WSHT233

For sure - I've had to reroute my cable through the door gasket a couple of times once I realized the seal was compromised! I did find better ways to tuck the cable and make use of the vehicle's existing furnishings/trim once I saw the vulnerability of my first efforts.

What's your use case? Are you trying for distant repeaters, running in vehicle convoys, or using the truck as a base camp? A low commitment starting point might be to get an NMO mag mount for the roof of the cab and start with a ghost. You could then experiment with placement and swap out other NMO antennas if you wanted something more. Your best ground plane will be a continuous metal surface in direct contact with the mag base - I'm not sure you'd get much benefit from the rack mount or bumper condition. Others here have a lot more experience and insight though, so wait and see what's worked for them! I personally run a simple Nagoya mag mount ~16" whip on my roof and get good results with just my 5 Watt HH in the cab connected to it - easy contact with a strong repeater 30 miles away.

Good to know - that was one of the only other ones I was considering. I sent the Abbree one I had back for poor sound quality and Bluetooth cutout.

That looks great, but I'm trying to find a standalone unit with an adapter dongle that I could move between various handhelds (K1 two pin connector). I've seen several nice looking solutions that are brand specific and use on board Bluetooth, but I was hoping to avoid buying a new transciever if possible. I'm glad to hear you're getting good results with yours at least, it's encouraging that the underlying tech and execution are viable!

Has anyone had luck with a particular Bluetooth handset mic/speaker? I tried the Abbree option from Amazon, and it was garbage. My antenna feedline drop emerges from a built-in nook at the edge of my living room, and it makes for an awkward station to key up on a wired mic!

I use a one and done Nagoya mag mount in my vehicle, connected to a standard Baofeng handheld unit with a palm mic. This is the kit: low profile antenna, integrated mag mount, and a good run of decent coax and adapters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TPZ221K It works well enough for my use range when mobile (Whidbey Island to south Seattle) with the only real bad spots in lower Mukilteo. There's also the popular Midland NMO mag mount, that will let you connect a whip, ghost, or whatever NMO antenna you want to try: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CRBV71V

Gold's access is confusing and frustrating, even when you do everything right. The access tones are in the email server list once you're accepted and know where to look, but it's pretty daunting. To be fair, if you and yours can reach Olycomm3 on Cougar Mt. I don't know that Gold will add a lot of additional connection.

Which specific repeater are you trying to connect with? If it's this one, then yes, looks like you need a membership: There's an open one closer by at 462.650 though: It's tones are posted, but they are requesting you secure permission, which is pretty typical.

I had that same unit, and got low volume feedback on my signal checks as well. (I also hated the spring clip actuator). I returned it and went back to using my cheap little Retevis unit.

If you're using CHIRP for programming, can you screen grab your list of repeaters and settings? That's a good place to start, and an area map with your general location. If not, You'll probably need to type out your settings. I find this to be a useful tool to get a snapshot of LOS: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ Just put one pin on your location and the other on the repeater tower. Having a big hill in the way can be a deal breaker, especially on an HH.

OP, are you using CHIRP to program, or doing this all within the onboard menu/keypad? If using CHIRP, a screen grab of your current settings can be helpful to diagnose your situation.

I think it can really depend on the local culture/community as well. Here in the Seattle area we have a terrific repeater that's open to all with daily banter and a host of regular contributors. There's others with incredibly strict terms of service and etiquette expectations, and some that are public but put forth as solely emergency comms infrastructure. If it's of interest to you, there may well be local volunteer teams organized around disaster/emergency preparedness (ARES, CERT, etc.) that are accepting new members. Scanning/monitoring is probably the best way to discover what traffic in your area sounds like, and if it's even something you want to engage with. As others have mentioned, starting with a couple of local buddies within simplex range might be the most reliable option!

That actually ties into my next inquiry - are inline UHF amplifiers a thing? Is it viable to add a booster module between your handheld radio and gain antenna if you want to kludge together a higher performing base station without getting a dedicated base/mobile radio? I get the appeal of a console style permanent/local station, but in my specific case, I'm wondering if you could make a weird little interface that could accommodate any hand held radio and turn it into an ad hoc base?

Thanks for the perspective! I'm pretty new to this field, and don't have the benefit of coming into it via a HAM or CB background. I am still curious though about why these radios are made with such a specific, and admittedly, trivial difference in wattage cap, especially considering the 50 watt ceiling for GMRS in base station/mobile. I don't need or want a 10 watt walkie per se, but why have the two tiers at all? Is there a technical element of the HAM frequencies that benefit from a 5 watt differential in hand held equipment? Is there an FCC statement in the minutiae I just am not familiar with?

Probably true - I'm just wondering why the difference in the regulations or manufacturing.

Sure, with a base station or mobile with the appropriate power rating. I'm specifically curious about the power limit on the handheld hardware. Case in point, the ubiquitous Boafeng UV series comes in a 5 watt max power for their GMRS version (UV-5G Plus) and the HAM option is 10 Watts (UV-5RM).

Can anyone offer insight into the rationale of GMRS HH radios being limited in TX power to 5 Watts, vs. the same radio approved for Ham allowed 10?

I have the charging cradles and batteries that came with a set of UV-5RM radios, and can confirm they also work for the UV-5G Plus. It's worth noting that you can also slot and charge the batteries when they are completely disconnected from the radios. A handy trick if you have at least one extra battery always on the charger and just rotate them as needed.

My wife and I share our GMRS callsign occasionally, and it usually parses as: "ABCD123 remote to ABCD123 base/local/home..." "123 base, copy." "123 base, confirm signal check at main street, over" "You're loud but fuzzy, 123 remote, over" "Copy, will try top of the hill at Pine Street, closer to home - ABCD123 remote clear" I think a combination of full callsigns and numeric suffix abbreviations with unique sub IDs works pretty well. If you had a family group operating in a given area they could be ...123 Pine, 123 Mom, 123 Toyota, 123 Advance, etc. Anything that makes sense within your inter-user group while bracketing the exchange with a full callsign seems to be a reasonable practice. (Besides simplex/personal comms, I see variations of this protocol in the active repeaters in the Seattle area as well).

I wonder if it's the programming method? Using CHIRP, I've been able to write anything I like to mine. I have all the stock GMRS channels, a good handful of specific repeaters, and a few Ham channels that I occasionally monitor used by local clubs. In all, I have about 35 entries, spanning a channel range of over 100 slots. I also have a UV-5G, which is my daily driver for home use, and I copy/paste memories back and forth between the two models freely.

Here's the updated version of that Baofeng 2-pack, and a comparable set from Tidradio: https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-BAOFENG-Handheld-Rechargeable-Receiving/dp/B0CLD3RQKP?crid=2NEVG5SZS060O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AB7px__IW3KMT69gYIq1UnGkhhCjiBeMCrhGIiwl05vwdwnd68hX1E71ppGyExVY2qcWw22cFteyy92_f2U2P89KqSAMu8e3i2PMLQTH4kVV5UiC_AWekC9ZLPbhnXUBABjyGKoM74vwyM3Dn1AvMS_4wB11RLh_4xFyG8Uh73Op-Bu79vZDb4eSDc8xEBvteFTYk3O5OBwu_0vdzI9POn5injHjeoa_R_tR_EA1d7E.NXAqkFGNpaK6pFkax3-5-tSfBZhGQbnoNx8nuf8SnuQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=uv5g%2Bplus&qid=1767714024&sprefix=uv5g%2Bplu%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-3&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/TIDRADIO-TD-H3-Plus-Programming-Rechargeable/dp/B0F246HT8Z?crid=2AEIUBF0WN63V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9UwZBRT7ssrh-2lmBAGDwYZ2Q-eKQxU0sBgqjwoaHPigBjXO7X-SDnk26NanqRnPyyngzXkfV1R_le-7QP59JL6YZDgP66tCRhBrIz1_bDSeohNRRRjFHoblk-SbOAd4vy8tGkm6NUCLMVRabjIBVJ0qb_67ozKljG3MhNyyMjdvgYSQreC0CNlHNDbIuOnJSezlSyePx6U5AF5ostTPR0vv0KW3QZFDdwc6u6-gOiQ.dLffh5oK7ZVL2SLq5dPQF4p9VdWYsvZlVmkzcAMvgzk&dib_tag=se&keywords=tidradio%2Btd-h3%2Bplus&qid=1767714344&sprefix=tidrad%2Caps%2C276&sr=8-3&th=1 I think these are what most folks would consider cheap/entry level kit worth considering. Having CHIRP programming support and larger batteries like these is pretty nice.

My daily use radio is the very same UV5G plus, and I find it to be quite capable. I added a ~16" GMRS tuned aftermarket antenna and have no trouble accessing repeaters in the Seattle area many miles away. Are you using the CHIRP program/cable at all? It makes a big difference in being able to edit/visualize your menu of custom channels. Here's a snippet of how I organize mine: As mentioned above, I think the most likely situation is that you're hearing repeater traffic, and your response attempts are either out of your power/antenna/LOS range or you don't have the access tones entered correctly (or both!). Unless you have a known core of local users that are chattering on simplex, you'll probably want to create some custom channels with plausible repeaters/tones (the map on this website is a great place to start). Getting closer to the repeater's tower and confirming LOS will help with your initial contact/signal checks as well. Once confirmed, you can see how far that connection can be maintained, hopefully all the way back to your base operating area.

I'm curious what you find, Bill. I'm part of a small, hyper local community with a lot more FRS adoption and a good bit of tech/bureaucratic shyness around anything broader. We have a handful of GMRS and HAM operators as well, but I'm always keen to see what other folks find effective in bridging the gap. We do have pretty good emergency response/drill participation within that core group, but I'd love to see more folks become comfortable with the broader capability of the GMRS tier, especially with the well established repeaters we have here (greater Seattle area). Best of luck, and welcome!

That repeater is fantastic, with great range and participation. I'd second what others have recommended, and if you haven't already, get a modest antenna upgrade - I use a Nagoya NA-771G on my 5 Watt Boafeng HH and can hit Olycom3 all over the place, including from home on south Whidbey island! A useful tool for diagnosing LOS conflicts is this website: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ Depending on where in Columbia City you're at, it might be as simple as a local hill in the way! Good Luck!