OffRoaderX

Oh my, that sounds serious! Can you tell us what happens after they fox-hunt someone and locate them? Because if you dont, I will.

The short answer is YES - you could, and there is nothing stopping you. Any H.A.M.s listening might become very sad and it would be breaking the FCC rules (not laws, but RULES). but beyond that, nothing would happen based on the FCC's current and past 15 years of enforcement policies.

Oh my, that sounds serious! What will happen if he does it anyway?

This is what i was going to say, but it does not explain why/how its opening his squelch/getting past the RX tone he has set.

Yes. get them at least 50 feet apart and try again.

Yah, that's @H8SPVMT's fault....

You're a bit late to this party:

Only "some people" would resurrect a 7 year old dead thread.

Is there any specific reason you want to update the firmware? ie; is there some critical issue that is fixed with this update? ..I ask because often (usually) the risk of updating is not worth the reward of updating and us radio experts generally will only apply an update if it fixes a serious/major/real issue that is impacting our radio-lifestyle. TL;dr: you probably dont need to apply the update and should not waste any time trying

Sounds like you are running out of options, but here are a few: Are you sure that your CHIRP does not "recognize" the radio, and that it's not a cable/driver issue? Look into running a Windows "VM" on your computer like Parallels - this will let you run Windows which will then let you run Windows software - see if there is a free trail to make sure it all works before paying See if RT Systems will work with that radio and your computer as Mr @SteveShannon suggests Get a new computer

Why not just program it the manly way, directly on the keypad?

My experience is at home, with the high ground, FRS ~1-8 miles.. GMRS 3-20 miles. While off-roading, in hills, mountains and rolling desert hills, FRS, with its tiny little antenna has never performed as well as any GMRS radio after ~1 mile or so.

In my real-world experience, this is not correct.. at all..

There are a couple of possibilities: You are very confused about what your radio is doing/how your radio functions Your radio is broken and my guess is that your radio is not broken.

Either that, or ... someone here casually mentioned his GMRS callsign (which he had tried to hide after he got run-off the site last time).. Then everyone looking it up and seeing sh!thole where he lives, his full legal name, and pretty much everything else about him... He got real quiet right after that..

The radio does have a thermal-shutdown.. so if gets too hot for any reason, it will throttle-back and then stop transmitting all-together.. Wait for it to get cold tonight and then try it again.. if still no joy, send it back to the guy you got it from and tell him to send you one that works.

Too bad our GMRS friend from So.Cal isn't around anymore, he always hit repeaters in Arizona, over 200 miles away... ..whatever happened to that guy anyway?

This ^

This is the part that everyone wants an answer to, because it makes zero sense.

According to the FCCs, if you are using a GMRS radio, no matter what channel you are on, the answer is YES.. In the real world, and knowing that nobody listening cares, the FCCs dont care, and nobody will know what kind of radio you are using, the answer is NO.

The GMR2+ is a GMRS radio so you dont have to worry about, or even think about offsets - you just select the correct "Repeater Channel" and enter the TX tone and (optionally) the RX tone.. Steps for that are outlined in your user-manual. HOWEVER - To use a repeater the radio must be GMRS repeater-capable, and based on the Rugged Radio Product page for the GMR2+, it does not appear to be repeater capable - and if that is the case, then you bought the wrong radios. EDIT/UPDATE: After reading the user-manual for you i can see that this radio is repeater capable.. I can also see that this is probably the most confuckulating to use GMRS radio I have ever seen. I give it two thumbs down and would NOT recommend this radio to someone that does not know anything about GMRS, Tones, or repeaters..

Welcome! and, just FYI - if you plan on using that plate for measuring the SWR on handheld antennas, dont bother. Even with the plate, you will never get a true/accurate SWR reading that reflects how the antenna will perform when used on the handheld. Some say this is why they stopped including the (virtually useless) plates with the meter.

When you are lost/stuck in the middle of nowhere and trying to get help, knowing your coordinates can be very helpful.

That's just what they do around here. Its the only way to find out who the smartest one is!

The butt-prints smell fresh so your story checks out.