NCJeb

I already have been thinking about that problem for my (likely) purchase of the T75 units…and my plan is blaze orange duck tape, or a tag, or something, to help with that exact problem in my very dense woods. In the same vein, I love the idea of camo Rite in the Rain pads…but during hunting season I switched to the blaze orange of those too after I almost lost one of those this fall lol. Funny thing (and I whole-heartedly agree with @SteveShannon here!), I actually have a pair of cheap lightly water-resistant baofengs I intend to use while sailing on a local lake to talk back to shore…because they’re cheap enough I almost consider them disposable! If I drown it, oh well, $10 lost and move on. The reason is, the GOOD waterproof units are out of price range for me, so a waterproof box I already had and cheap HT meet my use case there, and good high quality middle-priced Midlands should the rest of the time when I need better features that aren’t necessary on the water. Back to the point if this thread though, again, for wx alert features, if that’s your main goal, and you want something to rely your safety on, personally I recommend spending more $$$ there (Midland or otherwise) if you know you’ll get a more reliable product. Knowing if its reliable is up to the many interpretations that I’m sure will be weighing in below (), but in general that’s my $0.02 worth

I’m looking at Midland HTs, the T75s specifically, for hunting, which have everything you mentioned, plus vibration alerts (handy when you need quiet most of the time, but still want to know when someone is trying to reach you). I haven’t made the purchase yet of course, so I can’t speak directly to them, but they show enough promise to me I’m eyeing them eagerly and counting pennies lol. At risk of wading headlong into the “Midland vs Baofeng” debate, for the NOAA Wx Radio side, Midland, with their engineering in Kansas City (in tornado alley), has been legendary for the best quality wx radios for a long time. I’ve relied on them for a tabletop weather radio for over a decade after some horrendous ones from other manufacturers that lasted less than a year in some cases. In other words, I’ve come to literally rely on Midland’s wx radio tech like I do a smoke detector or a seatbelt, after bad experiences with other brands. So with one of those “imho” anecdotal things, if wx radio quality is what you’re after, I’d at least give Midland’s offerings a glance, even with the higher price point. And then go with your gut, don’t just take my word for it, even if it means non-Midland for the purchase. Cuz while I might be coming down on team Midland in this thread, ultimately, you do you—no need for me to take more than a for-me-only stance in the manufacturer debate that has raged long before I entered this hobby of radio.

I’ve used ArcGIS Earth for that (and line sight analysis)—I’m more suggesting a compass-style feature for the app for when traveling, to quickly discern if programming the tones in the mobile is worth it given mountains possible in the way.

Another one: in the app, a compass-based tool to estimate line of sight (or lack thereof) in while traveling. In the mountains I live in, that would be INVALUABLE. I’m thinking compass pointer when you select a repeater, a distance-to readout, and (perhaps) a range field from the owner’s input too.

The other commenters have put this very well here. I’m not THAT far away from you over in Western NC, and we have so sparse of GMRS repeaters, the ham freqs are where the skywarn etc activity is all at. I’d wager a guess that most of the US is that way, but I can only speak to right here in little corner of it lol. Welcome to the family though, and good luck on your endeavors! I have a background in meteorology, and we definitely have some unique stuff here and down your way. Just be careful when the tornadoes line up along I-85 like they do a couple times a year…eesh…

I must admit I’m enjoying this thread—and a few years down the road, I look forward to the “kid misadventures of radio” all mentioned. I own 15 acres of woods on the side of a mountain, and my wife and I have taken to using HTs if I go for a walk and want to leave the cell phone (and the rest of the world) behind. But I totally see in the future, when we have a couple munchkins of our own, using said radios to call them when supper is ready…and all the fun that will come with little explorers chit-chatting through the woods…

Just a thought—for simplicity sake, an option to toggle between frequency view and channel view, sitewide (so map labels, and listing pages. I’ve been doing that in my brain (both directions lol) for programming purposes, and given some radios only show channels…it sure would make things easier at times…

@SteveShannon, self-explanatory they largely are—I guess my bleary-eyed brain at almost midnight eastern last night hadn’t thought of the dropdown in the repeater creation page. Thanks for posting that for us all!

First off, before I even get to the question, gotta say, from a mapping and data perspective (my day job), awesome job overall on the site! I was wondering, really just curiosity, what are the possible options for, and definitions of those options, in the “Repeater Type” field? I’ve seen Open System, Permission Required, and Members Only, but I was wondering (even with these being largely self-explanatory) if those are the only possible types, or if there’s more, or detailed definitions for the types.