WRTC928

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.

Sometimes you can mess up something that works well by pursuing perfection. "Good enough" is a valid concept.

I'm sure that's the right approach for some entry-level users, but it absolutely wouldn't work for me. I have a lot of repeaters programmed into my GMRS radio. Basically, all the ones in Oklahoma and many from neighboring states.

That's definitely a downside, perhaps even a deal-breaker, IMO.

Ask away. That's literally one of the reasons this site exists. I'm always happy to answer questions it I can.

GMRS doesn't get a lot of use in central Oklahoma, at least on repeaters. It's not completely abandoned, and there are several repeaters, but they're not usually too busy. One in Oklahoma City gets steady but not overwhelming usage during the workday because someone uses it for their business, but it's a brief conversation every 15 minutes or so. I occasionally hear someone on simplex in the more urban areas, and FRS gets a lot of use by construction crews and store staff, but the range is so short that it's hardly noticeable. I'm sure it's different in more heavily populated parts of the country, but at least here, GMRS is a good communication option for many of us.

When I went on jump status in 1978, it was $50/month. In 1978, that wasn't huge, but it was significant.

Nothing except the fact that most of the people who want/need an FRS radio aren't "radio people" and don't even understand the need for programming. Most will just give up if faced with the necessity to do more than push the button and talk. Admittedly, it's not a very high bar, but it does make some difference.

Yes, but in a lot of vehicles, getting a consistent 10 amps through the cigarette lighter plug can be impossible. Not necessarily, because my Chevrolet Trax will deliver 16 amps all day long, but many vehicles -- especially older vehicles -- won't. That said, depending upon where you live and what you want to do, 50 watts may be overkill. The quad-band radio in my truck will deliver 50 watts, but I usually run it on 12. In my location and for what I do, if 25 watts won't get me there, 50 won't either. My take is that you should get a radio that has the features you want, but don't pay extra to get more than 25 watts unless you know you're going to need the extra power. Virtually all antennas will work better with a good ground plane, but a trunk lip mount or hood lip mount can deliver well enough for a lot of users. There's a plethora of good antennas and you'll get about as many opinions as there are users, but a few tend to stick out. The Comet 2x4SR is a remarkably good all-purpose antenna and it can perform acceptably on a lip mount. The Midland Ghost surprised me with how well it performed, but I didn't try it on a lip mount. For a mag mount, I've gotten good results with a Nagoya UT-72, although others report that they haven't. The advantage to a mag mount is that you can move it around until you find a suitable ground plane. There are a number of good lip mount NMO units, you just need to keep looking.

That is correct. My callsign was KAFU2984. I have no idea why I remember that. Is the same thing happening to GMRS? Well...yes, I believe it is. I think it's largely due to the FCC's ill-advised decision to allow FRS to use the GMRS frequencies without a license. Anyone can buy an FRS radio and use the same frequencies without any license at all. From there, it's just a small step to, "Gee, if I buy this Boofwang radio, I can do the same thing but with more power" so they do. Since no license was required before and it's all the same channels, they don't bother with a license for the Boofwang either. There is still a little bit of "gatekeeper effect" with repeater owners, and using repeaters requires a bit more savvy than the average FRS user has, as does programming a ham radio to operate on GMRS, so it isn't quite the crapshow that CB has become, but I can easily imagine it devolving into that.

This comment has absolutely nothing to do with the question but thank you for your useless reply to the topic.