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Yes, it is normal. it is the "breath" function in your menu.... it flashes to let you know it is still on when the display goes to sleep to save power. you can set how often it flashes in the options.

If your going to use a pole barn, put the repeater as close to the antenna as possiblee to limit cable loss. thats the cool part about the midland and RT97. Just run a power cord to it. A decent antenna and a 3' piece of cable terminated with proper connectors will go along way.

Or one of the radio manufacturers (or both) saved money on a less expensive CTCSS circuit.

I like how you can set it. Helps when monitoring at home and not having to stare at it or pick it up to check if its on. TidRadi radios are feature packed. Hard to go to other radios without missing something.

Is it. I don't think it is... ...as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time.

There is a law. Actually there are several in the Communications Act of 1934 and the amendments from 1996. https://transition.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf The law says follow the regulations or be fined.

This is also very possible. Open RX would mean he hears everything on the frequency regardless of tones used.

His was a Hustler antenna that was struck by a bird. Here’s the thread:

That's interesting. I've never heard of that before, but it seems like a useful feature. I do sometimes look at my radio and can't remember if it's on or off.

As @WRTC928 mentioned, keep channels 8-14 set to narrow band. You won't have to worry about interfering with the repeater input channels if you keep channels 8-14 set to low power and narrow band. Now an unlocked mobile putting out 20 watts or more will get you noticed and can cause interference on the repeater channels. Set those channels to low power and narrow band and use them to your heart's content

Yep, always good to adhere to proper weatherproofing/waterproofing techniques so you don't have to do the job twice.

No one is going to come after you for being 1/2 watt over. And as mentioned, I bet that the power output will be closer to 1/2 watt versus 1 watt if you check with a power/swr meter. Again, don't worry about being at 1 watt versus 1/2 watt.

Well looking at a set of mating N connectors it looks like the mating surfaces are the flat area of the female and the rubber base of the male. If you put a small coating of dielectric grease on the female flat mating surface it looks like the internal portion of the connector has an excellent seal from anything penetrating it. The only ingress would be from the rear of the connector using capillary action into the fittings. Water getting in through the threads should have no chance of getting inside the fitting if it has been tightened properly.

I use the Radioddity UV-5G Plus as the radio model for the Baofeng in CHIRP. It works well, also.

How do you activate this function where you can monitor up to 4 channels at the same time? I'm missing it somehow in the manual. (I am not a fan of their manual, btw.) I just installed this radio in my old Jeep and am trying to figure out how to configure it in different ways that I might like to use it. Thanks!

The difference between 136.5 and 141.3 is what? About 5%? Probably within the tolerance of that Retevis repeater's tone detect circuit. I would try setting the repeater to a PL of something like 203.5 and see if that fixes the issue.

I completely forgot to add that, thank you.

Interesting. Maybe changing your repeater's tones to DTCS instead of CTCSS would stop the cross-contamination. Just throwing out ideas.

@TrikeRadio Eventually, when I get my AR license I'll try it. Right now I restrict myself to GMRS. I truly appreciate the help and suggestions. I ended up sending back the U5R's and buying two more TD-H3 "GMRS" models for other people in the family. The only thing I don't really like about the "H3" is that when dropped, the battery comes off rather easily. I think for the price and size, the 2408__ software is decent. I see someone saw newer firmware. I'll have to check out the features and bug fixes and decide whether I want to re-image the EPROM.

You know, I didn't know that having a GMRS license would get this convoluted! Wow!

Sure, keep looking. I won't need it for a while. Thanks.

My prediction: Your brother is confused.

Well I knew a bird struck an antenna. Thought it was a Laird, at least Laird was in the title.

It's like clockwork. Is this behavior normal for this brand and model of radio? None of my other handheld radios do it. I thought maybe it was in scan mode, but it was not.

This is correct. And in the case of the Midland/Retevis 10 watt repeaters, you will only see about 5-6 watts out after the duplexer. We are getting 30 watts out after the duplexer on our 50 watt Bridgecom GMRS repeater. We still are getting a 30-35 mile radius of coverage, granted our antennas are at 400 feet above ground. And you can get away with using a good quality RG8 if the overall run is 6 feet or less. You won't notice much difference in loss between RG8, RG8U or LMR400 at such short lengths. I run RG-8U jumpers in my shack with the longest one being 6 foot. Most are three feet or less. IF anyone wants to see the loss for themselves then use the https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ The most important thing is to use a good quality coax with good connectors.

And if you install the heat shrink tubing that has hot melt glue inside it is 100% waterproof. Quality connectors come supplied with a piece of heat shrink. I always keep in stock several hundred feet of heat shrink just in case.

And correction on my coax type. I do have LMR400 at the shop, @50'. But at the house I have M&P Hyperflex 13, @84'. A 60' section to the lightning arrester and 24' from there to the antenna. Lightning arrester is type N connectors.

Even if the repeater station is putting out 50 watts, you're not going to see that much power coming out of the duplexer. Most repeater stations, only put out about 40 watts and you be lucky to see about 28 watts out of the duplexer. Given the fact that "Some People" will no doubt be buying their transmission line, duplexer, antenna from a warehouse type operation that specializes in cheap inferior products will most likely only see no more than 10 watts at the most out of the antenna, for a short period of time until it fails.

Just like the threads of a flare nut not being the sealing surface I understand that the threads of a coax connector are not watertight seal areas, but I am of the persuasion that some greasy material in the middle of the connector short of hydraulic locking the mating surfaces from making contact is beneficial as water, can't occupy the same space that something else already occupies. Water can easily displace gases like air, but has a much more difficult time displacing oil or grease.

Have you ever seen an N connector? If not, you might want to reevaluate that statement. I'll take a properly installed naked N connector over a totally wrapped PL-259/SO-239 any day of the week in the harshest weather.

And how does this help me ? Kidding, kidding. You kids go out and have fun...

I'm getting a much better SWR with cold temps right now. Still looking at it as I only have one day of information I'm looking at.

SWR can change with temperature changes. I have seen it happen on my HF antennas when temps get into single digits. The SWR usually goes up a bit. But the SWR goes back to normal once temps get to 20 degrees or higher. So far the changes have not been so bad that the internal tuner on my IC-7300 can't handle. Most of the time I don't even need to use the internal tuner.

An N connector is sealed. Filling the recess completely with grease could create hydraulic pressure when screwing the connector halves together and that hydraulic pressure could prevent the connector from screwing together fully making the seal even worse. The video you posted of the “STUF” specifically mentions not to fill an N connector with it, but to use less to avoid this hydraulic pressure.

Have your installer remove the antenna for you. Just make sure he ties off with a fall harness. He should have the safety gear. What was your SWR for the temp install in the attic? Try putting your base antenna in the attic and do range tests. Do not cut the coax until confirming coverage. Putting the radio in the spare bedroom with the antenna in the attic is probably the most cost effective solution. Consider your wife though. You call her from the truck and she has to run up stairs to answer...every time! IF the coverage is good from the attic, Putting a radio with the antenna and using a remote head might be ideal. My thoughts are worth what you paid for them. Best wishes. Here's a thought! Put a repeater on the silo. If the repeater is up near the antenna, you could give your wife a handheld and reach ALL your property, into town, and further. LOL

YAY, turning the volume to 1/2 worked.......Thank you all...... My standard F8HP requires full volume and that is what I kept trying. Now if I fan figure out how to update the firmware....

You can use dielectric grease. Just put a small amount on the outside of the female threads only.

The power of the repeater isn’t nearly as important as the installation of the repeater. Installed at a location that’s within range of the different handheld radios, with good cable and a high antenna it can greatly improve your communications reliability.

I’m sorry that happened. If it’s one of those aluminum tubes at the bottom of a comet antenna I would have thought the same thing. As far as grease, some people simply use Vaseline. Fill the connectors and screw them together. UHF connectors (plug = PL259, socket = SO239) are not waterproof at all. Water gets in and ruins the coax. Depending how long it has been you might have to cut several feet off the end or replace the entire run. N connectors are sealed much better but should still be sealed in one of several ways. It sounds like you know exactly what to do, but for anyone reading this who’s wondering, DX Engineering has kits https://www.dxengineering.com/search/part-type/weatherproofing-kits?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=Coax+Waterproofing+

The charging bases will not interchange. There is enough differences between the 935 battery and the Q10 battery to keep this from working. The 935 battery is thinner and narrower so it will not lock into the Q10 charger. The Q10 battery is too wide and too thick that it will not even fit into the 935 charger. Yes I own the Q10H and 935G and tried. It's a no go. The nice thing is that both radios can be charged using a USB C cable.

the RX only above channel slot 54 applies only when the radio is operating in GMRS mode. if you are in the unlocked "Normal" mode... there are no restrictions. I am not sure if there are any similar restrictions in HAM mode.

@Imply4907 Is your radio unlocked?

And don't let the fact that the 935G Plus is a SOC (system on chip) radio and not superheterodyne bother you.. The 935G does just as well as the Wouxun KG-Q10G/H models that are superheterodyne. I can't tell any difference between the 935G Plus and the Q10H models I own.

935G plus is my go to radio. I highly recommend it based on countless tests against Baofeng and TID Radios that I have done. They are a more expensive radio than most but I have not been disappointed by it's overall performance and capabilities. The other thing for me, is I have tested power output on many radios. The 935G+ has been the most consistent in "advertised" power output (close to 5 watts and in some cases more). Other radios in the Baofeng and TID radio department are hit or miss on output. For me that is the difference from making contact in a unique location I visit to not making a contact. That little bit of extra juice makes the difference for me against other radios I have tested from same location.

Horseshit. There’s nothing wrong with people getting together in a club (or perhaps even a forum) to discuss, learn about, and share enjoyment of GMRS.

WSEZ, if you are more concerned about a spelling error than the question itself and have nothing of value to offer a newcomer to the radio hobby, maybe you need to find a different hobby yourself instead of putting others down so you can feel superior.

I think Carr may resolve things going forward. But the shear mass of regulations already in place would be difficult to escape or change in any short period of time. Especially if there are resistant people in the chain. Many would feel that changes like that would be going backwards and feel a loss of power. But govt entities making regulation that have the effect of law shouldn't be able to happen. Law is made by congress and the president. Not sure how this can go forward because of the shear amount of time that would be sucked up by congress and they will claim they don't have the time for. There was never suppose to be a full time congress/senate in the first place.

A little late to these comments. Just got a couple DB-25G radios. They program OK with CHIRP. Channels 8-14 are present as RX only and cannot be changed. Programming not very intuitive. One nice (for me) feature over the DB-20 is the Quad-Watch, ability to monitor four channels at once. Having a bank or group function would be nice as I travel a lot and the ability to put additional repeaters in groups for different areas would be useful. The scan is kind of slow compared to most radios these days. The manual is just shy of worthless. After watching a couple YouTube videos I finally got it set up how I like it. The WX channels are way up at the end of the list (190-199) but are not marked to skip in scan by default, so you have to go in and mark them skip if you want to scan, which was a bit annoying. There is no resume delay when scanning, so if it stops on someone talking, it resumes as soon as they stop, if you have a lot of channels programmed, it will take a few seconds to get back to that channel so you will miss part of the reply. So far, so good. It meets my particular needs. Michael

Not exactly. TX CTCSS is the output of your radio and the input to the repeater. Your output goes to the repeater input. They must match.

In regards to programming a Radioddity GM30 handheld: Have the current programming software downloaded onto laptop using Windows 11 Have programming cable in usb port Device manager shows port is operating properly. (Com port 5) When I open the software to read from or write to the radio it says "Please check all connections and Communications port settings" When I select "Program" "Communications Port" and try to select a comm port from the options it does not allow me to select a comm port. I believe this is my issue. Any suggestions? Thanks!