Ian

Ah, that makes more sense. I've gotten lucky with eBay, but I have a jonesing for early 90s Motorolas. Tried branching out, but had trouble finding the correct variations of the Motorola Saber I wanted to convert to MURS and GMRS. If you're not picky, you can get a commercial radio that'll do what you want. But if you are picky, it can be hit-or-miss. Gman, got any old Kenwoods? I'm interested in branching out.

The Retevis RT76 is everything I hoped it would be, and no more. This pleases me greatly. What I wanted was a dumb-as-bricks radio I could hand to "limited users" (hereafter, "lusers") with little they could screw up but changing the channel unintentionally and turning the volume too low. As a result, I am very fond of this radio. It is … nearly perfect. Side-button 1 is limited to "alarm" and there's no scan mode I can bind instead; disabling the ability to start transmitting an alarm tone (AKA "jamming signal") with an unintended button press is possible, but it doesn't let you bind a function you want in its place -- and indeed, there is no scan function. This is the only thing separating this thing from perfection. The Retevis RT76P is… Not so pleasing. The menu doesn't function as the manual describes, the menu won't let you change wide-narrow in spite of letting you select it; hitting the "confirm" button causes the radio to say "Canceled". It has a scan function! But you still can't reprogram SK1 to scan. Until this thing gets a firmware update, it's hot garbage. Feels like a Baofeng missing a few buttons, and with worse translation in the menus. It looks like it had potential, but the potential was squandered. Still don't regret purchasing it, though; I have a spare charger and battery for my RT76 which I love. This one… I don't. Avoid. Edit: Just tried the programming software. Instead of flashing the codeplug I just created (not compatible with RT76 codeplugs, natch; this thing has nothing internally in common with the RT76, I'm sure) it unlocked the 2M amateur band and changed the CTCSS on channel 1 to 2100 Hz. This thing is in dire need of some day-1 DLC. Edit: As of February 2024, the most recent firmware for the RT76P (released quite a while ago, actually) is genuinely functional. It works with the CPS, it works with CHIRP, and the menu on the front panel works as intended. This has gone from a hard pass to a recommend for me. The one remaining pain point is that the top side-key is not programmable, and is hard locked to setting the S-code and sending an alarm tone. If anyone needs a cheap GMRS jammer, this thing here will do the deed… S-code is like some kind of poor man's trunking system. It'd be suitable for large worksites with a limited number of frequencies, but GMRS licensing is incompatible with those use-cases, so … this "feature" is still essentially useless. What I'd like to see in the next firmware revision is the option to drop both functions from SK1. This will open up SK2 for a monitor function, while still allowing you to activate both broadcast FM and weather radio modes, which are far more useful than the proprietary PTTID function. In addition, if you want a PTTID function, Retevis, may I suggest something that uses either audible or modulated-CTCSS tones to broadcast the user's callsign in fast Morse?

I'm betting the Retevis with a J-pole will do the job, but you'll want something like a solar charger to avoid killing your car battery. re: SamCom, they sell them as GMRS certified, but I have my doubts...

|If you have to ask around to find one, it's not adequately expendable.

It's always worth it to find a good (acceptable) expendable radio. But even a good radio is cheaper than an iPhone 11.

I have. They're ... adequate. When I have coverage, it'll take the radio from one end of the island to the other, where simplex is completely out of the question.

I'd like to be able to see the map with __all__ coverage circles __at the same time.__ Should make it much easier to tell where repeater coverage is required!

Retevis RT76 is as close to that as you're going to get. You'll have to do all the programming up front (BaoFeng cable) but after that, it's just a knob with thirty channels, the last eight of which are repeater inputs.

That's deeply rude to the people who weren't involved. … Especially to other fans of the MicroMobile series. Love that handheld control head.

Technically, Ventennas are another option that would fit your HOA needs. https://www.ventenna.com/ Still, unless you need more bands, you're in fine shape, and I've never heard ill spoken of the Ed Fong antennas, so...

Welcome to the forum, and the community! We're here for you when you want to nerd out, but for now, congratulations on solving practical problems via use of RF.

Ham tech study guides go into this. VHF is worse than UHF; the 30-300 MHz region is more strongly absorbed by meat than UHF. Put it dead center on your car roof, or up on your house roof, or god help us a tower, and your exposure plummets. Don't do the silly and use a 25 watt handheld, and you're probably capable of ignoring RF hazards unless you try to lick a transmit antenna, the power levels we operate at. You don't have to get your ham ticket, but they've got some really good study guides that answer this question. Edit: Barney Fife is smarter than he sounds, he's just shrill and annoying. Listen for his literary references, he's quite well read. High INT, medium-low WIS, lower CHA.

"Breaker one-niner!" But yeah, when I'm between cities, I do 20-22 as well. ORI where I can find it, and I welcome the chatter.

I'm honestly a little annoyed you deleted the first post, because we're still having a discussion, and I missed the beginning. CB is useless and nobody operates (here) any more, ham has told me to get new friends with ham licenses, and all I wanted was a way to keep in touch with my nerd friends at ren faires with no cell coverage. My weirdest requests here have been in service to this singular goal, too. I just want to solve a boring practical problem. What the heck is this about dodging bullets and out of lives? Be courteous and don't redact our history, please.

Because idiots and interoperability. People who know what's going on will just avoid the interstitials if they're dealing with inter-service stuff, but if you have to talk to someone with no idea about the technical details, it'd be nice in a pinch. I'd almost settle for Midlands being RX only on the interstitials, but ... almost.

What the heck happened to this thread? Lots of zero-text posts now, and I'm deeply confused.

I'm not sure, really the only thing that would need much changing is control logic. Sure, you'd be limited to the power your final amp is good for, but you could get some nice quality-of-life features like two repeaters on one frequency, at least without soldering (if they picked capable enough microcontrollers, at least).

Easily disabled in firmware. Got potential.

We'd have to rename it something like "guaranteed minimum radio service." :-P I've had the same fantasy, but I'm not going to get emotionally involved without a path to agitating for the cause. Edit: Anonymous delivers, and so do I: https://www.retevis.com/handheld-gmrs-two-way-radio-rt76

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969333677.html Bingo.

Well, they're lying to someone, at this point.

If they're 900 MHz, I'm all over them.

Update 1: This thing does't seem to have a scan function.

More's the pity, it's a good looking radio. Reminds me pleasantly of the Xiaomi Mijia handies.

Just got mine due to the plague. (It's not a long story, but...) First impression: I like it. The orange accents are happy looking, ad the PTT is pleasantly tactile and clicky. The rubber over the headset jack isn't silicone, and won't last forever, but it's held on by a screw and won't be hard to replace... if there are spare parts in ten years. Body is cast aluminum inside. Not very heavy, feels cheap... and then you realize it's got no chassis flex, and it just feels light. But mostly? This thing's a chonker. Front to back, this is almost 50% thicker than a GD77s. Could be close to an inch and a half thick, but thankfully the edges are rounded. Flashed a codeplug with some local repeaters, and sensible tone codes on the simplex channels, and I'll play with it in a while, but the human factors are fine so far.