WRTC928

No kidding, though, I really like it. It has everything I like about the 5RM with a couple of extra features. The screen is still impossible to read in bright sunlight, though.

Well, there ya go! Spend your 30 bucks and get it all. You're welcome.

I think it does. I'm not sure because I'm not interested in listening to air bands. Edited to add: It's advertised as receiving AM 108-136 MHz. Does that cover the air band?

It was the bank scanning that decided me. I really like the 5RM. The lack of banks was one of my few complaints about it. The 5RM is still useful for most of my purposes, and will get plenty of use, but there are occasions when the bank scanning will be nice to have.

There are all kinds of rules and even laws where breaches will be ignored or forgiven when it's done for a legitimate emergency. Which is a perfectly reasonable approach, IMO.

It's happening again right now, and it is coming through on channel 15 with no codes set, channel 15 with a CTCSS tone set, and my repeater channel with a digital code set. Very mystifying. I haven't heard it all day until now. I'll start making notes to see if it usually occurs at the same time in the evening.

Good thinking! It didn't occur to me that a digital signal might coincidentally contain my DCS code.

I occasionally hear people on MURS from two different retail operations when passing through a nearby city. Otherwise, I've never heard anyone on MURS. I have MURS programmed into most of my radios, but I haven't even keyed up on it since about 15 years ago when I had a pair of MURS radios. I have no idea now when or how they disappeared.

In the real world, it's difficult to imagine the FCC taking umbrage with someone who used a radio to save lives, regardless of the radio type, frequency, or the operator's license or lack thereof. IMO, the real point is that the FCC (and common sense, TBH) has a definition of an emergency. If your situation meets that definition, you're going to be okay. If not, you may or may not get into trouble, but you're still an a-hole.

Absent a formal agreement, it's very difficult for me to imagine a scenario in which I'd need to talk to a public safety agency on their own frequency. It's certainly not likely enough that I'd go to any significant expense or effort to modify a radio to do it. If I needed to talk to the police, fire, etc., and a cell phone wouldn't work, I could get on the radio and have some ham give me a phone patch or -- even more likely -- the agency could use a GMRS or ham radio they already have to talk directly to me.

Oh, yeah, it's an HT. Well, probably nothing, then. But even if nothing happens, you're still an a-hole if you do it. Some people don't care, some are even proud of it, so options are limited.

Usually nothing, but not always. It's possible to do some really nasty things to your radio without ever stepping foot on your property. More likely, though, they'd change the input tone or require a PTT ID or something of the sort.

The AR-5RM is a very nice radio with a lot of capabilities for the price. It was my favorite radio for a long time. However, I recently bought a UV-5RH Pro GPS which does everything the 5RM does with some added features. The one I like best is the ability to arrange my channels into banks and scan only one bank at a time. It's only slightly more expensive than the 5RM on Amazon. If you don't care about the banks or GPS, though, you may as well buy the 5RM and save the $6. You really can't go wrong with either.

If it's some sort of digital interference, maybe the opposite would be true. Maybe it can slip through a digital code but not a subaudible tone. I'll try setting a CTCSS receive code on channel 15 on a radio and see if that blocks it.

I'll try it, but it's happened on three different radios. It seems unlikely they'd all be suffering from inadequate squelch. Still, even if it doesn't stop it, it's a piece of information that may help figure out what it is.

Yes, if both radios are programmed correctly, that's how it should it work. The repeater picks up the signal from one HT and retransmits ("repeats") it with more power from a more advantageous position. Typically, a repeater is situated in an elevated position, meaning it can receive and transmit more effectively than a radio at ground level. If there are GMRS repeaters open to public use within range, that would give you the communication capability you want. That's the primary reason I put up a repeater. I have a couple of buddies living to the east of me where I can reach their HTs with a base unit and tall antenna, but not with an HT. The repeater gives us HT-to-HT capability over a wide area. GMRS repeaters are privately owned, and some owners allow public use while others don't. As a general rule, if the repeater is listed in public databases with the CTCSS/DTCS code, it's available for public use. You're not permitted to use a repeater (or simplex, for that matter) on any service for which you do not have the appropriate license. Some repeater owners are pretty casual about the license requirement, while others are strict, but FCC regulations do require that you be licensed for the frequencies you use.

The nearest hospital is a couple of miles away, and it doesn't have an MRI machine. Small town Oklahoma. Would I pick that up despite having a DCS code set? Obviously, there's something that can cause noise on that frequency regardless of the code, but I'm puzzled about what it could be.

I might do that if it goes on for a long time or becomes more frequent. TBH, my primary concern was that my repeater might be causing it. Now that I know it isn't my fault, it's primarily a matter of intellectual curiosity.

That was my first thought. However, in order to be heard on my repeater channel, wouldn't it have to open the squelch? I have a DCS receive code on my HT, but I hear it anyway. Could there be some sort of electronic signal that can be heard despite the DCS code?

Actually, the receive code I'm using is DCS. I typically have one side of my base or mobile radio scanning, and so far, I've only picked it up on 15. Because of how random it is, it's possible I've just missed it, but that seems unlikely. Nevertheless, I'll set a radio to GMRS 1 and see if I pick it up there too. I don't remember if I've heard it when I'm away from the house. I'll try to find out.

For several days, I've been receiving bursts of noise which sound similar to the old dial-up modems but faster and with more static. It seems to be random in when it starts, but when it does, there will be a burst about every 45-60 seconds for maybe 15 minutes and then it stops. I initially heard it on my repeater frequency (channel 15), and I thought perhaps my repeater was causing it. I heard it on simplex 15 as well, but a simplex channel with no tone engaged will hear repeater output. However, I turned my repeater off, and it continued to happen, so it's not due to anything I'm doing. The thing that puzzles me is that with a radio set to my repeater frequencies and receive tone engaged, I shouldn't be able to hear anything that doesn't use that tone, but I do. Can anyone enlighten me as to what may be causing this?

Do you mean where you said this? I linked to a standard-capacity battery for the UV-5r which is USB-C chargeable. If we're being semantically pedantic, you didn't specifically say there were none; you said you didn't know of any, so I provided a link to one. The one I linked to doesn't need to be attached/detached via screws. Use whatever battery works best for you. Fortunately, there are plenty of options.

For some reason, it was highlighted as a recent thread. Probably just to make me look foolish. Let he who has never replied to an old thread cast the first aspersion.

It's not really too complicated. FRS radios and unlicensed users are restricted to 2 watts on channels 1-7, 0.5 watts on channels 8-14, and back up to 2 watts on channels 15-22. FRS radios and unlicensed users are restricted to narrow (12.5 kHz) bandwidth on all channels. GMRS licensed users are allowed 5 watts and wide (20 kHz) bandwidth on channels 1-7, 0.5 watts and narrow bandwidth on channels 8-14 (the same as FRS users), and up to 50 watts and wide bandwidth on channels 15-22 and repeater input frequencies. It's noteworthy that most GMRS or ham radios won't go as low as 0.5 watts, and it's common for the manufacturers of GMRS radios to just leave out channels 8-14. They may or may not renumber the channels. With regard to communicating with your family, you're all allowed to use the same GMRS license, which makes it fairly simple. Use GMRS radios and stay off channels 8-14. Most GMRS handheld radios aren't capable of more than 5 watts anyway, but if yours are, dial it down to 5w on 1-7. Licensed GMRS users with GMRS radios are allowed to communicate with FRS users, and the rules for you remain the same. You don't have to go down to 2 watts or narrow bandwidth on 1-7 and 15-22, but the requirements for identifying yourself by your call sign remain the same. Presumably, if your GMRS radio is capable of 0.5 watt and narrow bandwidth, you could talk to FRS users on those channels, but I wouldn't bother. Some GMRS radios (IIRC) include 8-14 as "receive only" channels, and that's probably useful sometimes. Hand out 5 watt HTs programmed for channels 1-7 and 15-22 to your family and have at it. More than 5 watts is pretty much pointless in an HT anyway, given the limitations of the antenna.

I was responding to the comment that there were no USB-C charging UV-5r batteries. Clearly there are and I provided an example. I bought some of these 3800 mAh batteries. They aren't as long as the ones you linked, which I like because it makes it easier to carry the radio in a pocket.