WRXB215

It would be quite interesting to see a map of all the abandoned repeaters around the country.

@nokones I understand your sentiment but as @SteveShannon pointed out, the test actually dose have a lot to do with legal operation. When you get your ham license, you can use whatever equipment you want as long as you make sure your equipment and usage stays within your privileges. With GMRS, it is assumed that the GMRS type-certified equipment is going to do that for you.

I keep seeing comments like this between the H3 and the H8. I don't have either but my father-in-law is looking for a radio and I am putting together a list for him. I'll make sure to mention this concerning these two radios. Thanks for the info.

I keep seeing comments like this between the H3 and the H8. I don't have either but my father-in-law is looking for a radio and I am putting together a list for him. I'll make sure to mention this concerning these two radios. Thanks for the info.

@COBrien keep in mind that super high gain isn't always the best. In general, the higher the gain, the flatter the lobe and the lower the gain the fatter the lobe. In some cases, a high gain antenna can "over shoot the target" so to speak. Just make sure the radiation pattern matches your particular use case.

You may also need to turn on "stale" repeaters.

I'm a big proponent of CCRs. And in most everyday usage by normal people, you will not see a difference.
That being said, there are times when there is a difference.
In a side-by-side comparison between my Kenwood TH-75A and my Baofeng UV-5R, the sound quality difference is quite noticeable. The Kenwood sounds much better.
Selectivity is another place where the pricy radios shine. @OffRoaderX had a situation not long ago where his expensive Motorola was filtering out some RFI that his cheaper radio was not.
There is definitely a difference in design between CCRs and more expensive radios. The schematic for my UV-5R is one page, the schematic for my TH-75A is four pages. That is where the price and quality difference is seen on paper.
So, in practice you will likely never notice a difference, but in some cases there certainly is a difference. All in all, I still use my CCRs almost exclusively.

@COBrien keep in mind that super high gain isn't always the best. In general, the higher the gain, the flatter the lobe and the lower the gain the fatter the lobe. In some cases, a high gain antenna can "over shoot the target" so to speak. Just make sure the radiation pattern matches your particular use case.

Let's break your statement down. First of all, you are correct in that the radius is an approximation (really, guesstimation) on the coverage area. Some of the best estimations are based on a mathematical model developed by the team of Anita Longley and Phil Rice in Boulder Colorado. Their model, the Irregular Terrain Model, takes the curve of the earth along with its ridges and valleys into play and does a fairly accurate job of predicting if a signal sent from one point reaches another point and at what strength.
The model takes several things into consideration in its projection of coverage. Chief among them are the "big three" of frequency, radiated power, and the height above ground of the antenna. Also playing an important part of the calculation is the radiation pattern for the transmitting antenna. The coverage radius for a repeater is typically based on just two factors, the transmitter power and antenna height. This provides a guess that you should be able to both transmit and receive better than 80% of the time within the area calculated. The only time the model is 100% correct is when there is a clear path between the two stations (line of sight for VHF and UHF).
So yes, you are correct in stating because you are in the radius reception and transmission may not be possible. But other than that, the rest of your statement should not be taken as being fully accurate. The ability to reach a fixed location, the repeater, depends soley on the position and power from the mobile station. We refer to this condition as the "talk out" and "talk in" projections.

@nokones I understand your sentiment but as @SteveShannon pointed out, the test actually dose have a lot to do with legal operation. When you get your ham license, you can use whatever equipment you want as long as you make sure your equipment and usage stays within your privileges. With GMRS, it is assumed that the GMRS type-certified equipment is going to do that for you.

@nokones I understand your sentiment but as @SteveShannon pointed out, the test actually dose have a lot to do with legal operation. When you get your ham license, you can use whatever equipment you want as long as you make sure your equipment and usage stays within your privileges. With GMRS, it is assumed that the GMRS type-certified equipment is going to do that for you.

Exactly!!! The memorizing argument is ridiculous, How did you learn anything ever in life without some memorizing. Even as a kid we used flash cards to help learn things. For sure hands on helps with retention but there is no retention without memory. 

I guess I don’t understand your beef about memorization. The first section of the Technician test is a test on the rules of amateur radio. Of course you have to learn the rules. Learning requires memorizing. And, yes, separating the people who cannot learn the rules from those who can is the goal. People who don’t learn the rules don’t get licenses. 
The second section is operating procedures, such as “A common offset for70 cm is?”  The answer is +/- 5.000 MHz.  
That’s exactly the kind of question that works well for memorization. Understanding comes with use.
Section 3?  How about this: Question: What is the effect of vegetation on UHF and microwave signals?  Answer: Absorption 
Again, memorizing these questions and answers is a perfectly valid form of learning.
I’m not even sure how a person could possibly memorize the answers without learning something.

Monitoring is valuable for gaining info and knowing what is going on during emergencies. No need to transmit, just listen and be “in the know”.
Thanks so much for the info! 

Just one more thing. There is nothing wrong programming in non GMRS frequencies if all you want to do is “monitor” them. You just need the correct license to transmit on those. Some specifically designed GMRS radios allow out of band frequencies, but those will only work on receiving.

Wouldn't be the first time that a "private" repeater's tones were readily available.
If it's not really explicit that it's an open system and go ahead and use it, it's good etiquette to at least ask (even if that's keying up, identifying yourself, and saying you're looking for permission to use it and, if the owner's not on, if anyone could put you in touch.

If the tones are listed publicly, it's probably "open" but if they are not, you should ask for permission from the owner. If the owner grants permission, he will send the tones.

You have two things to understand here. Repeaters are almost always higher power than your hand held (HH). Repeater antennas are almost always higher above ground than your HH antenna. Power means better coverage for the signal area and height means distance. The higher above the average terrain in your area you put an antenna, the greater area served.

UPDATE:
Talked to my friend this morning and told him there are work arounds for his issue. He said he was just going to put them back in the box until he could figure out how to do that. Then he said he just wanted to be able to talk to his family. I told him about the GMRS versions of Baofengs (he likes the price point) so he is going to send the UV5R radios back and get a couple of the GMRS versions, and, get a government permission slip. He travels with his family a lot so he can use them for car to car comms as well. Sometimes GMRS is the answer for keeping it simple.

It would be quite interesting to see a map of all the abandoned repeaters around the country.

Yep, it's sad that you have to do things like this sometimes. You shouldn't have to find a way around it. I think some of the manufacturers misinterpret the regulations. Any GMRS radio should be able to have multiple repeaters programed in with the same frequency but different tones so that as you travel, you just switch to the one you are near.

Yep, it's sad that you have to do things like this sometimes. You shouldn't have to find a way around it. I think some of the manufacturers misinterpret the regulations. Any GMRS radio should be able to have multiple repeaters programed in with the same frequency but different tones so that as you travel, you just switch to the one you are near.

Yeah, the channel programming is SUPER restrictive in GMRS mode.
But it's also really easy to program in the GMRS rules once it's opened up.
I also really like that it has a "TX OFF" function for each memory channel that you can set from the face of the radio, if you want to program in, say, ham frequencies that you don't usually have permissions to transmit on.

Yep, it's sad that you have to do things like this sometimes. You shouldn't have to find a way around it. I think some of the manufacturers misinterpret the regulations. Any GMRS radio should be able to have multiple repeaters programed in with the same frequency but different tones so that as you travel, you just switch to the one you are near.

I am away from my programming cable and wanted to figure out how to program the UV-5G Plus from the keypad. I took a look at the video from @OffRoaderXon the subject of programming BAOFENG radios, and it was slightly different from the manual for this radio. It got me thinking that it would be worth drawing something up to help myself, and hopefully others as well. 
I am a very visual person and I usually draw pictures so I know what the heck I am referring to. In this case, I wanted to have a reference for the relationship between T-CTCSS and Input Tone as it really does not make a lot of sense to the new user.
Hopefully this will be useful to others when they come across this thread.
I did not add the step for the R-CTCSS as it's not absolutely necessary.
If anyone spots and error, please let me know so I can make this a handy resource.