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You forgot to say that everyone you know that bought one has returned them or thrown them into the trash..

Looks like its the Comet 2x4 for the win. I found some flat 24"x24" aluminum and mounted that under the truck cap as a ground plane. The Yaesu FTM200D runs all my frequencies from 146.520 up to 467.725. Best SWR is 1.12 at 146mhz. Worst SWR is 1.83 at 467mhz. This enabled me to remove the DB20G and MXT26 antenna. Signal clarity is absolutely amazing now. I suppose putting it further from the engine and adding the ground plane really sharpened things up. Never heard it sound so good before.

Real radios have a monitor feature that when enabled, will defeat the PL (CTCSS) by disabling the decoder until the monitor feature is turned back off thus, reactivating the decoder, just by a push of a soft programmable button. The POS CCRs don't have this feature and if they have a monitor feature, it usually just blows squelch by a momentary push of a button.

Roadrunner Jump to 3:20

Or maybe some outriggers

Greetings to everyone, I'm new to the forum but I've had my callsign for several years,I live in northeast Tennessee. I only recently discovered the forum here and I have to say it's great to have somewhere to gather with others and discuss GMRS radio. Also to do allot of learning as well. I run a Midland MTX 400 as a base station in my home. Thanks for having me on board.

I was going to say. lol 54 is a ton, but yeah i have mine in NORMAL mod so thats why its not been an issue.

It means the channel slots the radios has... (there 199 of them) will not transmit on channel above 54. You can only put in listen only there. So any custom legitimate GMRS frequencies can only be put in below 55. I found this out when I was starting to add a lot more repeaters into my radio. Only way around this... is to unlock it in NORMAL mode and be very careful how you program so you don't set something up that has you transmitting on non permitted frequencies.

O, damn that's a lot of GMRS repetitive frequencies to program in there since there are only 22. I don't have that issue, but i also haven't added GMRS passed 36. But i do have many other frequencies programmed and have no issues.

We have done it both ways. Maurice has had both Intel and ARM based Macs. The first time I helped him I wondered how it could possibly work, but it actually works pretty seamlessly. He recently applied the beta of Sequoia and that broke the remote access software (RIM or Remote Incident Management). So he had to get another computer (Windows) so we could continue programming his several radios.

The Telewave is a Pass/Reject filter. The high-side set of cavities are considered one set of filters and the low-side is a second set of filters. Getting rid of the transmit pass filter and receive reject filter on the transmitter side will 100% impact receive sensitivity and cause other issues. Even though the repeater does not (intentionally) transmit on the receive frequency, the transmitter's output can still interfere with the receiver due to things like transmitter leakage (aka Broadband Noise), failure to isolate the transmit and receive paths leading to small amounts of transmitter power leaking into the receiver (even on separate, but close proximity antennas), and overloading the receiver’s front end with all the transmitted noise (spurs, harmonics, etc.) The receiver’s front end is designed to detect very weak signals. Any leakage from the transmitter (even if it’s not exactly on the receive frequency) can overload the receiver’s front end, causing distortion and reducing the ability to detect the intended signal. The notch filter and pass filter acts as a barrier, greatly attenuating any transmit signal that might overlap with the receiver’s frequency range. To try to overcome the lack of filtering on the transmit side, you can stack all 4 cavities in series on the receive side, but they will all need to be re-tuned and the end result would still not be anywhere near as good as if you had the transmit properly filtered.

My understanding was not that they didn’t want people to check on their neighbors with a radio in hand, but that they didn’t want people mounting overly ambitious uncoordinated efforts that might interfere with the official efforts and taking additional risks to check on people, if by doing so they might have contributed to a situation that stretched out the already too thin resources. But instead of seeking to coordinate with the very willing additional volunteers they drove them away with their heavy handed tactics.

I think most will agree with you on that. I am running the Midland mag-mount for my Comet SBB1 dual band and Tram 1174 antennas on my vehicle and another one with a Comet 2x4SR on my SxS.

From here in Dripping Springs, the Flintrock Hill (625) and Alamo New Braunfels (725) work great. I have talked to folks in Seguin and Blanco through Alamo NB. I am 26.2 miles away from that repeater which is great for a 5W HT.

It's not a bad radio. You can unlock it or even put a VERY much more unlocked firmware on it (which I have) and it does what you mostly expect. For the price and features, it's a great little radio. Definitely not the best of the best, just ask the Queen about that and you will get a good radio, but it can and will get you started with a small and very lightweight unit that can get you some fars... as they say.

That would be awesome. Ill give him my support as well!

There’s a guy here looking at putting one up north of I-90 west of Ramsay. I will give him my support. Welcome to the forum!

Id love to see a repeater around the Butte, Anaconda area. I just got into GMRS recently and I haven't been able to connect to anything just yet.

I personally have not done it but heard from others that they have. NORMAL mode unlocks all the GMRS or HAM frequency "Safeguards" and rules... which of course makes it non compliant. You just have to be careful and know what you are doing when programming in normal so you don't end up transmitting unintentionally on frequencies that could actually get you in trouble. and know the Wide/Narrow and lower wattage levels allowed on GMRS "channels" as well to stay in compliance. Especially in the GMRS channels 8-14 where the power is half a watt and narrow... otherwise you can potentially send interference to local repeaters on those channels.

It will transmit and receive on all GMRS frequencies 1-22 plus others you program. Not sure what 55 and up means. Love my H3, definitely the best radio by far in its price point.

Well, I did see a lot of good reviews on YouTube. No where have I seen this limitation mentioned. I wish TIDRadio was more forthcoming of this.

Yeah that is dumb. I wish I knew this earlier. Thx

@GMRSJohn Truth in that statement. I have a 3 hobbies, so I have to not stir the pot to much. Jeep, Radios, and guns. And all 3 are kinda pricey. opps.

My wife is already in mourning over my newest hobby. To be fair I’m not as vocal about her purse addiction.

I have a Telewave TPRD, too. And a few other brands. What I am saying is that there are caveats to be aware of and action needed for optimization. There is a reason that the industry standard is to filter transmit and receive. The mere presence of one cavity impacts the other cavities. That is why the tuning instructions say to tune each cavity individually first, and then re-tune them collectively with all cavities connected. Needing to re-tune when changing the cavity configuration doesn't imply that it wasn't tuned correctly in the first place. That is the nature and expected response of stacking filters. I do agree that removing the transmitting side of the radio from the duplexer and adding a dummy load should not impact tuning, since that is how we tune them to begin with. Also, I'm sure you're setups are working fine. I would be willing to guess there are other factors at play, such as there is desense in your system, but the system performs well enough that the degree of impact isn't as critical. Or the transmit and receive antennas are significantly physically disperse. Somewhere between 400 and 600 feet of horizontal separation to accomplish an additional -67dB to -70dB of attenuation, or 20 to 30 feet of vertical separation to yield about -42dB to -44dB of attenuation, which isn't horrible if you have a filter on the receive side and you are running low power (<50w).

In Chirp you have the ability to load all of the default GMRS channels. Would that help? You should also have the ability to import nearby GMRS repeater channels from Repeaterbook into Chirp.

CHIRP will normally input the correct frequencies when you choose the offset. For GMRS that is a positive offset of 5.000 MHz Did the radio loose its programming? And did you save the CHIRP file after making changes and before uploading to the radio? If so, then you should be able to re-download the file to your radio.

This is such a clear explanation that I actually mailed it to myself for future reference. Nicely explained, Marc!

@SteveShannon are you running an older Intel based Mac and Boot Camp or a newer ARM based Mac and Parallels? Again I don't have any experience with ARM based Macs and Parallels. But I wonder if that could possibly cause some issues since most Windows drivers are written for Intel/AMD CPU's. @WSEM624 which Mac are you running, Intel or ARM? And yes I am still running my 2018 Mac mini with the Intel CPU. I have not upgraded to Sequoia yet. I'm waiting to see how it does on the Intel Macs.

I’m not certain that’s the issue, although it certainly doesn’t make it easier. I regularly program several different radios using Windows programming software on a Mac. And I do it remotely to throw another wrench in the works. Marc’s post above describes the process I would use. Troubleshooting this kind of thing requires a logical approach, methodically eliminating non-issues while zeroing in on whatever is left. Make sure the serial port is being created. You can see it happen in Device Manager. Or you can see a yellow warning symbol if it fails. On a Mac the OS will sometimes intercept the request and ask if it’s okay. Device Manager will allow you to identify which comm port number has been created. In the programming software you must sometimes tell it which port number has been created. It must be the same as Device Manager reported. This is especially true when the device embedded in the cable is what has been identified. If the cable uses a USB connector on each end the radio has the usb to serial device built into it usually and can self-identify usually (except for an Alinco I have, which is stupid). Once you know the port has been created and you have told the CPS which port it is, the software should be ready to read from your radio. Always read before writing.

The issue is windows on mac. Do you have someone with a windows PC you can use to verify. I have no issues win W10 or 11 with programming on the MTX

Yes, the main reason given was the risks. It's a typical attitude for emergency management people; they think we're incapable of doing basic things everyone can do. A 911 dispatcher told me that same kind of thing - getting in the way or needing to be rescued - when I was a volunteer. But people don't need FEMA cousres, Red Cross courses, or an AUXCOMM approval to do basic shit that we've all done when needed. [There is possibly something much worse than this happening but it's not verifiable with reliable sources yet, so I prefer to hold off on discussing it. It isn't radio related anyway, but like always ham (and GMRS) operators could help spread the word when MSM doesn't cover it.]

Ah now that is starting to make sense. That could be what's causing you issues. I won't be much help then. I haven't ran Windows on a Mac in years. Last time was on my Mac mini 2010 and Windows 7.

The Lairds, now T E Connectivity, look good and beefy and they appear to be a great NMO mag-mount, but for some reason, the Lairds will run a little higher VSWRs than the Midland mag-mounts.

Just push the button marked “Mon” or “Moni”. You might want to turn down the volume first. That’s exactly what it’s for, temporarily listening to a frequency with no squelch.

Yeah well my rights are not only my rights when it suits the government's whims. We have gotten way off base in this regard. If I want to go door to door with my little ham radio helping people I do not see that it is the government's job to tell me not to. I want the government to keep the roads paved and the parks open and the screw worms at bay. That's really all I need or want from them, certainly not any "thou shalt not go door to door in an emergency" nannified trash that they have become way too good at lately.

So, there are a few answers. Some versions of Windows 11 don't have Com ports. You would have to install legacy hardware in the device manager. If they are already installed, look in the device manager under Ports (Com & LPT), plug the radio in and make a note of the new port number that pops up. Unplug it to confirm that you documented the correct number, and then plug it back in. From there, pick that port in the Midland programing software. If none of that makes sense or you don't know how to do this stuff, you're going to need a more nerdy friend.

With All Due Respect - You Are Wanting To Establish A New "Small / Baby Repeater Station" In An Already Saturated GMRS Repeater Area. Also, Many Folks Have A Misconception About Their Future GMRS Repeaters & The Performance With The Mind Set - "I Have My Own Repeater & Now I Can Talk Several Miles Further." Unless You Are Considering, At A Minimum, An $8000 to $12000 Investment Into A Repeater Site / Station With Utilizing Tower Rental Only, Installing New Cabling & Infrastructure, & Not Erecting Your Own Usable Higher Tower At A Higher HAAT - You Are Just Wasting Your Time & $$. Wish You Well & Good Luck.......

If the area is already saturated with repeaters, how do you plan to avoid causing interference by adding another?

Looks like you might need guy ropes on the car instead of the mast when the wind picks up.

Top this, my former portable HAM shack !

If I had something that would transmit on that band, I would try to make it a little less dead.

This would do it.

1) Install CHIRP NEXT 2) Select GM-5RH D) Program Radio 5) Thank me

I live in downtown Austin. Just getting into GMRS, and would love to connect with you to learn a bit more. I got access to the Holly 550 and Flintrock Hill repeaters but have not connected yet.

1/4 wave UHF will outperform most of that amazon garbage. And drill a hole and install a NMO.

It's a common attitude with emergency workers. I had the same experience in my home county in SC. They think citizen volunteers are more trouble than they're worth. We are only good enough to help if we take the training courses and are members of one of the relevant organizations. I think it's Federal oversight / FEMA training they go through now that teaches them that. They claim that it's because they don't want us to get hurt or have to be rescued (which is bogus). Even just being a ham isn't good enough for ARES anymore; you need FEMA courses and they only want people to staff the EOCs. None of this extra super-qualification/certification/approval stuff is what ham was historically about. If you have your ham license and a radio, you should be qualified to knock on doors etc. if you're willing to take the risk.

You are solid copy full quieting in West Asheville. I am using only a HT (3db rooftop antenna) so I don't have a prayer. Excellent machine and it's really getting out. A fellow Extra here so well done OM and 73. I prefer being unknown so no call. Sry OM. I occasionally appear on the mt Mitchell machine. Best wishes!

I would think you would be able to hit at least one of the SA area repeaters, the guys have quite a network there. I'm using a Comet 712EFC base antenna tuned for GMRS and it seems to be great. The closest repeater to me is Austin 725 at about 20 miles. Can't hit that one but I can skip over that one to the repeater NW of Austin at 40+miles.