Jones

I use tone (DPL actually) so that I DO NOT hear anyone else sharing the same frequency.  I don't want to hear the annoying chatter from everyone else at the lake, I only want to hear when MY family members call.  THAT is what tone squelch is for.  LOTS of people can share the same channel without me having to listen to everyone.
 
Your argument of "what if I have an emergency and need help"...well, this may sound harsh, but your emergency is NOT MY PROBLEM, and I don't care.  FRS/GMRS is not designed for emergency comms, but may be use as such by organized groups.

Its not the tone/CTSS creating the potential issues you mention, it's stupid people that are too lazy to invest 3 minutes of their life to read the directions and learn/understand how their equipment works that are the problem..

I'm not trying to endorse any specific battery, and I am not affiliated with the company in any way, but I have had very good luck in the past with Rayovac brand alkaline batteries.  I can usually find them at MUCH cheaper prices than the Energizer or Duracell brands, and they work every bit as well.
 
This statement is based on my experience and opinion. As always, YMMV.

Since these are ending in .5625 rather than .565 or .560, there is a very good chance this is also programmed for narrow band operation.  You'll want to change it to wide-band for GMRS use.

You need to have the RX programmed to the HIGH SIDE on a repeater - 467.xxx. The transmitter will then repeat what it hears on the repeater's output frequency, which is the 462.xxx that your radio is listening to.
 
You WILL need to have the duplexer re-tuned regardless.
 
:...not sure I completely understand how having each M10 programmed to the same Rx and Tx between units works:
 
Both units are programmed to the same RX (high side) and TX (low side) so that the units can be swapped out if a final amp blows out or something.  One unit is always the receiver, and repeater controller.  It never transmits.  The other unit is the transmitter, and is NOT used for receiving or control of the repeater.  ...but the 2 units are swap-able for service purposes.

Edit: Jones be me to it. LOL  Drawback of typing on my phone instead of the PC.

Just briefly, you have the transmit and receive transposed. You want the repeater to listen to 467.575 and transmit on 462.575. Radios that will use the repeater listen on the repeaters output 462.575, but shift up to 467.575 when they transmit. This is how the channel pairs are setup.

Also, you will need to tune the duplexer. The band pass and band reject filters are extremely tight. You're either going to need to hire someone with the right tools to do it or spend some decent time and money buying and learning how to use a spectrum analyzer, tracking generator or VNA and some other tools.

The only benefit I can think of to having the two units programmed with the same in/out values is that they can switch roles if needed. Such as if a decoder fails or a transmitter final amplifier starts to go bad, you can reverse which system does what job while waiting to do repairs.

I have only worked with diplexers which are similar. Hopefully one of our other members with experience with tuning the duplexer can give e you some more refined information.

You need to have the RX programmed to the HIGH SIDE on a repeater - 467.xxx. The transmitter will then repeat what it hears on the repeater's output frequency, which is the 462.xxx that your radio is listening to.
 
You WILL need to have the duplexer re-tuned regardless.
 
:...not sure I completely understand how having each M10 programmed to the same Rx and Tx between units works:
 
Both units are programmed to the same RX (high side) and TX (low side) so that the units can be swapped out if a final amp blows out or something.  One unit is always the receiver, and repeater controller.  It never transmits.  The other unit is the transmitter, and is NOT used for receiving or control of the repeater.  ...but the 2 units are swap-able for service purposes.

Since these are ending in .5625 rather than .565 or .560, there is a very good chance this is also programmed for narrow band operation.  You'll want to change it to wide-band for GMRS use.

Ah ha!!! Problem solved!

 

I had thought, incorrectly, that TA, aka Talk About, is Kenwood's way of saying "no PL", or QT/DQT.

 

I just checked my programming. I fat fingered the transmit frequency on one of the entries. TA is just Kenwood speak for "simplex". 

 

I feel a little dumb and humbled, but you learn something every day, right?

 

Thanks guys for jumping in to help!

Chris

He said he was running DOSBox.  If you're not familiar with it, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOSBox
-or-
https://www.dosbox.com/
 
It is VERY good emulator software.  I have not had problems, but that is not to say that this particular bug might not exist.  I don't even try to use the built-in to Windows DOS "Command Prompt" boxes anymore, unless I am trying to command something in Windows.

Circular polarization does work to make RF cut through difficult areas. I have not seen any commercially made circularly polarized antennas for UHF, but I can say that almost EVERY radio station on the VHF broadcast band (FM 88-108MHz) uses a cycloid, or other type of circularly polarized antenna system.  The science is well proven for transmitting.  The question would be: Can they receive as well?
 
https://www.eriinc.com/product/1105-series-circularly-polarized-fm-antenna/
 
http://www.progressive-concepts.com/transmission-equipment/---Progressives-PCP-Circularly-Polarized-FM-Antenna_PT729.html

Circular polarization does work to make RF cut through difficult areas. I have not seen any commercially made circularly polarized antennas for UHF, but I can say that almost EVERY radio station on the VHF broadcast band (FM 88-108MHz) uses a cycloid, or other type of circularly polarized antenna system.  The science is well proven for transmitting.  The question would be: Can they receive as well?
 
https://www.eriinc.com/product/1105-series-circularly-polarized-fm-antenna/
 
http://www.progressive-concepts.com/transmission-equipment/---Progressives-PCP-Circularly-Polarized-FM-Antenna_PT729.html

This could very well be noise caused by PWM variable speed motor controllers in your vehicle.
 
Try installing a 1000uF 25V electrolytic capacitor right across the motor wires of each of the offending motors.  Make sure you get the pos-neg correct.  Electrolytic capacitors will EXPLODE if you hook them up backwards.
 
Also, be sure to put the capacitors as close as possible to each motor.  Putting filter capacitors 5 or 6 feet down the power line will do nothing for radio noise.
 
You might also try putting large ferrite chokes on the leads where they come out from the motor controller modules.
 
I also do NOT recommend hooking the ground wire of your radio straight to the battery negative, or to some random point on the chassis.  This just by itself can cause noise from the vehicles onboard devices.  Don't listen to what the "old timers" blab about this.  That sloppy installation worked in the 60s and 70s, but not on modern cars.  There is always a "Common Ground" point somewhere on the car that has a lot of different circuits all grounded to that one central point, usually within a foot or two of the battery.  THAT is where you should hook your radio negative wire.  THAT point is where the engineers designed your car to have the minimum noise for electronic circuit returns.  Also, do NOT put a fuse in the black wire in a negative-ground auto installation.  Argue with me about that later if you must. 
 
The red wire can go right to the battery, BUT there is most often a good power distribution take-off point to hook that up as well, right at the end of the main positive cable.  It won't corrode over time if you hook it up to the power distribution point instead of messing with the battery.  (DO put a fuse in the RED wire, as close as possible to the power source.)  I just don't EVER hook anything but the car itself up directly to the battery.  The engineers who designed your car made it that way on purpose.
 
AGAIN: That old garbage of "just hook it straight to the battery" is just that... garbage.  It is NOT 1960 anymore, and you are NOT running a 235 inline 6 cylinder with points and a condenser.

In the old days, almost all transmitters had pi-network outputs, and would transmit into anything without going into fold-back or shut down.  We would simply tune cavities by transmitting through them into a load.  For a set of pass cavities, transmit on the desired frequency, and tune the cans for maximum power throughput.  For reject cavities, transmit on the unwanted frequency, and tune for greatest null.
 
You can't really do that with modern transmitters, as they will just shut down.

In the old days, almost all transmitters had pi-network outputs, and would transmit into anything without going into fold-back or shut down.  We would simply tune cavities by transmitting through them into a load.  For a set of pass cavities, transmit on the desired frequency, and tune the cans for maximum power throughput.  For reject cavities, transmit on the unwanted frequency, and tune for greatest null.
 
You can't really do that with modern transmitters, as they will just shut down.

In the old days, almost all transmitters had pi-network outputs, and would transmit into anything without going into fold-back or shut down.  We would simply tune cavities by transmitting through them into a load.  For a set of pass cavities, transmit on the desired frequency, and tune the cans for maximum power throughput.  For reject cavities, transmit on the unwanted frequency, and tune for greatest null.
 
You can't really do that with modern transmitters, as they will just shut down.

I believe you need the KPG 62D, you can find it here;
https://hamfiles.co.uk/index.php?page=downloads&type=entry&id=radio-programming%2Fkenwood-programming%2Fkenwood-kpg-62d-rss

Ideally, you wouldn't want EVERYONE to be trying to communicate at once during an area-wide emergency.  Let the communicators do the communicating, and get the message to another party who can let everyone else know what to do and where to go.  Let's see, what type of service could reliably do that???
 
BROADCAST RADIO, particularly a LOCAL live-staffed AM radio station.  No one wants to lug around a TV set for emergency information, so forget them.  Most FM stations in California (and the rest of the US for that matter) are automated music stations with no one actually live-on-duty, so forget them also.  Cellular phone service in most cases will be DOA.  Find a local AM station, make a plan that includes them, and tell EVERYONE that in times of emergency, they need to grab a portable AM radio, and tune to whatever frequency to get continuous updates on the emergency.  The local hams and GMRS operators, as well as first responders and government officials can all be in contact with the radio station to give them updates, and they will tell everyone else... many times with live on-the-scene audio actualities.
 
That local AM radio station has between 1,000 and 50,000 Watts of transmitter power with backup.  You don't.  They have hundreds of miles of relatively high-fidelity audio coverage.  You don't.  Between emergency updates, they can tell the audience where to find help, and keep them calm with a few music selections.  You can't.
 
If you know how to use a 2-way radio, then great, but most people only need the radio that they are most familiar with.  Broadcast.  Just let them know in advance what station to tune into if there were to be a local emergency.

Ideally, you wouldn't want EVERYONE to be trying to communicate at once during an area-wide emergency.  Let the communicators do the communicating, and get the message to another party who can let everyone else know what to do and where to go.  Let's see, what type of service could reliably do that???
 
BROADCAST RADIO, particularly a LOCAL live-staffed AM radio station.  No one wants to lug around a TV set for emergency information, so forget them.  Most FM stations in California (and the rest of the US for that matter) are automated music stations with no one actually live-on-duty, so forget them also.  Cellular phone service in most cases will be DOA.  Find a local AM station, make a plan that includes them, and tell EVERYONE that in times of emergency, they need to grab a portable AM radio, and tune to whatever frequency to get continuous updates on the emergency.  The local hams and GMRS operators, as well as first responders and government officials can all be in contact with the radio station to give them updates, and they will tell everyone else... many times with live on-the-scene audio actualities.
 
That local AM radio station has between 1,000 and 50,000 Watts of transmitter power with backup.  You don't.  They have hundreds of miles of relatively high-fidelity audio coverage.  You don't.  Between emergency updates, they can tell the audience where to find help, and keep them calm with a few music selections.  You can't.
 
If you know how to use a 2-way radio, then great, but most people only need the radio that they are most familiar with.  Broadcast.  Just let them know in advance what station to tune into if there were to be a local emergency.

What I can't seem to understand is: If a repeater is Private, and the owner does not want to allow anyone to use it, then why even list it?  Is it just a vanity thing to have your name on a website as the owner of a machine? Ooohh lookie, I have this shiny thing, but you can't touch it!
 
It can't be about coordination, since there is no coordination on GMRS, and everyone must share the frequencies.
 
I have a repeater. It is private, DCS locked, and for use by my family only, so I just do not advertise it at all.

While they will both TECHNICALLY work in the GMRS band, I believe the type 1 is Part-95 certified for use on GMRS, but the type 2 is not.
Check the FCC ID numbers of both.
 
Source:
Type 1 https://fccid.io/K4437313210
Type 2 https://fccid.io/K4437313220

Thanks for the heads up.  I'll check out 10 later today.  I usually hang out around 28.450USB, or 29.000AM.

Don't know if there are any HF users in this group, but the solar cycle is perfect for low power long range communications in the lower frequencies. I am only running 120 watts RMS with a 1/4 wave ground plane in my Jeep, and I am talking to people in Houston to Detroit, and Maine to the Keys... and everyone in between. Seems like the whole country was on the radio today. One guy in Motor City and another in Houston both sounded like they were driving next to me, the signal was so strong.
 
Anyone on the air down there today? What was your longest contact?

This is a myth. There are still a LOT of TV stations using low band with ATSC digital transmisions, and there will continue to be.  What was freed up is everything above UHF channel 36.  All of that area has been re-assigned - mostly to cellular services.  TV channels 2-6, 7-13, and 14-36 remain unchanged in frequency allocation.

Here in Nebraska, CB never went out of fashion with the local short-haul trucking community.  All of the local guys still use channel 19, and we now have an expanding population of immigrant truck drivers in the area using channel 22 in Spanish.  I live 5 blocks away from a grain elevator, and 4 miles from a feed distribution site, so I hear a lot of CB traffic every hour.  The elevator uses either channel 19, or sometimes channel 12 to instruct drivers how to back around to the loading/unloading areas etc.
 
I live in the middle of nowhere, so the only thing I ever hear on GMRS is my own family, and some occasional ducting from a grandfathered business-licensed system on .625 that is used by a concrete company east of me about 70 miles.  (They have a phone patch.  Not sure that's legal even on a grandfathered system.)
 
On FRS channel 1, I quite often hear the little girls across the street playing with their walkie talkies, but that's about it.