wayoverthere

I am on my second unit. I am only on my second unit because the first one went up in smoke. As it turns out, I had a mismatched frequency antenna and according to the techs at BTech, high SWR made my radio go boom. How exactly they knew that, I don't know. In fact, I have my doubts that they did...but alas. Having said that, if it did kilo bravo due to my error, BTech was kind enough to send me a replacement radio for free just the same. So there is that. 🤷‍♂️
I generally like the radio. I use it as a base station in my home and routinely use it to talk to my family while I am out and about. I also use it to talk to a repeater some 40 miles away and it makes the trip just fine. I get glowing reports on how the radio sounds. I monitor two different repeaters in addition to our family channel, so the quad watch feature is nice.
I understand that some may think the display is a little crowded. It is...and if I was running this in my Jeep, that would be a different case altogether. But sitting stationary on my desk, just a few feet from my face and next to my laptop, I like being able to see all the info.
If I'm completely transparent, I do have a little bit of buyer's remorse. I think I could have bought a Radioddity DB20 for less than half of what I paid for the GMRS 50V2 and had access to 2m and been well happy. But I bought this as a new guy in GMRS and that 50 watts sure seemed sexy. Knowing what I know now - primarily that I can hit that same repeater 40 miles away with a 5 watt HT - I'm not so sure I'd have bought it.
As always, your mileage may vary. 🤓

Honestly? I straight up skipped mine and did my own thing, and that's pretty much still my MO almost 30 years later.
Still don't use my ham gear on GMRS though.

U.S.11982 is just a few miles from the house. I might give it a try sometime. 

I've been getting a lot of POTA QSO's on my QRZ log and I didn't know I could sign up for a POTA account without being an ARRL member. Now that I know I don't need to be a member I got an account and I already have contacts under the Hunter category. Also, the site lists people doing POTA Activations so I can more easily "hunt" them. I think this will be one of my favorite things to do on 10M SSB. Once I get my General I'll give 12M Hunting a try too. I'm really lovin' HF.

When Yaesu told me it was going to be $900 to fix my FTDX10, I told them that I would buy a new IC-7300 for $100 more instead. Another guy had the USB port go out on his FTDX101. Yaesu fixed for free under warranty but then told him not to use the port. Yaesu also told him if the port went out again that he would be charged $900 to repair it even if the radio was still under warranty,
Yaesu has burned a lot of people over the bad USB ports on the FTDX101, FTDX10, and FT991. I am surprised that we have not started seeing the FT710 have the same issues. What happens is the USB port either gets is firmware scrambled or the controller gets blown if you plug the USB cable in while the computer and radio are both powered on. Yaesu knows of the issue but won't correct it.
For those with Yaesu base transceivers. Always make sure that the radio AND computer are both powered off before plugging the USB cable in or unplugging the cable.

Simple answer is NO. For example my Ham call is the same exact one since I was first licensed as a Tech. I've since upgraded to an Extra class level and left my call sign the same. I have zero interest in changing it. 
Oh, you can't tell which radio "district" a Ham lives in now either, based on the number in the call sign. The FCC lets you move clear across the country and keep the same call. Oops.

Except the slice of 10m that Techs have access to is specified for SSB phone (not FM), and all the 10/6/2/.70 radios I can think of are FM only.
More generally, are you thinking toward upgrading to General in the future?  IMO, the jump in difficulty from Tech to General is a lot smaller than from General to Extra (spoken as a General studying toward Extra).  If General is in the cards , consider whether it's worth a "buy once, cry once" jump now, play with 10m, and then you're better set for the future.  Also, TX aside, you can listen to other bands all you want, even as a Tech (or not even ham licensed)....if that interests you.
 
Minor correction; FCC lumps General and Tech together in the C & D group calls (1x3 and 2x3), with Extra getting access to the 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 calls.  From personal experience, while I was still a Tech, I chose to request a vanity call ahead of the fee implementation, shortening my sequentially assigned 2x3 (KN6) to a 1x3 (K6), but retained the same suffix as assigned.  (Tech in 3/2021, did the vanity 7/2021, upgraded to General 6/2023)
IIRC, when you level up to General and Extra, there's a box you can mark to request a new sequential call as well.
https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/amateur-call-sign-systems
so...a 1x2, 2x1, or 2x2 is a dead giveaway of a higher class (Advanced or Extra)

Except the slice of 10m that Techs have access to is specified for SSB phone (not FM), and all the 10/6/2/.70 radios I can think of are FM only.
More generally, are you thinking toward upgrading to General in the future?  IMO, the jump in difficulty from Tech to General is a lot smaller than from General to Extra (spoken as a General studying toward Extra).  If General is in the cards , consider whether it's worth a "buy once, cry once" jump now, play with 10m, and then you're better set for the future.  Also, TX aside, you can listen to other bands all you want, even as a Tech (or not even ham licensed)....if that interests you.
 
Minor correction; FCC lumps General and Tech together in the C & D group calls (1x3 and 2x3), with Extra getting access to the 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 calls.  From personal experience, while I was still a Tech, I chose to request a vanity call ahead of the fee implementation, shortening my sequentially assigned 2x3 (KN6) to a 1x3 (K6), but retained the same suffix as assigned.  (Tech in 3/2021, did the vanity 7/2021, upgraded to General 6/2023)
IIRC, when you level up to General and Extra, there's a box you can mark to request a new sequential call as well.
https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/amateur-call-sign-systems
so...a 1x2, 2x1, or 2x2 is a dead giveaway of a higher class (Advanced or Extra)

Except the slice of 10m that Techs have access to is specified for SSB phone (not FM), and all the 10/6/2/.70 radios I can think of are FM only.
More generally, are you thinking toward upgrading to General in the future?  IMO, the jump in difficulty from Tech to General is a lot smaller than from General to Extra (spoken as a General studying toward Extra).  If General is in the cards , consider whether it's worth a "buy once, cry once" jump now, play with 10m, and then you're better set for the future.  Also, TX aside, you can listen to other bands all you want, even as a Tech (or not even ham licensed)....if that interests you.
 
Minor correction; FCC lumps General and Tech together in the C & D group calls (1x3 and 2x3), with Extra getting access to the 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 calls.  From personal experience, while I was still a Tech, I chose to request a vanity call ahead of the fee implementation, shortening my sequentially assigned 2x3 (KN6) to a 1x3 (K6), but retained the same suffix as assigned.  (Tech in 3/2021, did the vanity 7/2021, upgraded to General 6/2023)
IIRC, when you level up to General and Extra, there's a box you can mark to request a new sequential call as well.
https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/amateur-call-sign-systems
so...a 1x2, 2x1, or 2x2 is a dead giveaway of a higher class (Advanced or Extra)

Finally: an actual "quote" that I can use to support my comments and DB20-G recommendations to other DB25-G owners or prospective purchasers!  Thank you!

i've got a 40 channel radio shack CB in the garage that gets turned on occasionally (with a mag mount antenna stuck on my vw), but it doesn't hear much.  also have a newer am/fm Presdent (Bill II, I think) that gets thrown in the truck for road trips.  
Actually have another trip coming up this weekend (Pacificon-bound), and I'll probably have the little Anytone and the CB on board with a couple of mag mounts on the roof.

Well, your guess would be absolutely incorrect. I got an email just now asking for payment. 🤩
EBF must have been turned out at some point today, I guess. Happy Day! I'll be a HAM in a day or three. 🤗

Yeah, I'm kinda envious of the guys who have really tall towers. 😄 My house is a bit higher than most of the surrounding terrain and my repeater antenna is on a 35' mast. I get ~10-15 miles in most directions, which is enough to close the gap between the GMRS repeater to my northeast and the one to my south. Coverage to the west is pretty poor because the tallest terrain feature for miles around is the hill about 1/2 mile west of me. There are no active GMRS repeaters west of me as far as I can determine. The ARES group I'm part of has just gotten permission to put a repeater on the unused municipal tower on that hill to support local emergency services activities. I think I'm going to try to persuade them that we need a GMRS repeater on the same tower as well.

I've been communicating with guys about 60 miles away on a repeater here in Massachusetts. The repeater is on a 10 story building just south of Boston . I'm 1200 feet up in elevation on a back road with line of site to Boston with no obstructions in the way.  They say I'm loud and clear using my TD H3+ radio and a Nagoya UT-72G mag mount . I've been told that when I use the Melowave Bandit G attached directly to the radio it's even better. I have to get out of the car for that antenna though. I do on occasion pick up transmissions from this repeater at my house at about 500 feet elevation about 45 miles away but i can't reach it myself from home.  I took this crap photo from a video. Zoomed in to show the city buildings. 

Yup.  I bought a 7 amp power supply for my 20 watt only to find out it was 4.5 amps continuous which is what the unit drew on transmit.  Still worked but I had it overheat and trip on two occasions when I got jabber jawing.  I have a 30 amp now which is 25 amp continuous.

I will mention to watch the specs on the power supplies; many of them advertise based on their "peak" current capability, rather than their "continuous" figure; depending how a particular supply is advertising, that may not provide the safety margin one would hope for.  some of them also vary on much they differ between "peak" and "contiuous" ratings.  25a continuous should be good to run two at the same time with a small safety margin, 30a continuous, a bit more.
case in point, my alinco is sold as a 30a PSU, which is the peak figure; its continuous rating is a bit lower, at 20a.  in the real world, it's going to come down to how it's used, though.  I've had three 45-50 watt radios running off of the one PSU, since, as you mentioned, in the real world it's unlikely you'll be transmitting on more than one radio at a time. each draws less than 1a on receive, and 10-11 amps on full power transmit. (2x vertex vx4200, 1x Btech gmrs50x1). 

The ATF stopped processing forms and got sued under the concept of a Right delayed is a Right denied.  ATF employees were forced back to work.
 
Radio dorks aren't as passionate about their radios, that 10s of thousands, possibly millions, use without a license anyway. 

I always feel like "it depends" is a good answer for questions like this. There are so many variables, such as height above ground, height above average terrain, is the terrain in the shadow of the antenna relatively flat? Also, are they measuring the minimum continuous coverage radius or are they using the extreme edge diameter? Are they referring to max talk-in distance with an HT or a 50w mobile with a 9dB gain antenna?
 
In general, with good elevation and quality radios, as long as there is nothing in the way, it's very likely. 
 
Most repeater owners have an experience that is closer to 5 to 8 miles because the antenna is only 35-50 feet off the ground, likely on the roof of their house/garage, and the install is less than ideal.

If I recall, I was hitting Park Ridge on I.S. 5 at Dos Amigos (South of S.R. 165) with a 25 watt Kenwood TK880 and a quarterwave antenna. I think I was able to hit Park Ridge from Westley, but it was kinda iffy.

I've used one of the Park Ridge machines (i forget which) that's a little over 60 miles away from the valley floor without issue, on the little 15 watt AT779uv and a 1/4 wave mag mounted on the truck.  They claim an estimated 100 mile range, and in some directions that's absolutely believable as they sit at or above 7000 ft elevation.  I've also had no problem getting into one of the 70cm ham repeaters on a 5 watt handheld at 75ish miles across the valley.  again, elevation helping out as i was sitting around 4000 ft, and the repeater sits around 3000 on a ridge.
terrain in between will be the deciding factor.

Hopefully better than that scene in the original "Naked Gun" when he wanders off to the restroom still wearing the wireless mic....

Hopefully better than that scene in the original "Naked Gun" when he wanders off to the restroom still wearing the wireless mic....

I like to think of it as a podium with a built in toilet for those times you have to poop during an important speech. 
Fear Not!!  The Commodium has your back..... side.....

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