wayoverthere

honestly, I've rotated through a few, looking for that elusive combination of good signal and overhead clearance. current is a Comet SBB-5, on a fender mount (Comet, i believe, with a Midland NMO cable); it gives me some extra gain, but being mounted lower means it clears pretty much everywhere, and still has the option to fold if needed. Comet 2x4SR - good signal, but got tired of folding it for the parking garage (ran it on a mag mount on the roof) 1/4 wave Signal Stalk - worked great pretty much everywhere, but a hair too long for the parking garage at work mounted on the roof Comet SBB-1 - only seemed to give up a little signal vs the Signal Stalk, but short enough to clear the parking garage (basically a mobile rubber duck)...i still keep this in the truck for low clearance situations. I also have a 1/2 wave Signal Stalk (the low temp version), but the numbers are ~3:1 on 2m...analyzer shows its sweet spot is around 142mhz currently, so trimming it a little is on my to-do list.

Definitely cross shop the accessories separate from the radio. That said, I've been happy with mine, and have a couple channels set for a 1 way crossband repeat. The remote head is great for flexibility, with the plus of being able to connect the mic to the control head or radio. Compared to the ftm400, I alsonget along better with icom's menus vs yaesu.. I haven't been super impressed with the Bluetooth, though., even with icom's Bluetooth dongle...it's good inside the car to not subject my passenger get to whatever I'm monitoring, but the range was maybe 10 or 15 ft at most when I had it on my desk in the house, and it's worse in the truck...much further than just out the door and it's breaking up.

At least someone had luck. Last I heard was they needed to convert my account to a business account to give me access to the software (for a couple of xpr6500's), and then ghosted me since

Loop testing is great to test no breaks in either conductor in one shot, but it's not a great check to make sure the center and braid aren't shorting together. Did OP by chance shorten the cable and crimp on a new connector?

Radio reference has a list as well. https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart#Midland_and_Cobra_Extra_Channels

Well, he can't say it isn't memorable

to be honest, i still haven't gotten around to digging into it. a little googling did find instructions for the vxd720, which is the handheld cousin of your 7200, which may be worth a try. http://vertexdmr.blogspot.com/2015/11/vertex-out-of-band-mod.html

Sounds like it may have been shipped in part 90 ("professional") mode then, which disallows most programming from the face.

This. They generally ship locked down to prevent transmit outside the ham bands. However, I believe they do (or some models, anyway) have part 90 (no 95e though) approval, and the ability to open them up to additional ranges via the software, in theory with the appropriate restrictions for part 90 usage.

That was earlier in this thread around the middle of page 1, and there's a link in the last post on page 1, but here is the post again:

Took some looking, but I found this in an older thread...looks like you switch it to the range you want, turn if off, then turn back on normally. It does also look like (at least in some firmware) that the tones may be locked out in the menu in gmrs mode https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/2307-anytone-at-779uv-gmrs-mobile-radio/?do=findComment&comment=25937&_rid=2738

it might be the "fun" button that selects the mode, once you're in that menu. From there, all you REALLY need to do is dial up the correct repeater channel (the base 30 should be there in gmrs mode) and enter the transmit tone. The instructions @WRXE944 linked has how to set the tone on page 14.

Looking for the post right now (may have been another thread), but I was corrected that it's holding the v/m button when turning it on that will give you the option to change modes. Be aware it does wipe any channels you program when changing modes, and for gmrs mode, reverts to the base 30 channels (22 simplex, 8 repeater). Edit: found it. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/5871-radioddity-db20-g/?do=findComment&comment=60575&_rid=2738

It may have been shipped in the wrong mode...it does have a mode that's locked down for gmrs, but there are also unlocked modes that can be used for ham use (I have one that was in the older car for exactly that reason)

It's reasonably easy to program, though the actual manual isn't the greatest. On chirp, I believe they were working on compatibility, but I didn't see a lot of progress... https://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/8953

No, it doesn't apply across all the channels like that. in my case, there are two repeaters on .575 (ch 16). On the midland, i usually had the tone set for the closer repeater (Auberry), but if i wanted to use the other that's on the same frequency (Central1), i'd have to either look up or remember the code number for the correct tone for that one, and set it in the menu. when i moved to the Btech GMRS 50x1. the situation was similar, but without the codes, that lets you choose the tones directly), since the hard coded 30 channels in that are all you get for transmit, and anything else you program is receive only. (i hear they've made the GMRS50v2 a bit more flexible). For my current radios (anytone at779uv, vertex vx4207), they're a lot more flexible about what you can program, so I can have whatever combination of frequency and tone desired for each memory preset/channel. I programmed preset channels for Auberry and Central1, each with the appropriate tone, so instead of having to go into the menu and change tones, i just switch to the desired memory channel. I also have a ham system near me that operates similar to the SWCRS setup, where using one tone repeats at that repeater only, and a second repeats across the linked system, so i have memory channels that are C15-Local (which uses the local tone) and C15-Link (which uses the tone to repeat across the whole system). On the size comparison, i snapped some pictures awhile ago of the midland and anytone side by side, if that helps.

If you're within the return window, that's definitely a viable option. There's a number of users (myself included) that have been happy with the anytone at779uv/radioddity db20g/retevis ra25 triplets; it's around the same size physically, and a little less expensive. The software is a little limited though, but usable. On the manual, at least for me not being super familiar with specific radios (or in this case, a newer model), i'll refer to the manual too to have a better idea what menu options to look for. On the tones, it does look like it has options to set transmit (tC) and receive (rC) tones separately, at least based on the manual. On the downside, it doesn't offer an option to have 2 copies of the channel (one with the local tone and one with the link tone), so it'd be changing tones in the menu to switch (which does sound like a pain). I have a couple repeaters locally that are both on .575, but with different tones..on the Midland I'd have to remember the code to change tones depending which I wanted to use. Next radio didn't allow programming more TX channels, but it at least used tones instead of codes. Current radios, I have a present for each with the appropriate tones set.

I'll have to look at it a little more. Between what I saw in the menu, and what you have above, I think you're on the right track. The only thing I think is missing is to tell it if the offset should be + or -. If this is the missed step, the giveaway would be to monitor 462.700 and 467.700 with no tone set, and key up the icom...if the signal is on 462.700, it's not applying the offset. If it's on 467.700, the tone settings are likely where the problem lies.

Been a bit since I've messed with programming, and none of what I have in mine uses DCS, but the naming in the icom is a little bit different than some of the other brands. I want to say the R tones are actually transmit tones, and the C tones are receive tones. Will try to poke at it in a bit and see if I can be a bit more specific.

Looking at the chart in the manual, it looks like DCS #27 equates to a DCS tone 165....since it's specified as (N)ormal, that should be the one you need. If it were (I)inverted, it'd be looking for that chart @Sshannon mentioned for an equivalent tone to use, then using the chart in Midland's instructions to find what code to enter. I won't say Midland is bad, but their use of code numbers to enter the tones does add an extra layer of complication. Also, some of that reputation online is based on prior versions of the radios, which WERE less than stellar for repeater use due to being narrowband only (which sounds quieter on a wideband repeater) and not having the ability to set transmit and receive tones independently. As far as I know, those shortcomings got addressed when they updated the radios from a usb-a port on the front to usb-c.

What that's saying is if you just want your signal repeated from that repeater, only use one tone, and if you want it repeated across all of the other repeater sthat are linked to Shawbute also, use the other tone (the "for link access" part. In either case both of those are the transmit tones, and you will not use a receive tone, as the listing is saying the repeater does not send one.

Good catch, thank you. Been awhile since I unlocked one of mine.

Usually if they are fully open, they'll have the tones on the repeater listing; some may still want to have a permission request to keep track of who may be using the repeater. Is there a specific repeater listing on the site you're looking at? One side note: the main site (where the repeater listing is located) and the forum side don't always link up well; make sure the main page is showing you as logged in. It should be the same login as the forum.

Will the software not load? Or is it a driver issue with the cable? If it's the software, you may try anytone's version of it; I have the anytone, but program with the radioddity version, with no issue. If I remember right, you can hold the xxx button when you turn it on to access the range setting. (correction: the "V/M" button)

So, general stuff first. Think of tones as a filter, that only lets signals through that carry a matching tone. These are ctcss (also called PL by Motorola, or QT by kenwood) and DCS (aka DPL or DQT). Repeaters will usually have it enabled on the input (what you transmit to). Getting a hair more specific..Midland radios commonly need the repeater channels to be enabled in the menu; with that out of the way you'll see 1-22 (skipping 8-14, most likely ) and then find 15r-22r, which are set with the proper offset for repeater use. As far as tones, you want to be on the appropriate channel for the frequency of the repeater, (page 26 of the instructions has what channel is what frequency), then set the transmit tone; use the table on page 27 to see what tone exuals what code, and page 19 has the instructions on how to set the tones. Looks like DPL 047 would be code 7 under dcs. https://cdn.accentuate.io/81031332017/1623709961570/MXT115-Owners-Manual-11-16-2020.pdf