wayoverthere

There's really 2 factors to keep in mind when choosing batteries. Overall capacity, and current draw. @WRYZ926 mentioned the first, as this will play into how long you can run portable. It's been a bit since I checked the numbers (and don't have the radios handy to check), but i want to say it was around 4a on high power, which would would buy something around 2.5 hours of transmit time on a 10aH battery. realistically you're likely listening a lot less than transmitting, so the real world use will be longer. Second consideration, generally, is current draw. Less of an issue with these smaller radios, but we have to consider how much draw the battery can handle. the cheaper LiPo batteries i have refer to not drawing more current than their aH rating, which for mine would be a 10a draw on the smaller, and 20a on the larger (mine are Ecoworthy, and the 10aH is roughly the side of a standard red brick). Here is a quick example, and their table claims 5.2aH, and can handle a 15.6a draw, and if one isn't transmitting much should be able to last a couple hours at minimum.

if they are the same as my uv5r, it will show a "+/-" symbol at the top of the display when the current channel is programmed with an offset. the "OFFSET" option in the menu (as @hxpx noted) should show what it's set to. If you have the programming cable, reading the programming from the radio with software (such as CHIRP) is also a possibility.

the ability to swap out as needed is very helpful, and i have probably 3 or 4 mag mounts around for whatever i feel like messing with

that's the direction i was thinking as well, just trying to turn the train of thought into something coherent. i suspect the base programming on those uv5g will be similar what shipped on my Btech gmrs50x1, channels 1-22 were the 7 low power simplex frequencies (1-7), the 0.5 watt FRS frequencies (8-14receive only on mine), and then the 8 high power simplex channels (15-22). Slots 23-30 were set up for repeater use, with the +5.0mhz transmit offset baked in, though they used the same receive frequencies as 15-22. if i have a local repeater that the output is 462.575, i'll be able to hear it whether i'm on channel 16 or channel 24, because both receive on 462.575. However, on transmit, channel 16 is transmitting on 462.575 as well, while 24 will incorporate the offset and have me transmitting on 467.575 (which is where the repeater is listening).

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.