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You are 100% correct that they are not only our representatives, but they are also there to serve us.. But It's cute that you think this would actually accomplish anything because they all seem to have forgotten about that part of the job.

Just my opinion. I feel that LMR400 is mostly recommended because people don't want to spend the money on Heliax. GMRS users can be as tight as amateur radio operators when it comes to spending money. It really boils down to using the best that you can afford. And for most, LMR400 and equivalent is good enough. I will agree that Heliax is definitely better, especially for repeater use. We use 7/8" Heliax for our GMRS repeater with the antenna at 400 feet above ground. 1 1/4" Heliax would perform better but the 7/8" was free.

You want hardline, like Heliax (Comscope/Andrews) or whatever RFS calls it. At 50', you are looking for 1/2" or 7/8", unless you can find a deal for larger somewhere.

Yes, just click on the map option and zoom in to where you are.

I would check/confirm but mine is all boxed up and ready to give away to someone on Youtube. You should email the BTech Support with your questions - they are very good and very fast/responsive.

The payment should be associated with a FRN and show up as unused funds. If you apply for a new license using that FRN, instead of paying through the payment portal you should see your $35 there and a balance due of $0.

I just randomly came across this review of the RT97L that was published on Youtube about 3 minutes after you made this post:

We have limited stock of the new Retevis RT97L repeater available and ready to ship before the tariffs are in place. Like most things we sell, these will undoubtedly be bumped in price, so hurry up and get them before May! Purchase the Retevis RT97L Like the RT97S, these are waterproof (IP66 for this model), have an all-metal chassis, a built-in pre-tuned duplexer, and a DB9 accessory port. 16 channels are supported, in wideband or narrowband mode. CTCSS and DCS codes can be programmed with the included USB cable, but default to 136.5 Hz with the built-in channels. The antenna connector is a UHF (SO-239) connector. There is also a built-in heater to allow cold-weather operation, and it will reduce output power if it's starting to overheat, so it can stay running for longer. The transmitter duty cycle is 100%. RepeaterID will also support these with a model specifically for this repeater. The pinout is slightly different than the RT97S series, so the original RepeaterID is not fully compatible.

You know, having seen that graphic many times, I just noticed a couple things I hadn't before. First, there's no rating for a hood lip or fender mount, just a mag mount. Second, the permanent trunk mount is actually rated more loss (-2.8db) compared to a mag mount on the trunk (-2.1db).

The problems are that it's on a small phone screen and it seems like I have to be logged into something before it's usable. Not sure if that second part is a requirement but it's damned irritating and smells like some sort of click-bait. If worst comes to worst, I can do that, but I'd rather use CHIRP.

I've used a UART gizmo in the past for connecting stuff to my home theater PC with good success so it's good sign that the K1-USB cable has that in it.

Do I believe my eyes? Someone that actually nows their stuff. Using anything other than LMR-400 is totally taboo from what you read on this forum. Did I tell you that it's totally and utterly foolish and breaks every terrestrial and celestial boundary of human stupidity to use anything other than Heilax for UHF.

If it’s just a USB cable, there’s nothing to recognize in the cable itself. That doesn’t mean something isn’t working. If the radio is plugged into a regular USB cable and the USB cable is plugged into the computer Windows will attempt to recognize the chip that’s in the radio itself. That can only happen if a driver has already been installed that is appropriate for the radio. Windows has some drivers pre-installed but not always the right ones. If the radio manufacturer recommends a driver, the driver must be installed before plugging in the radio. The cables that work with the K1 connector have a chip built in, called a UART, that converts USB level signal to audio signals that are connected via the earphone and microphone connection. It is that UART chip which requires a driver on the Windows computer.

And not just any radios nowadays. My Jeep (2015) in dash radio failed on me and I found it too was suffering from the same issue on at least one chip (AM). I used a heat gun to run the solder and all was good... for now!

Here is the link: https://www.arrl.org/contest-glossary

Copy and paste is your friend. That was the only way I could get anything in there. Low power on the repeater is 5 watts I believe.

Seriously? The 1000s of pages of regulations that are "interpreted" to mean one thing during this case and another during the next? You read them and understand them as best you can and then you might get corrected because of your wrongful interpretation. No one, not even the smartest guy at the eff sea sea knows all the rules and regulations pertaining to even a single class of radio and understands them to the fullest exception of the interpretation of the different people who will eventually rule on them on an individual case basis.

The problem I've seen most often with ODmaster is the the Radio and App not connecting by Bluetooth. BOTH the Radio and Phone Must have Bluetooth turned on ... but Wait there's more ! There's a separate slide bar in the App at the top of the page that says Bluetooth, that Must also be On. Then Bluetooth will link the two together, and after your changes, be SURE to Save your changes to the App. Dink with it Often enough and you'll get the hang of it.

Call FCC on the phone, they are pretty good to work with. Best to just apply for a new license, you will not be able to get the old call sign issued to you. (been there done that when I forgot to renew mine a few years back!)

Call customer support at the FCC

I'd agree with the advice to use a radio with a detachable faceplate/control head. Lido makes a bunch of radio mounts. I had a 2012 F-140 4-door and used the seat bolt mount mentioned by WRYZ926. Worked great with a Yaesu Ft8900 remote head. Maybe poke around at the Lido site, click on "Radio Mounts" and see if something grabs you: https://www.lidoradio.com/ I've hung the radio body ("brick") under the driver's seat on all three of my F-150 installations ('07, '12, '20). Lido makes a mount that inserts into the CD slot, which I used in my newer truck with a home made block with a slot cut in it that sits in an unused console compartment.

Its not just the Chinese...

I was going to mention this but I was afraid that too many heads would explode.

A friend would scramble everyone's TVs on the block when he would fire up his CB and amp in his truck when we were in high school. The neighbors loved him for that I live in a small rural town of 1100 people ( I think they counted chickens and cows to get to 1100) with several of us having our amateur licenses. We try not to use any amps when working HF so we don't overload everyone else's radios. One is 500 yards away from me and two are 300 yards away. I had to get on one of them when he decided to run a 165 watt VHF amp during a net. He was overloading my Icom dual band radio all across the 2m band.

Lately, I've tried MURS on my Wouxun KG-935H and it works Very well !

It’s against the rules to transmit on GMRS frequencies using a radio that hasn’t been certified for GMRS. But unless you’re doing far worse things nobody will probably ever know or care and the FCC will not cite you.

So you imagine a scenario like this? : Dirtbag "I got my gmrs radio on, let's do us some listenin!" You: Okay honey, lets stop at the next rest area, WABC123 Dirtbag "That's it, we have his address, let's drive 300 miles and hope his house is empty and unsecure" Yeah, I think you're worrying about the wrong stuff. Much more likely to have a neighbor kid break in when he sees you driving away all loaded up on what's normally a day off.

It (scanning for codes) is now common for most all radio's to have this feature, as I understand it. Interestingly, while my Midland MXT-400 has this feature to scan channels, my Operators Manual is moot about the feature to scan codes, which it can also.

@Lscott at this point in my life, I have come to distrust anything electronic. There is a good chance that if electricity can flow through it, someone can use it improperly against you, without your knowledge.