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I just passed my TECH and am awaiting arrival of my sparkling new call sign. I can say that the best thing I am doing is being a part of REACT. Their mission gives me a sense of purpose and gets me out of the house once in a while. Plus the people in the group are wonderful and so helpful. Find a group like that John. One that gives you a reason to grab your radio with great people to support you.

Help me out here. On 1 hand, "one must only transmit on type accepted radios OR ELSE!" But on the other hand, chinese radios suck and are bad and no one should use them So...what GMRS radios are out there that are type accepted, and not Chinese? Because by your logic (CCRs bad, non-type-accepted bad), it sounds like no one should be using GMRS period.

The only reason I know of this problem is because other people complained about it. I find the H3 to be a pretty darn good radio. If you aren't a power user you'd never find that limitation. And remember you are paying $30 for a radio, battery, charger, cables, 2 antenna, vox setup. I don't know how they can possible do it. If you want a full featured radio go out and get a $400 radio, I'm gunna stick with the CCR for now.

I suspect they said Chirp but this was a reference to the radios program software in general. It certainly seems Chirp isn’t moving forward for this radio for whatever reasons, though I’m sure it would be welcomed as the radio is so popular in its various forms.

Checked the requests....doesnt look like any updates or progress for months, at this point. https://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/9241 https://chirpmyradio.com/issues/8953

Still only shows the DB25-G, not the DB20-G.

My buddy is using this Larsen on his Chevy truck, with a hood lip mount and his Icom 2730. It’s only 18” total and seems to work really well. It’s apparently designed for use with public safety agencies, so I expect it’s durable (it certainly seems sturdy in person). I just ordered one for my 4Runner too, to run when I go HAM down the road. Mine will be in the existing NMO in my rear roof. Pulse Larsen NMO150/450/758 Tri-Band VHF, UHF, 7/800 MHz Antenna Part Number: NMO150-450-758

You wuz took! Actually, if you bought it as a GMRS radio (single band) there’s probably no need for a coil and capacitor. They’re there on my antenna because it was a dual band antenna.

Really they’re a GPS with a sunlight visible screen, a full set of topo maps and a GMRS radio . Several members of my rocketry club got them because Garmin pioneered sending locations between GMRS radios. In our hilly terrain it means we can find someone who might have gotten hurt. Also, I think my Midland and Motorola GMRS radios were from Malaysia rather than China. They were not $20 radios, but they weren’t $400 either, maybe $100 for 2? I guess the moral is this: if you want a $20 radio, it will almost certainly come from China. If you want a quality radio from somewhere other than China, be prepared to pay more money. They are available though.

excellent synopsis. I look at antenna gains sort of like squeezing jello. You only have so much energy, so you can shape it (yagi/beam). Its all trade-offs. Depends on your unique situations/requirements. Best of luck.

Sadly I think part of the reason that ccr are terrible (not all but the one that are especially looked at by novices) is if you look at the FCC certification for the radio it's done in a lab in China. Often with the same person, so it feels like no real certification is going on except for a rubber stamp. It would be like asking your wife to certify you were working to your employeer while you were in the pool all day. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Mine didn’t until the radio it was on fell and landed on the antenna and the white core the wire is coiled around broke. It gave its life so we could study it.

That frequency will be on channel Rp21 with a tone number 22. I’m not much more help than that as I don’t have this radio.

This appears to be a fake. I went searching because yours looked nothing like mine.

The answer to all 3 questions are "just the FCC rules." The long and short of it... the FCC is less worried about the hardware compliance for performance sake and more worried about the end user. Restricting the hardware to help prevent users who are not knowledgeable from getting on emergency frequencies and causing harmful interference is the end goal. There are some other license holders that they are trying to prevent interference with, too... but emergency services is the top priority. There are a bunch of radios that are capable of covering all of the desired frequencies and typically outperform the technical requirements for GMRS and other services, but due to the risk of harmful interference, they can't get certified for legal use.

Think of the radiation of an antenna 0 dbi gain as a ball. Bear with me simplifying as much as I can. As you squish the ball it get flatter and The sides bulge. Having more of the radiation pattern focused to the horizon. This is what a higher gain antenna is accomplishing. Without going into directional antennas. So the more gain an antenna has the flatter the radiating disc gets. But it starts losing coverage vertically. Yes/no higher gain antennas can help with obstructions. For instance, vehicular offroading with a group where there are elevation changes I will get better coverage for the radios above and below me with a lower gain antenna such as a 1/4. Where if I were to drive in a flat wooded area. I would want a higher gain antenna in the hopes of punching through the leaves and trees. When it comes to hts. I haven't noticed a night and day difference between 0 and higher gain antennas. The ht often is only around 4'8" to 6' off the ground. Often maybe a slightly better radio report from otherside of the repeater with a higher gain antenna. What i do notice is the eye poking risk, physical interference and the constant jabbing of the higher gain (often much longer) antenna. Truthfully ht antennas are relatively cheap. Try different one (borrow if you can) to see what works and you can live with. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Good point. It's easy to get caught up in all the different flavors of digital, but it's worth looking at what's on the air in your area, or areas you frequent before going down one of those roads. I have mostly Yaesu mobiles in use (mainly for the APRS), but there's basically no Fusion repeaters around me, so that feature is not super useful.

It really depends on what you want to do with your new-found ability to communicate with radios. A lot of us have base stations, handhelds, and mobile radios in our vehicles. Examine your possible use cases and you'll have a better idea of what to get. I use a base station when I'm running my weekly net on my repeater, I use my mobile radio every day in the car, and I use my HTs when we're out hiking. But not everyone needs all three of those capabilities.

Last time I checked it still wasn’t available in Chirp. That has been a month probably.

It certainly does sound like the antenna may be your problem. Of course it could be the cable to the antenna as well. Do you have a meter to check SWR. I was under the impression Chirp was not available for the DB20.?

Adam Sanders, I live in Murfreesboro/Walter Hill (north Rutherford County), I have been permitted to use the RUTHERFORD 600 repeater and am still awaiting approval on a couple more repeaters in the middle Tennessee area. I have a set of Baofeng UV-9G turned on from time to time. I grew-up in Lewisburg, spent a LOT of time in and between Columbia and Lawrenceburg in my teen years. I am hoping to learn a lot from groups like this as I am new to the world of GMRS.

I have two db20g radios. To answer your question, no I have not heard of problems receiving like you described. Desense is a real possibility, but I would not expect it if you are 60 yards away from the db20g while transmitting. I understand you’re 100% sure of your tones, but it would be an easy thing to test. Turn off the receive tone on the db20g and see if that helps. I have seen radios that transmit everything except the voice sounds. That can happen when the microphone hole is plugged or when the microphone signal wire is separated somehow.

What channel are you using in your test? Can you receive in simplex with no tones?

Just tried this and it still is responding the same. New antennas on both HT and the db20 but was not having trouble HT to HT the other day. and seems odd that the 20 can transmit fine but not receive. i'm very new to this, but i'm 100% confident in my tones, and antenna compatibility with both units. attached is video where you can hear what it's doing, clearly hear it key up and then the heavier tone when i release the Ht, i was at 60'yards on this test with clear LOS. IMG_2099.mov

How close is your HT? If to close they can desence each other. Try putting some distance between the two radios, 50’ or so.

I agree, TID should have indicated that above channel slot 54 it is RX only on the GMRS setup. It is not documented anywhere in their information that I can find. The only thing I can figure is that in GMRS mode the idea was it was "restricted" for people who are new... but that still doesn't make much sense since they could still have restricted to GMRS only frequencies but allow all "channel slots" to be RX and TX capable. ** Is there anything about getting it FCC GMRS certified about this restriction that they seem to have imposed for no reason and not documented? I don't know why there would be. But again, there is a way around it for those who know how to properly and accurately set it up in "NORMAL" mode but... yeah, that is not the FCC GMRS "certified" mode. I hope that TIDRADIO does decide at some point to change the Firmare to allow TX above 54 .. but ... I'm not too terribly bothered about it now that I know of it. I just wish like you said that they had DOCUMENTED it and been upfront about it from the start. (and reviewers who did not discover and mention it just means to me that they did not fully test it before their youtube review. (at least not enough to stumble across the problem. But to be fair, I think it took me a month before I noticed that it was a problem)

Based on my understanding, they can only do this after they have observed, identified, and fingerprinted the radio.. They cannot tell anything about a fresh, out-of-the-box, never before surveilled radio.

I agree... My experience with the stock antennas on the TD-H3... they are "Good"... but the Nagoya 771G ... and even Tidradio's GMRS tuned 771 whip are MUCH better. Actually seems like the Tidradio 771 is as good as the Nagoya 771G in my own experience.

Nah. The OEM on my TD H3 was mediocre at best. The Nagoya 771G or the Smiley Rubber duck are far superior. The radios I passed out to my family prove it all the time. They still have the OEM antennas and mine out perform theirs all the time.

Some people can't justify $400 HT radios. Yes, there are a few quirks for every radio. I have had my TD-H3s for about 5 months and find them to be more than I expected. Are there some things I would like to see done differently? Yes, of course. But they have surpassed my expectations – surprising me at times how well they work. So, to each his own.

My CCRs are even cheaper and I don't have these problems. Can't imagine paying $400+ when I don't need to.

People laugh at this, but they were unimpressive at best for me. The ducky that came with my radios performs better.

Garmin radios are still made in Taiwan I believe. Mine was anyway.

Man... in my neighborhood, snitches get got! Quick.

It really boils down to the user/operator/programmer of the radio. If a non certified radio is carefully programmed to meet the exact frequency, bandwidth and power limits of the service it would be very unlikely to be distinguishable from an officially certified radio. However the services are primarily aimed for the general public that has little to no technical knowledge of radio theory. Thus the certification rules are designed to physically limit the radio's operation to avoid interference to other services due to accidental miss adjustment of the radio if access was allowed to arbitrary, freely, adjustable frequency, power and bandwidth settings. So, in general the rules are such that a lay person could simply buy a certified radio, turn it on, and immediately use it without the possibility of disrupting other services. Do people use opened up Ham gear, non certified commercial gear etc. on the various Part 95 services, yes, but the smart ones won't admit to it in a public forum, and they are very careful how they program their radios to avoid interference and disruptive operations. They usually have the necessary technical expertise to do so.

I just got this TD H8 and it has the stock rubber duck on it for another day, but the little cheap Baofeng GM-15 and Radio Oddity GM-30 seem to have as good if not better reception with 771s. I was messing around with a Negoya UT-72G on a pizza pan this weekend, and that seemed to be great. I've only just started, so I think a base antenna with a mobile unit might be in order now that there are people to talk to!

Everyone I know that has had that antenna has thrown theirs straight into the trash.

Have you been diagnosed? Or, has nobody pointed it out to you yet?

Consider the following graphic: In this graphic you'll see a thin red line. That's just where my SDR is tuned to listen. And then a wider red vertical band. That's how wide in terms of frequency bandwidth I have my SDR software set to listen. Within that faint red band is a jiggly band that grows wider and narrower. The bottom is the beginning of a transmission, and the top is the end of the transmission, in time. If I have my listening radio set to narrowband, that's similar to the faint red band being narrower. If that were the case, you would see some of the transmitted signal falling outside of the band in which I'm listening. So we're losing information. However, that also means that more of the faint red band is filled by radio waves (the jiggly band), so it will sound louder, though more distorted.

I've had contact with them many times for issues and questions. I guess I go straight to Luxi when I email them and she responds within a day or two. So far they've been pretty reactive to my inquiries.

It’s not unusual at all to transmit from radio A to a repeater but be unable to hear your own transmission on a nearby second radio, radio B. B is desensitized by its proximity to the relatively powerful signal from A. As long as others can hear you don’t worry about radios in the same room as you.

I'm Marc Spaz, and I approve this message. In compliance with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

Many here have stated what GMRS was actually setup to do. Provide extended family and small group communications beyond what the FRS service could. It was a medium power service that allowed fixed stations (base setups with elevated antennas) and repeaters for the extension. That is what is was originally for. And the rules and regulations pretty much bear that out. But that's not what it has turned into. I will preface this with the fact that 3 days ago I renewed my ham license for the 3rd time. That is a 10 year license, so I have been involved with ham radio since 1994, so 30 years at this point. And ham radio wasn't ever really to be a social gathering place. It was for the furtherment of communications through experimentation and to build a pool of qualified electronics technicians that could provide support for technology in the future. Of course, ham radio isn't that any more either. But, GMRS is now a conduit for social interaction. This was once done with CB radio. A great many people had radios and they communicated throughout their community with other individuals in a social manner. AKA they would get on the radio and BS back and forth. It wasn't for building RF techs, radio nerds, or specifically for emergency communications. But ANY radio service can be used for EMCOMM. It's just going to be limited by the regulations and equipment available for that service. But GMRS is now a gathering place for folks to chat with each other via voice communications. My guess is that COVID may have sparked renewed interest in having a reliable conduit for communications that didn't require face to face interactions and was always readily available. I wasn't personally involved with GMRS during COVID. But I have since done testing and continue to test coverage and gather radios for deployment for family so that the path of communications can't be easily severed. My repeater site will soon have alternative 'off grid' power in addition to the current grid, battery and generator power that is in place and functioning. Single 'car' batteries with a single 100 watt solar cell and charge controller will maintain power and limited light for family members during a disaster situation so we can check in with each other and maintain some sense of normal during an abnormal situation. But again, that's not what it was really for. It just lends itself to that function. But in the end, it still is a conduit for social interaction. And that is a good thing.

A wise man once said a product or service is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Totally agree they are too expensive for the quality.

I made a 12 mile simplex (radio to radio) contact yesterday. I could clearly recognize my friend's voice.

WSFB954 Donald Chilton (Lenny) I live in Murfreesboro Tennessee. Been a radio nerd for quite awhile! And I’m able to hit the Brentwood repeater!

WRTI650 Doug Robertson here. I live in Franklin, just north of downtown and work at a church just south of downtown Franklin. Pretty new to the radio world but somehow became the subject expert to friends that know nothing and are getting GMRS radios. I'm hitting several repeaters in the area, some different from work and my home. Looking to join this friendly group and learn! Blessings!

Not according to the regulations, but from a technical standpoint yes, and many people do.

If having an IP65 rating for dust and water are important then I will suggest the Wouxun KG-XS20G Plus for $199. It is an excellent radio and very easy to program using the radio buttons or mic buttons. It has dual watch, NOAA channels, weather alerts and can receive 2m and 70cm bands. Here is the link to Buy Two Way Radios so you can read the specifications. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-xs20g.html?___SID=U There is nothing wrong with the DB2-G and it's very popular. But is is not IP rated if that matters to you. As far as antennas go, the Midland MXTA26 is a very popular antenna as long as you are not restricted on antenna height. If you need a shorter antenna, then go with a good bottom loaded 5/8 wave antenna.