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Response to SteveShanon and WRYZ926. Radios are working now. One of the repeater was listed twice with different tones. That may have contributed to the issue. Apologies for the delay in responding, appreciate your help.

Thanks for actually updating this, vs what seems to happen 9 times out of 10 here, where someone posts about a problem, gets a bunch of responses, and then vanishes into the night hahah

I'm glad to hear that yo got your radios working properly. And don't feel bad about making a simple mistake, we all do it.

I think by this point in the thread I've figured that out. LOL.

It's nice making DX contacts. Try to post when you do your activations and what frequencies you are on so we can try to work you. I know that sometimes it's hard to get 10 contacts for an activation. Other times it's a pileup. What helps is spotting yourself on the POTA website.

I made my first international contacts this afternoon. Helped a POTA station in the Dominican Republic get a QSO and then later heard a guy calling CQ from Costa Rica. My Spanish is a little rusty but fortunately the guy from Costa Rica's English was way better than my POTA brother from the DR. Headed out tomorrow to retry my first failed activation. Fingers crossed!

Oh, and don't forget to get a basic cable tester as it will save you lots of time and aggravation. No matter how good you think you are you always should test. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Ethernet-Cable-Tester-Kit-with-LAN-Scout-Jr-Cable-Tester-Data-1-RJ45-Remote-VDV526-200/316914005

Those are not shielded connectors. The OP stated he has shielded CAT5 cable so he really should use shielded RJ45 connectors. Menards does not carry shielded Rj45 connectors. I bought mine from Amazon Here is what I bought Cable Matters 100-Pack Cat 6A Shielded Pass Through RJ45 Connectors Here is a 20 pack. I can't speak on the quality of these. 20-Pack Pass Through Cat6 Shielded RJ45 Connectors

Amaff and Steve just about summed it up. If you're looking to make contact and the channel is quiet, then call-sign and "monitoring", and someone may answer. If a chat is going on, then gauge as to the appropriateness to jump in. If appropriate, wait for a break, call-sign and "comment" or " question". Then let them invite you in. We have a pretty active repeater so everyone knows that any conversation is likely being listened by several folks and conversations are, mostly, open to general conversation. There are a few exceptions. The other night a father and son (adults) were talking about Christmas plans. I listened but let them have their "private" conversation without interruption (not that I had anything to say). On the other hand, a couple of guys were talking about places to go fishing and I realized that one of the lakes they were considering was private, so I broke in appropriately and let them know. The appreciated the information and we chatted for a minute then I backed out and let them finish. It all is about appropriateness and respect. Welcome to GMRS.

@amaff gave good advice. GMRS doesn’t use the lingo used by either CB or ham radio. People use first names typically, not handles but of course however you want to introduce yourself is strictly your choice. It’s also not typically a service where people make blind contacts the way ham radio operators do, but some people do treat it like that. The rules don’t prohibit it but people who live in vicinities where the channels are busy may resent having the very limited number of channels used for something they refer to as “ham light.” To answer your specific questions, you would typically not break into a conversation but change channels or wait until there’s a long enough pause or invitation. Guage it by the type of conversation you’re hearing. If you want to announce your presence a simple statement like “wsku567 monitoring” is enough. Someone might respond. Finally, in a public forum like this it’s risky to publish your own email address. People will answer your question in a reply or a pm, not an email, but scammers will gladly harvest your email address. Welcome!

get on there and say breaker breaker.

I managed to actually get a couple QSO's today even with my bad SWR. First one was in Missouri on 28.400MHz/USB and the 2nd was in B.C. Canada on 28.345MHz/USB. This HF stuff really is awesome. To make contacts that far away Simplex with my kind of crappy little dipole antenna(antenna tuner incoming tomorrow to sort out SWR) is really amazing to me. This is way more fun than 2M/70cm IMHO. Anyway, just wanted to share the good news. 73

Today marks the 4th anniversary of NOVA GMRS. We couldn't have done it without you! I just wanted to thank our Founder, Eric (we miss you buddy), David and Mick for all the fantastic support over the years. Keep an eye out for new events and get togethers in 2026. Happy New Year!

My friend and I both own BTECH GMRS-V2 radios. We are trying to talk to each other but don't come in very well on simplex. On repeaters, I can hear others just fine but we keep cutting out. I'm just using the rubber ducky antenna that came with the radio and the TX power is on high. If it helps, we're in Seattle and testing it one city block away from each other.

And when they do have rain the gutters couldn’t handle it.

Let us know what time.

Will do. I also spot myself using the PoLo app. It will be somewhere between 28.3 and 28.5 on 10m. Lowly Technician here.

Not all hardware stores will carry shielded RJ45 connectors which is what the OP needs. Menards and Ace Hardware do not carry them. Lowe's and Home Depot do carry shield RJ45 connectors but they are pricy. It is best to stick with shielded connectors on shielded cable. You can use regular RJ45 connectors but you defeat the purpose of using shielded cable.

American and European made 1/4 wave vertical antennas definitely cost more but the quality is also better. Like I said, I would have considered the HF-009 if it would have been available at the time I bough the REZ Recon 40. That being said, the REZ antennas are made in the US with excellent quality control. REZ has even tested their antennas to see how much power they can take before things start to melt. I will always try to support American companies, especially small companies, when I can. I didn't bother getting the Ranger 80 as I never plan on using 80m for POTA. The Recon 40 covers 6m-20m with the coil bypassed and covers 40m with the coil. The Scout covers 6m - 20m and works in many different configurations.

BuyTwoWay Radios does a good job at a reasonable price and their turn around is pretty fast. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/prog-mdpx.html

Check with a local amateur radio club. Sometimes they have members with the proper equipment to tune duplexers.

I thought wryz296 did an excellent job of explaining why we don’t do that without scolding, shaming, or bullying, but your response, resorting to name calling, says more about you.

Feel free to add me to your ignore list. While we do talk about using unlocked radios on other bands, we never talk about using bands that are not allowed here in the US. So if advising people not to transmit on bands/frequencies that can interfere with military use then I will be a "sad ham" You do you. I'll keep stating not to transmit outside of the 40 CB channels authorized for use in the US. Again ignore me if you don't like what I have to say.

We aren't allowed to use those frequencies here in the US. We are restricted to the 40 CB channels so that we do not interfere with the military or other federal agencies. I know "free banders" don't care about the regulations and will operate outside of the 40 channels along with using illegal amplifiers. The 11m band falls under International licensing agreement for amateur radio for most of the world. But here in the US it is not part of the amateur bands nor is it covered by US amateur licenses. Now if you want to have fun on CB/11m then work DX on the legal US channels without using an amplifier or a MARS modded radio that puts out more than 4 watts on AM/FM or 12 watts on SSB.

I got both the Radioddity HF-008 and HF-009 on Black Friday discounted bundles that were too good to pass up! I had also thought I purchased the JPC-12 on a Black Friday deal from AliExpress, but that turned out to be a scam and got a refund. Ironically last week another vendor at AliExpress had it for a good price, so I purchased it from them and it is then a waiting game to receive it. The two telescoping whips from Thailand will take until early February to receive. The nanoVNA arrives Friday! Lots to learn and mix and match and have fun with Antennas 101! Sorry if I am repeating myself: I am following two different threads...

If you think that small portion of 10 meter is fun try the 11 meter “free band” frequencies. Start on 27.555 USB. Make a call on that frequency, or jump on somebody calling, then QSY to another frequency thats unused to continue your conversation. Unlike the standard CB 40 channels that get overrun by nut jobs, the frequencies between 27.410-27.515 LSB and 27.525-27.785 USB are full of worldwide contacts that treat it more like licensed HF frequencies. I talk to Ireland, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Italy, UK, Australia, Canada, etc pretty much daily up there. Also Jamaica’s main frequency is 27.515 LSB if you’re feeling a little rastafarian. You don’t need more than a Tech license (or even need a license for 11 meter) to have fun during a solar cycle. Edit: It’s also fun jumping on the UK FM 40 in the early morning (their evening) here in the US. Their channel 19 (27.78125 FM) can be hilarious at times. I guess it’s called “the muppet channel” for a reason. Anyway, enjoy this solar cycle while it lasts. We still have a few years left before it dies off.

I will always suggest an inverted v dipole over a flat top (horizontal) dipole for that reason. Plus an inverted V can be easier to setup and deploy. I understand that you have HOA restrictions to deal with. If they allow you to have a fairly tall flag pole, then you could hang a dipole off of it or use the flag pole for a vertical antenna. wire antennas tend to disappear from view and go unnoticed. 3mm Dacron guy rope tends to blend in quite well too. It's the masts and other hardware used to deploy them that is more visible. I have talked to stations all over the world with my 10m inverted v using a 100 watt radio. I have also talked to European stations with that antenna and my 20 watt Xiegu G90. I have worked all over the world with the antenna and either radio using FT8. This is all from my location in mid Missouri. You are going to be getting your general before you know it now that you have caught the HF bug. I like the 12m and 17m WARC bands since contesting is not allowed on any WARC band. The 30m and 60m WARC bands require more room for an antenna. But a telescoping vertical whip antenna can easily be tuned for 12m and 17m.

3 blocks isn't too bad. The reason you can't hear each other on the repeater doesn't seem to be a programming issue from what I see. I would guess that your signals are not reaching the repeater. It's not uncommon for it to be easier to receive a repeater than to reach one.

Most likely adding a different antenna will help. Typically the ones that comes with low cost radios are not the best. It also may matter if you are indoors or not, and if you have a lot of obstructions between yourself and your friend's radio... or the repeaters. Line of sight is key in GMRS. the clearer the line of sight, the further and stronger the signal will be. In an urban area inside a car or home, with buildings and other obstructions, yes your signal will have less reach. experiment with them from different locations. Try to find places where you can get a clearer line of sight between yourself and the other radio if possible.

What frequency do they receive on and what frequency are they programmed to transmit on? Is transmitting inhibited in the programming? Do you really mean they aren’t transmitting or do you mean that the repeater doesn’t seem to hear and retransmit your signal?

One has to pass a test to get a license. That also means at least do the basic research, read the rules and follow established band plans. These sort of questions are a bit disappointing when licensed operators know better. US Amature Band Plan 2020.pdf

Also as a Technician it's 28.300-28.500 sideband only, not standard FM.

No one does FM below the 29 MHz portion of the 10 Meters band. I am not sure if this is by custom or FCC Rule.

The TD-H3 has two modes, Ham and GMRS. When you are in either mode it follows the rules for those bands. It does have a 3rd mode that is unlimited and will transmit on everything the radio is capable of.

You just push the button and talk, friend. And throw out your call sign once ever 15 minutes or so.

To stay legal I only use my Marine radios when I'm in the bathtub...

Don't forget that there is a designated channel for off-roading for both CB Radio and GMRS, which is Ch. 16 (4X4). Back in the prehistoric days of GMRS, also was known as Class A Citizen Band Radio, the 462.675 MHz channel pair was regulated by rule for emergency use only, as a condition of the license. Most of the REACT Associations used the 462.675 MHz channel pair for repeater operations for relaying highway emergency traffic amongst their monitor stations. The REACTs adopted the PL Tone of 141.3 as a common tone and this tone freq became the Travel Tone later on. This was also before FRS was allocated and regulated for non-license use. The FRS interstitial channel allocations were a product of the FCC frequency refarming effort in the early to mid 90s . In the mid 90s, Radio Shack petition the FCC for spectrum for the FRS. The FCC allocated a total of 14 462/467 MHz channels that are known as the Interstitial channels for FRS use as individual channels. The channel designations of 1-22 did not exist prior to FRS. Sometime around the late 90s, the FCC deregulated the 462.675 MHz channel pair use for emergencies. Sometime after the channel was deregulated, there was an effort by a couple of REACTs and Radio Clubs to continue the use of the channel and they called it a "Travelers Assistance" channel, but that effort never held traction by the new generation of radio licensees. After the advent of FRS and the fact that the FRS radio manufacturers were marketing the low-powered FRS radios with GMRS 462 MHz Main channels, the 1-22 channel numbering took on what it is today for a channel naming convention, thus the 462.675 MHz channel became channel 20. The reason of some of the confusing with what is the real "Travel Channel", the newer generation of GMRS licensees are familiar with the CB Ch. 19 as the Truckers' channel being nationwide except for California, and with US 101 and Interstate 5 in Oregon and Washington State, were not aware of the history of GMRS and the 462.675 MHz channel pair use restriction. The older GMRS licensees are familiar with the history and prefer to keep the traditional use of Ch. 20 as the designated "Travel Channel". It appears that this subject will be debated for eons until an official regulatory entity formaly lays down the official rule of the land, and put it in writing. Will that be the FCC or the Queen? Since, I started with GMRS and originally held, license "KAG0097" with the 462.675 Meg restriction, I prefer to keep it traditional, for Ch. 20, being the official "Travel Channel". Most people are willing to keep the Travel Tone as 141.3 Hz, they also should be willing to keep the Travel Channel as ch. 20.

Excellent points @SteveShannon--I honestly agree, while not all of us have the channel congestion problem, some parts of the country sure do, and reserving specific use official (read: in the regulations, like 19 in CB) for a channel or channels is a good way to make that problem worse. I will admit, I was completely unaware of the 16 common use, in all my googling on this (many many hours over months of time actually), that was one I never came across. Makes sense though, and as you said very well, unofficial designations are definitely welcome! To mention a use case around here, in places like Ocoee Gorge in Tennessee, or US 64 between Hayesville and Franklin NC (where it crosses the Appalachian Trail), there is little to no cell service, and (believe me, I've tried) no repeater coverage neither. When traveling those stretches of road now, as a courtesy I typically will run my mobile on scan if not traveling with a group, just on the off chance I *do* hear a mayday call or someone lost. That really does seem to be the best solution in my mind, is just listen on *everything* if one doesn't need to work a specific channel in those more wilderness areas, where there is no common channel or cellular coverage. Will I probably ever hear a real SOS? Probably not...but if I've got the gear, might as well try and put it to use in case someone needs help...