TerriKennedy

I'm not involved with that product (I do the BF-F8HP Pro handheld and the GMRS-RPT50), but BTECH seems to be committed to providing features people request, as upgrades. The BF-F8HP shipped with firmware V29, went to V33 about a month and a half later, and V44 which just came out. A bunch of the enhancements in that firmware were due to requests from Facebook, here, to me directly or to BTECH. So the radio you bought the week it was released in October 2024 can be upgraded to the same functionality as the units currently shipping. The only difference is that new V44 radios will come with a somewhat updated v44 manual which describes the new features. The GMRS-RPT50 got a bunch of features people asked for, like being able to used the microphone to use the radio as a base station, to get rid of the annoying (if you're the only person with physical access to the repeater) password prompt, etc. * Please bear in mind that I'm a contractor working with BTECH, so noothing II say should be construed as the official position of BTECH. vers-old.pdf

That's because you have radios from a vendor who either feels that a) what you got was good enough, b) you don't need to know what was fixed, and/or c) if we deign to provide firmware to you out of the goodness of our hearts and it bricks your radio, tough - buy another one. For a look at what REAL firmware release notes look like, and the sorts of new features that can be provided: vers.pdf

You will likely have better results with CTCSS as it is analog tones instead of digital codes. For a somewhat strained comparison, consider an over-used VHS tape (if you're old enough to remember such things) - it's analog and when there's a worn spot on the tape you get streaks of the wrong color on the screen, or the picture rolls, or something similar that usually clears up. Compare that to a scratched DVD where the picture will just turn into a bunch of digital blocks and freeze, and you can't even fast-forward your way out of it. That's digital.

I hate updates that either just appear with no documentation whatsoever, or with something that says "fixed some bugs, added features". That's why the firmware release notes for the BTECH BF-F8HP Pro list every single thing that was changed, even if it is something the user will never encounter (how often do people go into the power-up diagnostic info menu?). Unfortunately, the only radio I have that level of control over is the BF-F8HP Pro.

The payment should be associated with a FRN and show up as unused funds. If you apply for a new license using that FRN, instead of paying through the payment portal you should see your $35 there and a balance due of $0.

Like my grammar school history teacher taught us, any country that has the words "Democratic" in its official name, isn't.

I'll let you in on a secret - if a Lovense toy is turned on but a) isn't connected to a controlling Bluetooth phone / etc. and b) doesn't have a password set (no password is the default and they don't explain why setting one is a good idea), they're discoverable via BLE (they will all be named "LVS", the firmware version, and the short product code for the device). Get a BLE scanner app for your phone and you'd be surprised how many of these are around and broadcasting. Since they're broadcasting, it's OK to monitor them with a BLE app. Installing the Lovense app and actually connecting to one of them would most definitely NOT be OK.

The single-chip RF chips in radios like the ones from Baofeng are going to produce harmonics that are 2x the main frequency (and other multiples). Those are so far out-of-band that no GMRS repeater is even going to "hear" them, let alone act on them. Early Baofeng (and other models) used to have terrible harmonics. Their designs have gotten much better. There are people with TinySA's (an amazing piece of design - I'm not knocking it) but who cable them up through an attenuator directly to the radio's antenna connector. That is not the FCC's prescribed test methodology, so it's comparing apples and turtles (not even oranges). I can explain why some tri-band radios appear "dirty" on 136-174 direct-connect test, but since this is a GMRS group that isn't relevant here.

In the 1980's I was exposed to an unshielded Cobalt-60 source. I got the heck out of there quickly and called the appropriate people who came ASAP, put it in a cask, and took it away. I'm still kicking at age 66, though some people might say that explains a number of things about me. I never planned on having kids, anyway. I describe it as "You know it's going to be a bad day when you can sense the ozone forming in your mouth". Sue and I were watching HBO's Chernobyl mini-series, and in the first episode one of the firefighters says "Why does it taste like metal?" which is probably the same thing.

There shouldn't be any in the firmware. I hate release notes that say "here's 2 new features and we fixed some other stuff". If you look at the V33 release notes, it covers everything, including stuff most users will never see (like fixing the diagnostic screen you get if you hold "8" while powering-on). There are some manufacturing keypress combos, and I know some, but not all of them (and can't tell). In the CPS, what you see is what's there. The only "secret" (which I've previously mentioned) is that 1.2.5m will eventually (1-2 months after the BTECH release) become available in my "Modified UV-17 Pro GPS (and similar models)" CPS, and will include BF-F8HP Pro support along with all of the other models. It won't have the BTECH branding or the BTECH-exclusive features like the firmware update utility. The most recent UV-17/"Generic" release was 1.2.5k (1.25l was for the BF-F8HP Pro only) and you can get it here.

Since you're talking about receiving and not transmitting (the BF-F8HP Pro is not type approved for Tx on GMRS - it's an amateur licensed hand-held)... Wait for the next release of the BF-F8HP Pro firmware. I can't say when it will happen, other than "probably this month". Then look on the BTECH web site for highlights in the new firmware, or download the "Firmware update bundle" which has the firmware, quick installation instructions, and a detailed list of changes in each firmware version.

I'm glad you found it informative/helpful. I think I'm likely the only programming software author on here, except perhaps the CHIRP folks. I can't tell you what will be in future firmware, sometimes because I have beta firmware but am under a non-disclosure agreement or because I don't have a specific firmware yet and sometimes there are surprises. I'm a contractor to BTECH for the CPS, firmware features/testing, and reviewing ad copy among a few other things, not an employee, so there can be ideas floated within BTECH that I only hear about when I see new firmware with them. With that out of the way, I can say that you will get one of the things you asked for in the next public firmware release. To address some of your other points: 1) I'll add it to the feature request list. For technical reasons, it will likely only be for the duration of the scan in progress, not until the next power cycle. 2) Answered above. 3&4) There are 10 levels in the radio. The radio just offers "every other one" because there isn't much difference between steps. The VHF table is currently 0, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32. These can be adjusted, but they live in the "calibration area" and we'd rather not access that with the CPS. There's too much other stuff nearby that the CPS would have to re-write that is radio-specific as tuned by the factory. Don't hold your breath, but some sort of unsupported utility might eventually appear. 5) This is very unlikely to appear in the CPS. However, you can write a radio with CHIRP and read it back with the CPS, or vice versa. So pick which one does a particular job best. CHIRP manages the regular settings for a huge number of radio models, while the CPS is specific to the BF-F8HP Pro and supports all of the other radio features - startup picture, voices, firmware updates, and so on.

FWIW, I've never declined an access request to my repeater (detailed on the previous page). The only reason I don't publish the tones and label it as "open" is because word will get out (beyond the members here) and I'll have people on the repeater who won't respect either FCC regulations or my own rules. With request "by access request", I know that whoever is asking at least has a GMRS license and I have their contact info should I need to make operational changes to the repeater that need to be announced.

These and other fixes will be in 1.2.5m. Unfortunately, I can't make some changes to the CPS until I get firmware that's close to the release version, and then I deliver the CPS to BTECH and they validate it before releasing it. With the original V29 firmware and CPS 1.2.5l, new features in pre-release test firmware were pretty well set and the remaining firmware versions were bug fixes or UI improvements that didn't affect the CPS. Firmware V33 was released while I was out in the Mojave Desert - the reason that elevation now works properly instead of telling you you're at an altitude that requires supplemental oxygen is because I took a radio to Badwater Basin (282 feet below sea level) as well as other locations (see picture) to verify the accuracy of the reported altitude. The firmware change notes were written by me at my campsite and uploaded via satcom ($$$) to BTECH because I was in the middle of nowhere. The changes to enable SK1 and add NOAA were felt to be minor enough to wait for 1.2.5m. 1.2.5m should release either with or within a few weeks after the next firmware update is released. That isn't entirely under my control. It adds the SK1 and NOAA changes as well as many other changes - both bugfixes and improvements to the CPS and its manual, as well as support for the new features coming in the next firmware release. One complicating factor is that Baofeng won't give BTECH certain critical information I need to make some CPS updates until BTECH says "this firmware is good - put it in new radios". Then it's a mad scramble for me to finish the CPS and get it to BTECH for testing. I can't tell you about new features or other things in the upcoming firmware release, but I will say that 1.2.5l was my internal build number 290 (since 2023). The forthcoming 1.25m is now up to build number 319 and I still have 5 critical pending items and another 10 WIBNI (Wouldn't It Be Nice If...) feature requests that won't hold up the release of 1.2.5m if I don't get to them. 2 of the 5 critical ones can't be addressed until BTECH approves the next firmware release and I get the data I need from Baofeng.

CHIRP's idea of zones is very different from zoned Baofeng (and similar) brands. I think it may be based on some high-end radio. Anyway, to CHIRP, zones are a table where you can use a checkbox to put a channel into one (or more, or zero) zones. On the Baofeng radios, zone names are basically text strings that live in the settings menu and channels go into zones based on channel number as someone described above. Regarding your issues with the BTECH CPS, I'd be very interested in hearing about them, since I wrote that software. Assuming you are using CPS version 1.2.5l, can you give me more details (via DM if you like). In particular, were the unexpected channels created on the radio after a write, or did the duplicates appear in the programming software? If you have a .dat file that causes the problem, I'd like to see it. You can either DM me here or email BTECH support (not putting the email address here to foil spam crawlers) and just put "Terri asked me to have you forward this to her" near the top of your email if you don't want to reach out to me directly (just because I say I wrote it is no proof that I did, although the "About" box will provide a hint). Before we get that far, can you load your .dat file and just click "[Next]" at the bottom of the channel window to go through all 10 zones? You might get a message about corrupted data when moving to a new zone. The CPS assumes that if it's in a .dat file it can load, it's valid. But paging through each zone does additional checks to make sure all the settings are valid.

That is the important part. I changed the Tx power calibrations on my radio by accident using the factory debug software (sorry, I can't share, please don't ask). A Surecom SW-102 hooked directly up to the radio didn't register any power or even the frequency I was "transmitting" on. However, another radio next to it could hear it and we could carry on a conversation in the same room, but not at any greater distance. If the OP can talk to the other radio at 1/4 mile in simplex, then I'd look to see that the Tx / Rx (if used) tones for accessing the repeater didn't get clobbered somehow.

Some may be operated by clubs. Since you can't get a (new) GMRS license other than as an individual, somebody has to be the "responsible party" for each repeater. If a club has several and has someone with the expertise to maintain them, centrally manage access control, etc. they'll show up as the "owner" of multiple repeaters. In my case, here in JC we (supposedly) had a community service one on 700, but the user's FCC license expired 5+ years ago, they haven't been active here for 7+ years, and standing outside the building where the repeater supposedly, is there's nothing that responds. Hopefully that owner just lost interest in radio and/or moved away. Given some of our ages (I'm 66+ and realized that Val Kilmer was younger than me), the former repeater owner might be deceased. Hopefully not. Anyway, since I've had my GMRS license for 6+ years, I've benefited from using other repeaters while traveling, I'm on top of a ridge and have a 3-story house, and a 50W repeater "fell into my lap" (ouch!), I decided to start The New JC 700 as a community service as the only repeaters (other than the defunct 700) here are either open only to emergency responders, require membership in a club whos home page serves up malware and their repeater time announcement is off by 58 minutes (DST + clock drift) so "nobody's minding the store". Right now I'm running on a NMO-HDG at a lower elevation until my DB408-B, 7/8" heliax and climber/installer arrive. I have 8 ground rods, 150' of #4 copper and a ground rod driver and just need to create the ground field. Even with the free repeater, I'll probably be $4000-ish out-of-pocket. But since anyone with a 5W "repeater in a box" can validly register a repeater, some of the ones you see may be low-power. And some here are defunct - I messaged the management about the old 700 here, pointing out that their license was expired and they hadn't been here in 7+ years, and it was removed some time later.

How do you know you are hitting the repeater with the "working" radio? Some repeaters will emit a "courtesy tone" (beep) back at you, and/or may trigger an auto-ID if nothing else happens for the next 10-15 minutes. Or you could ask for a radio check and see if anyone responds. Try disabling the Rx tone on the radio that isn't receiving your transmissions. If you programmed the radios with some programming software, a screenshot of how they are programmed will be quite useful to help solve your issue. Also, what exact brand and model do you have (might be on the front, might be on a label inside the battery compartment)? Remember, if both radios are set up to properly use the repeater, that channel (or however you set it up) will not work for direct HT-to-HT communication without the repeater - both radios are transmitting on one frequency and receiving on a different frequency, so they won't hear each other without the translation done by the repeater. Many radios have a mode where they can flip their Tx/Rx settings so you can talk radio-to-radio without the repeater, but let's get the basics sorted out first.

Did you save the "factory fresh" image by reading the radio with CHIRP and saving it to a disk file and never changing it? If so, loading that image and writing it to the radio should fix things. Sometimes manufacturers change the firmware (and memory locations of "internal" settings) but don't bother to change the firmware version displayed or reported to CHIRP.

Does it transmit OK on low power, or is it completely silent? All bands, or only UHF or only VHF? The assembly of these radios often requires manual soldering of the antenna connector's center pin to the PCB, and I've seen some bad solder jobs. I've also occasionally seen defective SMA male connectors on radios - no center pin, they forgot to thread the connector, etc.

Some of the frequencies are shared with FRS which doesn't need a license, just a type approved radio. Weekday afternoons there's a lot of itinerant traffic on .700 which seems to be school bus dispatching (I'm within 2 blocks of several schools). There are also some legacy business GMRS licenses. Although new ones haven't been issued in years, they're still renewable as long as they haven't lapsed. You can always set a tone if you don't want to hear unrelated chatter. I recommend to my users that they don't set a RX tone so they can make sure the channel is clear before transmitting, but that's a decision each of them can make for themselves.

I agree with everything you said. I had my license for 5+ years before I even considered setting up a repeater. Despite being just across the Hudson from Manhattan, there isn't repeater I can copy clearly (with an NA771 antenna on an upper floor of my house). There's a group of repeaters that were apparently networked at one time, and may still be. The group that manages that repeater has their web site serving up a browser search extension that could be classified as malware, the repeater time announcements are off by 58 minutes (DST + clock drift) so apparently nobody with repeater management access is "minding the store". I occasionally hear other repeaters ID, but they seem to be limited to emergency services and the ID's are infrequent enough that I think they're just "keepalive" checks. Those are on various GMRS repeater frequency pairs, with the least traffic on .700. We had a repeater here in Jersey City on .700 but it seems to be inactive (although still listed here). The operator's GMRS license expired 5 years ago, they were last active here 7 years ago, and the repeater doesn't respond to its published input tone even when I'm standing in the street right in front of its reported location. So I think it's safe to say it is gone. I started The New JC 700 to replace it. Right now the temporary antenna is in a sub-optimal location, pending a DB408-B antenna mounted on a 20' mast on my roof peak, which is 50' AGL on a natural ridgeline. So the antenna will top out at a hair under 80' AGL. A few users have registered for access here, but success seems to be about 50/50. It should improve when the new antenna goes up in 2 months. There is a bunch of itinerant simplex traffic on 462.700 weekday afternoons. It seems to be school bus dispatching, probably using FRS radios. I'm only a few blocks away from several schools so it is probably one of those.

You need a regular license, and a lot of time, money and research to set up a repeater - over in the General Discussion forum there's a sticky titled "You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?" which is well worth reading through. To summarize - a 5W repeater with an antenna on your balcony isn't going to perform better than a handheld with the same antenna on your balcony. By the time you're thinking about higher power, higher elevation, etc. you're talking serious money. Even with a 50W repeater that "fell into my lap" (ouch!), I'm probably looking at $2500 for the survey, antenna, feedline, mast, etc.

I dislike NMO connectors. With just about every other type you plug the cable into the antenna, turn until the shell stops, and you're good to go. With NMO, if you're using an adapter to any other connector type, or you're mounting the NMO connector through a panel that is even slightly different from what the manufacturer expected, you have to fiddle with how far in you thread the adapter and you only get a turn or two of thread engagement, and you may or may not have a water resistant connection. Right now I'm using a temporary NMO antenna. The real antenna going up in two months will be a DB408-B with an N connector (my favorite type). Cable loops beyond what is needed for drip loops can degrade your SWR. 50' of 400-type ultraflex (LMR400 is a trademark of Times Microwave) in a coil into a dummy load had a SWR of 1.28. Not great, not terrible (gratuitous Chernobyl reference). With the ultraflex uncoiled except for a drip coil at the base of the antenna and at the building entry, even with a real antenna instead of a dummy load, SWR dropped to 1.12. I expect the custom length of Heliax on the DB408-B will do even better.

https://www.undergroundexplorers.com https://www.mojaveunderground.com