amaff

Unless things have changed the Radioddity DB20 comes with a programming cable, and the RA25 doesn't. Since they're the same radio (the default power on screen on my DB20-G said "Anytone". I imagine the Retevis is the same), it's worth it, IMO, to spend a couple bucks more for the DB20 and get the cable.

Same reason my radios have a set of GMRS channels with tones enabled (so they can talk amongst themselves and not hear anyone else), and another set without so I can listen to anything being transmitted in the open. But for troubleshooting purposes and to make sure there's not something funky going on, it's useful to disable the receive tone on the radio to make sure you're hearing the repeater without a tone set.

using the wrong radios....for what? To talk on the repeater? Either of those will talk on it just fine... (well, the 5R after it's been unlocked but I pretty much just assume all of them are at this point)

I occasionally do some overlanding with what's left of a 1992 Mazda Miata (with a Honda engine and a NASCAR transmission ). I have a couple of KG-905Gs that are my go to. Headset for my kid up on the tower or pit wall, and a wired in 'car harness' setup in the car (plugs into the radio, PTT button on the steering wheel, and plugs into the helmet for mic and molded ear buds).

100% this. Neither of us are getting permission to spend $100 here or there on our hobbies. Just big purchases we discuss. I don't know what kind of harpies everyone else seems to have saddled themselves with but like... it doesn't need to be this way lol

Saves battery. For fairly close ranges like you describe, you shouldn't *need* 5W. But if the radios aren't working right... "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Eliminate variables if you can until you get down to what's not working right.

No worries. I know I wasn't born knowing how any of this worked. So, GMRS radios will have certain rules for certain channel sets. But even then, on a "high" power channel (for a hand held, let's say, 6) it can be set to lower than the allowed limit. Some channels will obviously force the low power setting.

Feels like this would have about the same legal weight as those posts all our aunts put on FB a couple years ago...

Were they set on high power? What antenna were you using? But regardless, that doesn't sound right. When you say "noisy transmission" do you mean you were hearing your brother but cutting in and out? Or do you mean "there was a whole bunch of other people trying to talk on the channel we were using"? Tones will fix the latter, but won't fix the former. A handheld in the car isn't ideal (you're inside a Faraday cage with a few holes cut in it), having antennas on the exterior helps, but for just road trip use (car to car, <1 mile range), a 5W handheld should do just fine. What specific radios are they?

It's not a GMRS radio. This is a GMRS forum. QED... I know, there's plenty of advice on here for unlocked amateur and LMR / business radios, but it's no where near a guarantee.

Back to my previous point about learning the radio: This is a super neat & useful feature for exactly this situation.

I believe he meant this one. But the point remains.

When I put the Utah bunch into my hiking-backpack radio, I put them in on Tx only, so I can hear everything). I agree completely. But they didn't ask for my input when they put this together. I've sent them a message saying essentially that. So we'll see.

Quick primer on how 'privacy' tones work on radios:

Yup, probably privacy tone 4. If you don't want to do the tone scan function (tho it's useful to know how to use it regardless), I'd try setting yours up with Transmit tone 74.4

Another +1 on tones. If he has a privacy 'code' or 'tone' set up, his radios will be listening for that tone from a transmitting radio. If it doesn't receive it, his radios won't open the speaker (ok that's not really how it works, but that's the effect) and play the transmission. He can either disable the privacy code on that channel, or get what code / tone he's using and cross reference that for your radio. OR: GIven that it's a 5G+, have him hold down his PTT button, and hit the green button on yours. IIRC that should automatically scan the channel and tones. But yes your UV-5G+ CAN talk to any FRS or GMRS radio. They just need to be configured correctly

Objection your honor, hearsay. No one but that system's owner actually knows what happened. All we actually know is what he's told the club's president. I'm still not convinced that the 'official' story there is what's actually happened, especially given that no other linked GMRS repeater system seems to have received anything similar.

Similar experience here with my KG-905Gs compared to my old Fengs. The fengs would pick up all kinds of noise, the Wouxuns seem to work exactly as I want (no noise except for when someone's actually talking). Pretty important for me since I often have them going to molded ear-buds in a race car, to where a burst of static right to the ear drums friggin HURTS. Might want to reach out to the seller and see what they say because that doesn't match what I'd expect from Wouxun's stuff

Also yes.

The Utah Avalanche Center did something out here for the Wasatch mountains this year. I really wish it was just 1 unified way of doing it instead of peace meal (and extremely local...having 1 statewide way to reach help, potentially, seems a lot better than a bunch of different once depending on where you are), but I have it programmed into my radios: https://utahavalanchecenter.org/education/group-group-radio-channel-initiative

To be fair: it's not just TIDradio doing this. A LOT of 'cheap chinese radio' models are set up the exact same way. The Radioddity DB20-G I have in the truck does similar nonsense. It too is unlocked. For those radios, I just program the 'rules' manually (they won't transmit on anything out of band, all the GMRS channels have their appropriate power levels and bandwidth, etc), but that's not something most people new to this are going to want / need to fool with. But it does mean I can set the thing I bought up the way I want.

The issue at I understand it isn't that it won't transmit out of band. It's that it only allows a very limited number of transmit capable GMRS channels in memory. It's not FCC regs doing it, it's lazy software. If I put GMRS 22 in memory slot 22, or 122, the radio should enforce the rules. Instead here it has the first 50-some-odd channels for GMRS (and it's pretty picky about what you put where), and the rest are receive only. It's why I have mine in "Normal". My KG-905s aren't like this. Put a GMRS channel in whatever memory slot you want and it'll enforce the rules for that frequency / pair. But, $100 radio vs $40 radio, so, you know...

I mean, it depends. All repeaters are not the same, nor are all handhelds. But: within a mile is pretty crap unless you're in a DENSELY wooded or built up area. I routinely talk through a repeater at 50 miles with a handheld. That repeater is up on top of a mountain, and I'm on a hill with nothing but valley (ie: open air) between us. I also have been able to talk nearly 5 miles on simplex from up on my hillside to another handheld down in the valley. All of this using stock antennas (often, with an H3, actually). So I'd say, short answer: no that's not correct. Long answer: ...but it could be depending on your particular circumstances.