WRYZ926

Some Baofeng radios can't be unlocked. The standard trick of holding down buttons while turning the radio on works with standard Baofeng UV-5R and GT-5R radios but will not work with the Baofeng UV-5R GMRS. I do not know if the unlock will work on the UV-5G or UV-5X GMRS radios. The UV-5R GMRS will have an orange label along with a small sticker that says GMRS. I have not found any information stating that the UV-5R unlock actually works on the GM-15 Pro.

Check to see if you have your radio set to narrow band or wide band. Most Midland radios come from the factory set on narrow ban. You want to change all channels to wide band. I don't know if that is your exact problem but using wide band will help. I have the MXT500 and a friend has the MXT575. I changed the settings on my radio to wide band but my friend did not. I could hardly hear him on any channel until he changed his radio to wide band. We were about 17 miles apart at the time.

And if you get your GMRS License and technician (or higher) license then you can double the costs since you will be looking at radios for HAM and GMRS. Yes I fell down that rabbit hole.

The Nagoya NA-771G is definitely a popular choice. I have the 771G for my GMRS HTs and the 771 dual band version for my 2m/70cm HTs. I do notice better reception when using the longer 771/771G antennas versus the stock rubber duck antennas.

Baofeng radios use a SMA female antenna. As mentioned by others, most HT's will have a SMA connector. Some brands use SMA male on the radios, such as Baofeng, while others use a SMA female on the radios, such as TYT. The last time I saw or used a BNC type connector was years ago on a CB HT.

Tropospheric ducting definitely effects how far radio waves travel. I was picking up a GMRS repeater this morning that is 33 miles from me but that I normally can't reach due to terrain. I was getting a very weak but clear signal this morning.

@jas you still could have been bouncing signals off of things without realizing it.

That is known as picket fencing in the HAM (amateur) radio world. And yes just moving a little bit in a different direction can help get around obstacles.

Yes a good antenna with higher gain will make quite a bit of difference. I am limited to a maximum of 16" for antennas for daily use so that I can still get my Ford Escape into the garage without damaging the antennas or tearing up the garage door insulation. But I will get longer antennas too.

That is what I was trying to explain in my earlier reply but was drawing a blank on proper terms. Even the Explorer QRZ-1/TYT YV88 while still direct conversion are both better than the Baofeng radios when it comes to front end overloading. Yesterday was a prime example with traveling in a convoy with others and also doing tower work. The BaoFeng GT-5R and UV-5R GMRS both suffered from front end overload while my Explorer QRZ-1 and the other higher end radios did not have issues.

I can say that there is a difference when it comes to HT radios. The Baofeng's are more sensitive and more susceptible to noise/interference when two radios are in close proximity (50-100 feet). I have noticed it with my dual band 2m/70cm Baofeng GT-5R and my Baofeng UV-5R GMRS. More expensive radios won't have that issue. I will keep my Baofeng radios around but they will get replaced with better radios. I find it hard to justify HT radios that cost $175 or more but am willing to spend $100-$125 for a good HT. Sound quality can be subjective depending on the individual's hearing. I can also say that others can hear me better on my more expensive HT's versus my Baofeng HT's. It is also easier to access the 2m repeater that is 21 miles away with my better radios versus my Baofeng radios. Only you can justify if a more expensive radio is better for you versus a cheaper radio.

Going with advice read on the forum, I suggested to the club to invest in a Bridgecom repeater or better versus trying to run two KG100G's for our repeater. We already have Motorola repeaters setup for 70cm and I'm not sure what the 2m repeater is. We lucked out and the tower is 900 foot tall. Plus there are some abandoned antennas as either 400 or 600 feet that will work great for GMRS. We tested the antennas and hard line and got a SWR of 1.3 on GMRS frequencies. We did a test yesterday using a MXT500 and MXT575. I am 21.5 miles from the repeater and the base of my Comet CA-712EFC is about 18-20 foot above the ground. We had no issues talking to each other on simplex and low power settings.

This hobby is like any other hobby and can get expensive if you don't watch it. I bought a Baofeng GT-5R first for 2m and 70cm to listen on while waiting for my technician license. I also bought two Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios once I received my GMRS license. I Also bought the Explorer QRZ-1 radio through QRZ and Giga Parts for new technicians. I also have two TYT TH-7800 dual band mobile radios along with a Midland MXT500 and Wouxun KG-XS20G. I ordered a KG-1000G Plus and am waiting for it to ship. One of the TYT mobiles and the KG-1000G are going in my vehicle and the XS20G will go into my SxS. And I am looking at better hand held radios for both GMRS and dual band. I will echo what others have said. Get two separate HT's. For starters, separate radios will keep you compliant with regulations. I know some don't care about that but it is what it is. Also as others have mentioned, the SWR could be off for one or more bands unless you want to swap antennas constantly. I recommend getting the Explorer QRZ-1 kit through QRZ for new technicians. It is a better HT than Baofeng HT's.

CHIRP operates the same on Mac and Windows, the only difference is the layout. I have CHIPR installed on my 2018 Mac mini and a one year old Dell laptop with Windows 11.

I have downloaded from one radio and made changes and was able to upload to that radio and a second radio of the same make/model without any issues. Both radios have to be the same make and model to do that. So I am going to say that it is quite possible that @Tiercel did not have the programming cable installed correctly or the radio was not on. I have two Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios and do this all the time with them. When working with two different makes and/o models then I download from both radios and copy/paste what I want to change.

Did you have the radio turned on? Was the programming cable plugged in all the way?

The amateur radio club I belong to is considering getting one of those to put up on the repeater tower. We already have a 2m and 70cm repeater on the tower and will be adding GMRS to it soon.

I did not have to install Python to get CHIRP Next to work on my 2018 Mac mini with the Intel chip. The Windows exec file definitely will NOT work on a Mac without running Windows in Parallels or on a virtual machine.

I will say one thing, you can tweak some settings with manufacturers' software that you can't do in CHIRP. But unless I absolutely have to use OEM software, then I will use CHIRP. I've not had any issues with drivers on my Mac.

I use CHIRP most of the time since most manufacturer's software won't run on Mac. I will use manufacturer specific programming software on my Windows 11 laptop only when I have to. Midland and the Wouxun KG-XS20G are not CHIRP compatible so I program them with my Windows laptop.

We are seeing this issue on a few different models now. As I stated in the thread about this issue on the UV-5R GMRS radios, mine work fine on all channels. I bought mine from the Amazon Baofeng store as a two pack on 9 Oct 2023. I guess I should go buy a few lottery tickets from reading all the threads on the different models not working on channel 15.

I bought the two pack of the UV-5R GMRS radios from the Baofeng Amazon store and both work just fine on all channels. I bought mine on 9 Oct 2023 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGHXV6Y4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 I tested both radios and they transmit and receive on all channels.

I pre ordered mine yesterday so we'll see when I get it.

Buy Two Way Radios has refurbished Wouxun KG 100G (Not plus model) in stock on their eBay store for $270 https://www.ebay.com/itm/394948647580

I am hoping that I am not waiting very long either. Needless to say I will not be buying anymore SOC mobile/base stations after some testing I did yesterday. I have a Comet CA-712EFC on top of my house for GMRS and I was hearing some guys on channel 18 on my Midland MXT500 so I thought I would swap it out with my Wouxun KG-XS20G. There was a very noticeable difference in the sound quality that I was receiving between the two radios. The Wouxun KG-XS20G was better.