Leaderboard

By misquoting @H8SPVMT you very obviously define yourself.

One week ago I attended a four hour course on safety and lithium batteries. We saw some very alarming videos that highlighted how dangerous lithium batteries can be. It was chilling. One in particular showed a young man get into an elevator with the battery from a e-bike. It began smoking and flashed quickly into an inferno that killed him before the elevator doors re-opened. You’re right in wanting to incorporate a charger that protects the battery, but you should also consider where you place the battery so that if it fails it doesn’t destroy your house.

An external antenna would probably remedy your solution over an HT in the car. Doesn't matter if it's the same frequency, other electronics tend to not like transmitting anything near them. Computer screens, computer speakers, etc. all complain when even 2W of VHF, UHF or 6meters is transmitted within a few feet.

Totally agree and the answer is NO they don’t neeeed that many repeaters. It’s turning into a macho thing. “I have more and bigger repeaters then ….” It’s causing many problems and upsetting other repeater owners. Some court cases have even come up about it. It’s getting crazy for something that should be used for family and friends while doing an activity.

As a newbie here but an old fart who dates back to dialup and bulletin boards I can tell you anytime you are a newbie you need two assets. One, thick skin. There are always "individuals" who get off proving they are superior by belittling others. And two, a well developed BS meter that allows you to learn which sources provide good info and which supply BS by the truck load. I've found that the need to prove superiority and dispense BS tend to go hand in hand. Are there such "individuals" here. Of course, they tend to want folks to think a forum is their domain. They tend to repeat their "party line" over and over and over again. But once spotted simply ignore them and it will be a great resource. One way to separate the wheat from the chaff is to start a topic and ask a question. The mentoring type will answer with good info. The self appointed experts usually start with derision.

Maybe you didn’t read the entire Wikipedia article because it says this: Established in 1970 in Osaka, Japan, it also has offices in Tokyo, Takatsuki, manufacturing facilities in Toyama and Hyōgo in Japan, and one in Suzhou, China.

While they are based in Japan the model you mentioned (Alinco DJ-G46T) curiously seems to have gotten its certification testing done in China according to the FCC which can be found here. So it sure seems like it may have come from China. Not everything on Wikipedia is correct. Side note, I don’t have a dog in this fight but do we need to bring Pandas into it? They live where they live and don’t care about economics or radios.

Just like on the other forum. Some will mention Part 90 radios. GMRS radios are not Part 90 certified. Just because a radio will work on a certain band does not mean that it is Part certified for that band. And the average person is not going to go out and buy a Part 90 certified radio for GMRS use. And I have to ask about what Steve posted since we know Anytone radios are made in China. We can continue to argue all you want. But it is a fact that all Part 95 certified consumer grade mobile radios are made in Chine with the exception of Garmin. Yes there are Part 90 certified business/commercial radios made in Japan that just so happen to work on GMRS but again they are not Part 95 certified. And just because a company has their headquarters in a certain country does not mean that their products are made in that country. Midland is a prime example when it comes to GMRS radios. And again some of the Yaesu mobile radios are made in China even though Yaesu is a Japanese company. Comparing Part 90 certified radios with Part 95 certified radios is like comparing apples to oranges.

WRONG ! It does NOT have to be Only Family and Friends ! It CAN be Anyone licensed to use GMRS, whether it be a company, a bunch of Campers, A Tow truck Driver, A Taxi cab operator, Anyone who happens to be licensed Can talk to ANYONE. Even STRANGE GUYS, like SOCAL !

I'm pretty sure I got the right one. If not, I'll have learned something and also have more parts in my box of trinkets that may be useful later (aka, stuff my kids will have to haul to the landfill when I die).

To make it worse, SMA connectors have 4 different genders: male thread and male center pin, male thread and female center socket, female thread and female center socket, and female thread and male center pin.

Yeah, I had a lot of false starts before I got it figured out. I figured I'd try to make it simpler for others. I don't know if your radio has a male SMA connector (like a Baofeng) or a female one (like a Retevis). Be sure you order the right adapter. Either way, you want to change it to a female BNC connector.

Fire departments pretty much have to let electric vehicles burn themselves out because of the lithium batteries. Lithium is like white phosphorus in that it will keep burning when you try to put it out. I'm not super familiar with putting out lithium fires. I do know the only way to stop white phosphorus from burning is to bury it so that there is no oxygen. And it will reignite if exposed to the open air. Willy Pete grenades are fun to play with and the white phosphorus will burn straight through even some of the thickest armor plate. White phosphorus grenades are great for when you have to destroy equipment and vehicles.

There really isn’t, but there are enough new people here and hopefully kindly experienced people that you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable asking questions. Yeah, there are always some people who attempt to display how knowledgeable they are simply by emphasizing others’ lack of knowledge. Please don’t let them win. Ask whatever you want.

its fun and entertaining at first, then it just gets old.. I've found it more productive to add him to my block list.

As of CHIRP next-20250328, zone entries are: Zone 1: row 1 - row 100 Zone 2: row 101 - 200 Zone 3: row 201 - 300 ... Zone 10: row 901 - 1000 Zone names are editable and located under Settings > Bank Names

You can look at some of these. https://www.bioennopower.com/collections/battery-chargers

I found this on Reddit, but I have no way to test it:

Don't poke the troll, best to ignore him.

The Alinco MD5XT that I have says “Anytone” as it boots and in its firmware, leading me to believe it’s made for them in China or perhaps they buy the electronics from Anytone and assembled it to their cases elsewhere. Part 90 certified. It is capable of being programmed for GMRS frequencies.

As @OffRoaderX said, sometimes it works that way. Let’s say you’re hiding behind a rock. Someone 100 feet away is pointing an elevated spotlight towards your rock. At that range the beam spreads out larger than the rock and you can see it reflecting off your surroundings. But you shine a flashlight directly at the rock in the direction of the spotlight and they don’t see you at all. It’s very common for radio communications to propagate asymmetrically.

My handshakes have often been described as both cold and icky.. and sometimes... moist..

I got really curious how many GMRS repeaters are owned or licensed by a single license on the reported repeaters here on MyGMRS. So i put together a quick little (actually pretty large) report that shows just that. The parameters are 3 repeaters and above and identified by single call sign as reported. I really didn't expect to see some of the numbers some folks have in the number of repeaters. Holly Cow!. Can you imagine the investment some of these folks have made. So the next question,, Why?? does a single user need so many repeaters for a service meant for family and friends. Especially, after considering how the FCC has clarified its usage. I can see now why some folks in certain areas complain of no bandwidth. Certainly some areas in the mid west and east just have not room.. Just Trivia stuff and very interesting. MultibleRepeaters April2025.pdf

Did you read the words in the Setup Guide? It pretty much tells you exactly what to do. Is there a specific step, error, or problem you are running into? What, exactly do you need?

Visit the new website at https://broadnet.club/ New content will be added weekly.

Rocinante

True, but the male thread/male center pin and female thread/female center socket don't seem to be used much, at least not on inexpensive Chinese HTs.

Ask away! Most of the knowledgeable people here are extremely helpful. There's no place on the internet which doesn't have some jerks, but there are fewer here than in most places.

It’s even easier when a person has one device programmed to cover both services. I’ve done it. That’s why I no longer program radios for both.

We had our weekly 2m net and our monthly GMRS net last night. We always have the 2m net first. One of our members tried checking into the 2m net 2 or 3 times last night but he was on the GMRS repeater. We gave him some trouble once he grabbed the correct mic to check in on the 2m repeater. It happened from time to time when you have both licenses. Most of us have done it a time or three.

I ordered one to give it a try. I was wanting to get one anyway, hopefully that takes care of it! Thanks! Thanks for the links for the adapters! There are so many connector types, it still gets confusing.

That's good to know. I was not aware of that.

All the Lithium battery packs I have, at least for Kenwood radios, have a protection circuit in them. I don't know if they protect against over charge, fairly sure they do, but they do work to prevent over discharge. When the terminal voltage drops to a bit under 6VDC the output voltage will suddenly drop to zero. I've run into this while testing my packs for usable remaining capacity with an electronic load. Also the radios seem to alarm out and shut down at the 6VDC mark too. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/248-2117323252_batterypacktestingjpg/?context=new I found a while back a web site where a guy did a tear down of a K2 Energy 7Ah LiFePO4 battery pack. You can see the Chinese protection module inside. K2 Energy K2B12V7EB LiFePO4 Internals.pdf

How stable the battery is depends on the Lithium chemistry used. The worse are Lithium Ion types, followed by Lithium Polymer. The most stable is the Lithium Iron Phosphate type.

With how horrible lithium is for the environment both when mining and later and how dangerous they are I won’t have them any place near my home or cars. Even at work we will not carry them in our trucks. We work with 48v lithium and we let ups deal with that. We have had many trucks and vans burn to the ground with lithium. Especially bad while driving on The freeway. you can get some very nice, however heavy, agm battery’s for much less money. One of my radios in the house runs off a 100amh agm and a trickle charger and in the truck I have a hard mounted 80amh agm mounted under the hood that is isolated from the truck batteries but charges off the alternator.

https://www.repeaterid.com/store/p11/RepeaterID_Universal.html#/

You're not getting it right, get it right. You're just discrediting yourself and demonstrating that you are a perfect example of a certified genuine "Sad Ham".

I remember reading about that a couple years ago but didn't fully understand the "WHY" in using the program. Having to change information for repeaters on the same frequency might be helpful now that I keep a written list of repeaters for my routine travels. Thanks for the reminder, I'll have to look into that.

That is because they don't make GMRS radios - You might find some Motorola GMRS or FRS radios, but those are the cheap/low quality type radios, not the high-quality non-GMRS radios he is referring to. Basically, just ignore him because he is rheet-hard-ed.

Because sometimes that's just how radio-waves work. Not sure what other answer your looking for.

Maybe a CR.

We. Don’t. Want. Your. Linked or networked. Repeaters on gmrs.

To operate on Facebook or community group pages you need a computer right now these days not everyone is Tech Savey or have ways of getting on the Internet that's why Radio communications are essential to have and if there's a way to do it legally then go for it.

Aaaaand you’re wrong yet again! The individual you referenced is not a cross dresser, he simply enjoys silky undergarments, but don’t we all? You’re very judgmental.

You will get many replies for and against, so it’s really a silly question. How about doing some research on your own, read reviews, watch YouTube videos, and form an opinion based on that. Consider using the search function here, where you’ll surely find more info. One thing is certain; Wouxun isn’t “the best”.

By the grace of mine own self-worth and sarcasm and by the bounteous authority vested in me, THE QUEEN OF ALL THAT IS GMRS, I doth hereby decree, with much pomp and stupidity, that one @SteveShannon, a stout fellow of questionable repute but unquestionable GMRS knowledge, be forthwith and forevermore dubbed a member of the Most Esteemed Order of the HERD (which, perchance, standeth for “Higher End Radio Dork,) Let it be known across the static-ee airwaves of the peasantry to the lofty frequencies of the saddest of H.A.M.s that Sir StevenShannon, clad in naught but his wits and an FCCs permission slip, hath stumbled bravely and fortuitously into the fray of tomfoolery and emerged victorious—or at least not entirely trampled. With this proclamation, he is granted the sacred right to put the title "HERD" after his name, to wield a UV-5R on GMRS channels, and to confuse all who inquire as to what a “HERD” truly be. So sayeth I, THE QUEEN OF ALL THAT IS GMRS on this fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord XENU two thousand and five-and-twenty. Let the roger-beeps blare, and may the Sad H.A.M.s tremble in his presence ! So it is written, so shall it be done. Arise good Sir @SteveShannon, member of the HERD!

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

SILENCE! You have no permission to speak! This prestigious award has already gone straight to your head!

Shaking Elvis's hand would be icky considering how long he's been cold. Meeting him would be even worse, because that would mean I was with him. Not sure if Randy has been complimented or insulted.

There is an easy fix for your two repeater problem. You can either program the two 675 repeater freqs and tones in the custom programming channel slots, 8-14, or one repeater freq and tone(s) pair in one of the 8-14 channel slots, and set the appropriate CTCSS/DCS tone(s) for the other 675 repeater on Repeater Channel 28. Don't forget to set the other parameter settings that those two repeaters require such as the bandwidth/channel spacing setting, etc. One of the problems that I have with the Midland GMRS radio is that CTCSS/DCS table does not include extra non-standard tones in their table and they have no intention to include them in the future. Another issue with consumer grade GMRS radios is that they don't have a true monitor feature whereas the feature will put the channel receive in a carrier squelch mode to defeat the PL Tone Decoder, and a Talkaround/Direct feature whereas the radio will transmit on the programmed receive freq setting instead of the transmit freq setting when you want to transmit simplex. You have to burn one of the precious channel resources to have a talkaround/simplex channel to do so. My first GMRS Radio was a MXT400. It's not a bad radio but, you're limited in what you can do with the radio. If you only need to have access to just a handful of channels than it's not a bad radio. The price for this radio with just a few capabilities is a tad high for a consumer grade radio. I sold my first GMRS MXT400 radio within three weeks after I got it and bought a better quality mobile radio that has the features I was looking for in a mobile radio.