Leaderboard

I just passed my HAM Technician test!!! Now I just wait for my call sign.

There's nothing wrong with staying at technician either. I know some that never upgraded from the old Novice license as they never use HF at all. I threw out the options with General incase you are interested. It never hurts to have more communication tools in the tool box.

There are other uses for HF than just talking to anonymous men across the country. You can use VHF and HF with Winlink to send emails. And Winlink is commonly used by emergency management agencies during natural disasters. We had a couple of club members here passing messages to people in North Carolina during Hurricane Helena recovery efforts.

I added him to my ignore list so I don’t see his posts anymore. It’s worth it.

I get that, but for my immediate needs, the Tech license is fine. And really, one of the main reasons I got my license, is there aren't really any GMRS repeaters in my area. But there are enough HAM ones to cover pretty much everywhere around here. For the most part GMRS would work perfectly fine for me, if it weren't for lack of coverage in my area.

I can see one of two things happening when @marcspaz does that. Either he will jam everyone's TV's and radios in a two block radius or his hair will all be standing on end. Or possible both The old spark gap transmitters were known for being very RF noisy.

See if these work out for you; let us know any more questions:

Me Too!

Congratulations!

I really don't need new toys, my mobile and HT's are all unlocked. I have been thinking about getting the Comet 2x4SRNMO antenna, but for now my MXT-A26 will work fine. My main reason for wanting my HAM license is mainly for search and rescue. I am on the local SAR team, plus I go camping, hiking, fishing, off roading a lot in the mountains here in Southern Colorado. So I am very often out of cell range. I just wanted an extra tool in case of emergency. There are hardly any GMRS repeaters in my area, but several HAM repeaters.

Congratulations! Its always fun to expand the tool kit and have a good excuse to get new toys.

This is exactly why I got mine. So when I get my HAM call sign, I can use it for GMRS, 2m, 70cm, and MURS. Mostly for RX, but TX if I need to.

Me, too! This radio has stood the test of time, now especially with Chirp support! It out performs my Yaesu FT-857d on 2 meter and 70 cm FM.

I have a couple of Comet 2x4SR antennas. They work well for 2m, MURS, 70cm, and GMRS. SWR is below 2.0 on the 1.25m/220 MHz band too. Though I have not tried using the 2x4SR on 1.25m yet. It is also a popular antenna for EMS and public safety volunteers as it works well for them.

If you’re thinking of using anything in the 2m band I would recommend the Comet antenna you are looking at, that’s a good antenna and the MXT-A26 while good for gmrs and some 70cm will have horrible SWR in the 2m bands.

I really don't have any desire to get the higher licenses. Like I said before, I will mostly use this as a tool to assist with SAR, and in emergency situations. I'm not really interested in talking to anonymous men across the country.

Either his reply got deleted or maybe he was banned. I don't see his reply. Destro, congratulations on getting your technician license. Now you know it won't be long before you start studying for the general which will open up the HF bands to you.

Hi Mike, What do you mean by “for this area?” What characteristics do you value when you say “best radio?” In other words, define “best”. Range? Nearly all mobile radios have the same range assuming the same antenna. Price? The prices will vary greatly depending on features, brand name, etc. Reliability, ruggedness, waterproof construction? All are characteristics that some people want but which are inconsequential to others. If you can better define your question, we can give you our answer.

Well, I certainly agree with this.

Okay, lemme chime in. First, forums are designed for HUMAN INTERACTION so pointing to search engine is plain stupid. Since I had a career in IT I am confident that I can use search engines way better than the moron who pointed me to google. Next, do I want to share my questions with the Google corporation? Also, why would amaff OffRoaderX and Northcutt114 want to be condescending a-holes to a person they don't even know? Would it be because they have a need to lash out on the Internet because that is the only place they can huff, puff and try to look "tough" because in real life they are beat up by their bosses, wives and probably kids (assuming they have any)! The key thing is that they actually have nothing to contribute to, no personal experience worth sharing, just a urge to act like a pompous ass because they are deeply frustrated. As I said, there is at least one in each group. For example on Facebook the folks are exceptionally nasty in almost every group. Discord is much better, I suppose that rather than boomers there are more young, happier, folks over there. I think that in our societies such manners are frowned upon so, say, in a store these folks would be very polite. Behind the wheel some of them would already get unhinged (road rage), and in the Internet they feel total impunity for acting like petulant teens. I guess dealing with folks firmly pegged to the left side of an IQ bell curve is inevitable. The only way to avoid that would be to create fora which test for intelligence before accepting a member, but that would obviously not be acceptable as there are plenty of kind and friendly people with low IQ. So how to get rid of the dumb AND hostile is the question which, so far, nobody has managed to solve, which is too bad. Anyway - WRYS709 please accept my apologies for misreading your comment! Cheers

If I had to guess it's probably like my TYT MD-380 since the RT3S is a rebranded TYT MD-UV380 (newer/dual band version of the MD-380). There is NO com port to choose from in the CPS and also uses a different programming cable than a Wouxun/Kenwood style HT does even though they look the same. Make sure you have the right cable. In Windows device manager it will not show as a com port, it will show (after driver installation) under "Universal Serial Bus devices" as a "Digital Radio in USB mode".

Hey! Watch it Buckko! There is nothing wrong with a little Youtube edutainment !

Fantastic, THANK YOU! I already ordered the clip and... I also ordered the pocket holder thanks for your excellent suggestions! may that good karma come right back to you!

Both of my Anytone came with the cables as well (from amazon). AFAIK, the Anytone software and the Radioddity software are interchangeable between either brand radio. The Retevis software doesn't play nice with my Anytones, but I can program it just fine with the Radioddity software.

Yes! And if you are a stickler for FCC rules you can restore it to GMRS only. You must reload a codeplug each time And if not, I have previously posted a codeplug for when it is unlocked that comports with FCC GMRS rules, otherwise.

I held my Technician license for almost 18 years before I upgraded, for the exact same reasons. I was near exclusively conducting local EMCOMM VHF and UHF support. I upgraded to my General just before COVID hit, mostly out of boredom in my personal time and to encourage/support my son and a friend who we're interested in getting their licenses at the time. We put a study group together and all tested at the same time. I guess that was a long-winded way of saying "I get it." LoL

So, let me ask this question... As someone who is preparing to get their Technician license and is a GMRS user, as well, would the DM20G be a good radio to purchase and then unlock as it would give me access to GMRS, as well as UHF and VHF, the two bands I would have access to as a Technician? Essentially, I would be able to talk on both GMRS and HAM from the same unit?

congradulations. Don't stop..

Right now, I'm just using GMRS, and listening to MURS and 70cm mostly. But there are some 2m repeaters in my area. So I will probably will switch to the Comet.

With the GMRS config, you shouldn't have to do offset and direction and all that. You should be able to pick one of the 'stock' 8 repeater channels, set up the tones, that should be it. A not documented very well step is you need to hit the MON button to cycle the tone modes...one of them being "OFF" (OFF / CTC / DTC N / DTC I), so it won't let you scroll through the tone option menu until you hit MON. That one took me a while to figure out.

They look like a clone of the AT-D168UV. Probably made by the same factory and rebranded with a different name at a lower price. I ordered the RT3S because it was closer to my budget. After I get used to programming DMR I'll probably order a second radio, maybe at a higher price point but hopefully the RT3S will be a good starter radio to learn on.

@Destro Congratulations!

Congratulations!

If you took what I said as me being a "condescending a-hole" and further went on to extrapolate that I "in real life" am "beat up by [my] bosses, wives and probably kids (assuming [I] have any)," well, the only thing I can say is that it seems like you are the one who is "deeply frustrated." I hope the search for the belt clip is fruitful. I'll be disengaging from this thread moving forward.

Uh...I'm not even sure how to respond to this so I'll just agree that your mileage may indeed vary. I'm not sure how what position on the spectrum one occupies comes into this conversation, at all, and I certain didn't "bully" anyone.

Watch out that you don't twist your ankle hopping off of that soapbox.

okay, I misread your comment, my bad and my apologies! I strike-through my previous comment

The TYT TH-9800 seems to have more issues that other TYT radios. I have a couple of TYT TH-7800 dual band radios that have not had any issues. I agree that you should contact the seller about your issues. There is an issue with your radio. Now while RG58 is working for you, RG8 and LMR400 (or equivalent) will work better. If your coax run is 60 feet then your ERP -effective radiating power is going to be around 48 watts. Here is the line loss per 100 feet of coax and ERP for 60 feet of coax for the 2m band RG58 - 70% 48 watts RG8 - 44% 70 watts LMR400 - 32% 79 watts Same numbers but for the 70cm band RG58 - 90% 25 watts RG8 - 66% 52 watts LMR400 - 48% 67 watts Same numbers for GMRS repeater frequencies RG58 - 91% 27 watts RG8 - 67% 50 watts LMR400 - 49% 66 watts I used the https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ to get those numbers. I used an SWR of 1.7 and antenna gain of 3 dBd. A higher gain antenna will have a higher ERP. You really are doing yourself a disfavor by using RG58. Stay away from the cheap junk coax from Amazon and eBay. Buy the best quality coax that you can afford.

No malls anywhere near me, but there is a Dollar General within range. They don't use radios, though; they just yell across the store.

A big part of my YouTube channel is showing stuff I like so folks can get an idea of what something is like before they buy it. I guess you could say I recommend stuff to people all the time.

Is there?? When the OP or question poster indicates he has autism, for example, which has happened here before? You would rather debate the metadata rather than just being silent, not posting anything and letting those of us who like to do the research, answer the question?!? I don’t look behind to the motive of the questioner; if I can help, I do. If I can’t, I move on to the next thread. But I never bully the questioner for asking the question. I guess YMMV!

Some posters do not understand the two types of people on these types of forums: 1) Those that cannot do or are unwilling to do internet research and hence prefer to be spoon fed; and 2) Those that get personal achievement and gratification from doing research for others! ”I want my Maypo!”

Those are hard to tune. Patience Grasshopper. Keep trying.

When I use my HT for GMRS, I make sure I have an aluminum beer can in my other hand for counterpoise. Obviously, you have to empty it till you find that perfect resonance sweet spot. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to get it right.

You’re right that belt clip sucks. This is one on eBay, you’ll note that it doesn’t have a hinge mechanism. I just left mine off and put it in a pocket or a holder like this.

yes

A technician can work 10m SSB along with CW on 10m, 15m, 40m, and 80m. CW is excellent for QRP (low power). This would allow a technician to do POTA and SOTA activations on HF. I always have a GMRS and a dual band 2m/70cm radio with me when I do POTA activations. You can work POTA on 2m/70cm. POTA and SOTA are not contesting so one can work the WARC bands as a general or extra. There are plenty of ways to deploy a simple wire antenna and keep it hidden from Karen and the HOA's I've heard a lot of negative comments from the old curmudgeons like; digital modes isn't real radio, GMRS is just the UHF version of the Chicken Band, you aren't a real amateur if you didn't have to know CW (morse code) to pass your exam, etc, etc. Radio is what you make of it regardless of which service(s) you use. Back to keeping my blood levels down to an acceptable level in my caffeine system

I think this is all spot-on. As a relatively experienced ham and relatively new GMRS user, I see GMRS/FRS as a highly individual service, focused on family and small groups using it for local commo. To look to GMRS for linked repeaters, higher power or social groups is trying to make it something it wasn't intended to be. Some of these ideas would actually be detrimental to the core users for the reasons discussed in their respective threads. When someone suggests these expansions of GMRS are already well-covered by the amateur radio service, I see ham criticized as being elitist, hostile and difficult to enter, yet I also see complaints of the same (human) behavior here in GMRS land, like this thread. For anyone interested, ham is very easy to get into these days and already offers ALL of the things that some GMRS users, especially new users, think would benefit GMRS/FRS. Want to work with repeaters? Ham repeaters outnumber GMRS repeaters 10:1 or more. Most repeater operations are local, but that can vary as desired. Want to participate in nets? Ham radio nets occur just about every day, often several times a day, on all bands. VHF for local and HF for longer distances. Want linking? Ham repeaters not only link to other ham repeaters, but also offer "Echolink", where one can participate in repeater nets with only a computer. Want more power? Amateur radio offers a power limit of 1,500 watts on most bands. Want more range? When propagation is good, one can literally talk around the world on a simple wire stretched up in the trees. Want to socialize or join a club? Ham radio clubs abound, and most have many activities. Want to help out in emergencies? Many hams are very active in emergency and community service contexts. Ham has ARES, RACES and works closely with the National Weather Service during weather events. Our reports go directly to the NWS for distribution to the public and equipment calibration. During any emergency, surviving repeaters are dedicated to emergency service. Individuals maintain battery/generator operated equipment that supports their stations and can continue working during grid-down situations. The equipment for UHF/VHF is about the same as GMRS and many devices can operate in both arenas. There are three levels of the amateur radio license: Technician, General and Amateur Extra. The technician exam is pretty easy and requires a minimum of study, which is well-supported by many 'practice exam' sites. I am a Volunteer Examiner for the FCC and our club give exams almost every month. We seldom see people fail the Tech exam and have had kids as young as 9 years old pass the exam. We are very welcoming and encouraging and are honestly disappointed when someone fails the exam. We give new Tech free membership to our club for the first year, and some clubs provide free radios to new Techs. Help and technical advice is freely given, although, just like here, you will occasionally encounter a person who insists that since you got you license you should therefore know everything needed. As one progresses through the several license levels, privileges are increased, but even Technician offers all of the things I mentioned above, except perhaps talking around the world on a piece of wire. It is true you will find some elitist, grumpy old hams (not like here where everyone is jovial, friendly, welcoming and non-critical), but the clear answer is to simply spin the dial to another of the almost unlimited frequencies. Ham radio is not channelized like CB or FRS/GMRS and there are plenty of good places to be. Bottom line: If the GMRS radio service doesn't fit your idea of good radio, there may be another radio service that does. Instead of trying to change the service to match your ideas, it is likely better to find a radio service that actually serves your needs.

I have to agree with @SteveShannon. He tends to articulate better than I do. I don’t think you are being met with gatekeepers but rather people who want to preserve the availability to all users of the GMRS/FRS channels. That’s where I am coming from at least. Including those that have no interest in getting a license. People that use FRS for talking in campgrounds, between vehicles on family trips, little kids having fun, four wheelers, and on and on. People who will never even come to this site get a license or join a club but just want to use radios for what they are doing. These are all as important and valid as anything else. Try and organize and change a simple service for the people and make it into something that already exists elsewhere and you may see some pushback. For instance local ham clubs near me support bike races, marathons and other activities. just the sort of thing you look to do. They use simplex or their own repeaters to do so. One such club even has a dedicated repeater for such things. Plenty of room on the ham frequencies to do this as well as organized use of the bands and frequencies and it’s great that they do this. Would this also be great on GMRS? Not so much room on GMRS. I have witnessed people thinking that because they put a repeater on a GMRS frequency/channel that they somehow have priority to that channel, that it’s theirs. It is not, they do not. Yes we should all be respectful. So people may have concerns and wish to preserve what is all of ours. As for helping people understand how to use radios, set up repeaters, use of tones, programming, equipment reviews or troubleshooting this place, this forum is here for all that. No gatekeeping isn’t met very well here. My interpretation of gatekeeping is not sharing knowledge, which is just wrong. We can all work on making this site more welcome. But you didn’t ask about this site, you asked “Has GMRS lost its welcoming vibe?”. I don’t know but if it has it’s because some people think it’s theirs and I would just bet they are part of a club and not the kids up the street giggling on their radios.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. There will always be some knuckleheads sure, but when I wandered in here a couple years ago as a clueless wonder my first reaction was that this was one of the most professional, knowledgeable and helpful forums I'd ever run into. That's still true, IMHO. People don't always agree on everything, but that's life. "Hostile" is the last adjective that leaps to mind.