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The single-chip RF chips in radios like the ones from Baofeng are going to produce harmonics that are 2x the main frequency (and other multiples). Those are so far out-of-band that no GMRS repeater is even going to "hear" them, let alone act on them. Early Baofeng (and other models) used to have terrible harmonics. Their designs have gotten much better. There are people with TinySA's (an amazing piece of design - I'm not knocking it) but who cable them up through an attenuator directly to the radio's antenna connector. That is not the FCC's prescribed test methodology, so it's comparing apples and turtles (not even oranges). I can explain why some tri-band radios appear "dirty" on 136-174 direct-connect test, but since this is a GMRS group that isn't relevant here.

get you a cheap Baufang HT's if you don't have a radio already, watch some of the videos the guy here makes often, turn on the radio and begin playing.. Probably 99% of us here started that way..

Demonstrating a firm grasp on the obvious, but for the benefit of newcomers who may not know, those same channels scanned without a "privacy tone" on an FRS radio will also hear GMRS as well. They use the same channels. It will also hear repeaters if any are in range and active, on channels 15 thru 22.

Do you have a GMRS radio? If so, set it to scan channels 1-22 with no privacy tones. If people are using GMRS and they’re within range, you’ll hear them.

About the only way to do that would be to carve off 8-10 frequencies from the 440 band, and hams would completely lose their s*** over that. I understand why. Once the camel's nose is under the tent, the rest will soon follow, and hams don't want to lose anything they have. I don't think there's any way the FCC will authorize new channels for GMRS. In this particular instance, it's not something they will consider at all, because the goal is to simplify rules, save money, and reduce regulatory burdens, and reallocating frequencies to GMRS won't do any of that. My prediction is that changes to amateur and GMRS regulations will be few or none. My reasoning is that ham and GMRS are already pretty lightly regulated and there's not much to be gained by changing anything. The only thing I could see happening is that other users could pressure the FCC to reallocate part of the amateur radio spectrum to give them more bandwidth, but again, at present that won't accomplish any of the FCCs goals. Indeed, it would make things more complicated since they'd have to write a whole new set of regulations. It may happen someday, but probably not under the present administration.

That what I was thinking, too. If it were some dodgy connections, might lead to a short which would cause other problems.

The only way I can conceive of feeling a tingle from 7.4 vDC battery terminals would be if the person has sweaty hands and the part of the hand between the terminals has nerve endings near the skin’s surface, similar to touching a battery’s terminals with your tongue.

Welcome good set up so far. What do you do for an activity while using gmrs? Ham is great for chatting with others and you seam well on Your way to that. But gmrs is for use by friends and family, people you already know, while doing something, hiking, biking, road tripping ……. The list goes on.

One other factor would be the individuals own sweat. The "salinity" of folks sweat varies. We ran some tests using a conductivity meter across the palm of numerous folks and the numbers were all over the place.

I'll let you in on a secret - if a Lovense toy is turned on but a) isn't connected to a controlling Bluetooth phone / etc. and b) doesn't have a password set (no password is the default and they don't explain why setting one is a good idea), they're discoverable via BLE (they will all be named "LVS", the firmware version, and the short product code for the device). Get a BLE scanner app for your phone and you'd be surprised how many of these are around and broadcasting. Since they're broadcasting, it's OK to monitor them with a BLE app. Installing the Lovense app and actually connecting to one of them would most definitely NOT be OK.

What mode is your TD-H3 in (GMRS, HAM, Unlocked)? Do you have your repeater channel offsets setup properly?

In reading threads here I’m left with the opinion that some of you guys have never seen a woman naked.

Oh Boy, this is turning into............

Can you point us to an example of that ever being an issue.. for anyone.. ever? Even just once?

I broke down and participated in the Missouri QSO party this weekend. Four of us got together and ran under the club call sign. We kept everything casual and didn't try too hard. It was pretty fun getting to rag chew with the others while one guy was at the radio.

After reading the subject of using repeaters that seem to be silent most of the time, sounds similar to the ones that I have posted. I will admit that I've narrow minded on this subject. Besides, the General Mobile Radio Service wasn't intended as HOBBY. Of course, GMRS is technically intended for recreational, or an alternative use Telephone Systems aren't available. I may be wrong with what just said, but I know I'm not totally wrong about what I tried to say.

Sure. You can tune GMRS from 462.550 to 462.725 mhz.

That's Not a TID H3 either !

Here you go (yes, that is a man’s hand in my picture but I’m a small man)

They are close. But it's not the same hand.

I'm going to squirt some opinion anyway, even though you already know it. The likelyhood is a fraction higher than zero - it's not absolute zero, but very close to zero.. Its funny how "some people" will proclaim that my cheap little CCR can't talk more than a few hundred yards, yet, one minute later they will proclaim that the same radio's spurious RF emissions will bring down a 747 at 38,000 feet or jam an entire police department's communications system from 5 miles away. YES! at least, some do. I have seen this myself many times when comparing my XTL5000 radios in both my Jeeps to cheap radios in Jeeps just a couple of feet away - it actually happened yesterday. Our friend's radio was completely unusable when we were about 1/4 mile from a big antenna tower site, and the XTLs in my and my wife's Jeeps were silent. and this has happened many times. It is doubtful that any decent LMR radio would ever be affected by the spurious emissions from a 5w HT miles away.

They look like some pretty meaty paws to me! And now the radio's backwards and it's not an H3 plus!

I haven’t noticed the battery “tingle” but I hold it with my left hand if that makes a difference lol. Numbers appearing may be ANI ID numbers. I have seen them on receive but I don’t recall seeing them on transmit but I don’t have them turned on.

Apparently the AI likes to put man hands on woman holding radios.

When your programming cable is connected to the computer, your computer pick which comm port it wants to use. In the CPS, you have to tell the CPS which comm port the computer wants to use by going to the Set Up Page and click on Communications Port. You will notice that one of the 20 comm ports in the CPS is the only one that you can select so you need to select that port and click OK. Now, you can either read that codeplug or write to that codeplug. If any alerts come up just push pass it to write to the radio.

The manual is available on the Support section of the Radtel website. It is very brief. The radio does not appear to be FCC Part 95E compliant or Part 95E certified. Its stated output power (10W) exceeds the maximum allowable for portable GMRS devices (5W). The higher power seems unlikely to provide greater range but would certainly drain the battery more quickly than the legal power. The RT-493 also supports frequencies that are not part of the FCC-allocated GMRS spectrum, though Radtel asserts they are GMRS frequencies. Specifically, it supports 44 of the 30 Simplex channels [sic] authorized by the FCC. I checked Part 95E as of the date of this posting, April 6, 2025. Personally, I would avoid the RT-493, especially if communicating with devices other than the RT-493 itself, since you may inadvertently choose a non-GMRS channel. Moreover, I strive to operate in full compliance with FCC rules and regulations.

Hi - A friends Dad had a Ham Radio I was given the chance to play around with when a kid. Looking to have a communication back up via radio - should someone, somewhere simply decide to turn of internet digital access here. [Saw a note from a guy about being prepared when there is a digital communications block - just when Chinese and Russian paratroopers are jumping into New York City - which is not something any of us want to see occur ]. That being said - Have my GRMS License [Call Sign: WSHS561] and am studying for my Radio Technician License. I have purchased a: AnyTone AT-555n II, 10 Meter Radio Mobile Transceiver [Which appears to be a 'CB' type radio for install in my truck - looking at how to do that. And how to seek others in the frequency ranges available. Although I have been able to connect with the NOAA transmitter channel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina]. and a Baofeng AR-5RM Ham Radio, Multi Bands - Two Way Radio Handheld. [Which I have also been able to connect with the NOAA transmitter in Chapel Hill]. I shared a picture of my radios in this post - I have a real stand on the way for the equipment next to my desk. Looking for help connecting with another GRMS licensed reapetr to chat. And will be checking in as I progress with my Technicians License study for testing. Thanks and Cheers! Greg Cary, North Carolina

the only strange thing I've noticed about the 935H {Ham} and Gmrs if you want to do that, is holding it in your right hand while transmitting you *might* get a little tingle from the positive battery contact on the rear. Apparently Not all of them do it, since buytwowayradios.com hasn't noticed any. Also Random numbers or underlines *might* appear during transmit in the display where your memory name is. Neither of these seem to affect the audio quality or signal when in transmit. Otherwise, GREAT performance and power output is right up there!

Found that out the hard way. I'm up to six now. Different services, but yeah.... wait, do scanners count? Make that seven.

Welcome and good luck! Technician is a cinch. You got this.

Welcome! Good luck with the studying!

That photo is inaccurate, that or the hand belongs to an 8yo. I am a small person (5'2", 135lbs). It is definitely not that big. In the pic it looks bigger than a UV5R (I have two of those) and this is significantly smaller than that. Here is mine, hopefully this gives a decent size reference. The speaker mic is a mini, just a fraction over 1" wide. I'll take a pic with it in my hand (or with something that will give good size reference) tomorrow if that helps.

Hand held radios are like potato chips, you can't have just one (or three).

Sideband even, nice!

Glad to see so many people offering strong opinions on how many repeaters people own, if they are public and how they run them. Public debates a great thing. Adding the would "should" to this opinion kind of makes it sound like people want to control repeaters they don't own and the greater GMRS service itself. Thankfully everyone is entitled to an opinion and should voice it. I know no one in the GMRS community would ever attempt to dictate how license holders be allowed to use the GMRS service, especially when engaged in activities allowable by the FCC. I just know it in my heart this would never happen. I was really worried there for a minute that some GMRS users were going to start telling others what to do.

I’m fine with a few bucks more as a result of tariffs and hopefully they have the desired impact.

Well, no; that $20 retail price was probably $6 when purchased by the importer. So a 25% tariff would be $1.50 which could easily be absorbed or partially absorbed rather than passed through. A 100% tariff might add $3 to the price.

Or someone's got very tiny hands?

It appears this new H3 Plus is larger than the old H3, somewhere between the H8 & H3. But there doctored photos are terrible to 100% confirm.

Why does it matter. Are you paying electric bil, tower fees and such for them ? You ever think the owners just dont care about users or nets on them ? I have multiple repeaters in multiple states. Some are those "300'" tower you speak of. They are my repeaters and I pay for maintenance and upkeep. they are there for me, my family and a few freinds. I can say 100% if you drive by some of them they are dead all week long as no one is there. Weeks are different. No way I'd want to put farmers or any of that on my stuff. Thats what LMR Part 90 is for. Additionally there is absolutely no requirement to have a repeater on the air. 95% of my traffic is simplex. repeater is there when needed. So its used.

Cheap chynese Radio. Must be horrible. And people have had problems with them that the company has resolved quickly. How horrible. Might as well spend 4 to 5 times as much and get a quality radio with many less features that you can only program with a computer instead of the keyboard on the fly.

Yep, I have a pair of H3's and they work great. Love the ease of programming, the duel frequency watch, e display that shows the channel custom name, Channel number, as well as the frequency! Also like the size - easy to stash in a pocket or strap to a bike handle (one thing I use them for). And their range always surprises me (the stock antennas are surprisingly better than one might expect... but I like to put the 771G on them and they perform much better.

Socalgmrs a question. What brands do you own? Or did you build it yourself like Hams of old did? Pardon me, that was two questions. Maybe that is causing his lack of response.

My H-8 works Flawless !

People. It’s government. They aren’t ever going to make anything better.

The old saying "A man with a watch knows what time it is, a man with 2 isn't certain."

The likelyhood is a fraction higher than zero - it's not absolute zero, but very close to zero.. Its funny how "some people" will proclaim that my cheap little CCR can't talk more than a few hundred yards, yet, one minute later they will proclaim that the same radio's spurious RF emissions will bring down a 747 at 38,000 feet or jam an entire police department's communications system from 5 miles away. OMG. The stars have aligned. I TOTALLY AGREE. spurious emissions is not something any one really needs to worry about. Atleast not from a ccr 2-5w ht