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It has only been 17 hours since you came here looking for help and most of that time the rest of us were sleeping. If you’re truly giving up, don’t start a new thread to announce it unless you also post it in the thread where you asked for ideas. People here will do everything they can to help but not if you give up.

The FCC regulations limit transmissions on 8-14 to handheld radios and at 1/2 watt. They’re narrow channels that fit in between the 467 main channels which are used by repeaters to receive. 467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz

Because the premise “if they don’t like GMRS” is not true for all hams. Based on my experience it’s not even true for most hams.

I think it can really depend on the local culture/community as well. Here in the Seattle area we have a terrific repeater that's open to all with daily banter and a host of regular contributors. There's others with incredibly strict terms of service and etiquette expectations, and some that are public but put forth as solely emergency comms infrastructure. If it's of interest to you, there may well be local volunteer teams organized around disaster/emergency preparedness (ARES, CERT, etc.) that are accepting new members. Scanning/monitoring is probably the best way to discover what traffic in your area sounds like, and if it's even something you want to engage with. As others have mentioned, starting with a couple of local buddies within simplex range might be the most reliable option!

Just purchased a pair of Baofeng GT-18 radios on Amazon. Something to play with room to room. $16. That's less than a trip to McDonnalds, a pair of Duluth trading underwear, 1 hour of range time, ammunition for 1 hour of range time. So how is this done? They have to be manufactured. They have to be shipped from China. They have to be distributed nationally, they have to be warehoused, picked, and shipped to end user. Amazon has to make a profit. If they're no more than a conversation piece on an end table they are worth more than $16. If I took a picture of them and put the picture in a frame it would cost more than $16. They are coming overnight so I will have them today and see if they will do anything. I just find this crazy looking at prices today and the fact the penny no longer even exists, lol.

And all I did yesterday was sit on a park bench and miserably fail a POTA activation. Congrats for getting out there and getting stuff done. Thanks for your service!

I got the radios fired up tonight. The CPS works fine with them and they make the trip across the house very nicely. They are obviously not "boutique" radios and very well may be populated with some broad tolerance components but they do the job that I needed done. While I do have an appreciation for better engineering, in my case it does nothing for me except cost more. The right tool for the job. Good to know they can perform for an extended period of time. Obviously I haven't experienced that aspect of any of my radios only having them for a short time.

That's probably overstating things. Real world, they would have walked us right onto the target if we needed them to. And honestly, they pretty much did. To explain: Because we were running an exercise, the people who set it up were free to be a bit diabolical. The actual "aircraft" structure (a bunch of tarps laid out in the shape of an airplane, nice and visible from above) our plane talked us right onto. Our victim was displaced from the plane (as though they had gotten out in the cold to seek shelter overnight). But the REAL trick was that the ELT was displaced away from the "aircraft" a small distance, and we didn't actually realize that until after we packed up our "aircraft" target and we were all going "hey...who picked up the ELT? The plane's still up and says it's still on, so turn it off!" and none of us had it. The plane's a hell of an asset, but trying to pick out a fairly small orange box (see the last photo) that's in scrub grass, brush, and red rocks from 1000' up at ~100 mph is not exactly easy. I happened to be with the crew packing up the plane when we realized no one had actually found the ELT, and had my UV-K6 at hand. Another part of our group, hearing on the radio what was going on, was un-packing our 'official' DF gear that we had already packed up, assuming we were done. But I called out that I'd found it before they were really able to get set up. They'd have had no trouble finding it with that either, but it was nice to have a real-world test of some easily packable back-up gear.

The solar panel and charge controller could be one source of noise. But you would think that it would be constant and not intermittent. I haven't tried using a solar panel to keep my batteries topped off when doing POTA. I have ferrite beads on the G90 power lead that plugs directly into my battery box and I haven't had any noise issues.

Now THAT is good evening.

And that is one reason why I don't care for people using amateur radios that have been unlocked. An unlocked radio will allow you to transmit on channels 8-14 at what ever the max power output of the radio is. And an unlocked radio will also allow you to transmit on wide band on channels 8-14. Both can cause interference issues on the 467 repeater channels, especially if you are running 50 watts.

You have to watch tuners too. I know with the LDG brand, they only recommend 75 watts on digital modes with their 200 watt tuner. You can run up to 300 watts digital with their 600 watt tuner and up to 500 watts with their 1000 watt tuner. Most tuners will only handle 25% to 70% of the full rated power when running CW and digital modes. LDG averages between 40% to 60% of full power rating when running CW and digital modes. I had a guy with an LDG100 that had to replace it several times when it would stop working. LDG finally decided to ask him what he was doing to blow the tuners, He was running 100 watts FT8 through the LDG 100 watt tuner. Knock on wood, the only thing I smoked was a 50 watt dummy load pushing 100 watts through it. It didn't let any smoke out but it sure did melt the solder joint on the resister. Luckily that was an easy fix by re soldering the resistor.

I have an app (Space Weather Live) on my phone that notifies me of any incoming or current space weather. Right now, my area is under a level two radio blackout from a current solar storm. I don't have to go check, it pops a notification up on my phone any time something is heading this way or currently going on.

I ordered a couple of KG-805G to start.

Sorry got a bit triggered when I read this one response. "but by and large, GMRS is useful if you want to make contacts with the kids playing radio on channel 1, the road crew squatting on 20, or the old drive-thru still using FRS frequencies for their drive through" My take on it is if you don't like GMRS don't use it and stay out of sites like this dedicated to GMRS. Get a little tired of the "GMRS is for people too lazy to study for a HAM license" or calling us bubble pack radios. Heard both several times from HAM guys. But anyway I think I will do in here what I do when someone tries to access a repeater without a call sign. Ignore until they go away.

Another reason is because China makes the components used in manufacturing the radios. They work but aren't near the quality of other parts used in more expensive radios.

Slave Labor in China is FREE so no employees to pay. LOL.

Well, personally, I have a GMRS license and GMRS radios in addition to an amateur license (KJ5JFG) because the two services do different things. Amateur radio has a much larger aspect of experimentation. The thing about "making contacts" is mostly about figuring out which band to use, making the right antenna, finding the right time when the band is "open", and then getting on the air to see if you got it right. It's not really about conversing; it's about overcoming the technical challenges. It's actually kind of exciting to talk to Guatemala with a 10 meter antenna you built yourself. There's a social aspect as well, and there are some practical uses like weather warning, but mostly it's a hobby for techno-nerds. GMRS radio is much more oriented to everyday practical use in support of a business or hobby. Many people use it to keep in touch with family on a regular basis. I don't only because I don't have any family in the area. I'm plugged into the local prepper community and preppers use it quite a bit. One group even holds a weekly net to keep track of who's available in case of an emergency. I use a GMRS radio to communicate with people who have FRS radios at public events (horse shows, rodeos, etc.) The GMRS community isn't as formally organized for weather warning as the ham community, but there's definitely activity when severe weather occurs, and you can never have too much information in that event. GMRS is the obvious choice for people traveling on the highway in groups. Yes, a lot of hams are hostile to GMRS, but that's a personal problem, as far as I'm concerned. The two services are actually complementary. There's no reason you can't use both.

So now you’re successfully transmitting. I have no idea whether that’s the right frequency for the transmitter you’re trying to reach or whether the repeater requires that DTCSS code (D261N) but if it does, and if you’re in range you should be able to hit the repeater. One thing I would recommend if you’re just starting out, clear out that decode tone (162.2 Hz). If it’s set wrong you’ll hear nothing. If you leave the receive tone empty you’ll hear everything on that channel. You can always go back in and change just the receive tone, but it must exactly match the repeater.

Ok...I meant in ODMaster, the screen that shows all the settings for that channel (not a picture of the screen of the radio), but there's a couple things going on... My initial thought was that you weren't set up for a repeater (there's no frequency offset indicator on the screen, usually indicated on GMRS by a "+" symbol). And that might still be true, but that wouldn't explain why you can't transmit on GMRS 21. IE: It shouldn't be giving you the "I can't" tone when you hit the PTT... I'm curious if the H8 in GMRS mode simply won't let you transmit when you're in VFO mode? Maybe test it by putting it into MR (memory) mode, put it on channel 21 and see if it'll at least let you transmit without giving you the beep. From there, you should be able to set it to channel 29 (usually called "RPT21" or something along those lines) and select the appropriate tones.

I saw that video and many others, the radio is in GMRS mode, I hear others on the channel . I know it a programing issue I just need help finding out what I'm doing wrong.

An added cost to using a tuner is making sure your antennas can handle that much power. Forget about using any cheaper baluns and unun as most are only rated for 100 or 200 watts max and that's only for voice modes. Most baluns, ununs and antennas rated for 100 watts will only handle between 20 to 60 watts on CW and digital modes. Trying to run 100 watts CW or digital through a 100 watt balun/unun will melt the wires.

I wish sort by date was default.

Looks like the closest potential repeater is down in Morgantown. https://mygmrs.com/repeater/10130 Also found this, Join the Greater Pittsburgh Area GMRS Community! Connect with fellow radio enthusiasts, share your experiences, and stay updated on local events. https://www.facebook.com/groups/gmrspgh/ You might try hitting the repeater or getting in touch with the Pittsburg group.

When you do your radio check ask if anyone has a scheduled net on a local repeater.

I usually respond to requests for a signal check. It's the only way for the requester to really know if his/her equipment is working and programmed correctly. Sometimes I'll have time to chat and sometimes I won't. I suspect most people are much the same way. That said, you need to be aware that many -- perhaps most -- GMRS users want to communicate with a known group of people for a specific purpose and may not really be interested in talking to a stranger. It's not rudeness; it's just that they bought the license and equipment for some purpose that doesn't include you. If you persist, you'll find some people to chat with.

OP, are you using CHIRP to program, or doing this all within the onboard menu/keypad? If using CHIRP, a screen grab of your current settings can be helpful to diagnose your situation.

This thread is headed south and that is surely not the outcome I was hoping for. Obviously some emotion regarding competitive manufacturing and how ethically that is conducted per one's own perception. I have noted some assertions that would be very difficult to validate without extensive information that I doubt is available outside the manufacturer's control. While I would suspect that some component selection is frugal, I'm not in a position to proclaim that suspicion. I'm also not convinced that it impacts the form, fit, and function of the unit. Expand these concerns to marketing practices and I that pushes my buttons. Regardless of country, nationality, et all, exaggerated performance claims run ramped. I see USDA grade A manufacturers claiming 35 mile range on FRS radios. Under what conditions, lol. Standing six foot tall I have a horizon limitation of about three miles. This is inclusive of every industry I work with. When I buy a cinema camera I go into the research with my set of specifications and heavily research every spec that is glazed over in the marketing babble usually finding that it is sub-standard. As I build a repertoire of specifications for radios I will use that collection in future purchases.

That's legit, man. Thanks. So let me get this straight, though. You had a fixed wing aircraft on station and a $30 CCR won the day?

This would be a slight misstep. AWS is Amazon's major source of revenue. Retail takes a distant back seat. But your bemusement is still well placed.

I can't recall the last time I watched a football game. Think I'll build a fire and read with the dog.

Nothing heard in Montana.

I found out the hard way about that. I have a 1,000w tuner that I pushed about 700w of digital through, and smoked that very expensive tuner. Same thing with my balun. I thought a 1,500w balun would take 700w-800w of digital, and it did a few times, but after a few transmissions, I watched it explode like it was hit by lightning. I ended up have to buy a 5KW unit before I stopped smoking them.

I use LOTW (Logbook Of The World) and the QRZ logbook. QRZ will accept confirmations from LOTW but LOTW will not accept confirmations from QRZ QRZ is also more stable and does not go down as often. Plus QRZ is very quick to fix any issues. The same can't be said about LOTW. When they did their most recent upgrade, they went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. The old tired look of their website hasn't been updated since the 90's And when LOTW goes down, it can be down for days or even months. The guys chasing the serious awards all use LOTW and will only confirm through LOTW. I have received a few SQL cards in the mail. But most people don't send them out anymore due to the cost of the cards and cost of postage.

It's in GMRS mode.

The antenna is a Nagoya UT72G. When I get to the car wash I just pop the antenna and magnetic base off the 3M backed steel disc and lay it in the back seat. When I get through the car wash I pop it back on. No big deal. The coax is run through the back door and down the B pillar. Probably not the best thing for longevity of the coax but for a $35 antenna I'm not real worried about it. My F150 has an aluminum roof so the disc was needed for the magnet to hold.

Nearly $9,000 to buy but I know people who have built their own transmitters. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/aom-2000a-240

Fox hunting is a good way to train for emergency situations like amass described.

IIRC the TD-H8 is a H.A.M. radio, so its probably not going to want to transmit on GMRS.

The beep is the radio saying it's programmed to not transmit on that channel / frequency. Usually it's just a configuration issue. Can you post a screen shot of your programming for that channel and see if we can't figure out what's up?

Yeah, same. But I probably won't because I'm probably not listening to the channel you're on at the exact time you're transmitting.

Once it has been reinverted it’s back to clear voice but in between, between inversions, it’s very difficult to understand, somewhat like listening to an upper sideband signal using lower sideband. You can hear cadence, pauses, even inflections, but it’s all jumbled. But, to anyone listening with the same descrambler, yes, it’s back to clear voice.

I haven't either, but there's at least one repeater in my area that has a fair amount of just "gabbing" and they usually don't mind if someone else chimes in. I mean, it's worth a try.

For the most part I don't scan the GMRS channels, simplex or repeaters. I park on Ch. 19 for local contacts, mostly with friends and family I know and already talk to. We do hear an occasional caller asking for Radio Check or throwing their Callsign out "Listening" or "Monitoring" and I will respond. There's growing activity on this simplex channel in my neighborhood including a Net on Monday nights at 1900 local time. I have one repeater on the dual watch in the mobile, and follow as above on that channel; When I'm on either simplex or the repeater, I will also call out <MYCALL> listening and will converse with whomever, if anyone, comes back to me.

How about: WRZK 526 monitoring (repeater name) thank the owner for the use of the repeater and leaving it open. New to this area (or radio's) anyone on today? Listen for a response and repeat if none once. Try it at some other time of day. Be friendly and open and hell treat it like you are talking to someone you just met. Chances are there are people just like you out there waiting to talk.

I picked up the twin pack of the UV-5G Plus last week at Radioddity. The primary factor in choosing this model (my first GMRS radio) was that the batteries are chargeable via the included USB-C cable and AC adapter. Since these batteries supply a nominal 7.4VDC to the radio, I was curious as to what the charging voltage and current was for this setup. As per the attached photo, I found the voltage and current were consistent at 5.2V and 0.7A across the entire 4-5 hour charge cycle. Since the batteries normal operating range is from 7.0v to 8.4v we can conclude that the batteries have an internal step-up circuit to boost the charge voltage to an appropriate level. The USB charging capability will be useful in the field as I can use either the USB ports on my PowerWerx box, cell phone chargers, or truck USB ports.

its not just you.

If it switched traffic lights from red to green I’d buy one.

Exactly, it’s good etiquette and done often in the ham world as if introducing oneself (which we often are) but not required.