WSDA306

How old are some of those radios? FRS and GMRS weren't 'unified' until 2017. If they're older radios, they may have different configurations.

A: The FRS channels predated GMRS channel numbering. When the services combined on frequencies, the frequencies were layered in. Additionally, the 15-22 frequencies, and the repeater input frequencies are the "mains", while the 1-7 and 8-14 are the interstitials; they are intentionally lower power (5w or 0.5w depending on the channel) so as to have less potential for interfering with the mains. B: Every FRS and GMRS radio I've used (Motorola FRS radios, Midland GMRS handheld radios, Motorola combination radios from before the rule change, Baofeng GMRS radios, Midland mobile radios, and Retevis mobile radios) use the same channel numbering. The earlier FRS didn't have channels 15-22. But aside from that the numbering has remained unaltered. You'll have to demonstrate model numbers that shipped with incorrect channel numbers per frequency. Or did you alter them with CHIRP? C : Yes, GMRS and FRS use all the same frequencies, except that GMRS adds the repeater input frequencies, as well. What you get by purchasing a GMRS license: A call sign. The right to transmit on a GMRS radio Repeater capability 5w instead of 2w on channels 1-7 50w instead of 2w on channels 15-22 50w instead of no right to transmit at all on repeater inputs. Right to use external antennas (FRS is built-in antenna only) Right to use mobile GMRS radios (FRS is handheld only) on channels 1-7 and 15-22, and repeaters. Right to use base station GMRS radios (FRS is handheld only) on channels 1-7, 15-22, and repeaters. Full access to all of these capabilities for your entire family (the license is family oriented). D : The NFM (narrowband FM) setting in Chirp sets the radio to 12.5kHz or less. The FM setting (wideband FM) in Chirp sets the radio to 20kHz or less. You will also notice from your chart that the channel spacing between 15, 1, 16, 2, 17, 3, 18, 4, 19, 5, 20, 6, 21, 7, 22 is only 12.5kHz. 15, 16, 17, and so on are all spaced 25kHz apart, but the interstitials are also spaced 25kHz apart, and sandwiched directly between the mains. This is why they're called interstitial frequencies, and why they are limited to lower power (5w for 1-7, 0.5w for 8-14); as mentioned earlier, to reduce interference with the mains.

Because the FCC decrees it as such.
Wait...I thought "all the radio manufacturers" programmed them the same, per A above, and just in a weird order to your tastes? I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but I've never seen a handheld GMRS or FRS radio where channel 1 wasn't 462.5625 across the board, channel 2 wasn't 462.5875 across the board, etc...
It can get weird with some of the mobile radios that choose to omit 8-14 (where they can't transmit) and so channel 15 becomes 8, but the frequencies should all line up.
Plus mobile radios, if you're into that sort of thing. And the handhelds can often be had in higher quality and with more bells and whistles than most FRS radios. But from some points of view that's a detriment.
As was stated above. FM = wide, NFM = narrow.
 

"NFM" is narrowband FM, i.e., 12.5 kHz.
"FM" is wideband FM, i.e., 20 kHz.

15 - 22 are the GMRS starting point of the allocated repeater channels.  They were allowed to be added to FRS simpex use after the original FRS channels 1 - 14. So its why it starts low to high again.

They are programmed with the right frequencies.  Just not in the order you'd like them to be.  I see this all the time in FRS radios. 
Example:  Midland Channel 11 might be Retrevis Channel 17 - but both are on the same freq. 
 

Actually I remember what it was I was looking at now. It's on the chirp home page, if you search TD-H3, there are people posting comments, some of them address the changes and also the issues.  I realize though that this is not the place where the actual firmware is updated but some of these people are in direct communication with TidRadio and they have some info about what changed.

https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/search?utf8=✓&scope=&issues=1&q=TD-H3&wiki_pages=1&issues=1&changesets=1

They don't seem to post a changelog anywhere that I've ever been able to find, but there are videos put out sometimes on YT which discuss changes.
Here are a couple of them. Hopefully they can answer some of your questions.
 

Is there a page somewhere that shows what the updates are for the firmware versions, using the GMRS version myself but Im curious it seems everywhere I look there is no mention of this.  I've kept my radios up to date with the latest firmware but I have no idea what is being fixed.

Also, I am curious about picking up CB chatter, I cant seem to hear anything but static on any of the CB frequencies, not matter what antenna I use.  Would specifically like to listen to channel 19 when I am traveling.

@WSDA306 Wow! That sucks! Used to when you bought a house you looked for things like: is there a train track right next to it, airport, crime rate. Now we have to see if it's in a dead zone. 

If you decide that you want to put up an antenna to try and reach this repeater, there's a web site that can help if you know the height on the antenna you're trying to reach. You can put in your location and the tower's location, the tower's height, and then see what the terrain between the two points is like. This is the site that helped me figure out that I'd need around 1,200 feet of antenna height to talk to the repeater next to the in-laws.
https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

Yes totally correct. Just because a repeater can reach you 10,20,30 or more mile radius does not mean you can hit it.  A hand held is 5ish watts.  In the city, hills, mountains, woods ect you may only get 1mile.  Or in the open you may get 30-50miles no problem.  Gmrs is all line of sight.  . We have people in our club that do 50miles into our repeater all day every day from a hand held.  We also have people that can’t get 10miles with a 50w base unit and a big antenna.  Again it’s all line of sight.   So if you can’t hit it from your location try down the street or maybe even a few steps in another direction.  A $100 20w mobile in a car/truck with a $30 antenna can be very helpful. The same 20w base station at home with a good antenna up high will also help.  I’d say start out with just the antennas on the roof of the car or home and hook them up to your hand held.  It will get you many many more miles    
 
also all 5ish watt hand helds from a $20 uv5g for a $1000 Motorola all transmit just about the same distance if everything else is about the same.   It’s not the price or brand of radio but the line of sight.  Different antennas can also help you squeeze more out of your radio 

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.

Repeaters tend to have more range than a handheld because of more power and a larger antenna, but you should able to connect with one from more than a mile away.  I'm in a wooded area but I can hit a repeater five miles away with a standard antenna if I'm in the front yard and facing the repeater.  That's not because I have a great radio but because the repeater has a great antenna, and because I'm lucky enough to squeeze the signal through a hole in the trees.

I had the exact same error in Chirp when I was programming my 2nd Gen TD-H8. The radio will allow any GMRS frequency in channels 31-54 but Chirp only allows the repeater frequencies. I ended up letting Chirp do what it wanted, and then correcting a few channels using Odmaster. I did it this way because I have other radios that I program with Chirp and I want them all to have the same non-GMRS monitoring channels. I reported this as a bug to Chirp, but there's some question as to whether it's a difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen H8's, and might call for a new driver instead of a bug fix.

Thanks, much appreciated.  I remember thinking about that in the beginning, could it be another letter that is cut off?  Makes sense now.

Yeah mine does it too. It's the first half of the "C" in CT (for when you have a CTCSS tone enabled on that channel) when you're in single-frequency (IE: Non dual watch) mode. If you scroll back and forth through the channels you can see it flash very very briefly the full thing before blanking out that square. They're aware of it, they just haven't fixed it yet.
I posted about it on the "TIDRADIO Users Support Group" on FB a little while back.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1421913055342893/posts/1499783944222470/

He's a Ham, and was likely programming it in Amateur or Normal (IE: unlocked) mode.
That's fair. You can see my post above about how I have mine set up and why. But if you're new to GMRS and not comfortable manually programming in all the rules, you can leave it be and run it the way the GMRS 'programming' wants it to be and not run into any issues. Then once you've got a better grasp for it, if you want to expand its capabilities some, you always have that option.

Just know that changing modes WILL blow away your entire configuration, so be prepared for that.
 

Hello, I'm glad I found this forum because Most of the people using the TD-H3 are using it in HAM mode.  I'm also interested to understand what's going on with the offset and Chirp. If I program in a repeater in Chirp, it seems to program OK but on the radio, it shows no offset and no direction. Is that because the offset is automatic on this radio? I do see the CTCSS tone I put in Chirp. But no + and no offset amount showing on the radio itself. 
 
Also to the other discussion about programming with ODmaster app.   I watched a video that said there were no GMRS repeaters added to the app to download but said hopefully the app maker might add them in the future. Any thoughts on this?  I don't have a HAM license, I do have a GMRS license.