WRTC928

I very much doubt I'll be in a position where I have to prove I have an amateur or GMRS radio license. I just bought the card because it's cool.

Someone wiser than me once said, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Get them interested in radios, and they'll never have enough money for drugs.

In my experience, that's actually pretty rare, but the few a-holes make a lot of noise. Most of the hams I know have the attitude that different services are for different purposes, but radio is radio. I'll bet at least half of them have GMRS licenses. Many (most?) hams are old enough to have grandchildren, and we help them learn the basics on GMRS. Don't listen to the haters. They're wee todd it.

In medicine, we use the term "necessary but not sufficient" to mean a finding has to be present in order to make a diagnosis, but by itself, it's not enough. I think of an acceptable SWR as necessary but not sufficient to a good antenna. (I'm not going to get into what SWR level is "acceptable"; that's a whole conversation by itself.) The antenna may have very good SWRs but it's just kinda crappy at transmitting. What you know from the SWR is that the antenna isn't likely to damage your radio, but it doesn't prove you can get a good signal out. A higher-gain antenna will typically be resonant on fewer frequencies than a low-gain or no-gain antenna. I have 3 antennas with similar SWR readings to yours (except for marine -- I haven't tested for that), but they're all about 18" high and provide essentially no gain. For my purposes, that doesn't matter because I use them for repeaters in the local area. I have a couple more that knock it out of the park in terms of range, but they're only resonant on 2-3 bands. I have a massive 10' tall GMRS-only antenna that could probably talk to Easter Island, but it's useless outside the GMRS frequencies. You may find that your antenna is just fine for your local area but doesn't provide enough punch for the distances you want to use it for. There may be some instrument for testing that, but the easiest way to find out is to use it and see what you get.

I've only tested the Midland Ghost, but it did provide at least as much range as the UT-72G with a clearer signal. I know you aren't a fan of the UT-72 series, but IME, if you don't need a lot of range, they work just fine. However, I'd still be running the Ghost if I didn't need an antenna that will also be resonant on 70cm and 2m. There are some similar antennas which purportedly are dual-band in a similar form factor to the Midland Ghost, but I'm highly skeptical that a $15 Bingfu or Anina will do the job. My experiences with their antennas haven't been positive, for the most part. However, I've spent more than $15 on dinner, so maybe I will get one and test it.

Be polite. Don't curse or engage in rancor. If someone says something that makes your blood boil, push the "up" or "down" button and change to another channel. Be considerate. Listen for a minute or so to be sure nobody else is using the frequency. This is especially important on a repeater. If your radio is capable of varying power levels, dial it down to the FCC-approved level. Those levels aren't arbitrary -- they were selected to limit the degree to which your transmission will interfere with someone else's signal. Unless your radio can limit transmit power to 0.5 watt (most GMRS-capable radios can't), just stay off channels 8-14 and let the kids with the "bubble pack" radios use them. It's pointless and inconsiderate to step on other people when you could simply change the channel. I program my radio to listen but not transmit on those channels. With most HTs you can quickly enable the transmit function if you hear someone screaming for help; mobiles are more variable. Yes, the FCC does require you to ID yourself by callsign every 15 minutes and at the end of every conversation. There's nobody actually timing you and most people don't consider it a big deal, but it is the rule. I usually ID at the beginning and end of a conversation "just because". It's like introducing myself by name, kind of like what we used to do when we phoned someone and they didn't know who was calling. A lot of people don't, especially when conversing within a group, and I don't consider myself the callsign police. I don't think I've ever had a conversation on GMRS that lasted longer than 15 minutes, but that's probably because I don't have friends. Some repeater owners may be particular about it, so follow their rules. I use phonetic spelling sometimes, typically when someone is having trouble understanding me. I have an unusual name and it's common for someone to be unable to understand me unless I spell it. Otherwise, I sometimes do it anyway just out of habit. Probably nobody will say much if you occasionally tell them to "take exit 14 bravo" or something like that. Just don't get butthurt if someone ribs you about it. Remember that "privacy codes" don't make your conversation private. All they do is keep you from hearing anyone who doesn't have the same tone. Don't say anything with the PL engaged that you wouldn't say on a completely open channel. Conversely, don't automatically engage tones unless you need to. I sometimes hear people traveling in groups on the highway talking to one another about road conditions/hazards and I'm unable to add something useful to the conversation because they have the PL engaged, so consider the situation before you use it. If your radio will allow it, you can have one set of channels with no tones and another with tones. If you want to hear other people, use group A, if you don't want to hear other people, use group B. In general, just don't be a jackwagon. Treat other people as you want them to treat you, and you'll be fine.

I'd give 10:1 odds there's someone in the club who would be glad to help. IME. most hams aren't actually hostile to GMRS, but the ones who are make a lot of noise. Most hams love to share knowledge. I'd be glad to help if I lived close. In exchange for the tone to your repeater, of course.

I really like the Ghost. It performed much better than I expected it to. It does seem like a good choice for heavy equipment.

Once again, if he weren't being an ass and interfering with official operations, he would have never come to the attention of the FCC and they would have never known what kind of radio he was using. Don't be an idiot.

After using the 42" and 18" Abbree "tactical tape measures" for a month, I have to say I'm impressed. The 42" gets as good or better SWRs across MURS, GMRS, 2m, and 70cm than the Comet 2x4 and doesn't need a ground plane. I tested it by hanging it from a rafter, so no ground plane was available. I can't say whether it actually outperforms the Comet in real-world use, because in the areas where I use my radios most, almost any antenna can get through. I can say, though, that with the Abbree and the Comet, I can use a repeater 22 miles away on one watt, which I can't do with any other antenna, but the Abbree is far more convenient to lug around. The 18" Abbree performs as well as the Nagoya and HYS 771s. Again, I can't say for sure that one is better than the other, because I don't have a particularly challenging environment, but it's certainly not worse than the others. Plus, a black AR-152 just looks badass with that antenna on it. I liked the multi-band TTM so much that I bought the GMRS version. I also tested it with a Nano VNA hanging from a rafter with no ground plane, and its SWRs were good enough, approaching 2.0:1 below 462.50000 and getting better from there. It's going into the bag with my portable repeater. I figure if I can get that thing 15'-20' up, I should get pretty good coverage. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with them. As I mentioned in the original post, they seemed a bit gimmicky, maybe more "cool" than practical, but I'm happy to report I was wrong.

I did a little testing using a Nagoya UT-72G antenna on a pizza pan about 9 feet off the ground on my back deck. Using an HT, I was able to get about 3 miles to the east and 1-2 miles to the south and southwest. Not spectacular, but not bad for an unfavorable setup. To my surprise, there were a couple of places about a mile to the west where I could access the repeater. I was surprised because there's a tall hill to my west. I guess there are a couple of places where radio waves can sneak around it. I plan to use it with a better antenna on a 25' mast attached to my truck or RV, so I expect much better distance under those circumstances. I just couldn't resist testing it. TBH, for a lot of purposes, i.e. camping, 2-3 miles is plenty. Still, I should be able to better that considerably with a gain antenna and more height.

Is 16 an emergency channel? People in Alaska use marine radios inland all day every day and I never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it. Maybe they know enough to stay off 16.

It would take a lot more information to answer this question. What do you want to use it for? What are your options for installing an antenna? What kind of repeater is it?

I have a pair of them which I got as a freebee when I bought some stuff from Temu. I haven't done anything with them, but I had the thought of doing exactly what you did. I probably will at some point.

Exactly my point. I really believe it's the best radio in its class. There are some things more expensive radios can do that it can't, and for those I have more expensive radios, but for an "every day carry", it suits my needs just fine. It's pretty much my "go-to" for grab-and-go.

I really like the 5RM (AR-5RM, UV-5RM). It has all the features I would ask for in an entry-level HT. As much power as is practical in an HT, 3 power level selections, 3 bands tx/rx, airband and NOAA rx, USB charging, and it uses accessories which are robustly supported. IMO, the UV-5r is too small to manipulate easily, but the 5RM is a good size and it feels solid in the hand. In fact, I don't have any significant complaints about it. I have a couple of spares unopened, but so far, neither of my "regular use" 5RMs have shown any sign of quitting. I invariably get signal reports of full quieting on repeaters. Some users have reported that they get poor audio output quality, but I haven't experienced that. It doesn't do digital modes, and I'll want that eventually, which is why I describe it as an "entry-level" radio, but that isn't a factor on GMRS and it may be all the HT radio you ever need for simplex and GMRS usage. It remains to be seen how well it will hold up over time, but it was so inexpensive that I bought spares, so I'm not too concerned about that.

Semantics. Yes, anyone can pay for it and do the work of maintaining it, but a single individual has to be the licensee/operator of record.

Fair enough.

GMRS repeaters have to be operated by an individual licensee, unlike amateur radio repeaters which can be owned and operated by a club or other entity. That means the cost and work can't be spread across numerous individuals as it can with ham repeaters. Most people who go to the expense and effort of installing a GMRS repeater do it to support a specific activity, such as operating a ranch or other business, keeping contact with family members, etc. There are a number of altruists who put up a GMRS repeater for use by the general public, but that's a small minority. Ham clubs can maintain a little tighter control over the use of their repeaters because the license is harder to get and because there are literally thousands of frequencies across several bands they can utilize, so it's not so easy for some random idiot to find the repeater and jump on it. Hence the existence of GMRS repeater clubs. They won't tell you the tones unless you belong to the club and if necessary, they can notify all the club members and change the tone. Sure, it will cost you a little to join, but operating a repeater isn't free, and you will have access to a lot more repeaters as long as you behave in accordance with their rules.

I may actually leave it that way. I'd just never heard a repeater that didn't do it, so I was afraid maybe something was wrong with the repeater. It tested out okay, though, so I figured it was just a quirk of the design. Stealthy actually has some advantages for a portable unit. I don't want every random yoyo in the park scanning for the tone and jumping on my repeater.

That's true. As I said, it's not the end of the world. It just irks me that I can't do everything in one step via the software. I don't know much about software design, but it seems to me that it wouldn't have been very difficult to make it possible to do it in the program.

Thanks. I'll look at it. I don't even know for sure that I want it to "kerchunk" but I'd like to know how to set it if I want to.

It's not the end of the world to have to program "no tone" from the keypad, but it is a bit of a pain in the ass. The whole purpose of programming from software is to avoid crap like that.

My RT97L arrived today, and I did some initial testing. Setup was a breeze using the software downloaded from the Retevis website. There is no software included, but the download was no big deal. There aren't a whole lot of things to set or change, so it's hard to goof it up too much. I didn't have a GMRS-specific antenna to test it with because my truck is loaned out, so I tried it with a few dual-band antennas. The Comet 2x4 had an SWR of 2.04, a couple of others had ~1.69, and once again, the much-maligned Nagoya UT-72 came out on top with an SWR of 1.23. I'll be interested to see what I get with an antenna that's tuned for GMRS. Power output was good -- 21-24 watts with all the antennas except the Nagoya. For some reason, I consistently got a reading of 26-27 watts with the UT-72. I can't explain why a different antenna would make a significant difference in power, but that's what I got. All the antennas were tested on the same NMO mag mount except the Nagoya which is an integrated unit. As far as I know, a different antenna and/or coax shouldn't change the power reading at the meter, particularly because the reading is taken before the RF energy even enters the antenna's coax. I wasn't able to test range, but I did confirm that it does indeed perform as a repeater. It doesn't "kerchunk" which surprised me a little. Not that I really care, but it was unusual. I hope to get this thing out to the field sometime soon, but my first impression is that it will be an excellent tool to have available for camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities.

I emailed BTech support and got a reply that you can't program "no tone" in the software; you have to do it from the keypad. I said that didn't make a lot of sense when you have software available. She got kinda snotty with me and said, "You do realize it's a GMRS specific repeater and you can't change the repeater pairs?" I said yes, I know that, but it doesn't address my issue. She shot back with, "Most of our customers prefer to do programming from the keypad anyway." I wanted to ask, "Or do they just program from the keypad because your software sucks?" but I figured it would be pointless and just let it go. Bottom line -- you can do it, but only from the keypad.