WRCY896
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Posts posted by WRCY896
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Why not just get a UHF scanner and put it in the house?
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Aside from using a non type certified radio, are you getting the repeater tail indicating you are hitting the repeater, or is it just silent.
Legally you need the GMRS type certified radio to transmit. In BTECH world it's is the GMRS 50X1 OR V1 handheld.
Secondly, as the post above mentioned, this is not a chatterbox type hobby.
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I ordered a RT76P today. I also inquired into the 20 watt mobile radio which they show for sale but has yet to receive FCC certification. Will see how this goes when I get it.
I am also interested in the 97 repeater.
I have two GMRS V1 radios which I use on a regular basis as well as a couple Cobra FRS radios and a couple Cobra GMRS handhelds which are several years old. Will see how it goes.
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In your statement that I quoted just above this post. You are telling someone to run a radio to 50% duty cycle, that is only rated and certified for 5%. And then you are using that argument to say that the radio is junk because it falls out of compliance when pushed beyond it's design limitations. And you have stated they are junk, that they have failed you, etc, and then made it clear you pushed them beyond what they are designed for.I'm sorry... where did I say that? I must be missing something. Can you show me where I wrote that?
Anything that is pushed beyond it's design limitations is going to fail at some point.
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If you have two radios, you can do some informal testing. Get far enough away that you are 2x5 to 3x5, high power, wide-band, and talk for a little while. 20 minutes or so. Try to keep about 50% duty cycle. As long as no one changes location/position, you will be able to hear frequency shift if its bad. You will start to hear some distortion and the signal strength will weaken. Word clipping is more noticeable than the signal strength.
Two of my mobile ham radios shifted permanently and became unusable. The first one after 4 days. The second in less than 4 hours. Both of my handhelds worked great for about a month, and then they would drift after 10-15 minutes, but would recenter after being off for 20-30 minutes.
Using a radio beyond it's stated duty cycle, and expecting it to maintain tolerance, then saying it's a junk radio, because the user used the radio beyond what it was designed to be used for, is not a valid argument.
I do my best not to exceed the duty cycle on my radios, and certainly don't hit 50%. I know what the limitations are for those radios, and as long as I stay inside those limitations, then they work just fine.
As far as part 90 radios - there are several, such as the Kenwood tk880, that is 90/95 certified.
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GMRS is for families. No test, covers your whole family. No tinkering, grab a pre programmed radio and go.
The downside is that the FCC limits the equipment that can be used to prevent people from plugging numbers into a radio and causing interference.
There would be a lot more confusing regulations to follow if the FCC started putting all kinds of equipment exceptions for various other services, which then creates more problems than it was trying to solve for a family jist grabbing a set of radios and going.
My wife and kids are not interested in Amateur radio. This allows us all to communicate with few issues.
- berkinet, SteveC7010, coryb27 and 2 others
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As I mentioned... radio #1 worked great for 4 days. I went to go to use the local 2 meter repeater from a location that I normally input full-quiet (5x5) and I couldn't key-up the repeater. I switched to the 70cm repeater at the same location and no response. I tried both repeaters with my 5 watt handheld Icom. I got full-quiet replies back on the handheld, but the UV-50x2 didn't hear anything.
I had to be within a mile of any station on any covered frequency in order to hear or be heard. Then, while testing, the receiver started some kind of strange "receive strength" osculation, as the static would pulsate up and down in signal strength and volume.
I got a replacement radio a few days later... same make and model. Within a few hours, it went from rock star to the exact same problems as the first radio.
I check my antenna lines with an analyzer and had a damn near perfect match at 1.1-1.2 to 1 on 2 meter and 1.3-1.4 to 1 on 440. I am using the same power lines, antenna cables, base and antenna with another radio and its working perfectly. That all tells me it was the radio.
As an FYI, the TYT is made by the same company... they just slap different labels on the same gear. QYT is also the same company. There is 4 or 5 brands that the parent company does business as.
Thank you
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This is a UV-50x2 with firmware that makes it GMRS compliant. I have owned two UV-50x2 radios for Ham use. The first lasted 4 days. The second lasted an hour or so. I'll never buy another one.
What went wrong?
This is only the second current production wide band 95E radio I am aware of that is on the market. The first being the TYT, which is also being re-branded apparently as well.
The only other options are the Midland radios and the used Kenwood and Motorola gear.
I am pleased with my BTECH GMRS V-1.
Thank you.
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I just used CHIRP this afternoon to add the weather channels. It took a minute, but I finally figured it out.
I right clicked on the channel I wanted, clicked on properties, then entered the frequency that I wanted.
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Menu 2 is the power level. Arrow up or down, then menu again to save. You can do that also in CHIRP.
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https://baofengtech.com/gmrs-v1
The manual can be downloaded here.
Page 71 has the power levels.
Page 34 has the current channel chart.
It is different than the book that came with my radios a few weeks ago.
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I am not sure what you exactly are trying to get at.
The FCC rules say the GMRS radios have to have the frequencies hard coded. So you can't modify the TX frequencies in a GMRS radio or the FCC won't certify it.
Not hard to change the tones on the fly though. Menu, 11 or 13. Enter the tone, then menu to save.
The bottom line is the GMRS radios are not supposed to be for tinkering. It supposed to be for a family to grab a radio for each family member and go.
Menu 2 allows you to set the transmit power. I am sure 8-14 are locked at .5w regardless of if you put it on high power or not. GMRS allows channels 8-14, but still limited to .5w.
Also, I looked in my manual, and can't find the power levels. But it was published in 2016 and is not 100 percent accurate for the new radios. The manual version to download online has the post 2017 channels accurately displayed and the power levels.
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https://baofengtech.com/blog/Fr/Post/5/What%20was%20with%20the%20Confusing%20‘Pofung’%20Hype?/
It is explained a lot better here.
Basically copyright differences and being forced to take a new name for a while. Same radios, different label.
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I believe broadcasting is illegal for GMRS.
A lot of the radios have the capability to receive weather channels.
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I am looking at that. I am always searching as well. It's just the way my brain works. Until I actually purchase something. Problem is that I don't have a blank check to buy everything I want at any given time. So I plan and budget for everything. That ends up with a lot of time in between to over search and over analyze stuff.
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So basically TYT is selling the radio to various vendors such as Rugged Radio and Daystar and giving those companies permission to put their own sticker on it?
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This radio came up in my search today.
http://www.daystarweb.com/productdetail.php?productID=1700
I have never heard of it.
Anybody?
After a little more searching, it looks real similar to the TYT GMRS radio. Found it in stock for a ridiculous price.
https://www.rustysoffroad.com/daystar-25-watt-gmrs-radio.html
Doesn't seem to be much better than what Rugged radios is offering.
And I can't find the FCC ID for it.
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Thanks for that information regarding that BTECH mobile. That is encouraging news.
I have been racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out what to do for mobile use.
The handheld portion was easy in comparison and I like those radios. This BTECH mobile just means I need to be patient for a while longer and it will all work out.
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I have been searching for a while.
I am not aware of any other GMRS handhelds that are repeater capable, where a person can change the tones on the fly.
The V-1 seems to have the best value and usability that I can see. I was seriously considering the Tera, but the number of channels don't match up for GMRS use and the Rino is out of my reach financially.
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There aren't a lot of people in my state either.
I am not worried about it. I didn't get the license to talk to the whole state or other people in my town as a form of chit chat.
I got into GMRS to add another layer of communication for my family in the emergency preparedness circle.
Often times, even when showing good cell coverage, I can't get a call to my wife. I also have SPOT, but I often want to get her a message that is not life threatening, but might be somewhat urgent.
GMRS seems to fill that void for me.
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I got into GMRS because I needed another layer of communication with my family. I also understood the limitations of FRS, and discovered the possibility of repeaters for GMRS. I stumbled into a working repeater, which will be programmed this week.
There are no other repeaters that get into the country I typically venture into.
I was just on a mountain top this morning, and am starting the process of the application for a solar site on that mountain with the BLM. I tested my V-1 radios to the house HT to HT and had clear communication at about 15 miles with a friend who lives 4 miles south of me.
This repeater, will give an incredible amount of coverage to where I spend about 80% of my time in the hills. Add to that, cell phones and SPOT, and I am set quite well communication wise.
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I talked to Rugged Radios today.
The GMRS 25 has the following specs, according to the sales person.
IP67 rating
RX and TX tone selective
25khz bandwidth
Field - microphone control - programmable
They have them for sale, though have not directly marketed them yet.
$250
The price seems steep to me, but for a person like myself who just wants to have a radio that works, and doesn't want to mess with things too much, it might be worth it.
I am considering getting one in the near future, as I don't have any radios yet and just got my license. I have been searching for a while now.
Retevis RT76 and RT76P
in Equipment Reviews
Posted
I received my radio today.
I am able to change the tones through the menu in the radio. I do not have a cable to program for channel names.
So far, I have found I can change the bandwidth but it does not stay after I exit that menu.
I have only has the radio for a couple hours, so there will be plenty of time to get used to it.
I did eliminate the voice and beep as well.
Controls are similar to my Btech GMRS V1