TrikeRadio

Ok, my not mean anything but I have seen some people who are trying to figure out what has cause some TD-H3s to fail and one theory is that when the battery is fully charged it might start outputting high voltage before the charger cable is unplugged. They are thinking that surge might be affecting the radio if it is attached at the time.

Did you by chance charge it on the cradle or via the direct battery plug with the battery still attached to the radio while charging?

THAT... depends on where you are. In the area I live in, there are repeaters on every GMRS frequency, many overlap and even with tones to squelch others out, there is crossover interference at times. It would actually be nice to have a few more GMRS repeater pair frequencies in some places where there is a larger populated area.

Interesting. I have two of the original model... and when this one came out I was not really all that interested in the "expanded bluetooth" functions... and now it sounds like it was done only to promote ODmaster, not to make it more compatible with bluetooth speakers or earphones. Yeah, I'll stick with what I have. I have been very happy with the original TD-H3's ... have not had a problem with mine.

LOL... pretty fake looking photoshop work with it floating in front of the hands. I don't think there is any relationship of actual scale between the radio and hands.

The "Ham version" and the "GMRS version" are EXACTLY the same radio. They only sell them as Ham or GMRS so as to include appropriately tuned antennas with them (which you can replace with anything anyway). either "Ham" or "GMRS" radios can be switched into either Ham or GMRS or "Normal" (unlocked) modes and then will obey rules for Ham or GMRS as far as transmit power levels and allowed frequencies for transmitting. GMRS will also adhere to the +5 offset for repeaters that are setup properly (at least under channel 55 it seems)

The "ham version" and the "GMRS version" are EXACTLY the same radio. They only sell them as ham or gmrs so as to include appropriately tuned antennas with them (which you can replace with anything anyway). either "ham" or "gmrs" radios can be switched into either HAM or GMRS or "Normal" (unlocked) modes and then will obey rules for Ham or GMRS as far as transmit power levels and allowed frequencies for tranimitting. GMRS will also adhere to the +5 offset for repeaters that are setup properly (at least under channel 55 it seems) You may not have the offset + - or whatever set right for the HAM repeaters? a guess.

Ooo.. I like that idea need to do that one. Great idea.

Yep, I have a pair of H3's and they work great. Love the ease of programming, the duel frequency watch, e display that shows the channel custom name, Channel number, as well as the frequency! Also like the size - easy to stash in a pocket or strap to a bike handle (one thing I use them for). And their range always surprises me (the stock antennas are surprisingly better than one might expect... but I like to put the 771G on them and they perform much better.

so... all this time when you bag on the Tidradio units ... and you've never even tried one? How do you have an opinion on them?

That would be good if we can get the Charlie and tumbleweed repeater coverage maps!

Agree.. I personally have two TD-H3s (and I bought them off amazon) for over 8 months, never had a problem with them, in fact they have surpassed my expectations for them. several other friends have bought them... for a total of 8 radios. Of all of those one had a problem and like you said it was quickly replaced no questioned asked.

I use CHIRP to program my Radioddity DB25-G without any problems. What are you having trouble with? .. just connecting and reading the radio... or have you been able to read it into CHIRP but not update it? define your problem with a bit more for us to go on.

You all need to stop rag-chewing and chatting about this subject here on the forums because that is not covered in Part 95 and is not allowed you know.

So... if three out of five do not open the repeater... and you think it might be a PL tone issue... it kinda sounds more like a problem with your setup than the radios themselves. Or maybe you are actually hitting the repeater but just not hearing the squelch back. or you are "testing" by listening to the repeater with one H3 and transmitting to the repeater with the other, but the two radios are too close together so they are de-sensing each other. too many variables to give you a single answer without more information. But for you to just say it is the radio's problem seems a bit more like your frustration speaking than what the actual issue is. 1. how do you know that they all are "transmitting"? just because the screen shows the bar going across or do you know they are transmitting? 2. do you know if they are all transmitting at the same output power levels? 3. have you cloned the working radios to the "not working" radios (using the wireless cloning feature) to assure they are all setup exactly the same? 4. are you using the same antennas on all of them? 5. are you using stock antennas that came with the radios? (In my experience the stock antennas are ok... but not best... )

I created and 3d printed a holder to go on the vertical bar on my ride... also made a wooden box to keep some of my radios, antennas, and other junk in.

I like how you have the batteries stored right there but not connected to the radios.

I always use GMRS properly. I Never, never never put the antenna in my mouth when I push the transmit button.

I had trouble trying to get an Arcshell AR-5 (which I assumed was just setup as an FRS radio because it was supposedly a "no license required" radio that a friend bought on Amazon) to communicate with my GMRS radio on simplex. the big assumption was that the channels 1,2,3,4... up to 16 I think were FRS/GRMS channels/frequencies. but when I downloaded the programming in CHIRP... they were frequencies all over the place (NOT FRS or GMRS at all) So, while you may have checked or turned off all the CTCSS or DTS codes... you might want to connect it to CHIRP or it's propitiatory programming software and download it's programming. Confirm that the frequencies assigned to channels actually are FRS frequencies.

Here is a funny idea... put that pie pan you were using between the car roof and the antenna and see what you get. Seems like that roof of your car is not working as the ground plane .. but your hood is.

if you are within .5 - 1.5 km of each other you probably do not need a repeater at all. Get GMRS handheld radios (or mobile for your cars) - pay the $35 for 10 years license and talk simplex (radio to radio) without a repeater.

If you look on the map of repeaters here on myGMRS.. there are at least two or three repeaters that cover your area pretty widely.

I guess. For someone who knows how to program them and use them I suppose they are useful. For the regular joe schmoe who buys it cheap off Amazon and just uses it or hands it to their kids... they are going to be spouting transmissions all over on frequencies that are not permitted except for Ham licensed or other licensed users. My gripe is not really with the radios per-se.. more for hte fact that they sell these to unsuspecting consumer level users who have no clue about what they are doing.

Yeah, that is why I set them up with FRS frequencies ... weird that it was SOLD that way on Amazon without any information about it! These radios are sold to unsuspecting consumers with no knowledge of radio, or how to program them (they don't even come with a programming cable or a way to change them from the face of the radio!). Consumers who know nothing about radios or FCC requirements are buying these things!

Yeah, which is weird that they sell these on Amazon as cheap unlicensed walkie-talkies with no mention of licensing!