wayoverthere

Will have to look at that when I can get on a PC. It may be the version that only works with a paid account, or they may have put the free one back since I last looked (been some months). not that it matters much with them killing the pc version off later this month.

AFAIK, they'd hidden/removed the install file for either the PC version or the free version for PC awhile ago, so not entirely surprising. I still had a copy installed and working, but it looks like they're shrinking access to the free side of things....not that I had access to much anymore anyway.

I'll have to listen for those. Thinking either DMR/Trbo, or P25 as likely possibilities.

A couple of mine were from a radio shop, and came preloaded with a bunch of school district stuff back east, both analog and digital. Another with a bunch of fire stuff preprogrammed. A couple have come completely blank, but that was expected given they were advertised as (and the packaging/appearance was considered with) NOS.

Yeah, with the shape of the ground plane of the trunk (dependent on vehicle and frequency), I'd expect some directionality, given most will have more ground plane to the sides than front to back. id also expect the greenhouse to be blocking/shading the signal in some directions too. It just struck me as a little odd that permanent mounting in that location would mean more loss than a mag mount in the same place, where on the roof it's the other way around.

You know, having seen that graphic many times, I just noticed a couple things I hadn't before. First, there's no rating for a hood lip or fender mount, just a mag mount. Second, the permanent trunk mount is actually rated more loss (-2.8db) compared to a mag mount on the trunk (-2.1db).

I mean, not really a surprise at that size, but I appreciate that they rate it honestly.

I guess I've been lucky product wise, but both times I've ordered from Radioddity, I've gotten solid gear (a DMR handheld, and an HF transceiver), but shipping was the issue. One order got hung up because they shipped DHL to my PO box, the latter was like $50 cheaper for a bundle with some good extras, and said they had us stock, but it shipped from China anyway and took like 3 weeks to get here. The couple anytone at779uv I've bought (from Amazon, twin to the db20g) have been solid also

IIRC, they used to be separate, but Rich got them standardized a year or so back, and they SHOULD now be the same login. However, the login doesn't carry over between the main site (where the map and repeater list live) and the forum.

I'm not saying they're the BEST choice, but hey, if someone wants to pay that price for simplicity, that's on them. they're low on the list of what i'd be likely to suggest. that said, i have owned a couple, because it was what was easy to find on the shelf at the time. (handhelds, and a mxt115)...gave them away to a coworker with a jeep to use with her daughter.

They market to the Jeep crowd, including via event sponsorship. Excluding some quality issues with a couple of the recently introduced models, it seems like more of the complaints boil down to the limitations of the radios than something actually being "wrong" with the radios. Some of this may be attributable to their marketing, or just unmet expectations. Midland has their marketing down pat, and they do the simple "plug in and go" pretty well, and while they've improved on it with some recent models, they're still somewhat limited feature wise, especially for the price point....if they work for you as they are (and you're okay with the price), they aren't a bad choice.

A facepalm, or banging head on the desk comes to mind, especially when I'm failing especially badly at the touch keyboard

Honestly? I straight up skipped mine and did my own thing, and that's pretty much still my MO almost 30 years later. Still don't use my ham gear on GMRS though.

I suspect some touch typing difficulties, honestly. I've made similar typos posting from my phone, but usually fix them before posting.

Fair point...I didn't dig through the whole thread, as the attitudes kind of put me off most of the radio subs on reddit awhile ago. I agree that "fine" isn't very specific....comparison is about solid numbers. One of my Anytones is rated "20 watts", but the real world numbers are more like 18 on VHF, and 14-15 on UHF.