WRYZ926

I have seen this happen all too often with firearms owners contacting the ATF all of the time. That is part of why the ATF went after pistol braces like they did. But the courts smacked that rule change down since the ATF was trying to change the rules without following proper procedures. I was never a fan of linking repeaters no matter what service they are for. Yes linking does have its place.

Let's see if the FCC goes through the proper procedures on actually changing the rules. Though in my opinion, the FCC is not actually changing the rules, just trying to clarify them instead. Again just my opinion since I am not a lawyer nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn.

Okay so we all missed that one about what antennas he is using. I am leaning towards the cheap Amazon coax being an issue then.

You can overcome cable loss with a good antenna with enough gain. I also use the coax loss calculator that @piggin linked to. It is a very helpful tool to have. We will have to wait for @adicrosta to let us know what antenna he is using. I see that the coax cable he is using comes from Amazon which could be part of the problem he is having.

I did program all of my Baofeng radios using CHIRP-next on my Mac mini. I usually keep CHIRP-next updated. I just don't remember which version I was using at the time. I have also used CHIRP-next on my Windows 11 computer without issues when making additional changes to my radios.

I have to agree with them. If two radios are working fine with the repeater then you might not have gotten the offset programmed correctly on the third radio. And the offset is easy to overlook when programming multiple radios and/or multiple repeater channels at the same time. I always triple check my settings when making changes on the computer before writing to the radio for this reason.

I have gotten around that but it's kind of a convoluted method. First thing is to save the factory configurations to your computer. Example UV5R-1 and UV5R-2 I will read from the first radio, make all of my changes and then save everything to the computer. For example, I will save the changes as UV5R-1A for the first radio. I leave that window open after writing to the first radio. Then I will save it as UV5R-2A. Disconnect radio 1 and then connect radio 2 After connecting the second radio to the computer and read from it. Again save the factory settings if you haven't already done it. You can then go back to the changed file that you renamed UV5R-2A and write that to the second radio. When you are finished programming both radios you should have a total of 4 configuration files saved to your computer; UV5R-1, UV5R-1A, UV5R-2, and UV5R-2A. You can name the saved files what you want. I just used -1 and -2 as examples. This method has worked for me with the UV-5R GMRS radios I have. It may or may not work for others. It has been a while since I programmed my UV-5R GMRS radios so don'r remember what version of CHIRP I used.

Nicely done Steve. Hopefully people will actually read this thread and find it helpful.

We ignore an occasional kerchunk as it really doesn't hurt anything. But when we have a person(s) repeatedly kerchunking one or more repeaters over and over, then it becomes an issue to be dealt with. For the OP, it doesn't hurt one bit to state his call sign and testing. If someone does come back then he knows 100% that everything is working correctly. And if he doesn't want to get into a long conversation then all he has to to is say so and thank the other person for coming back to him.

I am going to second the use of extra T connectors or power pole connectors and the use of a BNC adaptor right at the radio if using a hand held. Yes that would mean using two adaptors; a SMA to BNC and a BNC to SO239. BNC connectors are way better than SMA in this situation.

We had this discussion a few times while getting our club interested in a GMRS repeater and while we were in the testing phase. Opinions varied with club members about the same as it does here. And the conversation got heated at times too. We even had one guy say "GMRS would cover the entire state of Arkansas" Here is just my humble opinion, which very well could be wrong. Immediate family means just that and doesn't include one's 2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins etc, etc. It's also my opinion that giving mom or grandma a radio when they live in a different state is not right either. Now handing out a bunch of radios at a family gathering would be perfectly fine. Again all of this is just my opinion, right or wrong. Remember everyone is entitled to their own opinion. as long as they don't try to force others to fell the same way.

Another good antenna is the Comet CA-712EFC. You won't go wrong with Comet or Tram antennas. As far as radios go, there are plenty of good choices from very simple to full of bells and whistles. Midland radios are good for being simple and easy to use. I personally like the Wouxun radios.

Hopefully you are at least giving your call signs versus just kerchunking the repeaters. It's not only rude to kerchunk but you are more likely to get a response if you say your call sign and testing. We have one or more persons that keeps kerchunking our GMRS and 2m repeaters all of the time. Once we get enough club members together, we will find out who it is and deal with them, even if it is just a cease and desist letter for starters. It's not hard to find a person kerchunking and/or interfering with a repeater.

That is easy to do.

I have been known to mess with the guys that like to rag chew by using military protocol. They don't like it when I say break before continuing my transmission. It is fun to mess with people at times. I've even turned the Roger beep on to mess with friends.

Another thing I am guilty of at times is grabbing the wrong mic. I try my best to keep my dual band mic and my GMRS mic separated but it doesn't always work out.

A high school friend would scramble everyone's TV's on the block whenever he keyed up his CB and amp. Of course that was in the 1980's when most people had analog TV antennas or cable TV and no one had satellites. He thought it was fun to hold a 4 foot fluorescent light bulb close to his CB antenna and light it up. I haven't noticed anything major in my house when on HF but I am also not running any amps either. I do make sure that the old scanner is shut off, otherwise it goes crazy when I key up my FTDX10. The scanner really makes noise when I am running digital modes. Some bands are worse than others. It took me a minute to find the interference issues between my FTDX10 and Wouxun KG-1000G. I only had issues when on the 40m band. I had to shield the power supply for my GMR and dual band radios. The KG-1000G was the only one affected. I didn't have issues with the TYT TH-7800 or Icom IC-2730.

I sometimes slip and use military protocol on the radio but I try not to do that very often. Biggest issue for me is getting my call signs mixed up

And nexnav wants the spectrum for GPS use.

Definitely comment against this change. We don't need to lose any more frequencies. We lost part of the 1.25M/220 Mhz band a few years ago when UPS petitioned the FCC for a portion of that band. And to make things worse, UPS never uses it.

That Surecom setup might be great for instant emergency use. But the Retevis or Midland low power repeaters will be a lot better solution for normal use. Others have already mentioned everything I would say. When it comes to power output, you really have to quadruple the power output to even notice any changes. And with UHF being ling of sight, it won't make much difference at since we are limited to 50 watts on GMRS. The Retevis and Midland repeaters are a good solution for those on a tight budget or want a small portable repeater setup. Remember that good low loss coax and a good antenna is very important. My antenna setup at home is a Comet CA-712EFC antenna about 18 feet above ground with LMR400 coax connecting it to the radio. I don't notice hardly any difference when using my 20 watt Wouxun KG-XS20G versus using my 50 watt Wouxun KG-1000G. This is when using the repeater 22 miles away or talking to my brother on simplex that is 18 miles away. The most important thing is good coax and antenna along with a clear line of sight.

I agree 100% We probably would not have any GMRS repeaters here in Missouri if it wasn't for amateur radio operators and pro radio techs putting GMRS repeaters up on existing repeater sites. In fact every repeater that is in range of me is ran by individuals with amateur licenses or amateur radio clubs. I also agree that if a person doesn't like hearing something on the radio, no matter what service/band, then just turn the dial or shut the radio off if one is offended. Most people that use our GMRS repeater are also amateur radio operators so you are going to hear Q codes and 73 quite often. And it is really no different than someone using 10 codes.

Yeah good luck filing online complaints with the FCC, they might look into it several months or years later. I filed complaints about the neighbor's ultrasonic pest deterrent devices that are not FCC approved several times and never heard anything back about my complaints. The devices cause interference with my radios and even worse is that they cause physical pain in my ears along with headaches.

The FCC does impose fines on rare occasions. There was at least on person with CB that got fined $25,000 last year. The person was causing interference by constantly transmitting signals. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-23-448A1.pdf

The FCC is like any other government agency, You can ask 10 agents the same exact question and get 20 different answers. Sometimes it will depend on time of day or day of the week on what answer you get. I dealt with that back when I had my FFL when talking to the ATF. Most will never get into trouble if they are NOT drawing any attention to themselves. CB is a perfect example. That band is limited to 4 watts output power but plenty of people use amplifiers and it is actually pretty rare that someone gets fined by the FCC for that. Those that we do see get into trouble were doing something to draw the FCC's attention or did something do get law enforcement to investigate . I am not condoning or condemning those that disregard FCC rules and regulations. It is well known that as long as you aren't causing any issues and/or drawing attention to yourself then the FCC will never bother you. One can look at the public records concerning FCC enforcement to see this is true. Amateur radio, GMRS, and CB operators are actually pretty low on the FCC's priority list.