WRTC928

Good to know. Thanks!

Okay. Still a PITA. What are the limitations of their firmware? I'm not buying 10 radios unless I have more information. It might be workable. At least they're getting close.

For essentially the same price as the RT27Vs, you could buy 10 Baofeng UV-5Rs and program them for MURS, but part of the appeal of the Arcshell or 888s is its simplicity. There's really nothing for the user to futz with or mess up. Just program them and hand them out.

I haven't seen any.

I hadn't seen them that cheap before, but even so, they can only communicate with other Retevis R27V radios, which is a non-starter as far as I'm concerned. So somebody shows with another brand of MURS radio and they're out of the loop? Nope. The Arcshell and similar Baofeng 888s are fully software-programmable. If the R27V was CHIRP compatible, I'd be all over it.

I wish you could get something like this in VHF for use on MURS. They're 2 watts, reasonably reliable, and so cheap as to be almost disposable. It seems like there are no really inexpensive options for MURS like there are for FRS. You could buy a 6-pack or a 10-pack and pass them out at a gathering or event. Perhaps it's a chicken/egg thing -- they're not available because MURS doesn't get much use and MURS doesn't get much use because cheap equipment isn't available.

I've noticed that the QC on inexpensive radios can be quite erratic. You can buy two "identical" radios and they perform radically differently.

I understand that. I was responding to @WSFN233 comment that he got useful traffic information in his area. When I took a long trip, I figured I'd leave it on just to see if anything of value came across. It didn't. Regardless of what anyone may think the service is "intended for," there's no reason people couldn't find it valuable for that purpose. In fact, that's actually the topic of the thread. Try to keep up.

It must depend upon where you are. Last month, I drove from Oklahoma City to San Antonio and the next day on to Port Aransas, TX. I monitored 19 and 16 the whole way thinking those were the most likely places to hear traffic reports. In Austin I heard a conversation between people who seemed to be trying to find some place in the city, but other than that, it was a very occasional signal from some business I was driving past. GMRS is useless for traffic information in Oklahoma and Texas, as far as I can determine. That's why I also have a CB in the truck; there's a lot of trash going on, but it's still the best place to find road reports. I'm not sure how practical it is to try to put two radios in my little car, though.

At that price difference, I don't care if they're round or flat. I have a touch of OCD, but just a touch. I lose the darned things, which is why I had to go looking for something to replace the ones that came with my Nagoya antennas.

It's an identical neoprene ring and it costs $0.22 whereas the ones I bought cost $0.06. If it fits and forms a good seal, it's the right gasket.

This question was prompted by watching videos of people doing it and I thought, "If it's really that easy, why does anyone buy a repeater? Apparently, the answer is that it isn't really that easy -- which I suspected. Nevertheless, a 6' monaural audio cable is $5, so I'm going to experiment a bit. If it can be made to work even somewhat, it might be something to have in my bag of tricks.

I spent the $50 for the Ham Radio Prep course because it uses multimedia, self-study, and practice exams and I do well with that sort of format. I have no regrets; it's a great course, IMO.

If the practice exams are an indicator, I should have no problem. Most importantly, I want to be able to go to NotaRubicon's YouTube videos and tell him I know he's wrong because I'm an official ham.

Interesting you should say that. I'm taking the ham technician test on 12/5.

That is true, but that won't satisfy my curiosity. This isn't really about having a repeater. As I said, I actually have little use for a repeater. It's more about knowing if it can actually be made to work easily and cheaply. My curiosity often sends me down rabbit holes. If it can work, it's worth knowing how in case it someday becomes useful.

That's exactly why I'm asking. I've seen videos where it seemed to work on the bench but I haven't seen it done "in real life".

I understand about the possibility of desensing, which is why I'm trying to find out if anyone has actually tried it and whether that was a problem. I suppose if you separated the antennas enough, it wouldn't be an issue, but then you're back to having to carry extra crap around. I'll go as far as an audio cable and maybe even a $30 connector box, but that's about it.

What, exactly, does the controller box do? One guy demonstrated it without the controller box; instead he just used an audio cable from the speaker output of one to the mic input of the other. What additional functionality does the controller box add? And I'm certainly not going to go out and buy a duplexer on the off chance that I may want to set up a quick repeater for the grandkids to run around on the farm. That's why I'm asking for personal experiences.

I've seen a number of videos demonstrating how to make an impromptu repeater using two HTs and a connector box. One guy even demonstrated it using a simple audio cable, which begs the question, what does the commercial connector box do? Has anyone here done this? If so, how well did it work? TBH, I can't think of very many situations where I would find it useful, but if it's as easy as throwing an audio cable in my bag, I'll probably do it. Any personal experience?

I did that too, but my small town hardware store didn't have any that fit just right. I even went to the NBC (next bigger city) and tried Lowe's but they didn't have any either so I gave up and went home. The next day, I was in my garage and my eye fell upon a caliper, and I thought, "Say...they make a tool specifically for finding the size of something... " so I measured the ones I had bought online. I could have done that to begin with, but I didn't think of it.

Perhaps you're not as afflicted with OCD as some.

Maybe everyone else already knows this, but... Sometimes when you use an aftermarket antenna -- especially a Nagoya -- on a Baofeng HT, the antenna doesn't screw down all the way and there's a gap where dirt or moisture can get in. I did a search and found O-rings to seal it from a radio shop online, but they were $0.49 each plus shipping. I know I'm going to lose those little things right and left and that could eventually get expensive. With a caliper and a little experimentation, I found that the ideal size is 3/8" ID, 9/16" OD, and 3/32" thick. This fits perfectly, is $5.86 per 100 from Amazon, and includes free shipping for Prime members. If you didn't know, now you do.

That's unfortunate. I've only had mine a couple of months but I haven't had any issues at all. Yeah, opening the squelch to change the volume is a little bit clumsy, but not really a big deal to me since I don't do it very much. You're not the first I've read saying the sound was poor but mine has been fine. The problem with the inexpensive radios is the spotty quality control. You can get a diamond one day and a rock the next. Obviously, if it were expensive I'd expect better QC, but when I buy a low-end radio, I'm always aware that I may be just flushing my money away.

I did not know that you can't program them via software. That kinda sucks, but for a GMRS radio, you'll probably only program it once and occasionally put in a repeater. Yes, I know Midland radios are made in China, but their reputation is that they have better QC than the cheaper radios. The Chinese can build really good radios, but in general, if they adhere to more strict QC standards, they're going to cost more.