wayoverthere

They do actually list the 1.5 swr limit in the manual (twice in the antenna section), but I agree with this take...I don't think they build in much margin.

given the number of reports of problems i've come across with the 50x1, i'd hazard a guess it's a combination of not so great components already run close to the limit, less than stellar quality control, and a little bit of covering themselves for warranty claims. mine has been solid so far, but i haven't subjected it to any particularly long ragchewing.

Interesting...I got a zip file containing an executable, and a Mac osx folder ? agreed on the comm port/cable...I don't have anything plugged in currently beyond a mouse (and keyboard via Bluetooth)

so when i grabbed it on win10, there's one folder with the windows CPS, and a 'mac osx' folder, which has another version of the CPS that i assume is for Mac OS. the windows version opened up fine (much like the window @MichaelLAX showed above), though i did get an error message about a comm port (perhaps due to running from the zip, the limited account i'm using, or the lack of a plugged in cable). I also tried running the Mac version for the heck of it, and got a message that i needed administrator permission to run a 16 bit application. both times i ran it straight from within the zip file, without receiving a message about not having an exe file, so not sure what the issue could be. i will note that i'm running it on an intel ComputeStick pc (atom CPU, minimal ram, win 10 32 bit), under a general user (not admin) account.

good deal. glad to hear they're amenable to the exchange ?

Or, if you don't already have your ham ticket and were considering it, you're already set with a radio ?

what part of it is giving you problems? their website seems like it's being a little wonky for me, but i was able to get to the download link for the DB25-g software. https://baofeng.s3.amazonaws.com/Radioddity_DB25-G_CPS_V1.01_20210830.zip

I won't say they don't, but I don't know of one. That base does look a little small to hold any decent length antenna though. That said, that silver antenna looks like a uhf mount, and diamond makes a nice mag mount one with rg8x coax (most are just rg58). https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dmn-spm35 (I have the nmo version of the mount...is rg8x overkill at the lengths used for mobile? Perhaps. I was running a ht through it, so I wanted as little loss as I could get)

Seems to be a common complaint with CPS files, not sure why. I've had no issues with chirp on either Linux or windows, though the windows is a dedicated stick PC I used for programming.

It's primarily something that carries over from the ham origins of the radio. There are repeaters set up to accept commands via DTMF tones, things like changing frequencies or turning off the transmitters. since much of the hardware can carry over to gmrs, this feature may be out there on gmrs repeaters as well. The vestigial part (at least for gmrs) is that on the ham side, DTMF tones can be used to dial numbers on an autopatch equipped repeater to make phone calls....these are explicitly not allowed for gmrs though (interconnections to the telephone network).

Does yours have the old square usb, or the newer usb-c on the body? Older models didn't allow you to program different tones for transmit and receive, or a transmit tone with no receive tone. If you have the older model, when you set that transmit tone, it's also expecting to hear the same tone on receive. The newer usb-c models allow setting separately. If you have the older model, it's possible you're getting in and just not hearing the response. You may try opening the squelch (press the "Mon" button) when you transmit, and see if you hear it that way. They're making progress, but it seems like Midland primarily designs their stuff for simplex and compatibility with their own gear, with repeater usage as an afterthought.

You can take the call sign listed on radio reference, see what fcc uls turns up, then maybe get the frn from the call sign and search on that, see if it turns up any more recent (active) calls. Kind of a rabbit hole when you start digging ?

Radioreference.com has a pretty good list of frequencies, broken down by area, though I believe searching by frequency requires a subscription. If you navigate to state and county you may be able to narrow it down. Failing that, it may be possible to dig up frequencies from the fcc database based on the antenna registration listings, since they're likely running through a repeater if it's public safety of some kind.

I'll hazard a guess its someone associated with BTWR, since the company mailing address is in SC

No retevis gear here, but other than getting the comm port set, chirp has worked great for me on Linux mint with my baofeng/BTech stuff (the actual Linux version, not via wine). Have also done some limited testing with wouxun cps in wine, and seems to work fine.

small expansion on this point; there are a few dual band antennas focused on the commercial/MURS end of VHF that are a decent match for GMRS as well. I have (but haven't tested) a Comet 2x4SR nmo that is supposed to play well with MURS, 2m, 70cm, and GMRS, but trades a little bit of a gain for the wider range. this again requires a nmo mount of your choice, and it's on the long side (~3ft). it DOES fold over, though, and there is a spring kit available to give it a little more flexibility.

Repeaterbook has one listed in Ellicott city MD, on .650, 141.3 ctcss. As best i can tell (their map isn't super easy to navigate on mobile, and the list is near useless), another site I won't bother naming just shows a hub (server), no closer repeater than Alexandria.

Problems with the cable can cause high swr as well, but looking at those antennas, they don't look like a good match for gmrs frequencies. Dual band, in itself, isn't an issue, but with the way 2m and 70cm relate, an antenna that's good in the 2m ham band tends to also fit well with 70cm (430-450 mhz) Unfortunately, this is a lower range than we need for gmrs. The bingfu is a wider frequency range (that stretches up to 470), hence that being the better of the three. What you're really aiming for is 460-470 mhz. If you want good to go out of the box, it's hard to go wrong with Midland (https://www.amazon.com/Midland-Antenna-Durable-Connection-MicroMobile/dp/B084BPXNC5/ ) though it requires a separate mount. Ideally, if you can still return them, I'd go that route, and look for something better suited to gmrs. Laird 1/4 wave for 450-470 are very inexpensive (around $10) but do require a mount with a good ground plane. If you're past the return period, a couple of those you linked (the straight whips, first and last I believe) look like they could be cut to be tune them for gmrs; its a usually a matter of loosening 2 screws holding the whip to the mount and taking a little off the bottom of the whip. (Grinding might be better to get there slowly without overdoing it). You could also check with a radio shop for what they might charge, as they'll have the equipment needed, both for the cutting and measuring the antenna performance. For a couple other suggestions (both require a nmo mount), I've used this browning on my truck, and with it's wide range (406-490) it's played well for both 70cm and gmrs, with a swr 1.2 or less. https://www.amazon.com/Browning-406MHz-490MHz-5-5dBd-Mobile-Antenna/dp/B00TY2KP5K/ the downside is size, at 35" On the smaller side (~13"), others have used the https://www.amazon.com/Browning-450MHz-470MHz-3dBd-Mobile-Antenna/dp/B00IDTJ2EA/ with good results, though that one also may prefer a little trimming to be perfect for gmrs (per the reviews). That said, Ive had an antenna that said it would require trimming, but when measured was already really good so I left it alone.

No disagreement there...I have a couple in my area like that, and it's a nice feature to be able to add those to extra memory slots on the wouxun. No such luck with the btech. That said, getting a tone set and getting rolling is a good starting point....can always come back on the PC in the future and add more channels.

I don't think anyone will argue for it being top of the line, but I've had no problems with a surecom sw102. It's always agreed with the results of the nanovna, and with the sw33 I started with, when compared.

Glad to help. And to clarify a little, the repeater channels (RPxx) receive on 462.xxx the same as the simplex channels, they just transmit with the +5mhz offset (467.xxx) where the repeaters are listening, instead of on the same channel they're listening (462.xxx)

You don't need to mess with simplex channel 18 to use the repeater, just RP18. You CAN do it in the software if you want to, but if all the channels are as shipped, you can do it in the menu. you just need to tune to RP18, go in the menu and look for "t-ctcs" or "t-dcs", menu to select, set it to the correct tone (provided by the repeater owner), and hit menu again to confirm. For receive tones, think of it as a filter on what you hear. No receive tone set is the equivalent of no filter.

Based on his other threads, he's likely working with the BTech gmrs 50x1...speaking from experience, I'll hazard a guess that the 2.5 are dual band ham antennas, as that's about what mine showed. More info on the antennas and the intended use (base? Mobile?) will definitely help with suggestions on whether they can be tuned to something usable for gmrs, or if other options should be aside from that, I know there's a lot of threads in this section of the forum, search terms like "base antenna" or "mobile antenna" may help find situations similar to yours to give some better focused ideas.

First, welcome! In my opinion, yes, this is the best source I've seen for gmrs... this site has both the most listings, and the easiest to use interface to search, though the less regulated (not coordinated like ham) nature of gmrs means there are some outdated listings. There's also a solid attitude of educating and helping new users. Repeaterbook is close on ease of use; they've primarily been aimed at ham, but began adding gmrs listings in the last year or so, and the mobile app can filter by gmrs, though they're late to the game on adding listings. USA gmrs association (insert eye roll here), has some listings as well, along with a bit of a chip on their shoulder toward this site, and I'm not entirely a fan of some of the attitudes in their Facebook group, though that may just be my my issue. Last I looked at their listings, they're pretty sparse in CA. On outside traffic, low expectations are a good place to start. Many areas don't have the hobbyist presence that ham does (I think of it as ham-lite), going with more of a sticking to their group mentality (frs-plus), though as you'll see on the site, some definitely do. Nothing wrong with expecting low and being pleasantly surprised. Final quick suggestion? Pair mag mount antennas with the handhelds to get the signal outside the vehicle where possible; easy to move between vehicles, and you can still use them if you step up to mobile radios, or choose to upgrade to hard mounting of some sort.

Glad you were able to get it sorted ?