wayoverthere

On replying, you're doing fine ? The only extra I'd mention is that you can highlight a portion of someone's post if you want to quote just that part, or you can click the little + next to the Quote button under posts to quote multiple posts. I can't speak to the CHIRP devs choices on why they display that way, but mine shows the same, even in the empty rows, and it's never been an issue; the columns for the tones don't have an option to leave them blank, CHIRP instead just picks up from the tone settings whether to pay attention to those columns or not. I've found this page to be the clearest reference on the various columns of CHIRP: https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/MemoryEditorColumns On your specific repeater Frequency: put the downlink here; this is where you receive from the repeater (462.625, for your Brunswick repeater) Names: can be whatever you want within the display limit of the radio (it seems to vary) Tone Mode: depends on your preference; you can have it transmit the tone (necessary to open the repeater) with open receive, which is setting "Tone", or, since the repeater also uses an output tone, you can filter what you receive so you only hear signals with that Tone. For the latter, choose "TSQL". Tone and ToneSql are your Transmit and Receive tones; for Brunswick, use 131.8 Duplex: should be hard coded on most GMRS radios; if not, the convention for GMRS is +5.0mhz, and nearly all follow convention; this should be set to + unless you find that ONE that's bucking the trend. Offset: this tells the radio how far from the receive frequency you want it to transmit; again, convention is +5.0, so unless you found the oddball, this will be 5.0 Skip: defines whether the channel is skipped when scanning. Nice for out of area stuff when you aren't travelling. Cross mode: should be Tone, as you're using the same tone in both fields. May use "Cross" when programming a repeater with split tones. I would say start out with the Tone Mode to Tone, and confirm operation first; once you've confirmed you're able to use the repeater, you can then go back into the settings (either via CHIRP or on the radio) and add a receive tone if you choose. Hope this helps clarify.

It seems the new version of the site offers the option not to allow access requests...not sure if that was there in the old version, since I don't have any listed....if not, that's a definite plus in the new version, and the people that have private repeaters listed strictly for coordination may want to update their listings accordingly.

Note that you can't add new transmit channels, anything new you add is receive only...you'll have to use the preloaded "REPTxx" channels, and set the appropriate tone. These will already have the correct offset set for repeater use. Are you getting the kickback/beep/squelch tail from the repeater?

about the same as the 'Skype Phone', yeah. On the license issue, I think the catch would be whats on the other end; if you're talking to another RFinder you'd probably be fine, legally. If the talkgroup has a repeater involved, though (the PAPA Bridge, for example), that could be a problem. The other catch is that you need a license to get a DMR Id to begin with.

That's one cool aspect of the RFinder, though, it isn't using a hotspot, it's the hotspot itself via it's data connections. Expensive piece of kit, no doubt, but a lot of functionality crammed into it (dmr radio+hotspot+analog radio+cellphone+repeater directory), and being combined let's them integrate better than separate pieces often do. That said, I'm sticking with my redundancy of multiple devices for now too.

Glad to help! Yeah, getting ground will be easier on mine, as I don't have any plastic trim in the way. It would also help that my tie down anchors are the single bolt/rubber block type, so I could basically use a piece of flat steel with 2 holes (1 for the nmo, 1 for the bolt). On antennas, I wonder if there's a good 2m/1.25m antenna out there. I remember from HCCFCA's thread, Marcspaz posted a Tram 1/4 wave with a nice wide bandwidth that would cover both 70cm and gmrs...at ~6" it's short enough be unlikely to be a height issue, even on the roof, has minimal surface for a car wash to get ahold of, and leaves space elsewhere for a 2nd....if you wanted to go that route.

To add a little perspective, my truck is a mid 2000's single cab, 2wd Ford Ranger clone. With a mag mount on the roof, the variety of 18" antennas are about an inch too long in the (supposedly) 7 ft clearance garage at work. The CA2x4 Comet is obviously way too much when it's upright, but it clears with room to spare with it folded over; to skip the folding i currently have a Comet SBB1 on the mount. My current setup has ham and GMRS separate with an Icom 2730a for 2m/70cm and an Anytone AT779UV for GMRS, on a separate 1/4 wave antenna, with the radio zip tied to the seat belt anchor since the middle seat doesn't get used. Have another 779UV in the beater car, and since it's lower and the antenna is on the trunk i can run longer whips with no issue. Had the Tram 1181 on for a bit, but went back to a UHF only Browning 1713 (great for 70cm and GMRS).

Imo, I agree with #1 as the least worst option. One alternative, though I don't know how viable...ive thought about the possibility of using a flat bracket held on by the stake hole anchor, but the viability may depend on the type of anchor (I have the eye bolt/rubber block type). Antenna wise, the tram 1181 is rated for 130-170 and 430-470, and tested out no higher than 1.3 in 2m, 70cm, and gmrs, as far as I saw, though I was finding the lower gain not quite enough behind a lower power radio. If you don't mind folding for garages, the comet 2x4sr is another with wide coverage, and I had good results with it; I added the spring kit and ran it on the roof with a mag mount, but it's ~36" long, so an issue for parking garages...might be workable on the fender mount. The tram is a bit shorter (18.9" per Amazon), and wouldn't be a height issue on the fender. All that said, I don't see a way to work 1.25m in, but I just barely added that to my shack (in the form of a handheld) so haven't dug much on or tested any options there yet.

If I'm remembering chirp's settings right, the fact that the main screen shows Tone Mode as none means it will ignore whatever is in the Tone fields.

Minor correction (I know it was a typo): AT-779uv is the gmrs certified Anytone. AT-778uv is a ham radio (slightly bigger, and a few more watts).

Think of tones as a filter. The repeater is filtering for signals with a given tone to activate it. Likewise, a recieve tone is a filter on what you hear. This is useful if there's more than one repeater on the same frequency, or if there happens to be simplex users on the same frequency as the repeater's output....you can filter out the unwanted signals to some extent, though they may still interfere somewhat.

Are you asking about finding what tones the repeater is using? Or where to find the setting on the radio to program it to use the tone? As far as I understand, the tones are one or the other (CTCSS or DCS), not both...so if the repeater listing shows CTCSS tones and not DCS, you won't need to worry about DCS. Looking at pg 30 of the instructions, it looks like both types are under one menu, you'll select tone type first, then WHICH of that type of tone you need.

Not 100% familiar with how the channels are configured on the uv-9g, but on both my wouxun and Btech, channel 21 is the simplex channel, while "rept21" is in #29, which has the correct offset for repeater usage preprogrammed

As mentioned in a few of the other threads, it's usually a day or two from grant for it to make it from the FCC to the site's database, and you should be good to go. On Retevis, no direct experience; the lack of a display on the RB75's is a plus for battery life (good size battery on those too), but limiting if you want to be able to change PL tones on the fly. I believe there's a few members that have experience with the RT76P for something with a little more flexibility. On the mobile side, look at the RA-25; there's a few members (myself included) running its siblings (the anytone at-779uv & radioddity db20-g) and happy with them.

Agreed...Midland is a fine choice for primarily simplex use, or one repeater per channel, and generally staying in the same area. More than one on the same channel with different tones, or the ability to receive more channels beyond the basic gmrs, Midland gets a little limiting. Likewise, the btech gmrs 50x1 (not mentioned) has more receive options, but no more transmit than what it ships with. Wouxun has the most features and abilities, but priced accordingly. Wouxun also has the remote head (display/controls), which is helpful with flexibility in mounting (put the body under a seat, display up in view). For the flexibility and features it offers, wouxun would likely be my pick of the 3.

Agreed...asking is the best way to know. One other thought (what came to mind for me anyway) is it may be a convention on a certain linked network to help others identify which repeater they're talking into the network on. Do the names they're announcing line up with anything listed in your area on the map? (You may need to hit the gear icon in the top left to "show stale repeaters" to see them if they haven't been updated in the past year)

*Shifty eyes* ?

Good deal. Stuff to keep in the back of my mind for next time I'm out that way.

I wonder if it was the Steve with Rugged Radios I've seen popping up in some of the Facebook gmrs groups.

No lock button, but the buttons do require a determined press. There's enough of a lip around them that accidental button presses aren't too likely.

Is mounting to the roof rack an option? That would at least get you above the issue of the 'greenhouse' shading the signal, and the RF over you instead of through. That said, off the top of my head the closest compatible stuff with enough length to maybe clear the roofline (while also being compatible with gmrs) that I can speak from experience on are the comet ca2x4sr (dual band) and the browning br-1713-b-s (UHF only). The comet is ~36", and the browning is ~32", both not including a mount. The browning had been on both vehicles,l for both games and 70cm, and only recently came off the car in favor of a shorter dual bander. The comet was on the truck, but got swapped for a shorter comet for garage height reasons now that I have to be in the office again some days.

I think "squelch tail" is what you're thinking of.

Makes me wonder how spot on the repeater location is on the map, and how high up the repeater is. If it's on a high enough hill, or mapping off a little bit from it's actual location, you may in reality have LOS. I've been able to hit one near Coalinga on high power with a little 5/8 wave on a bookcase indoors (estimated 60ish miles), and from up in the sierra nevada foothills managed to get into another 70cm repeater in the same area (CARLA#15, 75ish miles from where I was) on a 5 watt HT.

@PartsMandepending which mode you set it to, restrictions are unlikely to be an issue with the retevis/radioddity/anytone triplets. (I have 2 of the anytone version, one opened up for ham use in the beater car, and a second for gmrs alongside an icom in the truck.)

Bob, You may check with Monmouth Amateur Radio Club; they look to be not too far from you, at least meeting wise, and may be able to offer some local help. http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/middletown-amateur-radio-club/type:club