OffRoaderX

are you 100% certain you werent just getting lazy-arm and the mic was getting further from your noise-output hole as you were talking?

I've tested quite a few different radios and I've never run into this. DCS (and CTCSS) squelch tones work in an ON or OFF way - its either on, or its off, no in-between - thats not to say something couldn't be wrong with one of your radios - I've just never seen/heard of this happening. If its working now with CTCSS, I would leave well-enough alone.. the odds of running into someone else using the same tone is very low, as long as you're not using one of the common tones - just use one of the higher ones and enjoy your radios.

Wouxun does (and has) fixed things that were 'wrong' on their radios that I have pointed out - but as far as just "suggestions", I'm not sure I've actually suggested any to them.

In your image, you have the RX and TX tones set to 23, so I'm not understanding how you're even hitting it.. The only setting that would affect YOUR modulation is the bandwidth, so make sure the radio is set to WIDEBand. If you are receiving no audio from the repeater, then replacing the incorrect tone of 23 with the correct tone of 84.5 would help so give that a try.

The antenna matters as much, if not more than the radio - so the KG-1000G MIGHT get you to the repeater with the right antenna.. and your HT MIGHT also.. It is also possible that from your home NEITHER will hit the repeater - because what is between you and the repeater is the most important factor.. If there is a mountain, a forrest, hills, etc, then you will never hit it. Zello is a voice-chat app that some people use to connect repeaters to, allowing you to talk on a repeater from your phone, using the Zello app. You can read (a lot) more about it here on the this webpage explaining how to use Zello with my repeater: https://www.notarubicon.com/zello-gmrs-repeater/

What kind of problems are you having hitting the repeater, and what are the correct codes for the repeater?

Thank you.. let it sit idle for a few minutes and take a temp, then transmit 5-10 times on low-power and measure, then 5-10 times on high power. I have to friends I talked to about this last night.. One says that his "gets kinda warm", the other says "it gets really hot" ... Both using their hands to measure.. So some actual data will be helpful.

I've noticed that my XTL5000 brick gets pretty warm just sitting idle, hot when transmitting at low power, and VERY HOT even if transmitting at high power in short bursts.. Just curious if this is normal/if they all get this hot.. I realize the brick is mostly a giant heat sink, but this thing is getting really hot.

Ok ?

?

have you enabled RX tones on the repeater so that every bit of static does not key up the repeater?

Welcome! #1: No.. If they publish the tones, that means they want everyone to see them #2: "It depends".. you can expect anywhere from 1/2 mile to 80 miles #3: You only need the TX/Encode tone (the one you transmit) to use the repeater. The RX/Decode only makes it so you only hear traffic from the repeater and not kids down the street talking on simplex, etc.

My guess is you have the wrong tone OR have the TX and RX reversed.

Could be... Watch this video:

Try removing the RX/DEcode tone.. both DCS and CTC (if any) and lower the squelch level a few clicks and see if that makes a difference.

Did you set both a TX and RX DCS tone on BOTH radios you're trying to talk on ?

If you think that was nasty, you should see what I kept to myself. And although it is true that you have, and are entitled to your opinion, nobody asked to hear it. ...Just sayin...

I don't care if you would do that or not.

You should look up the nuke they lost somewhere in Salton Sea.. its still there..somewhere...

I have used several repeaters without 'permission' because the owners gave no way for anyone to request permission. The worst that can happen is the repeater owner comes on the air and asks/tells you to stop using it. This has happened to me only once.. The repeater owner was very upset, but he told me (yelled at me) to go away, and I did.

Its probably best to create a new thread with your issue, but IIRC, FE indicates an error.. are there any numbers scrolling/flashing after FE ?

Hallelujah! Obviously though "some people" get their GMRS/HAM license JUST so they can play radio police..

I was just calling BS in a nice way without coining right out and calling BS ...

Cool story! So we should be able to find that in the FCC enforcement database and read up on the details - got a link? Also curious how he "found out" ...

The English on that webpage is suspect, but that aside, it says this is for making a cross-band repeater (RX on UHF, TX on VHF or visa-versa) - that means that the two radios sitting next to each other would not be much of an issue. But if you set your radios to work as a GMRS repeater (RX on 467.xxx and TX on 462.xxx) there would be much desense (the radios making each other deaf because they are too close) unless you set them at least 10-15 feet apart... But I've never used something like this so I would like to see what anyone with experience has to say. Something like the Retevis RT97 would do exactly what you want, but it costs a bit more.