have other radios but they all use buttons for the channel selections and I'm just more of a fan of these. It will be used at work and as part of my preparedness community. Great radio and I think I will eventually get rid of the others and go with more of these

I’m guessing you have some settings wrong. GMRS should never work worse than FRS. But without more information it’s difficult to say. What channels are you trying to use to talk to each other? What’s your power output? Are you on wide band or narrow? How do they work outside of the cars? How far apart were you? Try to isolate whatever problems you’re having. Do others hear a poor signal coming from both of your radios or one in particular?

Actually, APRS is more then just throwing out a position report for which the BTech Pro is doing for which only other BTech Pro users can see. Though APRS is used primarily in VHF at 144.390mhz US at 1200 baud, can be used at 9600 baud UHF, and 300 Baud HF. Position reporting, weather, telemetry, messaging, and other uses like IGATE, Digipeaters relaying others beacons and messages over airwaves and thru the internet back to airwaves world wide. So people might be getting confused about the terms and what can be done with it. APRS in Amateur radio is just another form of packet radio that is used in the spectrum area of VHF that can be used for AX.25 packet protocol. Position reporting is one thing, heck my Harris XG100P can give and receive position reports from other Harris users on P25 protocol which is called SA"situation awareness" just by keying up mic button. That is just postion reporting, not APRS. So people have to realize that there are huge differences with certain gear and should not confuse the terms.

As far as I know, there is no oversight. FCC has a minimum membership number, as I recall, for ham club call signs. But GMRS uses an individual's ID. So, unless someone says otherwise, anyone can start a club just by saying so. Tower owners may have their own requirement, however, and I'm not going to speculate on that. Max probably knows more about that. Another possibility is an existing club centered farther away expanding its coverage into Lexington and surrounding counties. Less administrative overhead that way. As far as not getting a reply on the Gilbert repeater, that's probably due to reduced activity without the links. I can listen if you let me know when you're testing it. I can't transmit back though so I would have to post here or something. I could reply on one of the ham repeaters though - you can listen without a license. Or just wait for Max to help you test.

Yep, sometimes people just start pushing buttons to see what will happen.

@MaxHeadroom ETV's ham activity is mostly coordinated through SCHEART, now even including the unlinked 210 repeater. I hope you don't get them involved; that would kill any interest I might have, assuming I could even reach what you put up.. I left SCSG long ago. And I checked on CERT and decided not to bother. I just want to stay an independent radio operator and make my own decisions; we should be able to have comms without having bosses.

Maybe if you told us what kind of radio you have... and..maybe.. if you told us what steps you are taking.. and.. MAYBEEE.. if you told us what exactly is not working..or what happens.. or really, any detail at all.. .. then.. maybe.. just maybe.. someone could help.. But otherwise, welcome to the forum!

DTMF tones are frequently used to control repeater functions. Or someone simply doesn’t know how to use their handheld radio.

Switch to a channel between 15-22 and try again. Some channels are limited for power. Others are limited to narrow band. Those limitations should be applied automatically by the radio. 15-22 are high power allowed and wide band. And turn your squelch down, not all the way, but 1 or 2. And I don’t know what’s up with the setting for UHF/VHF. All GMRS channels are UHF.

Yes, your idea of moving the radio between your vehicle and your house is sound, but I would recommend a larger power supply. The manual recommends at least 10 amp output. My experience using a lower current power supply indicates that the 5 amp power supply you asked about would be underpowered. I have tried using a 45 year old Cobra CB linear power supply (pictured below) for my DB20G. It’s listed at 13.8 volts, but only 3 amps output. It will run all day long if I stay at medium power output (10 watts) on the radio but it doesn’t have enough continuous current carrying capacity if I switch to high power output (20 watts output). After a half minute or so the power supply thermal circuit breaker opens up. Then I have to wait for a minute or so for the thermal to reset. As @BoxCar said, a decent 10 amp power supply is sufficient unless you intend to someday get a 50 watt output GMRS radio or even a 100 watt output ham radio. A typical ham radio power supply for a modern 100 watt output ham radio doesn’t need to be rated higher than 30-35 amps. I never see my ham radio use more than 23 amps at 100 watt output, but I also have chargers for my handhelds and my antenna tuner connected to the power supply and having a higher output rating may keep the fan from running more frequently. You definitely don’t need an 80 amp power supply, but if you have one already there’s nothing wrong with using it. @WRYZ926 didn’t steer you wrong either. A decent linear power supply is generally electrically (RF noise) quieter than a switch mode power supply, but there are very quiet switch mode power supplies made by Samlex or Astron. Linear power supplies are heavy. There are cheaper ones for both linear and switch mode as well, but they often are RF noisy. In fact some of them have an adjustment so you can tune the RF noise to a frequency that doesn’t bother your radio. One of the members here really likes the Meanwell power supplies on Amazon. They’re made for server or medical equipment usage, and they reportedly put out very clean power. I wouldn’t hesitate to use one. They are very attractively priced. Just be sure to get 13.8 volt DC output and at least 10 amperes of current. The antenna and coax for a home installation are very important as well. The type of cable really depends on the length your installation needs. It’s generally not wrong to go with better cable or a higher antenna, but if you’re only running 10 feet and your budget is already maxed out and you already have RG8x, use it, at least until you can afford something better. Similarly, higher gain antennas are usually better for reaching out further, but only in certain directions. If you’re in very hilly terrain a lower gain antenna might work better for you. A Midland MXTA26, on a magnetic mount stuck to a steel cookie sheet outside of your attic window can work well enough while you’re learning. Most importantly, have fun. Try different things.

Im primarily a Yaesu user. They do something very similar, over APRS. The compass even looks similar. P2P APRS is a great tool. Especially if voice is not working well. You can send text messages, even short (low quality) voice recordings and photos. It's one of my favorite digital modes.

It's not a "GMRS Radio" thing, it's a "Baofeng quality control" thing. Some are great. Some are less good, and you never know which one you're going to get. Your expectations aren't wrong about GMRS in general. But you might have gotten a pair from a bad batch, unfortunately.

Review TIDRADIO TD-H3 - Miklor Features to cost makes it a great radio. It performs well in all of my uses. The first set I had couldn't open repeaters, but the replacement do and continue to do so. It is small, light weight and even sounds decent. My set even tested clean on a harmonics test using my TinySA Ultra, though the wattage is a bit under by almost a full watt compared to published specs. Very inexpensive and they work well.

So I’m tired of being yelled at by boomer hams for having Chinese crap radios. What’s a good non-CCR GMRS radio to get?

Have you tried comparing your FRS radios to the Baofengs, in the exact same cars with the exact same people at the exact same time, just to ensure you are actually getting a full apple-to-apple comparison?

They have a selection for using a yagi antenna. They also have a section for you to program the lobes of the antenna but darned if I could get it to work. So picking the yagi should give you a good enough example.

I would contact Baofeng to see if they will warrant them. Honestly I haven’t seen many Baofeng failures like you describe. I have seen microphone jack failures. Have you tried doing a full factory reset? Might not hurt. Otherwise I would recommend taking them to someone who has some experience to see it they think they’re bad or incorrectly configured.

Air bands are AM and the KG-Q10H is FM only for transmit. I can't tell you if it will transmit in the maritime mobile band or not since I am not licensed nor have any reason to use that band.

I don't know of a GMRS club specifically for Lexington. The CSRA club includes the members-only Columbia and Gilbert repeaters and does have members from the area ($30/yr). There are ham clubs in Lexington that could, if they wanted to, also support a GMRS repeater. I'm not in Lexington Co. (close though) and what I can reach there depends on the details. I think it might be better to accept members beyond that one county if they are in the coverage area. There are some issues I would need to discuss before I would participate in a club. But that would need to be discussed elsewhere.

Hey yall. Jeffrey Davis here. WSDV406. I'm in Hermitage. I'm only on HT for now -- either a Baofeng UV-5R or a Tid H3 -- and I monitor all of the local repeaters that I can hit, but I'm on the Brentwood and Nashville (Love Circle) and Lebanon 675 repeaters most often. I talked to someone transmitting on the Brentwood repeater from Columbia and I was transmitting from central Mount Juliet. They told me about this group and I'm glad to make yall's acquaintance. I'm pretty new to radio, so I'm always glad to chat and accept any help and advice anyone wishes to share.

Thanks for all the help. I found a bad adaptor. Changed around my adpators and I now get full signal ob receive.

No, not necessarily, but there are differences. 1-7 are limited to 5 watts and maybe wideband. 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts and narrow band. 15-22 are limited to 50 watts and may be wide.

I have the KG-Q10H and it is a nice radio. And yes it can be unlocked. Here is a video showing how to unlock the Q10H https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXFtMe_-Eo Once unlocked, you can use it on MURS and GMRS along with 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and 6m bands.

I doubt that the antenna itself is bad. It’s much more likely that the coax or a connector is bad. Do you have a different piece of coax to try? You know that the shield and center conductor are not shorted together when measured from the radio end. That’s good. Take the coax off the antenna and see if there’s continuity from one end of the center conductor to the other end of the coax. There should be. Do the same for the shield. It should show very little resistance from end to end. Let us know what you find.

its sowing i am transmitting on 467.67500 but i here nothing back. i have to get in the truck and drive to the edge of the bay.

Mostly but not completely so. A radio that wastes a lot of RF on off-frequency harmonics is not putting that energy on the center frequency. 97% of your RF on center frequency or 79% on center frequency? Granted, 50% is sufficient at normal/close ranges.

One of my regrets is not having met Bob since he only lived a few miles from me. APRS.fi domain suffix is fi because Bob's family is from Finland and he was obviously proud of the fact. The English equivalent of Bruninga is Burns. Farther on to the APRS location idea, even with regular ham APRS, you would have to be within range of a receiver. If one is outside of cell coverage, you would also likely be outside of APRS receivers. Paired location data legal GMRS radios would have to be within regular simplex range and would offer no particular advantage other than battery life for the radio sending the data.

Also welcome to this forum! And welcome to GMRS 10 days ago Please do not be discouraged by snarky responses to “newbie” questions; it’s part of his charm!

The op seems like nothing more than a troll to me.

In my case its been awhile since my last "new" radio and this was a cheap way to get back into radios with all the new features and capabilities. Like BT cloning and an easy to use app as well as more frequency options unlike my old Radio Shack. It was so easy to use it sparked the radio enthusiast in me again and i'm looking to delve a little deeper. It's performed well and served every purpose i have tried it out in so far. It does have FCC certification BTW.

It’s easy to include partial quotes. Simply select the text you want to quote and then click where it says “Quote Selection”

Cause we can... for now anyway... but that can change overnight

We really don’t know if he/she still is.

What I heard is ham clubs are still getting accommodated so I would think GMRS would as well under the same non-profit/"community benefit" vane. I have not tried to talk to ETV since I moved back but I can acquire an MTR2000 or Quantar easily enough to put up a repeater that would cover the entire Lexington County area easily. My personal battle around here is finding a tower for a private VHF repeater which I was hoping to coordinate for use for SCSG and CERT but that effort stalls every time I try.

The AR-5RM is a mean black radio that no one needs for hunting or self-defense. The founding fathers could not foresee this dangerous radio being developed when they spoke of the right to bear AR-5RMs. You may be a law-abiding citizen with outstanding morals, but these items should be controlled so only criminals can have one. Crap, I was wearing the wrong hat when I read and posted. (Takes off NRA hat and puts on radio nerd hat). I like my AR-5RM. I just got one (well two) and I have been sitting around learning how to program it with Chirp and listening to local amateur repeaters. Sitting for my tech licenses on the 9th. Can't wait to hit the transmit button. My only complaint would be that Boofwang needs to change the color of the menu letters. It is fine to read indoors, but not outside in sunlight. They need white letters.

You know, you are very annoying bragging about what you have without providing any information regarding brands or where to find equivalents. Just what brand is your "80A supply," where did it come from, and, what' the current cost. Try saying something truly useful for a change.

Specs always are up to.

I guess these are fake then

Just curious. Why and what makes that radio so fantastic and why does that radio not have any FCC certification to operate in any of the radio services?

I have noticed the same thing with the recent requests I have received. And people will be disappointed during an actual emergency. Our organization's main focus is to support local agencies so that is where our priorities will be. Plus we still need to move our GMRS repeater from its temporary spot to its permanent home in a rack along side our 2m and 70cm repeaters so that it too will be on battery backup. Our GMRS repeater is not currently on any type of backup power. I guess that more people are buying radios from Amazon lately due to what happened in the Southeast and not bothering with getting licensed. We have had a lot more kerchunking on all three of our repeaters in the last few weeks. It's a bit aggravating t say the least. And it isn't as easy to change PL tones on the 2m and 70cm repeaters since that has to go through the local repeater counsel. What was worse was today. We had to do some final tweaks on our new (to us) 2m Quantar repeater along with trying to get Allstar backup and running. And we has a ID10T or two that kept wanting to kerchunk the repeater all day. Even had a kid get on and say "breaker breaker 19" on the repeater. I guess it's time to build some hand held yagi antennas and go hunting.

Something else the users of our repeaters need to understand is, if we as owners need the repeater for our own emergency use or to augment an emergency response somehow, we're going to change the tones and access methods, stopping most other traffic. Not that we would want to put families in a tough spot. If my repeaters aren't needed for an emergency response, I'll leave it on as long as I can. That said, service to the whole community has to take priority over basic traffic.

This is wisdom earned the hard way.

Yes the KG-Q10H can be unlocked. I won't get into the subject of unlocked radios on GMRS. The KG-1000G is strictly GMRS only and cannot be unlocked. Wouxun does make the KG-UV980P quad band amateur mobile which the KG-1000G is based on. I haven't messed with the KG-UV980P so can't comment on it.

I hope you got the right band frequency range. Those radios come in two different ones. One of which would be basically useless. You want the 440-470 range. You should be able to tell from the FCC ID tag on the back of the radio. It should match the one found here: https://fccid.io/AFJIC-F21 Which seems to show the radio is certified for Part 95A, which is the old rule part for GMRS. This means it's still perfectly legal to use under the new rules. Looks like a nice solid basic radio. icom_ic_f11_f21_brochure.pdf

I would have expected that laying it flat against the ground plane would cause it to reflect a lot. So I gave it a try. Standing up, at 465MHz, on a pizza-pan ground plane, it measured 1.6:1. Laid flat it measured 2.3:1. So it got worse, but not terribly so. Nevertheless, VHF and UHF FM is supposed to be vertical polarization. Orienting the antenna horizontally isn't going to really help anything except clearing your garage roof. However, at 2m, it got much, much worse. Something like 5:1. I didn't write it down. But standing in the upright position, in the 2m band, it's down to about 1.2.1. Your mileage may vary. Laying it flat against a larger ground plane, one with a radius large enough that the entire antenna is adjacent to the metal ground plane, is going to be a lot worse. Maybe bad enough that "some people" would be right. I know even in the vertical position, I was having reflection / high SWR issues when I put reflectix along side the antenna to cover the opening necessitated by a window air conditioner in sideways sliding windows.

Good Morning. WRZC825 - Jon. I think I have heard all of you on the Thompson Station repeater at some point. I don't talk much, just monitor during my AM/PM commute from Spring Hill to Brentwood and at my desk when I am working from home. I monitor Thomson Station and Grasslands mostly (awesome range on this one...I can get from Percy Priest Lake to my home in Spring Hill). Used to monitor Brentwood, but it has been hit or miss on that one, so I don't really try anymore. Definitely need a good repeater in Columbia (maybe move the one that is frequently off line in Brentwood since the Grasslands covers that area anyway...just my $.02)

Bob was one of my heros. RIP

I have one right here on my desk.. It's a nice upgrade the the UV9G.. The release has been delayed due to supply chain/shipping issues, but it should be available soon (my GUESS is 30-60 days, but this is only a guess).. Some new stuff on the UV9Gx: theme able color schemes much brighter LED flashlight stiffer knobs can receive down to 219Mhz more power control settings for better battery life a priority channel button, pre-set to the official highway channel, CH19 more pre-programmed frequenicies and most important a ROGER BEEP .................affiliate link below.. Oops.. sorry.. bad habit.