Socalgmrs

Never had a problem like that ever in my life. That sucks. Yea I’d try a dedicated antenna store

It’s a ground plane antenna. Does it have 12-18” of flat steel or aluminum in all directions? Nope. So no it is not. It’s not an opinion it’s science. As for the other hockey puck in front of the window same difference. That’s a horrible place to mount anything. But if you don’t care about transmitting lore then a few hundred yards then I guess you’re ok but in that event an ht inside the car would have done just fine. if my set ups can’t do 100 or more miles I toss it in the garbage. As for theft I’ve had gmrs or cb antennas on every vehicle I’ve ever owned and never once have I had one stolen and I lived near down town Los Angeles for a few years. but in the end Hockey pucks and salt shakers mounted in strange and awkward places give me and my friends and family something to laugh at while out and about so keep on keepin on.

Yes first things first for most repeaters you’re gonna need to put In the tones and be on the right pair of frequencies. Then no matter how many watts you’re gonna need line of sight. I’d say set up the radios first and drive as close as you need to to talk to the repeater. Then see how well that works. Then get into a cheap pair of hand held 5w radios they always come in handy. And then if needed get a good 20w with a goon antenna and coax up as high as possible. Antenna and coax are were money should be spent. A 5w ht hooked to a good antenna set up should get you 100miles line of sight. Gmrs is very line of sight dependent. Start with an ht hooked to good coax and antenna such as a comet 712efc mounted as high as possible.

Man can’t believe I missed this thread. This cheap repeater is listed at 5w so why would any one expect more than 5w. I’d figure 3-4 max so doing great. Second you say “needing any where from 12-24volts”. That is actually not what retivis says at all. It says it supports 12-24volts. So needs 12 can use upto 24v. Not the same thing. And last you said “circuit board circled in orange”. That’s not a circle its a square so I’d say it’s outlined in orange not circled.

Great. Always good to have a good local store. I don’t really think gmrs should have many questions. It’s suck a simple service I think many/most people over complicate it to a point that loads of time effort energy and money is spent to do the same thing some guy does with a few bucks and a few minutes.

Hook it up to rt systems and go through the settings.

I try and not listen to any one else I don’t know. I try and find channels with no traffic then use tones. Can’t stand to listen to strangers on the radio. I do report all schools that go blabbing kids names on the open air waves. It’s totally illegal and an invasion of privacy. Some times lawyers even get involved if they won’t stop. In the end they all stop.

Uh I’ve never had to do any of this foularoundery just get the right cable plug it in and go.

Never had to do any of that. Just plug the cable in and down load from radio.

I know how. I’m be done it 1000s of times. It’s pretty easy.

Well a 5w with a rubber ducky does 50plus miles. My 20w with a 712efc does 200miles. My buddy has a 50w he can’t get 5miles. It is almost 100% line of sight and not watts so I’d bet it’s either going to work or not. I’d say if you understand line of site like you say then only you can answer that question. The bigger question might be is gmrs really the radio service for you? Sounds like you’re not using it with family and friends while doing an activity so you may want to try ham. As for repeaters if they are not listed on this and other sites like this then probably not. However have you listened to 15-22 on simplex at all different times of day to see if you can hear people chatting, rag chewing or talking on net Check ins?

Meh not needed for anything I’ve ever done. Meh. went to the web site. Zero information on this. No one on chat at all and no response to email. Scam? Or just bad customer service?

It would have helped to research before buying the radio. A gmrs radio will not need programming for basic channels 1-22 only for inputting repeater tones. So at this point you’re gonna need to read the manual, watch you tube videos, personally I much prefer to program with a cable and a computer. It’s 1million times easier. Or just keep that one for scanning and buy some already programmed gmrs radios. I know that since you read all the information before agreed to it with the fcc you know you really should have a gmrs radio to use on Gmrs frequencies?

A problem with a radioditty? And an Ed fong? Really? I’ve NEVER heard of that. I’d day send the Ed fong back and while you’re at it send the db-40 back also. The all the notes problems on this very site on a weekly basis with radioddity radios why would any one buy one.

Oh ok. I don’t wonder what people say I take words for what they mean not what they meant to say. Talking on a repeater is not being linked to a repeater

What is linked to a Repeater mean?

Yes this comes up a few times a week at least. Like clock work. Having this post here will be great for those that read and it’s full of good info but unfortunately most people don’t read. They just run to the net and start asking other people to solve a problem for them. If people did read they wouldn’t need a post like this. I do have to say I’ve never seen a gmrs radio that didn’t support tones and repeaters. FRS radios don’t support repeaters and still have tones.

Get a programming cable and use chirp.

Well I’d leave the mag mount and mxta26 or a comet 2x4 on the truck and get a proper antenna for the jeep. People will tell you to get some junker salt shaker ground plane or other ground plane antenna and mount it with out a ground plane but in reality if you want to tx and rx more then a few miles and in all directions get a non ground plane antenna such as the midland off road antenna for your jeep. I would then try and swing a new radio as soon as you can so you’re not swapping the radio all the time. And if you really don’t care about getting more then a few miles then an ht would have worked fine so why bother.

It’s your antenna. The antenna is everything. You do t need more power you need more radiated watts leaving the antenna in a usable pattern. A 712efc is a great place to start. With a 5w ht hooked to it it will easily do 150miles AND hit all the valleys and peaks Or something like a 9nc will do even better.

What?

Most people really do over think antennas and radios in general. terrain, height, line of sight has MUCH more effect then antenna, radio, watts…. A $20 5w in the open with a rubber duck can easily do 20miles or more. A $450 50w radio with a big powerful antenna in the woods or city may only do 3 miles. That’s why especially in gmrs 460 MHz money will never equal miles. BUT the one thing I didn’t see but maybe I missed, you didn’t test swr. An antenna may sound fine but if the swr sneaks up to far you can and for sure will kill your radio. How fast and how bad all depends on the radio and the antenna and the swr but eventually a bad match will hurt your radio. But I agree and use dual band 771 antennas on all my ht radios and they do great with gmrs and murs.

Omg. If you have a gmrs radio then it’s pre set to +5. Gmrs is always +5. It will never be anything else. If it is anything else it is not a gmrs repeater. If you study the gmrs pairs on 15-22 you will notice they are exactly +5 from eachother. If you’re not using a gmrs radio then you will have to program the +5 in manually. IF you had took the time to read the rules you already said you fully understand when you got your license you would already know this. People people when you sign up for your license you’re telling the gobermint people at the fcc that you have fully read AND understand the rules. please read the rules BEFORE you say you have.

I’ve never noticed any difference in brand of 771 antenna. I would like to say your stated your talking to some one 25miles away through a repeater. You’re gonna have to learn it doesn’t matter how far away the other peeps on is. Your joy actually talking to them. Your talking and listening to the repeater so it only matters where the repeater is not the other person.

What you believe has no bearing on reality. In reality rag chew is not what gmrs is for. It is for communication while doing an activity. Gmrs is not the activity like ham is. Ham is the activity gmrs is a tool to use while doing something. Rag chew on ham or chat rooms. You can meet people on chat rooms.