Lscott

One on-line recommendation was to get the 4D model with display.

What kind of programming cable did you use for the radio? I ran across some info where people had to buy a special one or made their own. I have a cheat-sheet, Excel, for my TK-D340's too, no display. That's why I primarily look just for radios with a alpha-numeric display. Various commercial radios come in the non-display and display models. The non-display models of those seem to be commonly available used, likely due to the cheaper price and most users don't need more than a few channels anyway.

I've found that a Lithium Ion battery will hold a useful charge for a really long time. So an occasional battery pack swap wouldn't be a big deal. Of course one can buy a battery holder to use disposable cells. A few of my HT's I have battery pack eliminators, plug in to the accessory socket in the car. But you do have a point.

I'll have to look into it more. Chinese manufacture are known for playing loose with the specifications and terminology. It wouldn't surprise me to find out it's really a DMR radio.

The old IC706MKIIG is one, but the power output is low due to the filters. IC-706MKIIG Freqequency Mod Power Output.pdf IC-706MKIIG Transmit Power Mod.pdf IC-706MKIIG Frequency Expansion.pdf

Actually I was looking into dPMR radios, at one time. I still am occasionally. There are "license free" dPMR446 ones, for use on 446.0 to 446.2 band in the EU, but they are limited to 0.5 watts. dPMR isn't used, or so minimally it doesn't exist as a practical mode here as far as I can tell. I was looking into it as a novelty. I have the radio programming software for Kenwood's TK-3701D dPMR446 radio, but no radio. There is also a DMR 446 license free version too. So in effect they have two different digital modes and analog FM available in a license free service. The cheap Chinese DMR radio could be used with the correct programming. I'm not going into the topic if that's really legal. That's their problem over there. Kenwood sold, now discontinued, a NX-220/320 radio with a firmware update could be converted over to a dPMR radio. I believe I have the firmware, radio programming and license file writer software someplace archived on my FTP server at home. The problem is I need an "E", European, version of the above radios along with a license file to write to it so the feature is activated. I have an NX-320K, North American model which likely won't work. NX-220E-320E.pdf The-effect-on-dPMR-446-of-the-new-digital-license-v3-2019.pdf Upgrading Kenwood NX-x20E to dPMR.pdf TK-3701D.pdf

I have one already. But it's not a digital enabled radio. The only thing I have that comes close to the cheap Chinese DMR radio are my Kenwood TK-D340's. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/291-tk-d340u-front-and-back-2jpg/?context=new That's if I can find them where the seller isn't asking well over $100 each for one. I managed to score a few for around $50 each, but I have to check the auction site frequently to catch somebody selling one and doesn't know what he has for sure. My buddy just got one the same way for about $50. He should get it in the next several days. I wouldn't consider these glove-box beater radios.

Has anyone had any experience with these super cheap Chinese DMR radios? A buddy alerted me to them. For a glove-box beater radio at the price point it might be worth it. https://www.amazon.com/Walkie-Talkie-430-470MHz-Communication-Confidentiality/dp/B08S3DG8PW/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=cotre+dmr+radio&qid=1705587997&sr=8-2 https://pnwdigital.net/radio-cotre/

I have one zone on my commercial radios programed for narrow band specifically to communicate with FRS users too.

Depends on the radio model and manufacture. For example the new KENWOOD radio series, NX-1000's, NX-3000's and NX-5000's they now require you to purchase a license key. The software communicates over the internet to valid the install before working. The keys are $100+ each and you can only have ONE install version of the software active at a time. If you have the software on more than one PC you have to deactivate the license on the one PC and activate the license on the one you want to use. Of course you can spend a wad of money buying more license keys. I have two desktop computers at work, one at home and a laptop. Buying a license key for each or trying to juggle the key between the various computers just isn't worth the hassle and cost. So far I've only found a cracked version of the software for the NX-1000 series that has bypassed the license key check. That's why I'm an owner of several NX-1300DUK5 FM/DMR radios now, one I purchased new from a dealer. I've also purchased the DMR encryption license for each radio, which gets permanently written to it. If it wasn't for the cracked version of the software I NEVER would have purchased them. I would like to own one of the NX-3000's or better yet an NX-5000, but I can't justify the cost of the software license key to program one radio that i might use a few times. IMHO if Kenwood is that worried about the software just roll the cost of the programming software into the cost structure of the radio and just give the programming software away. That's what they do for their amateur gear. The radio programming software is free. If I spot a radio that looks interesting I'll check for documentation for it on line. But most important I'll look for the programming software. If I can't get it I just forget about the the radio I was looking at. Just about all commercial radios are just paper weights without the programming software.

By some reports it's already happening, unofficially. I guess FCC will have to deal with this sooner or later. One can either get on the bus, get run over by the bus, or just get the heck out of the way.

You can see that in the antenna specifications referred to as "Down Tilt" angle. The purpose is to direct a bit more power closer in to the base area of the antenna. Otherwise the signal strength can be a bit poor close in but much better once you get some distance out from the repeater site. Both of the antennas in the attached datasheets have no down tilt. However look at the beam width specification. The higher gain antenna has a VERY narrow one, 14 degrees, compared to the lower gain one at 27 degrees. Something to consider before buying. DB408-B Product specifications.pdf DB404-B Product Specifications.pdf

There are some "closed" amateur repeaters. You have to be a "club member" to use them. Granted they are rare but not unheard of.

That's good news. I have stumbled across a story where a guy was running 1KW in their mobile. When he keyed up it would kill the engine of the vehicle next to them. Yes it's a very rare occurrence but does happen. I'm surprised this topic doesn't get discussed more often. As the electronics contents of vehicles goes up the "potential" of interference to or from the vehicle's electronics increases. And with EV's that get even more concerning. I'm sure manufactures are doing a good job of EMC testing and shielding, but nothing is perfect.

I would suspect that the use of an FM radio would be less of an issue from a receiver stand point. However the RF generated could, in theory, could even jam an FM radio. I guess the real way to find out is get a radio and just try it. Basically any kind of motor controller can cause RF trash to be generated. The higher the voltage the controller uses the more likely the noise will be greater in amplitude. Also the closer the radio is to the motor controller, motor or interconnecting cables the more likely you might experience a noise problem. People have had issues with electric fuel pumps over the years. Usually a capacitor and or ferrite installed on the wires by it works in some cases to cure the noise problem. Somebody else was asking about fuel injector noise. Fuel injectors use a moderate high frequency AC signal on the main signal that activates the fuel injector. The injectors use a solenoid to force fuel into the cylinder. The solenoid shaft has a habit of sticking. The moderate high frequency signal, manufactures call it a "dither current" I believe, that very slightly vibrates the solenoid shaft to keep it from sticking and could be a source for RF noise.

That's a very good question. Lately the auto manufactures want to eliminate AM radios from their vehicles. I strongly suspect there is much more to it than a simple cost cutting measure. I'm even more suspicious when an EV is involved. My professional work experience involves designing high power switching inverters for metal heating at high frequency. I know first hand just how much electrical RF trash these things generate. I also consult with a buddy who does work over the years on EV motor drives, very similar in design principle to what I do. In his case they have to do extensive EMC, electromagnetic compatibility, testing. The AM radios are amplitude modulated receivers in the frequency range of 550KHz to 1600KHz. Some of the EV motor drives operate up to 150KHz in some cases. The harmonics from the switching waveforms can easily end up in the AM radio broadcast band. I think the manufactures just want to eliminate the AM radio option rather than spending gobs of money trying to shield the motor drive inverter electronics so it doesn't trash the radio in the dash. If it's not there then there is no complaints they have to deal with fixing.

See your private messages. I sent you the info on how to do it. I've had other password locked radios off or eBay. It sucks when you get one unless you have a way to remove them.- Oh, the TK-3173 is a very nice radio for GMRS. Its basically the same, uses the same software as the TK-3170, but it also includes trunking. If you have a Ham license you can program out of band frequencies in the radio, the software with generate a warning but will accept the entry, allowing you to put in some Ham 70cm repeaters.

After doing some reading I would not recommend a TYT TH-9800 radio for Ham or GMRS. While they are a neat radio they apparently suffer from various issues. One seems to be failure of the audio amp chips from an over voltage condition. I have a buddy and his just had the audio die on one side the other week. See the linked YouTube video for one such failure and how the tech fixed it and added the parts that TYT left out to save money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HgrYCAzo8

Here’s one example of an open source codec. https://www.rowetel.com/wordpress/?page_id=452 Note that the open source mode dPMR has bits that tell the RX radio what codec is in use. The mode allows up to 4. One could be an open source version like the above. See attached file. dPMR MoU tech lib Voc Bits V1 (2019).pdf

I’ve posted this before. You might want to download it for a good read if you haven’t seen it before. GMRS Digital Voice - 20231127.pdf

I'm on another forum where somebody asked about getting the frequencies used on an NXDN trunking system from just the radio handset. They wanted the frequencies used just to scan. One poster said that's impossible without access to the system key file, available only from the trunking system admin. It just so happened one used radio I purchased came programed from a trunking system. The normal radio software won't read it without the key file. Well, I had a hacked version of the software that allows me to read the radio and save the info as a service file. I posted screen shots of the frequency lists etc. just to make a point that nothing is hack proof or secure as you would assume as far as the trunking info goes.

Yup. Many radios have been wrecked by application of the "Golden Screwdriver".

When one of the young generation tells an older person they don’t know what they are talking about and gets reminded that eating Tide-Pods is not a good example of a high IQ. My question to them is what is their favorite flavor of Tide-Pod?

Well the national organization that represents Hams, ARRL, has its roots in just such an activity. ARRL stands for Amateur Radio Relay League. In the very early days of spark transmitting messages were passed from station to station cross country. That was just about the only way to communicate long distances in those days. Even today there are emergency Net practice sessions on the VHF/UHF Ham bands, and on some HF ones, where one of the activities is traffic passing of messages.

That’s why some expensive high gain repeater antennas have a “down tilt” specification. These antennas are specially designed to direct a bit more of the power downward closer to the antenna site. That improves close in repeater coverage. https://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/downtilt.html https://www.kpperformance.com/Antenna-Downtilt-A-Practical-Overview.html