tweiss3

GMRS is largely a "line of site" service. In other words, hills, buildings, and even the curvature of the earth are what cause the real limitations for a radio. Keep in mind, in the amateur radio service, many people can communicate with satellites at only 1-5Watts. What a repeater does is create a vantage point way above normal ground level, which lets you overcome the hills and curve of the earth. This article very briefly explain how the "line of site" concept works relative to height: https://www.hamuniverse.com/lineofsightcalculator.html

I don't think that radio has an SWR meter. It appears the "meter" on the right side of the screen is received signal strength, and power out on transmit. A 4 would probably indicate you have it set on medium power?

The other problem you will find is getting an amplifier that will match your low power output to 50W. Most have a drive input of 5-10w, outputting 80-150W, over the power limit allowed for GMRS.

I believe you can direct kill/stun commands based on serial number, and provide a second layer of security with OTAP keys. This can all be managed via the RM software, and sent over wifi or pushed out over your backbone (repeater).

Digital is not permitted on GMRS, so you won't find a digital radio with Part 95 certification. You will find plenty of older commercial radios that have Part 95 and Part 90, like Kenwood, Vertex and Motorola. Read some of the review and technical discussion on this forum. There are plenty of recommendations there.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/radio Yes, you can carry it on your carry-on bag. Make sure you carry a copy of your FCC License (GMRS/HA). Also know the restrictions on batteries you can take, and the maximum amp-hours you are permitted to carry (including the total in your phone, power bank, radio batteries, etc.).

I ended up picking up one of these XPR7550e Enabled radios for a pretty decent price. Other than the difficulty of Motorola, I actually really like the radio. The wideband entitlement allows you to program the proper 20k bandwidth for GMRS, and full 25k for ham. It also got me looking back into DMR. Actually, I was looking at picking up an inexpensive DMR radio, then came across this for the same price. As for daily use, I've been carrying this for a week now. When in the car, I still use my Yaesu mobile since I use APRS/vhf a lot while out and about. But for the county "emergency" ARES is on UHF, and the Skywarn stuff is linked VHF/UHF, so this will do it all. I also noticed the selectivity is really good, and didn't break squelch from RFI when next to a Vertex VX800. I'm not going to replace the Vertex fleet for GMRS, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy more if the price is right. I am looking for a VHF version just to have and play around with, but the price must be right.

In a crazy turn of events, I tried CPS16 and was able to read the radio over wifi. I then started a codeplug again, and was able to write in CPS16. I'm going to sick with it.

That's good to know. Atleast I can maintain existing radio codeplugs. Yea, I knew that when I pulled the trigger. Then again, I got all in for what a new crummy Anytone costs now.

From what I understand you cannot make any changes after the 3 years, and need to renew the license. I figure I'll either have more than 1 moto radio then, or have none. The price per year to maintain 2-4 radios isn't bad, and maybe by then I will have the family running around with radios as well.

I'll send you a PM, I don't want MOL mad at me for posting it.

the long and short, narrowband is required after 2013, you agree to use the wideband entitlement correctly, and will follow all the rules of Part 90 for Narrowband mandate...... At least it was simple and the bare minimum to keep the FCC off their back. The cable I bought is the bluemax49ers, it's just late (USPS). Cable is minor. The timeframe to do things legitimately is insane though: 3+ Weeks to get an account started 2 days to get an account number assigned 3 days to get them to turn on your LXP access 3 days after narrowband training 3-5 days for purchase to process and be sent to you.

@Lscott Have you managed to program via bluetooth? I tried last night (cable is in route) and didn't have any luck. I'm sure I'm missing something simple, and it probably need to be programmed via cable first, oh well. Also, completed the Narrowband "training" (15 minute video), but then it now can take up to 3 days to apply to your purchasing account. You would think these computer automated things would move quicker. I have more time in waiting then anything else.

To be fair, 90% of their business comes from government contracts in public safety, and those radio techs have accounts complete years ago. The new "business" radios they are pushing is DTRs, and 99.99% of that they want to push you through a dealer anyways.

Well, for what it's worth, there may be differences between 16 & 2.0, but overall, if you can find it in 16, its the same place in 2.0. The most annoying thing is the lack of cut/past or import features, resulting in mostly building the entire codeplug from scratch. Just made me recheck everything I've used in the past. My biggest issues is MOL taking forever to give you permissions to do anything, 3 weeks to get an account, 3 days to update account information, "72 hours" to get access to the learning center (past 72 hours, but after calling I get a "should be available tomorrow morning").

Thanks. That's what I thought I read, but I just wanted to confirm. I just got a message back from the seller that the last codeplug write on the radio was made with 2.0. I had already considered software costs in the purchase price. I guess I'll just start in 2.0 making this codeplug.

If a radio was programmed on CPS2.0, can't ever use CPS16, right?

That's a good deal. I just need MOL to process things at this point.....

That's true, however, I've come to the conclusion that any used radio I pick up is getting a new antenna, for the price and guarantee it is the right band antenna/working order, wrap that into the purchase price of the radios when I make my decision to buy. I did pull the trigger on that 7550e, I also order the CPS last night. Lets see how long it takes for that purchase to process.

If you are worried about cost, a brand new antenna from Motorola is $9.95 on the MOL site. Same with the older Vertex Standard stuff, I needed to get a few covers and screws, and saw the VS/MOL antennas were 1/3 the price of ebay versions, and just straight up replaced all 5 that I was going to "live with" for the time being.

Thats unfortunate. It took mine 3 weeks to get approved after multiple chats and an expedite ticket. Ordering from them is interesting too. I'm debating on pulling the trigger on a 7550e, but not sure just yet.

@Lscott, did you ever get the CPS help you were looking for? I'm just starting to look myself, but even though I got an account, it seems they still lock you out of things.

Correct.

Connect Systems CS760/761 & CS580

If between the two radios you mean they in the same room, you have a desensitization problem. You need more separation, 50-100 feet likely to hear the repeated traffic.