WRTC928

Are there any MURS radios that will let you have more than 5 memory slots? I'd like to have the option to have one bank with tones enabled and one without. It seems like the makers of MURS radios never anticipated that.

I wish I could find a 70cm/2m antenna in the same form factor that would work as well as the Ghost. There are some available, but I'm skeptical of a "no-name" antenna selling for $16. I mean...there could be one out there, but I'm not going to buy one without seeing some reviews.

On my favorite repeater, it's mostly nets and people chatting while stuck in traffic or the like. Of course, there could be people using ham for simplex while talking to family, traveling in a convoy, etc. and I just don't hear it. There are literally thousands of available frequencies in amateur radio and people doing that probably aren't on a "high traffic" frequency. The ability to use a frequency that nobody else is on is the main advantage over GMRS for those purposes. The big disadvantage, of course, is that all participants have to have an amateur radio license, so unless they're doing something ham-related, it doesn't seem like that would happen a lot. I used GMRS a lot in Alaska, but I've hardly even keyed up since I moved to Oklahoma. There are two good repeaters in Anchorage and two in Palmer, and people used them a lot to communicate highway conditions, much like CB is used elsewhere. It's possible there was a lot of CB action for the same reason, but I didn't have a CB, so I don't know.

I rarely use GMRS simply because I rarely have any occasion to do so. I don't have any family in the immediate area, I don't participate in an off-roading group, and when I travel, it's usually just me. If I were traveling in a convoy with family, I'd give them radios, but it hasn't come up. I do use ham repeaters when I travel just to alleviate the boredom. There's usually someone willing to have a chat with a stranger passing through.

I don't remember who makes it, but someone makes a mobile/base radio that's actually designed so you can plug two of them together and have a repeater. That's an intriguing concept.

Interestingly, although I have read that the newer ones can't be opened up to the additional range, the one I bought a few months ago came out of the box with those frequencies already open. My original thought was that I'd move it from the vehicle to the house, so I wanted the 6m and 10m capabilities. I have it set up so I can install or remove it in the vehicle very quickly, but it's still kind of a pain to replace the faceplate, carry it into the house, hook it up, etc. so I don't actually do that. As you say, the 6m/10m antennas are too long to be practical while driving, but I might put one in the vehicle just in case I want to use it while stationary. Comet makes a quad band UHV-4 that's "only" 54" long, which isn't too long to carry in the car, although I wouldn't want it on top while driving.

Me too. There's essentially no 6m activity around here and the antenna for 6m is impractically long.

You know...if you think about it...Alaskans are using radio for its original intended purpose. Radio at its core is just a way for people to communicate at a distance. Historical accounts suggest that in the early 20th century, radio was seen as a tool to make everyday activities easier and safer. In most of the country, there are other ways to do that now, so for most of us, it's just a hobby or a tool to make another hobby easier and safer. I think Marconi would be proud if he saw people using radios to call for someone to come help transport the moose that's going to feed the family over the winter.

Interesting. I have noticed that on RadioReference, hardly anyone wants to admit to having one, but on a couple of Facebook groups I belong to, a lot of the members have them as well as various Baofengs. I don't think I've ever keyed my TYT up on GMRS. There's very little GMRS activity around me, and I don't have "radio dork" friends or family near me to converse with. I do get a lot of use out of it on one of the local ham repeaters. It's a very friendly group of people and if you announce that you're mobile and listening, usually someone will have a conversation with you.

Very cool! Thanks!

Oklahoma has about twice as many repeaters as Alaska but with five times the population. There certainly aren't enough repeaters in Alaska to serve the entire state, but until very recently, most of the villages in the north and interior didn't have cell phone coverage and it's still pretty spotty in a lot of them. Radio was (maybe still is) used as a way to stay in touch if you were outside the village hunting, fishing, or whatever. They were pretty casual about whether you had a license. I wouldn't be surprised if there are unlicensed "pirate" repeaters in some villages that don't appear in any database. When you're 300 miles from the next village, who's going to hear? They also use marine radio a lot -- much more than GMRS or ham. In some villages, almost everyone has one. They're obviously not on the water, but again, who's going to hear? There are a lot more than 6 GMRS repeaters in Alaska, because I've personally used at least 8. Owners and users are pretty cagey about where they are, and you have to know somebody to get access to them. I suspect a lot of them are unlicensed. With the advent of radios that scan for frequencies and codes, it's probably easier now to find one, but only if you happen to be listening when it's in use. I didn't do amateur radio back then, so I have no idea how many ham repeaters there are. Probably more than you'll find listed, though. Alaska is a very different place than the rest of the country, and Alaskans kind have an attitude of, "You don't understand our situation, so you don't get to make rules for us."

It's all about topography. Before it shut down, I used to use a GMRS repeater 25 miles away with a 5 watt handheld from my house. We were both on areas which are elevated above the intervening terrain. I routinely use a Ham repeater in the 440 band 22 miles away with a 5 watt HT as well. There are tools online (Don't ask me where; I haven't used them.) to calculate how high your antenna needs to be based upon the two locations you choose. To my north and east, I have easily 40 miles of good signal. To my west, I can hardly get across town. My house is on the second-highest point for miles around; the highest is about 1/2 mile west of me. Repeaters are extremely useful, but if you and your cabin can communicate on simplex, you take out the middleman and you don't have to share airtime. Put your antenna as high as you reasonably can and give it a try. You might have a very good signal and don't need anything more. It might also be useful to put up an external antenna at the cabin and connect your HT to it when you're there, but you may not need it. A lot of radio is just f*** around and find out.

I have the same radio, but I've never noticed that. It's possible mine does it but it's so quiet that I haven't noticed it yet. Next time I'm in the car, I'll check and see.

I recently moved back to Oklahoma after 18 years in Alaska. I sometimes still think in terms of large areas where cell phone service isn't available. There probably aren't too many of those in the lower 48. Not coincidentally, there are a surprising number of GMRS and amateur radio repeaters in Alaska for a state with such a small population.

All valid points. I was actually thinking of an agreed-upon channel to be used to call for help, not necessarily monitored by emergency services, but that would suffer from the fact that nobody would be monitoring. I don't know if most GMRS users routinely scan or just pick a channel and stay with it.

That doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful.

Could it happen? Sure. It's right there in the regulations. Has it ever actually happened? Not as far as I can determine. I'm willing to risk it. YMMV

According to its spec sheet, it operates up to 500 MHz. The sheet states that it will receive only on aviation frequencies, but doesn't mention any other frequencies being restricted to Rx only, so presumably it will Tx and Rx on GMRS frequencies without modification. Assuming the spec sheet is to be believed, of course.

Here's the weird thing I've noticed about antennas: There's not necessarily one "best" antenna because each radio seems to have a preference. I can run a test with two identical radios, and one is better with Nagoya and the other prefers Abbree. Or Signal Stick. Or HYS. I've decided that about all you can do is buy a quality antenna and hope for the best. I have noticed, though, that on GMRS frequencies, a GMRS-tuned antenna will do better than almost any dual-band antenna, (which shouldn't be surprising); however, much of the time, a dual-band antenna is good enough and "good enough" is a valid concept. If you operate on amateur radio frequencies as well (I know the rules. Don't start), a good dual-band antenna may be the best option if you don't want to decide what band you're going to use today and change the antenna accordingly. I have BNC connectors on my EDC HTs, so I could certainly do that. I mean, if I were a scofflaw. If you're strictly operating on GMRS, then definitely get a GMRS-specific antenna.

Interesting. Maybe changing your repeater's tones to DTCS instead of CTCSS would stop the cross-contamination. Just throwing out ideas.

That's interesting. I've never heard of that before, but it seems like a useful feature. I do sometimes look at my radio and can't remember if it's on or off.

@WRZY921 is correct. Despite what "some people" may tell you, there's no way for someone at a distance to differentiate between power levels that small, so you're not going to get into trouble with the authorities. The reason for the wattage and bandwidth restrictions is that they are very close to other designated frequencies and excessive power or bandwidth can "spill over" to the adjacent frequencies. Set the radio to the lowest possible power and narrow bandwidth and you won't interfere with anyone else. I have Tx disabled on those channels just because I've never had any reason to use them, but I have a couple of radios rated at 1 watt on low and I wouldn't hesitate to use them if I had a reason.

Actually, using a repeater on a ranch is one of the few scenarios in which I think it makes sense to have a repeater with a reach greater than that of the recipient radios. There are occasions when you need to do an "all hands" call ("Come to the house, the barn is on fire." "The fence is down and all the horses are out." That kind of stuff.) If someone is a bit out of range, they can still receive the message. Even so, 50 watts would probably be much more than necessary.

What you're describing is an issue not of power, but of obstruction; i.e., the hill in the middle of the property blocks signals from going to one side of the property to the other. The distances you're talking about are easily attainable with 5 watts provided there are no obstructions. I've talked clearly from one 5 watt HT to another 5 watt HT several miles away on an open highway. Much more is possible if one or both radios are in elevated positions. Radio waves travel in a straight line, or close enough to straight that it makes no difference. A repeater on the highest point of the property means any radio on the property has a straight line to the repeater, which then has a straight line to the other radio(s). In my -- admittedly limited -- experience, more power can make a fuzzy signal clearer, but it won't get you any significant improvement in distance.

If you want to use those channels, it might be worthwhile to actually measure the output. Baofeng typically overstates the wattage of their radios. Additionally, the nominal power ratings aren't the same on all bands. Generally, they'll have their highest power available in the VHF bands. Your radio doesn't do VHF, IIRC, but they probably list the same power ratings as for the unlocked version. Then, there's some variation from one radio to another. For example, I have a bf-f8hp that is rated at one watt on low power, but I actually measured it at 0.4 watts in the GMRS frequencies.