WSAA635

This is the way I've understood it as well. The tuning of an antenna for low SWR is for transmitting. Receiving just needs area for the incoming signal.

What would the difference be between the 65 and 65r?

I too was going to mention the BAOFENG 21r. They also have a GMRS version called the GM21. I don't see either in CHIRP Next but IIRC you can use the 17r programing.

I was trying to download from the radio but kept getting an error. Kind of a moot point now, sent it back, I'm too old and to impatient to deal with something that won't work properly. I started a new thread with the hopes that ya'll can help me figure out what my next radio should be, even if it's just another A36 Plus. Heck, I could probably get 2 of em' for the money I'll have. Anyway, thanks for the P.S., I've not been posting as much as I should/want too but it's nice to know that someone is watching.

I guess "Technically" I have my bases covered with the UV-82(actually comes in at 5.5-6 watts) for GMRS/MURS and scanning Public Safety channels and then Talkpod A36 Plus for GMRS/MURS and Airband scanning. The UV-5R makes a nice beater that I can throw in the center console of the truck so I have something if needed. I thought the Wouxun 905g was a VHF/UHF dual band radio? I guess I missed something AND I wonder if spending $100 will really get me anything noticeably better than what I already have. I did have the Wouxun KG-UV9P that I unlocked but could never get Airband on it even though I was suppose to according to the specs. Also, my budget is going to be around $125 so I'll have enough left over to a decent antenna. That Yaesu FT-65R really does intrigue me though but at $140 it's just at the edge of my price range with nothing left over for a better antenna.

I've been having a run of bad luck lately with the radios I've bought. Out of them all I only still have one UV-5R, two UV-82's and my most recent Talkpod A36 Plus(knock on wood that it keeps working). ALL the others have gone back for one reason or another. I'd like to have just one nice radio to have that's VHF/UHF(airband would also be nice)that CHIRP compatible, easy to set up and program that doesn't need a firmware update that bricks the radio and, if at all possible,(but not totally necessary)10 watts. I've been giving the Wouxun 905g a look on Amazon now that it's $100 bucks. I'd like to keep it around $125(maybe $140 for the Yaesu FT-65r) but something that's not going to give me issues like I've been having. Post up some suggestions that I can find on Amazon and I'll give em' a look. Thanks.

You're lucky. I had to install Win98 about every 4 or 5 months just to keep my system half way working.

I tried the same plug with my UV-5R and it worked no problem. I even gave a a straight plug that I got with my TalkPod a try and it still didn't work. I guess I'll keep trying and if I can't get it today I'll ship the radio back.

I'm trying to upload my 5RM to CHIRP Next so I can program the channels into it but keep getting an "Unexpected error communicating with the radio" message. I tried my UV-5R and it uploaded without a hitch so it's not the cable or the com port. I did download the CPS from Baofeng for the 5RM and can "see" the functions and change them but for the channels the top bar is all squares without any readable text(probably a WINE issue) so I have no clue what goes where. I've installed drivers and that doesn't help either. I'm sure there's an easy fix that I'm overlooking or haven't found on the YouTubes yet but if anyone has a clue as to what's going on I'd appreciate some help. I really don't want to hand program all those channels into the radio. Thanks.

I downloaded everything. Followed the instructions to a "T" and keep getting "Communication Timed Out" message and check the baud rate. I know everything is set up right, I have WINE set to Win10 and even tried Win11, I've installed drivers and still, NOTHING. So, what's the deal??? I guess another Bricked Radio is going back to Amazon? On a side note. All the "cheap" radios I've bought(UV-5R, UV-82 and A36 Plus) have worked fine. So why can't manufactures make a $50+ dollar radio work as well as the sub-$30 dollar radios do??

This is kind of my thoughts as well. In an emergency FCC rules don't apply so if you've got a 10 Watt handheld on a MURS VHS channel you should be able to transmit further and with less people on the channel.

Have you ever tried to install a tar.gz file? Much easier to do CHIRP Next with the built in Windows installer in WINE.

A better antenna would be the logical place to start. There's quite a few Antenna Tests on the YouTubes that you can watch to see which ones are giving the best fars. Most see to say that the Nagoya 771G is a good choice, other's like the Signal Stick and rate it as the best. Your Mileage May Vary. Randy(Notarubicon) has some good videos on his YouTubes channel that talks about getting more fars, I'd check them out.

A GNU/Linux op system if for those of us who refuse to pay Bill Gates/MicroSoft for the privilege of being able to use our computers and don't want to give up our Freedom to a Large Major Company who(if you read the End User Lic. Agreement) basically gives MicroSoft permission to take over their computer and install or uninstall anything that THEY feel the need to do. You also have to pay money for that slavery. Why more people don't simply download a good Linux Distro and do the install is beyond me. Linux is actually much more user friendly than Windoze is in that it doesn't FORCE updates and force you to use what they say you can use. There are so many Free and Open Source programs that you can use under Linux to do "stuff" without the need to pay for or otherwise compromise your machine to a Major Corporation. I do all my video editing with Kdenlive for FREE and it works as well as any of the paid programs that you'd use in Windoze. On those rare occasions where I must use a .exe I can install and use WINE to run them FOR FREE so I get the best of both Worlds in a manner of speaking. People who think Linux is still ALL Terminal based and Hard to use haven't given a good Linux Distro a look in quite a while. Linux Mint or one of the Ubuntu flavors are just as easy(if not more so) to use as anything MicroSoft has put out and you don't have to Sell your Soul to the Devil to use them.

There's so many more radios listed in Next vs Legacy. It really opens up my options a lot.

They did look identical. I know BTech does some tweaks to their stuff to make things work a bit better. I didn't think there'd be that much difference though. Good to know.

He's 28.

This: https://www.amazon.com/ANYSECU-Walkie-WP-9900-Display-Standby/dp/B09D2VWSWC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BQN3VZ14BSIB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ixfL8v7i8qaX6hsiHUoNd9Ajxf4BKKlTm1NoVOuCFffeglhDMjxsdB6kXdffbNTlDWMk96qPFlJtFfZExSVDBg.J5B1mFOvg3AapfffqlcRbchhH9_NZNXAp98hIl2S_XQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=WP+9900&qid=1709758649&sprefix=wp+9900%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1 Is basically the same radio only less expensive.

I have 3 of them. A UV-5R(had 2 but gave one to my grandson) and 2/UV-82's.

Well, I picked up my H8 off of the table this morning and was manually going through the channels and MURS Channel 3 was missing. It had 1, 2, 4 and 5 but NO 3. What gives with these Tidradios auto deleting channels?? Needless to say it's going back for a refund. I'll use the funds to pick up a Retevis or maybe another Talkpod. This is getting ridiculous.

After what happened with the TD-H3 I'm NOT touching the firmware on ANY radio. The last thing I want to do is brick another radio. As far as taking the hA36 Plus "shooting", as long as it's working I see no reason on turning it into a $37 dollar target.

Amazon just delivered it to the house and I plugged it in, opened CHIRP Next and added GMRS/MURS and the 3 local Airport frequencies to the radio and it's working like a charm. If it works out I may pick up another one because like they say "One is None, Two is One and Three is Better", LOL. P.S. Don't forget to unlock(expand) your radio when you get it by pushing PTT and the number 8 on the keyboard then turning it on. That'll let you transmit on GMRS frequencies.

Long before I discovered VirtualBox I'd put Distros on USB sticks and boot to them to check them out, LOL. Once I found VB I just download the ISO and spin it up in VB to give it a look. If I liked it I'd install it and run it for a while to see what I thought. I've been pretty much set with MX-Linux/KDE for the last 3 or 4 years. It works well and is stable because it's Debian based.

I have Virtual Box installed but WINE just seems a bit easier for me to use. I downloaded and installed the Retevis RA89 CPS and drivers easy peasy in prep for the radio which will be here Thursday. I'll try CHIRP but if that doesn't work I've got the CPS to fall back on.

Airbands. I'm going to try a Talkpod A36 Plus next for my Airband radio.