WSHH887

In my pre retirement I dealt with a lot of computerized control systems. Even in instructions written by professionals for professionals ambiguity wasn't uncommon. Add in it not being the first language of the writer and you'd get the "put slot A into tab B, oh happy joy" type instructions. So you called tech support and got someone with such a thick Indian subcontinent accent you couldn't understand them. Here I thought I was done with that and now I am tinkering with radios, most, if not all made off shore.

I read this same manual. Thus my confusion. I suppose a lawyer had a hand in writing the manual. This of course always results in much ambiguity. I'm doing the initial 24 hour charge and will likely do the unplug thing you mention.

Thanks. Those old Motorolas took quite a beating but seemed to hold up well. Didn't like water though.

So, while I wait for my DB20 to arrive, my wife reminded me that we had a pair of Walkie Talkies in our bag of earthquake stuff. I had completely forgotten about them and other than taking them out of the package I hadn't even looked at them. Turns out they are GMRS capable. Heck when I bought them I hadn't even heard of GMRS. So, I've been playing with them and learning their functions and menus (who write these things). I've learned a couple of things here but I have a question. Back in the dark past of the late 60's and 70's I was a USAF firefighter. We had a few radios in all of our rigs, and a few had units that allowed you to slip a portable into the base. I seem to recall these were Motorola radios. Big, heavy but they worked reasonably well. We never shut these off. They would charge in the base in the vehicle or in recharging bases kept in the office. Back to my question. Can I leave these Midland radios on while they are in the charger? The teeny tiny owner's manual doesn't address this, and that with using a magnifying glass to aid my 71 yo eyes.

Far from an expert, but with the vehicle running you are likely reading the alternator output. Turn off the car you only see the battery voltage. But anytime you reduce the wring and connections you reduce voltage drop. A properly sized wire connected directly to the battery with an appropriate inline fuse would be better.

Thanks Steve.

Just received my license and noticed that they seem to all start with W. Back when TV was new, yea I'm that old, Radio and TV station call letters started with W on the East coast and K on the west coast. I think the Mississippi river was the dividing line. Has that standard been done away with?

New here. Decided to look at reviews as a starting point in equipment selection. This is one of the first reviews listed. Read through it and have a simple question. For a "first" radio in my truck, is this a decent place to start? Not looking for the most powerful/technologically advanced radio, just a good starting point.