WRYS709

I am not sure that Part 95E allows for a "combo" GMRS/label maker radio...

TID-Radio offers a K-1 plug in dongle and Bluetooth App that works with a limited number of HTs. https://tidradio.com/products/high-performance-handheld-radio-wireless-cable-programmer

How about if Garrett Morris, in the video below, was using a MURS HT? MURS Repeater?!?

This Cotre C001D also has voice announcements for its 16 channels; I am not sure yet about Zones. The On/Off toggle button is on the right side bottom, below the K-1 jack (which has a common cover over it). When you hold down the On/Off button for at least 2 seconds, the upper LED will blink green and a female voice will tell you which channel it is currently tuned to. Channels are changed by pushing the Menu button on the left side below the push-to-talk button and she says "Channel" and pushing the + or - button below Menu will rotate the channels accordingly and she will tell you the number of the newly selected channel either up or down. You can continue using the + or - button to get to the channel number you desire as she continues to tell you the next channel. You hold down the On/Off button again for about 2 seconds and a quick tone signifies it has turned off the HT. Can you print out your cheat sheet in Braille? I am going to order a sma to double crocodile clip cable so I can remove the HT's antenna and try to connect it to an external antenna.

There is probably somewhere to change the default language to English. If you link me to this firmware software, I will give it a look in Windows.

Good point; as I have no experience with the 778; so indeed, it appears to be a ham radio that can open to GMRS (usually called MARS/CAPS mod). But the radio I do have much experience with, the AT-779UV a/k/a Radioddity DB20-G, is indeed a Part 95E certified GMRS radio that can be easily opened to 2 meters and 70 cm Ham and even MURS; although I am sure that many here will argue that when in the "open" condition, it is no longer certified to be able to use GMRS concurrently. Since it uses code plugs, it does have the ability to be "open" for ham radio and then returned back to "closed" for certified use on GMRS.

Thank you for all that information. No, I meant a link to how to open it for use on Ham bands, and I guess you answered that as well; by using the software to select Band 2? I will let those who ask me, know about how to open these radios now.

Those early RD-5R are merely a footnote to DMR history now. They have been successfully flushed out of the distribution chain now so that purchasing either the Radioddity RD-5R or the newer Baofeng DM-5R or even their 1701 and newer 1702 are reliable Tier-2 units now. More importantly, back to our $13 DMR HT: I programmed it for 5 DMR channels through a local DMR repeater and 3 analog repeaters and sent it out for testing on a local HAM Analog/DMR repeater and here is the results: It worked perfectly on the first 4 DMR channels through the repeater with Talkgroups: PAPA, WorldWide, Cal and SoCAL. The fifth Talkgroup, TAC310, failed. It also worked fine on the 1st Analog repeater chosen, but it did not have geographical range to the two other repeaters. Good reports were given on signal and audio quality in return on all attempts. It turns out I programmed the wrong Color Code on the Channel for TAC310. We did not try DMR simplex. Does it have disadvantages: yes, of course: only 2 watts high power, a non-standard antenna jack and no display, so the operator must keep a cheat-sheet of which channels are what. I am going to search for a source for the better, but more expensive C006D model, especially since it seems that Amazon has raised the price of the C001D since I purchased it for less than $14! I am also going to work on an adapter for using an external antenna to the non-standard antenna jack. But for quick and inexpensive ability to access DMR, it is hard to beat for the price. Although I have no experience with Hotspots, it seems that its use with a Hotspot would eliminate both 2 watts and non-standard antenna jack as being a problem.

Yes, the notes from the PNW group indicate that this is a groundless connector, too! For inexpensive DMR, it is still hard to beat the Radioddity RD-5R a/k/a Baofeng DM-5R: uses all the same accessories, including batteries, of the UV-5R, 5 watts, analog too including GMRS, MURS, 2 meters and 70 cms; full Tier-2, standard SMA jack, and now works with the "OpenGD77" firmware project.

Oh, really? That's good news for the 778 owners. Can you publish a link? Still a very different radio though

Only a sibling in manufacturing name and nearby model number only.Completely different look and feel and many tell me they cannot open the 778 to Ham 2 meter/70 cm bands.

a/k/a Anytone AT-779UV

If I recall correctly, the Chirp set for the UV-5X should work with that radio. Also check for Radioddity model numbers instead of Baofeng in Chirp.

Most firmware updaters are Windows software. You can usually see it ending in the "exe" file type. Chirp usually does not update firmware.

When Baofeng originally released its DMR RD-5R, it was Tier-1 to every DMR repeater administrator's chagrin! Radioddity finally fixed it with the electronics from their GD-77 squeezed into the UV-5R form and released a Tier-2 RD-5R.

The author of that article (NO7RF) answered these questions by email:

And in the meantime, I found this interesting review of the COTRE line of HTs. They recommend getting, if at all, the C006D, which unfortunately is currently out of stock at Amazon. But there is a treasure trove of information in this article and documents linked at the end, so I will also be reviewing this information later on, too. UPDATE: I see you linked this article in one of your earliest posts on this thread: have you found a source for the C006D?

OK: It came in yesterday and using my FTDI USB K-1 cable, it programs pretty easily on both digital and analog. And it seems to work fine in analog simplex and repeaters and digital simplex (perhaps, as I only purchased one, but one can hear the "picket fencing" from its transmission digital simplex when one listens on an analog receiver), but digital DMR repeaters seems to be problematic so far. But later today I will initiate some more experimentation on both digital simplex and digital DMR repeater.

It's a draft document; hardly the basis of support for any point of view.

10-4!

Being Socrates does not change what existed in 2017 - the historical reason why the FCC limited FRS users to 1/2 watt and narrowband before the 2017 Reorg... The purpose of Channels 8-14 is the same now as it was both before and after the 2017 Reorganization: to offer handheld users a wireless service with minimal interference to each other, whether for FRS historically, or as now, for FRS and GMRS. I have personally spoken to users of those channels, and that is the reason they have told me they use them, when appropriate, instead of Channels 1-7: wireless communications in a smaller defined geographical area, that have a lesser chance of interference. Since they are FRS users, they have little or no concept nor concern about their proximity to repeater channels. They just transmit and receive.

An interesting observation, but still not the reason why the FCC limited Channels 8-14 to 1/2 watts historically.

Again, it is a common myth that the power limitations for Channels 8-14 at 1/2 watt and the bandwidth being mandated as narrowband have nothing to do with these channels being "interstitial" between repeater input channels; and your suggestions after your disagreement with me do nothing to support your assertion otherwise. Let me unpack your statements: "In the 2017 rule changes the FCC increased the power to 2 watts on FRS EXCEPT those particular channels for a reason." -- We are not discussing "EXCEPT those particular channels;" that is we are not discussing Channels 1-7. There may be one or one hundred reasons why the FCC in 2017 decided to allow FRS radios to transmit on Channels 1-7 and at 2 watts; the fact that the FCC did so, does NOT change the historical reason that the FCC limited Channels 8-14 at 1/2 watt; that was because they wanted to minimize interference between different FRS users on the same channel. "FRS was never intended to have repeater access." -- thank you for this truism but just like saying "the sky is blue" in response to "the water is grey" this statement is irrelevant to the issue at hand. "Channels 8-14 being located between the high power GMRS exclusive repeater input channels can lead to interference and "possibly" keying up of a repeater since the frequencies overlap to a degree. That depends on how tight the repeater input filters are and how close the FRS radio is to it where enough signal can leak through them." -- The conclusions in this statement are why I ended my last comment with the statement: "The opportunities for interference to repeaters is a factor not only of power and frequency proximity, but also geographical proximity." "The FCC couldn't ignore the existing population of combo radios so they left the specifications lower for power and bandwidth. That was about the best they could do under the situation." -- Again this is why I ended my last comment with the statement: "The opportunities for interference to repeaters is a factor not only of power and frequency proximity, but also geographical proximity." Let us return to the days of FRS Radio BEFORE the 2017 Reorganization: there were only 7 FRS channels and they were all limited to 1/2 watt, narrowband. BUT when the FCC did expand FRS to also allow Channels 1-7 at 2 watts; these are also "interstitial channels" of repeater output channels and based upon power and geographical proximity these channels can also cause interference to GMRS repeater users by interfering to their ability to hear the repeater outputs and by definition even more so at 2 watts than only 1/2 watt.

If you use it [6 meters], they will come!