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I'm waiting for something to compile so I tried it. 9V batteries are spicier.

Neat! Probably a bit of both, plus a dash of luck.

IIRC both are primarily line of sight so performance should be roughly the same, especially with HTs. You can take advantage of troposheric ducting with 11m/CB for the occasional long distance connection (whereas UHF just punches through the atmosphere) but you can't rely on that for regular communications.

The average age of GMRS users in my household is 24.5. The average age of ham radio users in my household is 42. Your math checks out. I would like to get my 7 year old into amateur radio to bring that average age down.

Flipping between ham and gmrs (and unlocked) modes shouldn't break anything. One of my two GMRS-mode radios is a ham model, and my ham radio is a GMRS model. (Why? Because I wasn't paying attention when I was setting modes and I'm too lazy to swap antennas/modes, that's why) Two of my four radios (one ham, one GMRS) are warranty replacements, and I have a fourth radio that's dead somewhere. All of them read 0W on an SWR meter but could still TX to a nearby (i.e. in the same room) radio after they died. Assuming you have all your settings correct (allowed frequency/channel, correct offsets, etc.) and still can't talk or it shows 0W, send it back or contact TIDRadio support and have them ship you a replacement. Or get a different radio. I think I'm done buying H3s after this and will be switching brands when my remaining radios start dying.

TIDRadio doesn't seem to publish release notes for their firmware - I think they just announce it on their FB page and hope you find it. Kind of frustrating. IIRC the latest firmware just fixes some issues with the airband frequencies so unless you really like listening to local airport traffic, it's not necessary (and it's not super exciting anyway).

Hopefully someone who's done POTA activations can chime in with the software side of things. I know of pota.app which lets you spot activators (report their location and frequency so others can try to contact them) but AFAIK logging is done with whatever software you want as long as it outputs ADIF. I've used kiwisdr to listen in on activations. Sounds fun.

I don't have a POTA rig, but there seems to be two purposes: 1. You get to operate your mobile radio away from a permanent location so if you're into emergency or off-the-grid communication, this is gamified practice. 2. Playing with radios outside is more fun than playing with radios inside.* *weather permitting

This is what I've been using trying to figure out how much loss I'm going to deal with running a line out to my backyard: KV5R Coax Loss Calculator 144mhz with 25' of RG8X is probably going to be about a ~21% loss. 450mhz drops down to 38% loss. I actually don't know of anything short of like LMR-400 that doesn't have high loss with VHF/UHF, but now you're getting into stuff that's almost three bucks a foot. Edit: I have no idea where my mag mount base went, but I'm pretty sure it uses a 16' RG8X line and even with the loss, like 4W at 450mhz out on my porch is WAY better than 5W in this RF dead spot I've created in my office with all the monitors, computers, and metal peg boards. You may not notice the loss with a short run.

I use a Signal Stick which is only 2m/70cm but it glows in the dark (though they say it will "probably work" on GMRS/MURS). I bought it because the Signal Stick guys run hamstudy.org and I wanted to support them. Also it glows in the dark, which amuses me.

Not to worry, I have a plan on how to handle this.

I had been addressing my three kids as "you jokers, smokers, and midnight tokers", which was fun until my 7 year old asked what a midnight toker was. Didn't think my cunning plan all the way through. I just said "it's from a song" and played Steve Miller Band until he quit asking questions.

I probably would have participated in the jabber jawing on the local repeater if they talked about smoking meat instead of soup.

walkietalkiesoftware.com should have a link to download the "programming tools" for your radio which contains the firmware and upgrade tool, programming software, and he manual. That's probably "the software" they're talking about. But the download for the H3 Plus (both GMRS and ham) are getting flagged by the Windows virus scanner as having a trojan so I'm not going to go poking around in there. (The non-plus H3 download didn't get picked up by the scanner.) Like @OffRoaderX, it's probably not worth it. They don't publish release notes but I saw somewhere the last H3 (non-plus) firmware fixed something with the airband frequencies that I never use. Looks like the H3 Plus 1.0.29 firmware might be the latest, which lets you edit channel names from the radio and fixed the VFO scan mode to loop correctly. I doubt you'd use VFO Scan mode on a GMRS radio and editing channel names is a nice to have, but not a critical update.

"Well, you see, little Timmy, sometimes a man buys a radio so he can meet other men and exchange signal reports and talk about antennas." "What about talking to friends and family?" "Yeah yeah, they do that too, but first, let's talk about mag mounts and ground planes..."

to sticky the thread, right?

Fair enough. I forgot about LMR/business licenses. I was thinking about DMR/Fusion/D-STAR.

Nah, you're good. All GMRS is analog FM. CTCSS vs DCS is just a different way of sending the squelch code. I don't think you get into digital signals until you start getting into ham stuff.

Assuming the manuals I have are right: UV5G: Menu 25 should be SFT-D which is Frequency Shift Direction - should be +, and Menu 26 should be OFFSET and should be 05.000. UV5G Plus: Same deal but the menu numbers should be 28 and 29 Not sure if the manuals I'm looking at are correct, so you might have to look around for those.

Bummer. Here's a list of things I'd try: Verify your offset. Channels 23-30 should already be set to +5 Mhz. If you're inside, get outside and away from nearby buildings. I can receive just fine sitting at my desk, but I can't transmit to nearby repeaters unless I'm sitting in a very specific spot (thus the mobile mount on the porch). Make sure your radio actually works. My dead TD-H3s act like they're transmitting and I can pick them up from other rooms in the house but not across the neighborhood, much less hit a repeater 25 miles away. Either send someone out with a second radio to make sure it works or get a cheap SWR meter and make sure the HT is sending power to the antenna. If everything checks out and you still can't get to the repeater, you can try a 771 GMRS antenna. (Edit: could also try to build a rat tail counterpoise if you're feeling feisty, but if you don't already have a wire stripper/crimping tool, you'd probably spend as much on wire, terminals, and tools as you would on a 771)

I do, though. Everyone in this thread is henceforth banned from using GMRS. Banned, I say! Edit: ah, dang it.

I don't have a GM15 Pro, but I found this reddit thread - looks like it's a second set of repeater channels you can set up for different tones.

If not friend, then why friend shaped? I think people underestimate moose, too. Saw a female moose and calf at a ski resort in Utah during the summer and the employees were trying to keep people far away from them. They are absolutely massive and have no problems stomping someone who gets too close.

The repeater I can hear is quiet most of the day. It picks up around lunch and in the evenings but even then it was the same handful of guys who'd hop on to talk about food and complain about sports. Your radio should have repeater channels with offsets already programmed - you may just need to set the TX tone. You can always announce your call sign and ask for a radio check to see if anyone's listening - when I was fiddling with my antennas, I sometimes got a response from one of the regulars even if nobody was talking. If you're looking to talk to random people with a radio, the 2m/70cm ham repeaters around me get way more traffic. GMRS is geared more towards "I want to talk to people in my group" though some people use repeaters for random chat.

I can hit a local repeater about 25 miles out with a 771 clone that I can't with the stock antenna but a 15" whip is annoying inside a vehicle. I also went down the "big antenna = maximum fars" rabbit hole but it turned out I don't really use it except to be a radio dork and listen to that one repeater - the stock antenna works fine like 90% of the time. I bought an even longer whip for ham stuff which did make a difference, but the biggest boost came from sticking that antenna on a mobile mag mount with 16' of coax and putting it out on my front porch. I'd say hold off on the bigger antenna unless your use case requires it. Edit: that said, the Abbree 771 was also like ten bucks so it's not going to break the bank if you want to pick one up just to mess around with it.