WRDJ205

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Can you give more details on the radios and what you’re trying to do?

I think he got a good deal for $70.

I got the programming cable because I wasn't sure how easy or hard it would be to program. It wasn’t that hard to program but I couldn’t full get it to copy and paste from the chirp programmed channels I used for my other radios. So, just had to type in the tones for the repeaters and the frequencies that I wanted to monitor in other bands.

Got the license after my wife gave me the radios. We use them to communicate on some rural property (hiking, riding atvs, tractors, etc.). Now at home, it’s part of our plan for communication after a disaster or emergency.

Great choice. I had my eye on the 50w but it was out of stock when I wanted to order so I got the 20G. So happy with that choice. Love the fact that I run it off the cig lighter. It does everything I needed.

Can you take it to the park and try it outside with less obstructions? It seems to make a big difference.

Per the meter, i frequently see 8-9W. The higher number is with ta Midland ghost and the lower is with the long rubber duck.

I agree. The Baofeng equivalent is the GM-15 Pro. They use the same programming software. I’ve had good service with the GM-15 Pros.

Haha, I’m not the limiting factor in this situation. But I see your point.

But I understand, emergency use, etc, may not be an issue with licensing.

I was thinking along the lines of if we didn’t all have Ham radio licenses.

It helps to have communication options. GMRS is another one of those options. We tend to loose power and comms during major storms. It’s a benefit to me to have the ability to talk to friends and family to check in them. Phone lines (cellular or hardwire) are not always an available. Repeaters can increase the range of the radios. I have family greater than the range of a single repeater so linked ones work well for that application.

Yup. There you go. You figured it out.

It would be nice to hear and understand issues after a natural disaster like a hurricane with others in the region. Certainly, this could be done with ham but it’s a lot less cumbersome if GMRS repeaters were linked at least locally (say 50-100ish miles).

Until you do…:-)

I don’t think there is a requirement to get Gmrs. If you don’t want it then don’t get it. It does prove useful in those areas without cell coverage and is fairly easy and cheap insurance.

Definitely. There are several informative videos out there explaining GMRS. From the Retevis website: How to get Your GMRS License? To use these powerful radios and be able to use any of the long-range repeaters across the US (with permission of the owners), you’ll need an FCC license. See our post about How to Get a GMRS License for full details. The FCC recently lowered the cost from $70 to $35 for a ten year license which covers the whole family. The primary license holder must be 18 years old and minors may operate under their authorization, with the adult license holder ultimately being responsible for compliance with the rules of operation. A GMRS license may be issued in as little as 24 hours or less.

I agree that they are not very useful. We did find one benefit when setting different calls for different radios. My kids sound a lot alike so, on one radio there is a wolf (he calls it an elephant) and the other one is a turkey (very fitting). To be fair, they chose mine to be an "old crow" and mom's is a "cougar".

I have the same radios and using the Radioodity software, i was able to program additional nearby repeaters in the DIY area (up to channel 30). Those frequencies are fixed. But after that, you should be able to change the RX frequency. Separately, I also added monitor frequencies above channel 100 to keep them separated. Then, you can set the scan Y/N to skip the channels without any programming. What are you trying to do? Program repeaters in the DIY area on a channel other than the "fixed" ones?

I was looking for a low priced radio option to take to the beach and came across the MP31 radios. For ~$10 ea they have an IP54 rating and can be programmed using a Baofeng specific software. They are only narrow band but we’re pushing right at 2w. I programmed them to my local repeaters and everything seems good to go. If they make it back from the beach they will become my “hand out” radios next hurricane/cell phone outage. I’ll give a better AAR after we use them more.

I also should add that the GM-5RH punching above its weight in power output per the Surecom meter.

You might be able to do something with a long painter’s pole. I’m using a 24’ one with a j-pole antenna (putting that basketball base to good use). This was only a proof of concept test but it definitely helped me get better distance.

I’m frequently in the Marion County but looking at the repeater maps, it appears that MS is a desert for repeaters. if I was there full time, it might be interesting to set one up.

I started the same way. It was supposed to be temporary but it’s just so convenient to tuck away the HT out of sight when not using it. I’m still using that set up (GM-5RH with a midland mag base; I swap from the ghost to whip styles). It certainly made it easy to have a radio in the rental I was using. <thinking: I need to figure out the best way to run a coax from the roof into the cab of an F150>.