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Background: A friend has a 10,000 acre ranch in the middle of nowhere. Cell phone reception is spotty at best. We were looking for a reliable way to be able to communicate while at the ranch for quick status updates and for emergencies. About 2/3rds of the land is fairly flat with the other 1/3rd being draws and ridges that limit line of site. The challenge was threefold; 1) to find a location that allowed "line-of-sight" to as much of the ranch as possible, 2) to have a repeater located at said spot to "see" down the draws, and 3) to limit costs for an occasional use system. Equipment: Red's Engineering Simplex Repeater - $61.00 Boafeng UV-5R GMRS radios - $31.00 (2pk) A 15' pool cleaning pole - already had from previous project The Red's Engineering Simplex Repeater features from the website: Web based configuration via cell phone Works with the Baofeng UV-5R radio DTMF detection, enable disable repeater Fox Hunt Transmitter Mode Periodic Station ID 45 second message record time Station Identification (Morse Code generation) LED Indicators show current status Shield type enclosure design USB Power / Charging Open source software OTA Firmware Updates (WiFi) Long battery life, ~12 hours talk time, ~10 month active standby Set-up After charging the repeater and radio, the set-up was straight forward and is easily done through the app. You plug in the supplied cable to the repeater and radio. On the initial startup you must press the reset button. Turn on the radio and wait a few seconds, turn on the repeater, set the volume to about 50%, and you're ready. Within just a few minutes I had the repeater programmed, connected to the radio, and bench tested. In the app you can change the record time, toggle remote enable/disable function, program callsign and ID transmission, and a few other things. Since we are very remote and the likelihood that anyone else would ever find the repeater is slim to none, I didn't go through some of the whistles and bells. They may come into use later but I left most everything pretty basic. Real-world testing - Home After scouring Google Earth, Radio Mobile Online, and SCADACore line of sight generator I determined what I thought was going to be the optimum location for the "tower". The furthest we would need to transmit and receive would be about 5 miles. I unceremoniously duct taped the radio and repeater to a telescoping pool pole, ratchet-strapped it to the fence corner post at home and drove just over 7 miles LOS. I transmitted on channel 5 and heard the repeater, well, repeat back my message. Since 7 miles was well outside of the limits I needed I felt it was a good test and waited until the next trip to the ranch. The radio was wearing the Abree AR-771 antenna that came with the radios. Real-world testing - Ranch In a couple of weeks we went to the ranch. Still using the high-tech duct tape and pool pole, I found the location I had identified and set up the repeater. Over the course of two days, we tested the repeater at all the blinds we had around the ranch and routes along the way. We found that the repeater worked as expected and better, hitting one blind that we were skeptical of hitting. The repeater and radio were left up overnight and the batteries lasted both days. We were not carrying on conversations, mainly just checking the repeater function and checking in with each other occasionally. If we had 15 minutes of total talk time I would be surprised. I was very impressed by the simplistic, but reliable, function of the repeater. Take Aways This is a simplex repeater. You must accept that you will, at minimum hear your own message repeated back to you. In some cases, if you are in simplex range of the other radio, you may hear the original message and repeater message of both yourself and who you are talking to. While some find this cumbersome, it is just the fact of a simplex repeater and if you know it is going to happen you learn to deal with it. Personally, I didn't find it to be a problem for what we were trying to accomplish. For about $100 I don't think it can be beat for what we wanted to accomplish, basic communication for status checks and emergencies. We also accept that there may still be locations that simply cannot be reached due to terrain. That is why we stress that we let everyone know where we are going and when, within reason, to expect us back. No amount of technology should replace a simple "flight plan". Future plans I am now in the process of piecing together a weatherproof housing and solar backup. The internal batteries will last about three days (not using any of the power-saving functions) at our communication frequency, maybe more. In the event we are down there for more than a couple of days, solar will allow the batteries to remain topped off. Additionally, I am looking at "tower" options that allow us to put the repeater up and down when we come and go. I'm heavily leaning towards a 30' telescoping flag pole (staying with the limiting cost theme). That will allow us to have a permanent location that is easy to run up and down. All in I think I'm probably looking at about $300, radio, repeater, pole, solar, and bits and pieces. While I tinker with a lot of things, this is my first foray into repeaters, albeit very limited. The Red's Engineering gets my initial thumbs up. I hope to be back with updates soon.

This very well could be common knowledge and intuitive to many people but to the ones like me out there, just wanted to let you know about my epiphany as to why the radio will sometimes save tones and sometimes not. I'm a little OCD and like to double check things, especially settings. That is not beneficial in this case with this radio and checking CTCSS/DCS. If your repeater needs DCS and you put the correct tones in and want to check that CTCSS says "OFF", just entering in the CTCSS menu option will turn your DCS tones to "OFF". Like I said, this may be obvious and common knowledge to most, but it wasn't to me so I just wanted to share in hopes of saving others the confusion. If you're double checking all the tones, you're messing up. Ironically.

As @Amaff said it is user specific whether the software is worth it. The software worked fine with the cable provided with the db20g, so the cost for me was only $25, about what a UV5R costs and much more useful to me. But I suspect that now that someone has cracked the nut Chirp will add the radio soon. RT Systems proved the concept; it’s no longer an iffy proposition.

Factory software, in this case, is functional but a pain too...little things like copy and paste not working, tab not working in an expected pattern through the form... There's definitely a balance of cost vs convenience, though I know how that balances is a little different for everyone. Definitely considering it, since chirp seem to have stalled on these.

Let's break this down, even if you only have one radio: Cost -- RT Systems @ $25 vs. Chirp (Free) vs. Supplied Software (Free) Convenience and Time savings -- RT Systems @ Very quick and easy to configure allowing you to save multiple profiles if you travel or have different needs. Chirp @ If available for your radio is okay, but not as efficient to use. Front panel @ Just an unnecessary pain in the ass. Ultimate overall savings -- RT Systems vs. Two bean burritos from Taco Bell, Pepto Bismol, toilet paper, and missed time from work. Everything considered, it looks like RT Systems is a real bargain.

Welcome!

Welcome @WSGP755 to the forum and our compulsive radio buyers support group

It looks like it will transmit at around 8 watts on the 2m and 70cm bands only. It puts out an average of 5 watts on the 1.25m (220MHz) band, and around 5-6 watts on GMRS. This is quite normal for any dual, tri, or quad band radio. @OffRoaderX got the following results with the KG-935H he tested in his video 2m - 8.45 watts 1.25m - 4.87 watts 70cm - 8.224 watts GMRS - 5,73 watts Go to the 17:43 time mark for the output results. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1LphnxN15o I don't have a KG-935H to test but I did test my KG-Q10H.Here are the output watts on the different bands on my KG-Q10H 2m - 4.43 watts 70cm - 5.9 watts 1.25m - 2 watts 6m - 1.5 watts GMRS - 3.5 watts MURS - 1.5 watts The KG-Q10H and KG-935H will both use the same unlock code. Don't bother trying the unlocked code with the KG-935G or KG-Q10G models since it will NOT work.

Undoubtedly 50 watt radios would work better, and at twice+ the cost, but that is not what I was trying to do. That's like saying a backhoe works better than a shovel. We needed a "shovel" as an occasional use, put up and take down, simple repeater for very limited TX/RX. So far it meets our needs more than adequately.

Providing one of the 2 radios is at the central "sees all" location.

I see your point of view, but I look at it from another metric beyond radio value: How much of my own time and aggravation does it save? Usual answer: "A lot!" It is SO much easier to program radios using external software than it is to input all of the minutia via a keypad and multi-layer menu. I buy RTSystems stuff for every radio I own that allows software programming and consider it a very worthwhile investment. Not only do I get RTS capability, but the cable facilitates use of CHIRP, VX7 Commander and other aftermarket programming software. For most of my radios each software provides slightly differing ability to make changes. Your comment about having multiple radios IS spot on. I have a few duplicate radios and it's nice to be able to make changes in the computer, save the file and then just dump the changes into the radios at 30 seconds each.

Hello everyone, I got into gmrs while looking for better offroad communication. (No cell service) I'm in the middle TN area but we ride all over the state. Recieved my lisence and callsign on 1/9/25 and I'm hooked. I currently just have some handheld radios with magnet antenas, but I plan on upgrading soon. Thanks for letting me join the group!

No, but I did agree to follow a set of rules and generally speaking I like to stick to that unless there's a real good reason not to.

"NOBODY CARES" is not correct. It's a secondary offense, like being pulled over for speeding and then getting a ticket for not wearing a seat belt. And me and lots of other hams (and I assume some GMRS licensees) do try to follow the rules even when we don't like them regardless of whether we expect to be warned/fined.

Or you can do what I do I have 8-14 programmed in with transmit off selected...but know that it can be enabled pretty quickly through the menu in a pinch

N9TAX does not recommend putting his roll-up ladder-line Slim-Jims inside of PVC pipe or even against anything. If you do it, do some before and after testing.

Using channels 8 through 14 on a mobile is somewhat controversial as a violation of part 95E rules The reason being that you are transmitting higher power than was intended on these interstitial channels very close to repeater input channels

Yes, it automatically restores the basic 30 channels. You should do a backup of your current library of channels now using the Radioddity/Anytone software and again when you acquire RT’s software. Then you will have the ability to easily restore your library of repeaters/settings, etc Rather than overwrite my code plugs as I modify them, I just save a new file with date and time. This way I can always go back to an earlier code plug, if I screw the new one up for any reason

Thank you Steve for reporting back on your experience with this. Well worth the money if you ask me.

I have no idea, it hasn't arrived yet. I do get better than 5 watts on my 935G though.

Nice job building something that meets your needs and describing it. As long as it does what you want that’s all that matters. Fortunately there are many ways to do something. Your way is inexpensive and simple. Thanks for telling us about it.

Technically, it should work just fine. As @OffRoaderX pointed out, you probably won't hear any difference unless you were right at the fringes of perception, in which case you might -- or not. The only real downside is that it's taller, and apparently you've already decided you can live with that.

And At The End Of The Day - In My Opinion - (2) 50 Watt GMRS Mobiles With A Quality 5/8 Wave Antenna Will Work Just As Well, If Not Even Better.

Not for me. $25 is a small price to pay for software that I enjoy using. I’ll spend more than that on a good dinner at a nice restaurant that lasts a couple hours.

I did not. But rather than switching back and forth I would just add GMRS channels into the radio alongside the amateur channels. But I will test it the way you suggest. Restart it in GMRS mode, see if the software can read from it. I might not write to it because I never saw in the software where it allows me to change modes to match.

along with those of use that are just straight up using it as an inexpensive ham radio

I'm assuming you didn't try it in GMRS mode. It seems like it would be most useful for people switching back and forth which requires reloading all the channels.

Well, I tried it. It worked exactly as expected, finally making it possible to create channels based on frequencies imported from RepeaterBook or other online sources. I inserted channels and that worked. I think I tried every menu. There were no surprises. The radio I tried it with one of my two Rdioddity DB20G radios. I read from the radio first and saved that as a working file. Then I did an import from RepeaterBook of all the 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters within 100 miles of my zip code. I created a new file with those channels, then inserted a blank line at the top for our club's simplex channel. I programmed that channel and discovered that when creating a new channel it defaults to Low Power, which is about 6 watts for this particular radio. I changed that to High and wrote to the radio again. Everything worked exactly as it should. For me the lack of decent CPS was my only complaint (well, also how they labeled the FUNC button). After reading their cautions about using the AT779UV software with similar radios and their comment about having to correctly plug in the programming cable I had a tiny bit of trepidation. Neither of those things presented a problem. It worked with the driver that i originally got from Radioddity, using the cable that shipped with the DB20G. I did nothing special a far as plugging in the cable. Load the driver first, before plugging in the USB end of the cable. Have the radio turned off when plugging the radio end of the cable into the microphone socket. Of course the radio requires a power source. It does not get its power from the USB port. I used a battery. I also connected a dummy load so I had no fears about transmitting. For me it was definitely worth the $25.

Give it time and RT Systems might come out with a Mac version. I run the RT Systems software for my Icom radios on my Mac. I would get the RT Systems software for my Wouxun radios if they had a Mac version. Edit: I just sent an email to RT Systems asking about Mac versions for the Wouxun radios and will update when I hear back from them.

Oh my, that sounds serious! So, what would happen if someone did this?

Happy New Year to you as well. Here’s a link to the regulations: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E