Leaderboard

I brought this up in a ham meeting to a guy that is very anti-Baofeng. I said "you got to get one now!" He just stared at me in silence like I had two heads.

Mistake #2: Ignore the 467 MHz "Uplink" Problem You choose a unique repeater CTCSS / DCS / PL / Privacy code, but other incumbent repeater owners become unhinged and pissed off. That is because signals from users trying to access your repeater are still being heard by the incumbent's repeater *receiver*. Those signals don't activate the incumbent's repeater - but they still exist and can block or walk on the incumbent's users, particularly when the incumbent’s users are operating handheld radios. CTCSS / DCS / PL / Privacy Codes, etc. only prevent inadvertent repeater activation - they cannot prevent uplink IX. Clue - your repeater's transmitter is not causing the interference; it’s your users' transmitters that are causing this type of interference. This cannot be fixed by making any adjustments to your repeater. Of course.

You did good, son. Generally, these issues are self correcting as the user gets more familiar with their radio. Now you will really enjoy the DB20 as its an amazingly good sub-$100 radio.

Thanks! I went into Device Manager and found that it had the Yellow Triangle of Doom on the port. I then updated it through the Windows system, then I had Windows update all drivers and it came online. Edited to add: It now works with CHIRP. The TYT software still can't find it. NBD, I guess; I'll just use CHIRP.

I'm hearing a lot more chatter than usual yesterday and today, mostly kids. I guess FRS radios were a popular Christmas present. I give it about a month before they get bored or break/lose the radios. It is kinda fun to hear kids playing, though.

The great thing about the scenario you describe in the original post is 98.93736452367263554327% of all GMRS communications are generally radio checks, so interference is not an issue.

I still want to get the TYT software working, though, because there are a lot of settings available that CHIRP doesn't provide. Programmable buttons, etc.

My TK880s will also support MDC and I have been using the MDC PT-T ID feature for accessing a repeater. Just recently, the repeater owner posted information on a recent discussion in this forum and he said that he just turned off the requirement of using the feature since his problem child apparently has stop jamming his repeater. I need to deactivate the feature since it is no longer required for his repeater access. I'll take care of that in my next quarterly programming updates for my Motorola and Kenwoods.

I was NOT looking forward to programming 91 channels manually!

It sees it as COM Port 3, but only if I plug it into the correct socket. Otherwise, it doesn't see it.

My guess the coverage should be at least Fresno to Bakersfield and then some and I wouldn't be surprised if it covered Madera to the foot of the Tehachapies and the Ridge Route. Mt Lemmon 725 overlooking Tucson is about the same elevation as Park Ridge 7500+ and will communicate up to South Phoenix which is over 100 miles. The Towers 575 in Crown King is also the same elevation of Park Ridge and Mt Lemmon which is over looking Prescott will look towards the south I believe to Casa Grande and maybe a little beyond which should be about 125 miles.

What, an americanized Godzilla? What is this world coming to.

Update: I'm a dummy. I had the TX tones entered into the RX of the programming. The radio is performing as good as a 20w should. I'm getting 15.5w on high with a SWR of 1.4 to 1 as tested with my NanoVNA

Filmed in Hawaii, Morocco, and Australia, so no. And the three studios involved were American, American, and Australian.

233.6 is a standard CTCSS tone. It is very very seldom used may be why it is not regularly recognized as a standard tone. I wouldn't use it. It just is not as sexy as 141.3 or 156.7.

Forced? How the heck did that guy maintain that rhythm? And at such a blistering pace?

MDC is useful if you know how. The linked thread on another forum has some of the details. https://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=41389 As a further note a number of my Kenwood HT’s have MDC built in, so it’s not limited to strictly Motorola radios. For example my NX-1300’s support MDC1200. https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/NX1K_Specsheet_K.pdf https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/?context=new

The tones with decimal something (xxx.x) are CTCSS. DCS codes are integers (no decimal).

In my GMRS group it serves a very important purpose and is very necessary. If that makes you sad, you are free to go listen to a different channel while we are all transmitting our MDC-squawks.

LOL! For decades, hams have (rightfully) been on the receiving end of jokes about their boring conversations; which frequently center on medical ailments, trips to the doctor, their "roids", bp meds, etc. I am aware of one GMRS repeater group whose "administrator" cannot bring himself to make a series of transmissions without regaling the audience with the latest on his c-pap machine, his latest heart attack, his latest planned surgery, etc. If that were not bad enough; there is his "beans, peas, corn, taters, maters" ad-nauseum, monologue about what all he did in the garden that day. Often, he sounds like he is three sheets in the wind, which can add an element of entertainment value to his radio broadcasts and internet postings. He would make a great ham except that he thinks he lacks the intelligence to pass the test. Thankfully, he never tried to find out.

This is very true and why politics are not allowed on our repeaters. And the name calling/anger/stupidity/ranting usually ends up involving foul language being used. It's easier to just ban certain topics versus having to play referee, shutting the repeater down, banning people, having others ran off from using the repeater, etc, etc.

It will die down in a couple weeks. My neighborhood is with all the kids having fun with their new toys.

I think the fairly common rule prohibiting political speech on a privately owned repeater is a good one that makes repeater use more enjoyable for most users. That has nothing to do with being “big headed” or forgetting which country a person lives in. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution never has guaranteed that anybody can say anything anywhere at any time. When we use someone else’s repeater we need to be considerate of the rules.

It's a shame that happened like that. We decided right away not to even consider linking our GMRS repeater. We already have our 2m repeater linked to AllStar. We don't have many rules outside of following the FCC regulations on our repeater. The three big ones are: no foul language, no discussing politics, and no business uses. We are strict about no foul language since there are kids that use our repeater on a regular basis. And politics usually leads to arguments. After talking to another local GMRS repeater owner, we decided to follow his advice and not allow business use. He had a big problem with the big commercial farms wanting to tie up his repeater and we didn't want that to happen with ours. We checked Repeater Book and My GMRS along with listening on all of the repeater channels first. We then reached out to the other GMRS repeater owners within a 50 mile radius of our location. SO far we have not had any issues with unlisted repeaters. We do occasionally pick up a different repeater on the other side of the state when there is a band opening. Merry Christmas everyone.

Ask your doctor if GMRS is right for you. Don’t use GMRS if you are allergic to GMRS.

And we were just discussing GMRS Foxhunts in the Misc Section! We'll send in the LEFT BANK!

What is the regular procedure when there is an established repeater in an area and someone else comes in and installs a new repeater on the exact same frequency? Like within a couple of miles of each other. I left them a comment on their repeater, which they have offered for public use, stating there was already a repeater just a few miles away on that same frequency. They deleted my comment. To me it is just ignorant to put up another repeater, in the exact same area, on the exact same frequency, as another repeater that has already been established in the area, that is at a higher elevation, covers all of the same area and more.

Or three, they try to put a repeater package together on the Cheap with a couple of CCRs and learned that they won't work and won't go to the next level and do it right by investing in a real repeater package. I learned that lesson and did it right? I should've not watched that video from buy2wayeadios.com. That was a good move on their part to help sell lots of radios.

Our Delta repeater in Southern California easily gets farz of 60+ miles, with the record so far being 120 miles from its location near Mt. Baldy California to Chiriaco Summit east of Palm Springs.

Yeah, I don’t blame you. That’s the only negative aspect of my db20g radios. No Chirp and the factory software doesn’t allow imports.