MSnow

There are a lot of repeaters in Texas. I am assuming your asking why they are not all listed on mygmrs and I cannot tell you that answer. All I can tell you is there are plenty there, and they are all listed in different resources on the web. Here is a snip of just one website that shows some GMRS repeaters in Texas.

There should be a button to press to make it switch back to showing the ch numbers. Most HT's its labeled V/M or maybe FREQ.

You will need to join the Texas GMRS network which is free to get the info for all the repeaters. There is a Facebook group as well you can join to connect with folks. Since the repeaters have been unlinked its pretty rare to hear any activity on them. Some of the repeaters have been damaged by storms and tornados last year and not getting repaired. While others have been completely removed all together due to no use, but they still show on the website.

You can shop around for deals and many of the YT people have codes you can use for discounts. I ended up with the Comet CA-712EFC 460-470MHz 9 dBi Gain base antenna, and I used the premade Messi & Paoloni hyperflex 13 premium .500" coax w/PL259 connectors. I also had to get an N male to UHF female adapter and silicone seal shrink tube too. With all the discount codes I found, and sales they had going on I was able to get everything for less then $250 including shipping.

You need a different y adapter. the outputs on the back of the radio are one single channel each. So you can get a Y that has 2 male single channel plugs that converge into a female 3.5mm that is stereo or 3 bands. You then need a speaker that has the stereo plug on it. I pasted a picture here that has the male versions so you can see the difference. And labeled the Positive and negative parts of the jacks. So you want a y adaptor with 2x 2 pole male to 1x 3pole female, and a speaker that has a 3 pole male. You could get a y with 2 male 2 poles to 1 female 2 pole, but this would not be the best option but will work.

It tells you in the manual you cannot change the option unless you set the radio into frequency mode. Once you change it it will allow you to change it.

I got a couple of these radios when amazon had them on sale last week. I had the same issues for the most part. I like the radios but they are very different from every other GMRS radio I have owned. Yes you are correct, once you create your 30 custom channels in a group. 1. goto click the cog 2. select Channels & Groups 3. Select Import Device Channels 4. Add a title for the ch list and save it to your phone That way when you change something you can always upload it back from your phone to the radio. Its really quite useful when travelling, so you can load in channels for each city your passing through, and not have to worry about preprogramming the radio with a limited amount of channels. Another issue that stumped me for a bit was the DTC tones. I had some repeaters that used TX/RX DCS-423N but if I put that in it won't TX or RX the repeater. I had to put it as 423I which shows as 315N/423I so I am guessing the firmware has them reversed as they are listed so if you need 423I you would select 432N/315I. The Network channels are quite interesting as well, but not sure how they actually work. Seems like linked radio through the phones internet, but maybe its dead now never hear anyone talking on it.

If Windows assigns a Com port higher then 9 just go into device manager and change it to one lower, pretty easy fix.

The antennas that come on the radios from the factory are typically decent at everything. I have bought several different brands expecting to have better performance and from my experiences there is no difference over the factory antennas. When your talking about a HT, the improvements are mostly so small you can't and won't notice the differences. Now with that said if you get something like a magnetic mount Midland MXTA12 & MXTA26 you will notice some improvements and just use an adapter to the HT. I had that antenna on a KG1000g Plus and was picking up tons of chatter from rail roads, Ham nets, and Fire, EMS frequencies really well over any antenna i ever wasted money on for my HT. Just my .02.

If you have not figured this out yet you need to adjust your simple USB settings most likely this was the same issue I had. I'm surprised you didn't find this searching the forums.

You can get the Pin out from the RT97S to the URIxB from several places on the net. the URIxB connects with USB to the PI. Yes when you are setting up Aterisk you select option 1. Simplex with Telemetry The simpleUSB settings I posted a SS of is what fixed mine. The factory settings that came on the RT97S myGMRS img file did not work for mine.

I don't own a Q10H, I do have a 9PX. I would recommend either. The 9px you can only get from bsr and it comes preprogrammed with about 900 memories in it. The Q10H is newer model with more features like GPS, but you will need to enter your own memories. I don't think you can go wrong with either IMHO. My 9PX is my EDC and it works fantastic.

1500ac is more like 2 1/4 sq/miles. Go to Retevis web site and grab one of the RT97s repeater bundles. https://www.retevis.com/retevis-rt97s-portable-repeater-and-2pcs-ailunce-ha1g-gmrs-radio-bundle-us Its basically made for what your doing, and its portable so you can put it up and take down easily. You can even get a package deal with radios from them, one lump deal its easy to setup and basically plug and play. You can get it with tuned antenna and coaxial cable and everything you need. I'm in Texas as well and Hunt 40Acres in Leon County off lake limestone and simplex is basically impossible so we use the RT97s. I use a flag pole on my camper to raise the antenna up 40ish feet in the air and viola problem solved. Plus with the repeater you can hear them talking when your talking, which is good when there are several people and you double. Just my opinion, but typically when I asked for the same help you asked for you'll get people telling you you need to spend $10k on all the commercial over kill crap you don't need. Also you can get a Midland setup that is very similar just more expensive. The draw back is the duty cycle these portable units will get hot if it stays keyed up a lot.

On my Grand Design 5th wheel there is a ladder on the back. So I bought a flagpole to put on the ladder from camping world, here is a link. https://www.campingworld.com/pyramid-led-whips-flagpole-kit-and-camp-locator-with-bluetooth-control-122892.html I wasn't real happy with the way it mounts so I added some arma-flex rubber around the ladder before attaching the flag pole mount, and it made it more sturdy and protected. You can get the arma-flex or pipe wrap from home depot. Then I use the Retevis antenna that came with my RT-97S portable repeater from them on the top of the flag pole, it also came with 50ft of coaxial. I think this is the antenna that came with it. https://www.retevis.com/ma09-high-gain-gmrs-omni-directional-base-antenna-us So far its ok, I didn't want to get the fancier Flag poles due to price, but it might be better after having this one for a little bit now. The higher priced ones have an attachments at the top and bottom of the ladders which i feel would be more secure. We haven't gotten into high winds yet with this one to really see if its needed.

This seems to have it working currently, hope it can be useful for anyone else.