WRTC928

I checked it with a dummy load and got a consistent 18 watts, which is about what I would expect, given the loss due to the duplexer. I'm puzzled about why I get different power readings with different antennas, though. If someone can explain it, please do. I'm still learning.

Sorry, no. I do what @LeoG recommended. It's surprisingly capable for a $25 radio, but it's still a $25 radio. You can't expect everything.

So, if I turn my phone off at my home, it won't be detectable again until I turn it back on?

True, but I was actually thinking of vehicle-mounted radios. When I think of CB, I still think of mobile units. Probably because I'm old.

As far as I can determine, exactly nobody in the US uses FM CB. I would think FM with PL tones would be very good for people traveling in a group. Perhaps they just get FRS radios.

Apparently people rat themselves out via social media pretty frequently. You'd think they'd know better after a few of them got busted, but they keep doing it.

I can see where it might work well for that purpose.

I probably will just out of curiosity.

That wouldn't explain why I got the expected output with the other antennas and more than the advertised power with the Nagoya.

I have the QYT KT-7900D which is a tri-band (140/220/440) rebranded version of the DB25 and the BTech UV-25X4 and it's fully supported by CHIRP. It's not a bad radio for the price, but it has some behaviors I don't like. If you're monitoring more than one channel, whenever any monitored channel breaks squelch, the radio goes to that channel and there's no way to leave it until the squelch closes. I don't care much for that. Also, it scans very slowly; so slowly that it's nearly useless. I ended up programming only channels in the 1.25 meter band and using it as a dedicated 1.25m radio. In that role, it works just fine, since only monitoring channels in one band means I get less unwanted traffic "trapping" me on a channel. As a dedicated GMRS radio, it should also work just fine. You'll probably want to only monitor no more than two channels at a time, though; the quad-watch can get overwhelming. If I were using it for GMRS (which may happen), I'd monitor a couple of my favorite repeaters and leave the other two channels set to something I might want to switch to but not continuously monitor. It does output the advertised 25 watts, which is refreshing. The receive audio isn't the best, and I have to turn the volume pretty high to understand it. Transmit audio seems to be just fine, though. It receives about as well as my other radios. Overall, it's a decent radio for the price. For $90, I really can't complain. Interestingly, it's $11 cheaper than the DB25-G, at least on Amazon, although Radioddity offers some bundles which are less expensive than buying the QYT and accessories separately.

The different terminologies can be confusing, especially when a manufacturer uses something completely different and you have to look it up in a table.

I now have two 50ah LiFePO4 batteries which should work better, but I haven't tried them yet.

They can, but I'm guessing it was because I was using the "cigarette lighter" socket. It's something I got really cheap and they probably cut a few corners. It will crank my car but not my truck, so it's not the greatest starter pack in the world, but it's small and cheap.

I have a 25' telescoping mast from Max Gain Systems and a mount I can attach to the trailer hitch of the truck or RV. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't prohibitively expensive either.

I've used one to power a base unit in my living room. It wouldn't do the full 50 watts, but it worked fine otherwise.

Would having it turned off make it harder for them to do that?

How do they know the users were GMRS licensees or using GMRS radios? My money would be on FRS, and like @AdmiralCochrane, I'd be more surprised if they didn't use them. It's kind of an obvious tool for quick coordination. And, yes, I have no doubt law enforcement agencies are listening.

Surely there's more to this story. Maybe they all gathered just to hear the siren, but it seems likely it was part of some larger event.

I own the AR-5RM, UV-5r/Bf-f8hp, and AR-152. Quality control can be an issue. I sent back a UV-5r and a 5RM because the batteries wouldn't lock into place and an AR-152 because the audio was extremely low; the replacements were perfectly serviceable. I'm not intentionally abusive to my radios, but I'm not particularly gentle either and they just keep working. I frequently say that Baofengs are better radios than you have a right to expect for the price.

I few days ago, I placed a UV-5r on top of a 4x4 fence post while I was working on the pool and forgot about it. That night, we had a legit severe thunderstorm -- even got a tornado about 3 miles away. Two days later, I found it still lying on the post. I picked it up, carried it in, gave it 2 days to dry out, and it works just like it did before it got wet. Obviously, you can't count on that, and I wouldn't expose a UV-5r to rain intentionally, but still, I was pretty impressed.

I haven't used the DB20 OEM software, but with most OEM software, it's difficult or impossible to cut/paste the data of 100+ channels from CHIRP into the OEM programmer. I have several different brands of radios that I like to have programmed with the same channels, so that matters to me. However, the OEM software of some radios adds bells and whistles that the CHIRP software doesn't include, so I program the channels in CHIRP, "read" the radio into the OEM software, make my tweaks, and upload the result to the radio. I don't know why the OEM programmers can't just make their spreadsheet easy to cut/paste into.

True, but it's not about the cost/value of the radios. It's about being sure they don't get damaged and will work when you need them.

By regulation, channel 6 is limited to a maximum of 5 watts. That doesn't necessarily mean someone isn't transmitting with more power than that.

I'm a member there as well, and I sometimes get a little salty when people do that. I tell them to be Elmer, not Mr. Magoo. I do get good information sometimes, but I often have to sift through some trash. With regard to the Linux forums, the Ubuntu forum is usually helpful. I mostly avoid the others.

Yeah, my truck has crap for ground plane and the 2x4 doesn't like it, but on the roof of my car, it has spectacular SWRs on GMRS, MURS, 2 meters, 70 centimeters, and even 1.25 meters. Yes, 1.25 meters. I don't know how well it will actually perform on 1.25m, but I intend to find out. SWR is well below 2.0:1, so it shouldn't hurt the radio. I also have a Comet SBB224 which is officially a tri-band (2m, 1.25m, 70cm) antenna and it approaches but does not cross 2.0:1 on GMRS. It also needs a ground plane, so it will go on the car if the 2x4 is weak on 1.25m. Or maybe even if it isn't. IDK I can't find any single antenna that will give me all the bands I want with the lousy ground plane on my truck so I ended up adding a dedicated 1.25m radio and antenna in addition to a GMRS/2m/70cm/MURS radio and antenna. Add the CB radio and antenna, and my truck kinda looks like a spaceship. The car is going to get a tri-band radio/antenna and a second NMO mount so I can stick on a CB antenna when I get the whim.