Imply4907

I mean, if you know someone or a shop that installs aftermarket sound systems, that's who I'd lean on for install help. I've got a friend who does it, so for me, it's no big deal. (Also, my cars are out of warranty). To me, it's not much different than a car sound system. The major differences are (a) power: it seems like a lot of these radios need to go direct to a battery power post and negative to a good ground point (b) antenna cabling: the antenna needs to penetrate the car which might lead to water/weather issues. That's my take. YMMV.

I've heard that the best electronic designs consider operating temperatures and humidity. That being said, YMMV. There seems to be a broad range of experiences. What I've said is probably nothing new to people familiar with electronics.

There's a very accessible repeater in my area which occasionally the users get a little long-winded. But everyone's friendly and generally respectful. They use their call signs. Good order. I also get to use the nice repeater for free! When using repeaters, I do use my call sign often and try to be on the brief side of my transmissions. On simplex, with my family, I tend to be a little more loose with the call sign rules. Some of them are using FRS radios. I'm using the interstitial narrow band channels of the frequency. Fortunately, my area's not too crowded with FRS/GMRS. Add: I've noticed areas like Mooresville (I-77) and Charlotte (I-77, I-85, etc.), the GMRS/FRS frequencies are much more used.

@TrikeRadio Eventually, when I get my AR license I'll try it. Right now I restrict myself to GMRS. I truly appreciate the help and suggestions. I ended up sending back the U5R's and buying two more TD-H3 "GMRS" models for other people in the family. The only thing I don't really like about the "H3" is that when dropped, the battery comes off rather easily. I think for the price and size, the 2408__ software is decent. I see someone saw newer firmware. I'll have to check out the features and bug fixes and decide whether I want to re-image the EPROM.

@SteveShannon By "unlocked", if you mean "Normal" mode, then "no". I am using GMRS mode. But I did find that it worked if I used a slot between 31 and 54. I think I used 42. Hallelujah!

@LeoG, that might have been the issue. I may have overlooked it in the owner’s manual about the transmit channel slot limitation. I will have to find it and confirm. But I was able to program GMRS 1 on slot 43 on the keypad with some CTCSS tones and it appeared to transmit. I’m out on the road and can’t test thoroughly. Thank you for the tip.

I see people install alternate firmware on H3's. Maybe I should consider it? I don't know. I'm pretty new with these radios (not software and firmware, though).

Oh gosh! So I used CHIRP and it programmed the frequencies wrong on the radio! I figured I'd use CHIRP since it's a bit deeper. I attached pictures. I read the radio, inserted a line at slot 22, copied slot 1 (GMRS ch. 1) to empty slot 22. Then I changed the name and added the tone. Wrote back to the radio (I didn't save the image). I noticed I could transmit on 22, but I also noticed that the frequencies didn't go in the way I programmed them. I am on a pretty new version of CHIRP (not the bleeding edge) but not more than 2 weeks old.

That's pretty succinct, @SteveShannon. thanks

Side question, what's the standard way to express when I mean a channel on my radio model vs. a channel within the band? Thanks in advance. e.g. there are 22 GMRS channels in the GMRS band. My TIDRADIO model TD-H3 handheld transceiver (HT) radio has 199 channels (which varies from model to model)

Hi @TrikeRadio and @LeoG I also observed the phenomenon at HT Channel 100, which is clearly outside of the 31-54 range that @TrikeRadio mentioned (he was guessing). But I am going to re-read the posts as I just skimmed over them. I'm interested in the "skip" feature. When using Odmaster, that's not an option. In Odmaster, I use the same frequency for both TX and RX. Has anyone been able to replicate my situation with his/her TD-H3? Best regards, Jim

Thats interesting. Almost like the fact that I have a repeater frequency (radio channel 26) in the line of channels in between my channel 1 and my channel 31 that is interfering with my ability to TX on 31? (thanks for considering my situation!) as a workaround, I moved to the low powered GMRs/FRS channels in the 8-15 range since I use those less. I don’t have any custom repeaters sharing that channel. I’m having a hard time explaining it. last night I used CHIRP over a USB cable and tried a few things with duplex off and what have you before I moved to the FRS channel range that so mentioned in the previous paragraph. BTW, TIDRADIO has not replied to my request. I gave them the URL to this post.

Update: I put an inquiry in to the nice people at TIDRADIO.

It's the HAM version but its running in GMRS mode. I only have my GMRS license at this time.

What I described appears to be a limitation of the TD-H3 and not the 5RM as I just tested a similar scenario on the Baofeng.

Good day! I apologize if this question has been asked/answered -- I did some searching and wasn't able to find anything specific to this, yet I don't believe I'm the first person to encounter this. TLDR; I can't transmit on a second similar frequency channel with or without a "privacy code" I know "privacy code" usage isn't private. I'm using it as a general term for using DCS/CTCSS codes to reduce hearing unwanted signals. Equipment: I have a TIDRADIO TD-H3 (HAM version) running in GMRS mode The firmware version is GMRS_240817 I can and have programmed it on Odmaster or CHIRP I can do some limited work on the HT itself I just got it this week, so I'm still a little new (Jan. 15 2025) Intent: My younger children have some FRS radios where I used FRS/GMRS Channel 1 plus a "privacy code" to (a) reduce some of the distraction from area GMRS/FRS users (b) potentially reduce the possibility that their ears might hear something inappropriate. I'd still like to be able to switch to a regular "privacy code"-free channel when I'm away. I want to talk to communicate with them from my TD-H3. Situation: I can't transmit out on higher of the TD-HD3's two channels if I have a mixture of privacy code and non-privacy code for the same frequency. The radio prevents transmitting on the higher channel of the same simplex frequency. Example: If I use GMRS freq. 1 and put the "privacy code" on HT radio channel 1. I then use a "privacy code" free GMRS freq. 1 on the HT radio's channel/slot 100. I can transmit out and be heard on the FRS radio when I use HT slot 1, but can't actually transmit (and hear a rejection tone) when I use the HT radios slot 100 on the same frequency. If I make HT slot 1 clear of codes and make HT slot 100 the same frequency as channel 1, but use a "privacy code", the radio blocked me from transmitting on slot 100. I discovered this after several hours of troubleshooting and hand-wringing. It didn't matter whether I used DCS or CTCSS. I then tried using "privacy code" on the lower radio channel and put the privacy free* on the greater channel and saw I could use a privacy code successfully. What's a little weird is that I have a repeater setup with a CT tone and the radio will transmit fine. I don't know if this is by design or a limitation of the TD-H3 and similar firmware. For all I know, it might be a general phenomenon of TIDRADIO products. Comparison: I have a brand new pair of Baofeng 5RMs that I would like to see if they exhibit the same phenomenon, but there are issues with the programming over the cable preventing me from quickly programming them. Maybe I'll figure out how to program them on the keypad. Observation: I get the feeling that Baofeng and TIDRADIO are basically the same manufacturer but simply different brands. Kind regards, Jim Woodleaf, NC USA WSGP797