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Let's beat this dead horse some more. It should have been turned into mush a long time ago. If you want to talk on linked repeaters then get your amateur license. We don't need to have linked repeaters on GMRS. I live in Mid Missouri and I sure don't want to have my local repeater clogged up by people from outside the area. Linked repeaters defeats the purpose of GMRS which is local communications. Stick with amateur radio or use one of them phone apps that gets mentioned if you want to talk to people all over the country/world. Okay back to trying to get the excess blood out of my caffeine system.

That could be a really good thing or it can open up a can of worms that we don't want. I say that because we all know some people want to turn GMRS into HAM Lite. We don't have enough frequencies/channels available for linking repeaters or different digital modes, etc, etc. I would hate to see GMRS turn into what the Chicken Band (CB) has become.

It looks a lot like German flecktarn pattern.

Hot Damn, This Horse is one tough cookie.. Damnnnnnnnn

That’s an ignorant comment.

Not necessarily true. Different dipole antennas have varying elevation patterns.. Some antennas mostly high gain commercial have low elevation patterns making them ideal for mountain top applications where signal is radiated more downward where many non commercial is just the opposite. Some antennas are designed for optimum performance at a typical 40' heights and others work better mounted on 200' towers sitting on mountain tops. The commercial guys know this and do their homework when selecting antennas. Likewise i think most of us settling up home brew repeater systems should research antenna patterns and select something that works for their applications.

What exactly is the end goal of this? Being able to sit at home and talk to some random person also sitting at their home using a radio? I am pretty sure ham radio has accomplished this with the many link systems in place. This can also be accomplished using Zello alone, no radios, no GMRS licenses needed just an app on your cellphone or PC and you can talk to as many random strangers as you want.

Any Tidradio that was defective was replaced within days of me complaining. They never ask for the old radio either so no hassle with returning it. Although I think the quality control could be a lot better, the service I get from them is just fine. And they seem to stand behind their radios. If you are complaining about a $25-30 radio that comes with antennas, battery, charger, instruction booklet, USB power pack and cord you really need to think about what a great value that is for someone who isn't looking to spend $200+ per radio just for quality. When you get a good one it stays that way, well... so far.

For just making sure your radio is generally transmitting about as much power as it should be, to make sure your antenna is not shorted and the SWR is "good enough", the SW-102 is perfect. Ignore all the propeller heads trying to tell you that you need to spend hundreds or thousands of $$ because they have no idea what it means to just do a quick-check on something without the need for adhering to mission-critical IEEE standards nor can they comprehend that your self-worth is not measured by how precisely-tuned your antenna is. Same thing goes for the need of a dummy-load.. You can measure the power of your radio with antenna connected to get a "good enough" power reading, if you even care about that. ..."some people" could over complicate a door-knob and they love to spend other people's money.

Maybe out of line, but when an agency feels threatened they usually do something to punish the public. Happened here when voters drastically reduced property taxes in the 70's. Eliminating regs could chaos and that could be the punishment for having their power and numbers reduced. If this is unacceptable, mods please eliminate the post.

@OffRoaderX (aka Notarubicon) tested this myth on his YouTube channel and found that looping the cable didn't affect the SWR at all. That prompted me to test it myself with two different pieces of coax and three different radios from 5 to 35 watts, and I also found no change at all in SWR or transmission range. I'm about to put an antenna on my truck and I plan to leave a few extra feet of coax so I change the position of the radio, plug in an HT, or whatever else may come up. I'll just coil the extra into a loop and secure it with cable ties.

Am I the only GMRS user who is kinda frustrated with linked repeaters on gmrs frequencies. The more I’m using gmrs the more I’m realizing the frequency allocations for it just doesn’t leave enough space for linking on this service.

The FCC has released the following document inviting comments on where to deregulate. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-219A1.pdf Comments Due: Friday, April 11, 2025 Reply Comments Due: Monday, April 28, 2025 Through a series of Executive Orders, President Trump has called on administrative agencies to unleash prosperity through deregulation and ensure that they are efficiently delivering great results for the American people.1 By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) is taking action to promote the policies outlined by President Trump in those Executive Orders. Specifically, we are seeking public input on identifying FCC rules for the purpose of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens. We seek comment on deregulatory initiatives that would facilitate and encourage American firms’ investment in modernizing their networks, developing infrastructure, and offering innovative and advanced capabilities. The Communications Act directs the FCC to regularly review its rules to identify and eliminate those that are unnecessary in light of current circumstances,2 recognizing that in addition to imposing unnecessary burdens,3 unnecessary rules may stand in the way of deployment, expansion, competition, and technological innovation.

I've had this same problem three out of five H3 would not open repeaters. I think it might be a pl tone problem. The radios should be pulled from selling until this is fixed. Radio transmits but repeaters will not respond

Ultimately it’s up to the repeater operator but that’s exactly what GMRS is for.

Check your Device Manager to make sure that the cable is recognized and that the appropriate port is selected in Chirp. If your Device Manager shows a "yellow" symbol for a specific port than you may need to load the FTDI driver so the computer recognizes the cable. Also, try using the Radioddity programming software for that radio. You may not experience the problems you're experiencing by using the factory programming software.

Hi thanks, I used some paint I had laying around from old project. Its Rustoleoum camo paint. The key is sparing no expense on the applicator, I used a Q-tip lol Here is another photo of a radio I did a few years ago in slghtly different camo color, but the same Rustolem camo paint and Q-tip method. The approach is to use 3 (or more) colors. Considering the case is black, that counts as one color. Then add in the darkest paint first, leaving plenty of black spots showing. Then add in the lighter color. Repeat back to the dark, then light again until you get a mix you like, keeping some of black showing. At first you will be saying to yourself "What the heck am I doing?". But push on. It dries to the touch in just an hour or two, but give it a good day before handling too much. Be careful not to get paint in the mic hole or speaker, and around the buttons.

Get that now and again with one group, as I have an 01 Explorer I run with the "Jeepers" (skid plates, 31's winch recovery gear), but we also have Toyotas, an occasional Samurai, Pathfinder, whathaveyouthat'snotaJeep. But when we hit the trails and they see we can off road with the best of them, they take it in stride. And we of course respond in kind with the insults, much like good friends do with each other. As far as who pulls who out of the Stuck, it's like being out boating, you always, I mean ALWAYS help out a fellow off-roader. We're talking moderate off road trails here, not rock crawling or King of the Hammers or mud bogging. The help you give today may be the help you need tomorrow.

Agree.. I personally have two TD-H3s (and I bought them off amazon) for over 8 months, never had a problem with them, in fact they have surpassed my expectations for them. several other friends have bought them... for a total of 8 radios. Of all of those one had a problem and like you said it was quickly replaced no questioned asked.

MFJ stands for Mighty Fine JunK. And they have earned that nickname. No consumer grade SWR/power meter will be super accurate. As others have said, they are designed to a certain price point and also designed for a wide frequency range. Bird Wattmeters are expensive but very accurate. They also use specific slugs for a small frequency range. And that is why they are more accurate. As I stated in my first reply. The SW-102 works just fine if all you are doing is testing the SWR. Sometimes simple is best and the SW-102 is about as simple as it gets. There really is no need for a NanoVNA or antenna analyzer if all you are doing is testing the SWR on mobile antennas.

Ok, but please don't raz me about my Caffeine and Sugar Free Diet Pepsi. I have plenty in my refrigerator in my Jeep, it gets hot on the trail. I don't drink beer and it is one of my many personal faults. If need be, I can keep your 12-pack ice cold for you.

In all fairness, the dude is right. There is so much buggy crap out there on the market that should not be, especially among those brands he listed.

Yah right, BS. How did you confirm that accuracy? Did you compare it with another Pandaland POS instrument? I had a 849 that was far from being accurate and it was sent back to MFJ for a recalibration and 9 months later, I finally got it back saying it was recalibrated, and it was still far from being accurate. I ended up putting it in the garbage. Also, I had a MFJ269 that I sent back for recalibration. They had that instrument for four months and while I was waiting, I had my Bird 43 recalibrated and purchased a RigExpert. The RigExperf appears to be a good unit. I ended up giving away the 269 to Sir Steve because I no longer had a need for it.

It was down in yesterday morning when I saw this post, back up in the afternoon. The FCC data base is and has been SLOW for a long time. I just looked up my call and it took 11 seconds. I ran a query of all active licensed GMRS users in my town (92 of of them) and it took 10 seconds. Weird. Edited: Just for fun I ran a query for all new GMRS licenses sorted by Grant Date in the last 1 year. Left off Call Sign, Name and FRN from screenshot. 28 in total. What I found odd is that we normally see 2-4 new licenses a month. Only 2 so far this year.

Nope, never left the dock. But it was one heck of a piece of maritime history. Sadly after only three, if I recall correctly 1/2 trips to collect "magnesium nodules" it was mothballed and has now been scrapped.

This would tie up comms across the country...

Got it now! Thanks! you saved me months of google searches

Being that I build datacenters I would give you that if this was a mom and pop shop that paid for the cheapest package at rackspace or WIX but this has been every hour on the hour since 3/9/2026. (I have a script running check this crap every hour) The main FCC site is up with the non-sense they are changing on it up there, but the meat and potatoes ULS DB being down from every Server, PC and MAC I have access to across the world tells me that they are purposely keeping it down. And if that is the case what happens to anyone that is trying to get their licenses upgraded or new licenses. Are they just going to be black holed. That isn't going to stop any of us from getting on the air. And now I can tell my friends to stand back and stand by as it looks like they might not have to bother taking any of the tests to or register any more to do any of this. So that just leaves all of us that have done the thing exposed with out info out there for the yahoos to do with what they wish. Like the "joke" the first commenter made. In any event, I have people waiting on license notifications and of all times for them to dick around they do it now.

Was on the Glomar Explorer when it took a lightning strike to the derrick. I was on the port bridge wing. You could "feel" in the air just before. Really disorienting afterwards. That's as close as I ever want to be to a strike.

That rule will NEVER be rolled back from 2017 - the entire reason it was changed was because no one was getting their license for their 2W bubble pack radios as it was. There's literally zero way that Pandora's Box will ever be shut again at this point. As others have said - this is for DE-regulation. The FCC I guarantee will not be hearing stuff about GMRS and linking and other hand-wringing issues that could have been in their own NPRM/petition that no one has bothered doing until now anyway. This is not the "lazy way out" of doing your own due diligence as the GMRS community as before. I am surprised that yet again I have to comment about how FCC rulemaking works, but I am sure a bunch of armchair experts that have never dealt with the FCC outside their amateur/family service licenses will come once more to say how I am wrong. I will be sure to pop come popcorn and come back in a month or two to see the hilarity that ensues as always.

Yes, I am always concerned about unintended consequences when changes are made to satisfy people who don’t fully understand the history and context of rules.

All SWR meters are directional power meters at heart. The SWR meters that were manufactured by Nissei for MFJ are okay, about the same as any other mass produced SWR meter. They’re a compromise between cost and accuracy and because they try to measure very wide frequency and power ranges they excel at none. The biggest problem I see with them is an inability to measure low levels of reflected power accurately, leading to very optimistic SWR values at low power. But good enough is good enough. As far as antenna analyzers (which are not SWR meters) I also prefer RigExpert. They’re easy to use and have a lot of functionality built into them that I suspect many people never use. For instance, if you know the actual length of a cable you can use the RigExpert to determine the actual Velocity Factor (VF). If you know the actual VF you can measure the length of the cable using the RigExpert. Once you know the VF, save it so you can look it up. Then, if a long cable starts acting strange remeasure the length using the RigExpert and the saved VF. If it’s anything other than what you measured originally it tells you the general location of a problem. But a RigExpert will not tell you forward power or reflected power. For that you need a directional watt meter. Once you have those two measurements you can very easily calculate SWR. That’s where Bird or Telewave stand head and shoulders above all of the cheap SWR/wattmeters. Their sensors are calibrated for the exact range of frequencies and power levels you wish to measure. The McBazel SW-102 is inexpensive, does a lot of different things, including measuring the frequency (something that neither the high end wattmeter nor the moderately expensive antenna analyzer can do, except for the MFJ 259, 269 series), forward power (within limits) and reflected power (possibly even more limited at the bottom end), and calculates the SWR based on those limited measurements. I think they’re very handy for a go bag for use with a specific range of power outputs.

The Surecom is not the most accurate but it is the simplest to use if all you are wanting to do is check the SWR. And this is normally good enough when checking the SWR on mobile antennas. I will always suggest getting a NanoVNA or a good antenna analyzer for tuning/cutting antennas. They make life easier when tuning by showing exactly where the lowest SWR is. You will know right away if the antenna is too long or too short. I have a Surecom SW-102 that I use for quick SWR tests along with a Comet CAA-500 analyzer and a Rig Expert Stick Pro analyzer. I use the SW-102 for quick SWR checks and the analyzers if I need to actually tune the antenna.

GMRS is for whatever TF I want to use it for as long as I'm not committing an actual violation.

Now THAT's legitimate usage!

I use CHIRP to program my Radioddity DB25-G without any problems. What are you having trouble with? .. just connecting and reading the radio... or have you been able to read it into CHIRP but not update it? define your problem with a bit more for us to go on.

You forgot to mention: Also transmits on GMRS with 100+Watts, jams H.A.M.s and GMRS repeaters with music when bored and broadcasts on H.A.M.s radios frequencies with no license, just so I can feel something. C'mon man, if you're going to be butthurt and whine like a girl, at least be complete and accurate about it.

Antenna Farm was closed for a while due to the owner's health issues not too long ago. I wonder if that's why people on Radio Reference are bashing them. I've never seen Antenna Farm get bashed on other forums and they usually are one of the recommended vendors. Club members, including myself, have ordered antennas from Antenna Farm without issues. PS: the Radio Reference forum is the radio version of the Glock Talk and ARFCOM forums in the firearms world.

I understand what your trying to do, its a cool idea and I sincerely hope it works out for you. However, I believe the FCC is going to tell you you cant do it because it is a clear violation of the rules as written. POC uses the Cell telephone / data network. It is a network in every sense of the word. As I and others have stated before, yes you can connect a repeater for remote control of the repeater, you cant do it to carry messages / voice comms. In any case, please keep us posted with the FCCs answer. This is and has been a good conversation.

How about trying a company dedicated to antennas? https://theantennafarm.com

That can only happen by connecting the local repeater to another network. If the control passes only control codes affecting the ability of the target to carry information, then the connection is valid, however, should any other type of information be transmitted through the connection the connection becomes invalid as different networks carrying information ae interconnected. With a stricter interpretation of the relevant section, it would be an invalid connection even if the purpose were to listen (monitor) traffic on the target radio.

1. What was the purpose of establishing a worldwide repeater system when other countries do not have GMRS? 2. GMRS has only a few repeater frequencies. If all the repeaters in the United States operate on the same frequency, it will lead to interference, including with some rescue repeaters.

This is exactly why i got into GMRS and not ham. We offroad, hike and camp. I dont want to be in the California desert and hear someone in Nevada calling out trails, talking to their point man or tail. Its a local system for local use.

I look forward to hearing what you discover. Although the technology is interesting I think it will be turned down for the most basic reason: You’re connecting a GMRS repeater to a network, which means you are carrying GMRS communications on a network which is prohibited by the FCC interpretation of the rules. Here’s their interpretation: GMRS stations cannot be interconnected with the public switched telephone network or any other network for the purpose of carrying GMRS communications, but these networks can be used for remote control of repeater stations.

nope.

I understand your frustration. GMRS is easier to get into than HAM, especially for families. No, there is not enough bandwidth, that's why linking untimely isn't allowed.

I think the FCC said it best… In addition to violating Commission rules, linking repeaters is not in the public interest. Because GMRS spectrum is limited and used on a shared “commons” basis, the service only works well on a localized basis when users can hear each other and cooperate in the sharing of channels. Linking repeaters not only increases the potential for interference, but also uses up a limited spectrum resource over much larger areas than intended, limiting localized availability of the repeater channels. GMRS and the Family Radio Service (FRS), which share many of the GMRS channels, are intended for individuals such as family members and friends, scouting troops, emergency response groups, and hobbyists to communicate with each other over short distances, directly or through a repeater station. Linking repeaters, via the internet or other networks, undermines the purpose and usefulness of the GMRS and FRS.

At the end of the day, that "wording" was an FCC clarification on what they think the actual rules say, they wished to clarify the point they didn't want linked repeaters on GMRS. The rules themselves are a little more grey than their "clarification" wording,which I take as nothing more than an opinionated blog post. Their clarification means nothing. Only the actual rules matter. It's never been actually tested if someone pushed back on it to the point where it ended up in a courtroom which would be a years long process. The worst that could happen is you get a mean letter from the FCC asking you to stop doing that. But if he set it up as a business for a customer, the customer would be the one getting the mean letter and would probably be upset at Cogent in turn.

Even I, in all my glory, could not pretend to be that socially mal-adjusted and brain dead..