wayoverthere

IIRC, the cycling self-test is expected. Fire up the software, plug the radio into the computer, and go to File > Configure, and pick your COM port. Then, fire up the radio and plug the cable into the radio. In the software, jump over to the Radio menu and pick "Upload" (yes, this is backwards from the cheaper radios and CHIRP)...upload loads from the radio to the computer, download sends from computer to radio. When you hit "upload", the software may ask you to confirm, then the radio should switch from power cycling to displaying "PC Prog" as it reads. If successful, save that basic code plug (as backup or whatever), then save it again with a new name as your working codeplug. I will usually unplug the programming cable from the radio and power it off when i get a successful read, while i work on the code plug. Here is what my programming looks like for the GMRS Simplex channels (the handheld-only channels are excluded). This is my GMRS repeaters Group and for the Common > Key Function menu (for the front panel buttons): one other gee whiz item is the startup message (what the radio displays when it starts up), which is under Common > Power Saving. check the "overwrite" box, and you have a few characters to have it display when it starts up. I dug one of mine out of the shelf to check this stuff hands on and get screenshots. When you're done programming, save your working file, power up the radio and plug the cable back in and let it start cycling, then back up to Radio - Download. The radio should stop cycling and shift to "PC Prog" again and then restart when it's finished. at that point you should be good to unplug the cable from the radio and check out your new programming (connected to an antenna or dummy load, if you want to key up). Mine is a -6 range (400-470mhz, rather than the -7 being 450-512mhz) because I wanted to cover 70cm and GMRS, and it's programmed to display my ham call and "70cm", as i also have the VHF twin to this radio (VX4204) and i ran the pair together on my desk for awhile (the other one is my call and "2m"). Hope this helps; if you're already good, feel free to disregard

Minor quibble: while to my knowledge the more recent wouxun stuff is locked down pretty solid, not so much for the 805g. That said, without a keypad, it isn't the easiest thing to use. My yaesu ft4x is also uncharacteristically easy to unlock/mod compared to most yaesu gear, requiring holding keys at startup similar to many inexpensive radios....I suspect the ft65 is similar as well. On the other hand, my btech GMRS 50x1 is locked down solid, and btech pretty much stonewalled me when I asked them about the possibility of unlocking it

Both of my Anytone came with the cables as well (from amazon). AFAIK, the Anytone software and the Radioddity software are interchangeable between either brand radio. The Retevis software doesn't play nice with my Anytones, but I can program it just fine with the Radioddity software.

Here is where I got mine (unfortunately not free) https://quality2wayradios.com/store/vertex-standard-ce59-software There are some listings floating around the web as well, some cost for access ("vertex radio group" is one), some not.

Pulled up the repeater page for 725SHAWBUTE, and there's a comment there from another user a month or so ago about the repeater being down. Looks like they've had interference issues with a business repeater in the past, and someone causing issues as well, between the comments and the thread below. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/7946-soooo-rip-shawbute-i-guess/ Edit: saw him weigh in on the other thread, so maybe @nokones has some more recent info on status of the local repeaters?

Sweet, I'll have to give it a try.

Have they updated chirp for the db20g/anytone at779uv? Last I saw, work on that was stalled. That said, I *think* the setting to change is under the "function setup" in their wonderful software...look for "Up VFO/MR" and "Down VFO/MR" items, if they're available in the GMRS proflle. Mine are both set to MR, and mine consistently start up on the memory channels. That said, mine are unlocked and being used as inexpensive ham radios, and as far as I remember, the unlocked profile opens up more settings not available in the GMRS profile. (And yes, I dug out my programming laptop and the radio I have with my travel stuff to pull a live profile to look at the settings)

For your Phoenix batch, are they offline as in tried using them and no luck? Or not showing up in the listings? The listings here will drop a repeater to "stale" if it hasn't been updated in awhile (1 year, I believe), and you have to turn on the "show stale repeaters" option in the list/map to see they're still there.

This sums it up well; i've talked into a GMRS repeater and a 70cm ham repeater on Joaquin Ridge on the west side of the San Joaqin Valley from a hill on the east side of the valley (75ish miles) with 5 watt HTs. I've also talked into another 70cm repeater on Fremont Peak from a bit further east, around a 115 mile shot over the valley on the 50 watt mobile in my truck. In both cases, i had clear line of sight over the valley, as i was sitting around 4500-5000 ft elevation, and all of those repeaters sit around the 3000ft mark on hills/ridges.

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.

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