WSAA635

Only stupid people protest over illegal alien criminals being deported.

I always have to laugh when folks come into work(Sportsman's Warehouse) looking at our Bubble Pack Radios. "But it says on the package 36 miles?" I try to tell them that they're just cheap FRS radios that are .5 to 2 watts and they'd be lucky to get a mile with them in the city and maybe 3 or 4 miles in prefect condition out in the wide open country. I always try to point them to a "REAL" radio and tell them they can get a much better UV-5R for $20 bucks on Amazon. I get a few folks thanking me for them not wasting their money on the bubble pack stuff.

My bet would be if they WERE using radios they'd be the cheap bubble pack FRS radios you'd get from WalMart. I don't think they'd be intelligent enough to get real GMRS radios and use them. If they were they'd not be protesting in the first place.

When you're ready to move up take a serious look at the AR-5RM or if you want/need GPS the BTech/Baofeng BF-F8HP Pro is an awesome radio. Welcome to the Crazy World of GMRS.

Yes, I know. In CHIRP you'd enter 462.725 and it'll automatically offset to TX to 467, my radios don't work with CHIRP, might be a WINE/Linux deal or something. In the Stock Software you enter 467 as the TX and 462 as the RX.

Double and Triple checked my settings for the local Repeaters and I still can't get anyone. I wasn't having any trouble at all getting Shaw Butte but now, NOTHING. It's just crazy. Can anyone else in the Phoenix, AZ. area hit the Show Butte repeater and get a reply, 462.725/ TX CTCSS 100.0, none needed for RX.

I've generally always spelt things like they sound and some words just sound so strange that it's hard to figure out how to spell them. LOL

Yep, I can't spell or it might have been auto correct.

462.3900MHz.

I have it mounted out in the open on my fold down cup holder so it gets plenty of air flow around it. Even with it off in my enclosed truck in the blistering AZ. summer it'll be hot, everything in the truck is hot so I've never felt the need to check the temp.

I've had this same radio in my truck here in Arizona for well over a year and it's still working fine. I monitor the local DPS channels while I'm driving to keep track on what's happening on the roads. It gets really hot inside my truck in the summer here but(knock on wood)the radio keeps working. I really like the controls on the handset as well, I just wish it had more power. My test showed around 16 Watts, not the claimed 20 Watts but most radios I've tested never lived up to the claimed wattage.

I noticed a lot depends on the software I'm using. In CHIRP I enter 462 and it automatically adds the +5 offset to correct the TX to 467. With the Baofeng Factory software I have to manually enter the 467 TX and 462 RX. Even with everything correct I'm not getting any returns from anyone so maybe no one is monitoring the Repeaters.

Depending on the radio you have either Channels 23-30 are Repeater Channels OR RPT 15 thru RPT 22 are Repeater Channels. After GMRS 22 the next 8 Channels, no matter how they're labeled are supposed to be the Repeater Channels.

Or was I right all along. I had it working, now it doesn't work, not sure anymore. RX=462, TX=467, is that right?

Well, after double checking and making everything right I still can't get a response to any of the 3 Repeaters in the area. I can normally hit Shaw Butte easily even from my Man Cave at the back of the house but none of my radios get a response. Now I am starting to wonder if they're down for some reason.

Ok, I feel dumb, I was TX on 462 and RX on 467. I need to swap those around. I should know better.

You can also have them add a code name to the call sign to keep track of folks. My son Adam could use "Alpha" or you could just use a number so I'd be "WSAA635/1" and he could be "WSAA635/2", etc.

I only have my GMRS license but I am a "Radio Dork" for sure.

Not to totally change the subject but I can here the local Poportillo's Drive Thru radio that's about 1.5 miles away. It's crazy listening to the orders and what food costs there.

Normally I can hit the Shaw Butte repeater on North Mountain but for the last 2 days I get nothing, not even the static from the repeater opening. Does anyone know if they're still up or are they down for repair or something else? Thanks.

I did end up getting the BF-F8HP and my first impressions are WOW!, this is THE radio I've been looking for. It just works,no craziness, you just program it(with your software, thank you for that) and it does what you ask of it. I'll have to pick another one up with the coupon code when funds allow. Another HUGE plus for me is that batteries are the same as my 5 AR/UV 5RM radios so I can stock up on them and use them in both radios. Anyway, thanks for the reply, I can't wait yo do a review on this radio for my YouTube channel.

I had 2 of the 17 Pro GPS radios and while I could get them programmed with the modified software the batteries would drain overnight. Something in the radio would cause a full power battery to glitch to half then back up to full so something wasn't right.

Does anyone have either of these and if so how well do they work? I've heard big praise for the BF-F8HP Pro but not much about the UV-28. Both are supposed to have GPS. Any info ya'll can give would be much appreciated.

Ditto, plus if you're using a 2 radio set you can see where the 2nd person is relative to your position. It's also be handy to let someone with the 2nd radio to know where you're at if you get lost or hurt. For $30 or so bucks it's a handy feature to have.

COSTCO in Avondale, AZ uses it but I've never tuned in to see if I could hear anything. I plan on using Blue Dot or Green Dot when I'm Out and About to keep in touch with friends who have radios since they'll probably be less traffic on it then on GMRS.