OffRoaderX

I did not know that...  That is a very handy piece of info and may be a good compromise. 
 
 
Kiel / OP... definitely checkout this YouTube channel.  I think this may be the "Hobo" in question...   https://www.youtube.com/c/NotaRubiconProductions
 
 
<Spaz giggles in radio geek> 
 
 

That clown has never licked or kissed a Baofeng on camera.. That clown is also responsible for introducing more people to GMRS and helping them get their license than anyone else on Youtube and has brought laughter and joy to thousands...  What have you done?
Excellent point - sadly, "some people" do not seem to have the ability to grasp this concept as they appear to be totally incapable of thinking outside of their own existence - as proven already right here in this thread, and thousands of times in other posts on this forum.  
..all that said, I do love my XTS5000..

That clown has never licked or kissed a Baofeng on camera.. That clown is also responsible for introducing more people to GMRS and helping them get their license than anyone else on Youtube and has brought laughter and joy to thousands...  What have you done?
Excellent point - sadly, "some people" do not seem to have the ability to grasp this concept as they appear to be totally incapable of thinking outside of their own existence - as proven already right here in this thread, and thousands of times in other posts on this forum.  
..all that said, I do love my XTS5000..

The T5950 appears to be a (grandfathered) FRS radio, and you do not need a license to transmit on any channels with this radio.

This is a nice little radio.  I hear the best GMRS channel on Youtube will be reviewing it a few days before its available for purchase.

Weird.. My Wouxun KG805, KG-916, KG905, KG935G, KG-UV9G and KGUV9GX ALL transmit on simplex pretty much exactly as the same range as my Motorola XTS5000 - easily 3-15 miles, not "tenths of a mile" as proclaimed by you .. and my Wouxun KG-1000G transmits just as far as my Motorola XTL5000 when at the same power setting.
But you know what everyone says...  "some people" as they laugh in your face and shake their heads, knowing that you're FOS ..

That clown has never licked or kissed a Baofeng on camera.. That clown is also responsible for introducing more people to GMRS and helping them get their license than anyone else on Youtube and has brought laughter and joy to thousands...  What have you done?
Excellent point - sadly, "some people" do not seem to have the ability to grasp this concept as they appear to be totally incapable of thinking outside of their own existence - as proven already right here in this thread, and thousands of times in other posts on this forum.  
..all that said, I do love my XTS5000..

fair enough

No, I didnt. I was quoting the proclamation made earlier in the thread. Keep up.

The original proclamation was about "shitty Wouxun" radios.. Not UV-5R radios.

Me, and most of the guys in my local GMRS-Dork group all use XTS5000s ...   Other than the price.. and the size, it is IMO, the best radio you can use as far as performance, durability and quality..
The biggest downside is probably getting your hands on the Motorola programming software and then learning how to use it.. it is NOT easy to learn and it is very ... "deep"...
IMHO, I would be sure to get a Model III which has the screen and all the buttons - the only other options that comes to mind is ADP and AES encryption.. ADP encryption is probably enough for 99.999% of people, and AES requires an expensive "keyloader" before you can use it.. but it doesn't hurt to have both options enabled.    Many upgrades are software based and you could do them yourself IF you get your hands on that software (different from the programming software) otherwise you might have to pay someone to do them.  IIRC, the only hardware based upgrade is AES encryption - but I could be remembering that wrong.
 

Have you been under the weather?  The vitriol wasn’t flowing quite as strongly over the past three weeks and I was worried about you. 
I have heard your rants many times but frequently during our network checkins we hear someone really clearly from 30 miles away and it always makes me smile when the net operator asks what mobile they’re using and they report they only have a Baofeng UV5R with a stock antenna. 
As Randy pointed out you’re full of your own opinions. Not everyone needs a Motorola and those who don’t have one can get just as much use and enjoyment out of their radios. 
Good luck to you. Being miserable is its own punishment. 

Weird.. My Wouxun KG805, KG-916, KG905, KG935G, KG-UV9G and KGUV9GX ALL transmit on simplex pretty much exactly as the same range as my Motorola XTS5000 - easily 3-15 miles, not "tenths of a mile" as proclaimed by you .. and my Wouxun KG-1000G transmits just as far as my Motorola XTL5000 when at the same power setting.
But you know what everyone says...  "some people" as they laugh in your face and shake their heads, knowing that you're FOS ..

Weird.. My Wouxun KG805, KG-916, KG905, KG935G, KG-UV9G and KGUV9GX ALL transmit on simplex pretty much exactly as the same range as my Motorola XTS5000 - easily 3-15 miles, not "tenths of a mile" as proclaimed by you .. and my Wouxun KG-1000G transmits just as far as my Motorola XTL5000 when at the same power setting.
But you know what everyone says...  "some people" as they laugh in your face and shake their heads, knowing that you're FOS ..

Weird.. My Wouxun KG805, KG-916, KG905, KG935G, KG-UV9G and KGUV9GX ALL transmit on simplex pretty much exactly as the same range as my Motorola XTS5000 - easily 3-15 miles, not "tenths of a mile" as proclaimed by you .. and my Wouxun KG-1000G transmits just as far as my Motorola XTL5000 when at the same power setting.
But you know what everyone says...  "some people" as they laugh in your face and shake their heads, knowing that you're FOS ..

Weird.. My Wouxun KG805, KG-916, KG905, KG935G, KG-UV9G and KGUV9GX ALL transmit on simplex pretty much exactly as the same range as my Motorola XTS5000 - easily 3-15 miles, not "tenths of a mile" as proclaimed by you .. and my Wouxun KG-1000G transmits just as far as my Motorola XTL5000 when at the same power setting.
But you know what everyone says...  "some people" as they laugh in your face and shake their heads, knowing that you're FOS ..

If you transmit on a GMRS radio without a GMRS license you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison If you transmit on GMRS frequencies on a UV-5R you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison You can legally use a UV-5R on GMRS frequencies if you just lower the power level.. If you don't, you will be fined $250,000 and/or go to prison You don't need a GMRS license to use a GMRS radio if you put it on low-power and use the FRS only channels. If you talk a non-licensed person on GMRS "the FCC will come after you" (this one was JUST posed on this forum last week!)

I'm curious - would this happen only if its setting unused, or can this still happen when a device is still used but just as old?  ie; does using a device make it last longer than when its just sitting in the closet ?
 

Just remember, that as predicted in the proclamation video, "some people" will always and forever spew reasons why Ch19 (any channel, actually) is not "the right choice", and will argue about it as they have for years, accomplishing nothing.. Those people are not invited to join with the rest of us normal people on Ch19..  They can go talk to themselves on some other channel..
 
My name is Queen Randy and I approve this message.

We hear the same thing on the roads.. A lot of nothing and people that dont respond (probably using privacy codes)..
When offroading, the official GMRS channel is 16.. This a scientific fact because is "offroading" = "4 X 4" and 4 x 4 = 16 .. so this is the scientific answer to the question - it is explained in more detail in this video made by some Youtube clown:
 

I have tested several of these and they all have a fairly high (2.0-3.0) SWR.  Based on my testing and on the results of several friends that use them (on Jeeps) they work fairly well.. But not nearly as well as that 6db Midland (which I have on my Jeep)..  Many times my friend right behind me using his Midland Ghost can't hear someone that I can hear perfectly fine, and/or they cant hear him, but they can hear me.
Its a decent antenna for what it is.

I have tested several of these and they all have a fairly high (2.0-3.0) SWR.  Based on my testing and on the results of several friends that use them (on Jeeps) they work fairly well.. But not nearly as well as that 6db Midland (which I have on my Jeep)..  Many times my friend right behind me using his Midland Ghost can't hear someone that I can hear perfectly fine, and/or they cant hear him, but they can hear me.
Its a decent antenna for what it is.

I don’t know why, but I’ve seen it most often with old stored equipment, including old new stock UPSes. That may be because it’s very recognizable when you plug in a piece of equipment and a cap fails, whereas when they’re being used it looks like it just wore out. 

Figured I would jump in and introduce myself.. Just got my GMRS license last week.. I'm in So.California and we lead a lot of large off-road runs and more and more people are buying the bubble pack/FRS type radios so I got my license in hopes that I would be able to get a radio that would allow me to talk to them all with a higher-power radio/larger antenna for more range so I'm hoping my GMRS-V1 will do the job.. I've also been looking for local GMRS repeaters to use for SHTF situations, but not finding much in the area..

If you're using a repeater on a GMRS Radio, the radios can't/arent talking to each other directly - so just call out on one radio via the repeater and if you've got it setup right you'll hear each other.  Just be sure to be at least a few yards away from each other because the radios can interfere with each other enough that you may not hear the repeater if the radios are close.