wayoverthere

You're close, imo. Input for the repeater is what you're transmitting from your handheld, though it may be T-DCS or T-CTCS, depending what the repeater is using (dcs or ctcss)...I haven't seen the data for that repeater. Output tone is the signal coming from the repeater, which fits with your receive tone on your handheld. One easy way to (usually) tell ctcss vs dcs is the number format...if there's a decimal, it's ctcss. If it's just 3 digits, it's most likely dcs, especially if they're followed by a letter N (normal) or I (inverted).

I didn't have high expectations to begin with, but wanted to test it, since the next truck (whenever i get around to replacing mine) will be taller and thus more of a height issue. On the current, the signal stalk was just a little too long, and the comet gave me a little space to spare for the work garage

The other lairds I've used have been solid...the phantom, I just wasn't impressed. I hooked it up to an unlocked anytone at779uv and did some testing on 70cm (the UTRA4301S3N, rated for 430-490), mag mounted in the center of the roof of my truck. On mid power I was having trouble getting in readable to a repeater I can normally use on a handheld that's 30ish miles out on a 4000ft ridge. High power was usable. Had no problems at similar power levels in the same location with a comet sbb1 (basically a mobile rubber duck) or the small signal stalk). Have also used the bb4303 with a handheld to the same repeater, no problem.

Glad I could help

Do any lights on the radio flash? I know with mine it took a little finagling to get the plug to fully seat in the radio due to the rubber bit that wraps around/between the 2 ports. It's been awhile since I messed with mine but I want to say the red and green lights flash when it's reading/writing. You mention picking the port from device manager, so it sounds like windows is recognizing the cable.

Agreed, seems like pretty limited use case, though it seems more like restrictions they were given, rather than their own (if I read the prior material correctly). It does seem within where Midland has been going lately, marketing heavily to the off-road/overlanding crowd, though. Given Midland's hardware direction lately, I'm going to speculate wildly that they'll be rebranding the retevis rt99/vero vrn-7500 for this product

Don't the Garmin have their own GPS receivers? Or are they dependent on a phone for GPS? I've seen some conflicting info for some of the recent bluetooth-linked radios (btech gmrs-pro comes to mind) that either wholly depend on a phone/tablet for GPS, or use that as the first method, but will eventually get a fix on their own. To be fair, since the phone has it's own GPS receiver, it's feasible to be able to get a GPS fix even when outside of cell service, so using the phone isn't really a substitute there. If it's depending on the radio itself, wouldn't Midland need some method of updating the internal maps to ensure they stay accurateon when they're in an allowable area?

Retevis lists one for the RT97; does your Midland have a similar plug? If so, it seems like a relatively inexpensive gamble. https://www.retevis.com/usb-programming-cable-for-rt97-us

The connectors on that meter are N-female...it looks like it should have shipped with adapters to convert to so-239 (aka uhf female). If not, here's a cable that should be what you need to go direct from the meter to your radio: https://www.amazon.com/SDTC-Tech-Coaxial-Extender-Connector/dp/B07NY2VVBZ/ Edit: here is a decent chart of the different connector types https://www.air802.com/connector-identification-chart.html

Would you mind clarifying which version of the sw-102 you have? I've seen both so239 and N-female versions, and the two connectors aren't interchangeable (though you can go from one to the other with adapters).

Not sure offfhand, but I will try to remember to dig out one of the cables this weekend and see how it identifies. I think it's likely though.

This is a big plus since the software doesnt have some basic stuff like copy and paste....if you need to move a block of channels, you're retyping everything below where you need the space. Leaving a gap leaves you room to insert later in the blanks, and the scan skips right over the blanks like they aren't there.

Ive been declining the "upgrade" to 11, but afaik, the issue there is some cables that need an older version of the prolific driver, and win11 is especially bad about "helping" by updating drivers. I thought I saw something recently about being able to tell it that a certain version wasnt working when you install an older version, but I dont remember where I saw it. I've had minimal problems on win10, though. I forget if I needednto manually install the older driver or no...it's been a year or so since I picked up my anytones (which program just fine with the radioddity software).

I had the 430-450 version of that base loaded 5/8, and that worked very well also. Was picking up a 70cm repeater at something like 100 miles out, and it worked great for overhead clearance on my truck. I also clarified my other post to indicate it was the tram 1181 that didn't work so well for me

It's tall, but I'd vote the mxta26 over the tram. Have the tram 1181, and it just doesn't seem to work well anywhere I've used it. Had trouble getting into repeaters on 10 watts Ive used with a handheld inside the car, from the same area. Also ran it on a piece of sheet metal on top of a bookshelf, testing receiving APRS....barely received anything, half a dozen packets over the course of a week. Switched it to the base antenna (comet gp1 in the closet)band saw a couple dozen inside an hour.

He may be exaggerating slightly on the price difference, but he was referring to the Midland MXR10, which lists for $459, or the Retevis RT97s which is currently on sale for $379 or RT97 which is on sale for $349, currently. All three are rated 10 watts on high, with 5 watts after the built in diplexer.

On the input tone, as @Sshannon suggested, you may try setting the speaker to "on" on the receiving radio, so you can at least hear if it's receiving the audio. From there, the other thoughts that come to mind are the connection cable between the radios, and the configuration on the radios themselves...are they set properly for their place in the setup, especially the tx radio.

I believe I saw a prime day special on the db20-g, at $87.99, if you have prime

If didn't already have both of the extra bands covered, i'd be highly tempted...BUT...i gambled on an untested VX-7R someone picked up from a SK estate, which works well, just needed a new battery, which checks off 6m (and actually has 1.25m too, at reduced power). on the 1.25m side, i went Wouxun, with the UV7D covering 1.25m and 2m (they also offer a 2m/6m version). Diamond makes a quad band mobile as well, which looks very similar to that Harvest. edit: brain fart, the diamond is 10/6/2/70cm, no 1.25m there.

Right? That would be a winner on a mag mount. Given they also do it on a pl259 to pl259 cable, I can't see why they (or anyone else) don't offer a similar setup on a mag mount. It'd be way overkill, but I imagine it's be possible to work it into one of those triple magnet mounts like this one https://alphadistributor.net/shop/ham-equipment/mobile-antenna-mounts/magnetic-mounts/triplex-5-magnet-cb-antenna-mount/

Midland sells a cable for hard mounting that has an NMO at the antenna end, and uses a smaller connector at the radio end, along with an adapter to pl259 for the radio. https://midlandusa.com/products/micromobile-mxta24-low-profile-antenna-cable Free is a good price for a phantom antenna. I've done a little testing with a laird phantom in the middle of my truck roof on a mag mount, results werent super, it was having trouble getting readable audio into a local repeater with 10 watts that I can generally use on a handheld and rubber duck.

In my case it wasn't so much a lot of redundancy as upgrading equipment (baofeng to ft4x to ft5d), and chasing bands and modes, and some of it that single band LMR gear...DMR/MotoTrbo and P25 in both VHF and UHF, C4FM, wanting in-built APRS, plus 1.25, 6m, and 33cm. With antennas, it's been more chasing functionality, or adapting to limitations. i am finding myself wanting to pare down a little, though...start shifting some of the stuff for projects that never got off the ground. when i really dove into the hobby, everything was shut down, so antenna heights weren't an issue, as office days started up again, i had to either get used to folding the antenna every time, or swapping out (and finding one short enough to work), and later relocating with new limitations. It has kind of come in handy as i shuffle equipment between vehicles, though....the antenna that was slightly too long on the truck will be a good fit on the better half's car, and can be joined by the compact radio that was in the now-departed beater, without needing to purchase new gear.

I plead the 5th on that answer

Is it just the banner at the top with the notice? Or clicking the link for ULS goes back to the 'down for maintenance' screen?

ULS appears to be back up and running (6/20/23, 10:27pm PDT) https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp edit: slow response times, some timeouts, some error messages. did a little searching for some of the posters above, but no more joy to report.