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Yes, and get more than one of them so you can use them with family and friends. You will be amazed at how well they work.

File your public comments folks! Comments Due: 2021-11-12 Reply Comments Due: 2021-11-26

Found this interesting item in today's FCC Daily Digest: Released: 2021-10-12. WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON REQUEST BY MIDLAND RADIO CORPORATION FOR WAIVER OF CERTAIN GENERAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICE RULES. (DA No. 21-1269). (Dkt No 21-388). Comments Due: 2021-11-12. Reply Comments Due: 2021-11-26. WTB. Contact: Thomas Derenge at (202) 418-2451, email: Thomas.Derenge@fcc.gov. DA-21-1269A1.docx DA-21-1269A1.pdf DA-21-1269A1.txt

Is the "squelch tail" you are referring to the hang time of the repeater transmitter or the receiver staying unsquelched for an extended period of time after a signal into the receiver went away? These are 2 different things. Hang time refers to how long the repeater's transmitter remains keyed after the receiver's squelch closes to mute the audio. I like repeater hang times in the range of 2 to 4 seconds in length. Squelch tail technically refers to how long the receiver's squelch remains open after a received signal goes away. This is the short burst of white noise heard when a signal input to the receiver goes away before the squelch closes to mute the audio. With plain old carrier squelch (CSQ), this time is typically a few 10s of milliseconds and up to about 50ms. Time constants longer than about 50ms start to be annoying because of the longer "crash" sound heard due to the squelch staying open longer. With a CTCSS/DCS decoder, the time constant is much longer and is spec'd at 350ms. Motorola repeaters running CTCSS or DCS typically run the CSQ wide open and only the CSCSS/DCS decoder mutes the audio from the receiver. This works best for handling mobile flutter and signal fading but can create an annoyingly long squelch tail because of the 350ms time constant. Commercial radios typically transmit a "reverse burst" designed to eliminate the squelch "crash" sound aka squelch tail at the end of a transmission. The reverse burst means "Close squelch NOW!" before the transmitter un-keys. Radios talking through the repeater that don't generate a reverse burst at the end of their transmission leave a long squelch tail aka crash sound heard at the end of a transmission. Are you using CTCSS/DCS on the repeater's receiver? Are you also using CSQ or leaving it wide open like what Motorola does? These two functions typically are AND'd together in a repeater application. This requires CSQ to be open AND decoding a valid CTCSS tone or valid DCS code to unsquelch the receiver and key PTT on the repeater. CTCSS/DCS access and CSQ can also be set to "OR" the two functions together to unsquelch the receiver in some radios and repeaters. Check to make sure the two functions are AND'd together instead of OR'd together. An easy test you can do is transmit into the repeater without a CTCSS tone or DCS code or with a different tone or code that the repeater requires and see if this keys up the repeater. If you can key the repeater by just opening CSQ on the receiver, this may be the problem.

This application appeared today on fccid.io: AZ489FT7146 https://fccid.io/AZ489FT7146 Motorola is adding to their 900MHz FHSS digital on-site business radios with the Curve Series. It is a DLR style radio with 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi added to it. I don't understand the "Curve" name to it. Should be interesting. It doesn't appear to have any Bluetooth capability but that might come in a future model. The 900MHz FHSS digital system is compatible with the DTR and DLR series radios.

I see they are on 155MHz. It is unlikely they are on 155mHz since 155mHz is 0.155Hz. 155.880MHz * 3 = 467.640MHz --> close enough to 467.6375MHz = FRS channel 11. Any chance the 155.880 transmitter site is VERY close to the OP's location?

Another CCR. *SIGHE* No thanks.

ADOPTED: 2021-08-03 by MO&OR. Found this item in today's FCC Daily Digest. REVIEW OF THE COMMISSION'S PART 95 PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES RULES, MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION. Grants three petitions for reconsideration of the 2017 Report and Order that reorganized and updated the Part 95 Personal Radio Services rules. (Dkt No 10-119 RM-10762 RM-10844). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 2021-08-03 by MO&OR. (FCC No. 21-90). WTB. FCC-21-90A1.docx FCC-21-90A1.pdf FCC-21-90A1.txt

I have been GMRS licensed since December 1992. My GMRS callsign (KAE9013) resembles an old CB callsign as it predates the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS). It also predates the creation of FRS in 1996 and the invasion of the bubble packs which followed. In 1993, my first GMRS radios was a pair of Motorola GP300 handhelds. They were expensive at the time but they were the clear quality leader. Since then I've owned and used the following on GMRS: Kenwood TK-370 Kenwood TK-370G Kenwood TK-3140 Kenwood TK-3170 Icom IC-F4GT Icom IC-F40GT Motorola HT-1250 Kenwood TK-5310 (still have) Kenwood NX-300 Hytera PD782G Hytera PD362 Hytera X1p (still have) Hytera PD982 (still have) My newest is a Motorola XPR7550e as I'm moving away from Hytera and going full Moto for everything in the future. No more Kenwood or Icom either. No cheap Chinese radios (CCRs) since you get the bottom of the barrel cr@p that you pay for. I'm p!$$ed at Hytera and done with Hytera since the Motorola v. Hytera lawsuit settlement. I'm also liking Motorola's stuff better anyway. Only top tier Motorola radios going forward.

I don't care what other people do but absolutely no roger beeps on my radios. The absolute last thing I would want with my professional quality commercial radios is for them to sound like FRS bubble packs. I have played around with MDC1200 signaling in Motorola radios and Fleetsync signaling in Kenwood radios. I haven't used DTMF signaling because it's too d@mn slow. I put the PTT ID at the start of a transmission, not at the end. It can be programmed as Pre or Post, or Both. I like Pre instead of Post because it forces users to wait half a second for the Talk Permit Tone before speaking to allow receiving radios to wake up from battery save mode and allow for CTCSS and/or DCS to decode so the beginning of transmission aren't missed. I've played around with MDC1200 and Fleetsync signaling but eventually turn them off because they are annoying. Peace and quiet at the beginning and end of transmissions is a lot nicer.

I think you mean Zello, not Zillo. www.zello.com I browsed Zillow a lot when I was in the market for a house a few years back. http://www.zillo.com (redirects to zillow.com) I can't help with the network stuff as I'm not in your area but Welcome Aboard to GMRS!

LOL, that's me. I am the one who started that thread on RR. I have a couple of T800 Talkabouts and the X-Pand in them appears to be a little less aggressive compared to the older Talkabouts. Motorola probably has tweaked the amount of compression and expansion over the years to make it work better. The older Talkabouts were manufactured for Motorola by Giant International in China. The deal with Giant International ended several years ago and the newer T-series Talkabouts are genuine Motorola manufactured in Malaysia. I noticed the build quality is much better in the newer T-series Talkabouts. I thought Motorola may have tweaked the companding in them based on past (bad) experiences with the older TalkAbouts. My wife (g/f at the time) and I had a pair of Motorola Talkabout 250 FRS radios back in the early days of FRS (14 channels). This was around 1997-1998. The Talkabout 250 aggressively compressed the Tx audio and aggressively expanded the receive audio. When hearing audio from other radios that didn't compand their audio, the expander in the Talkabouts totally blew the audio apart to the point that basic functionality as a 2-way radio was seriously impaired. Even when both Talkabout 250 radios talked to each other and properly compressed the Tx audio and properly expanded the Rx audio, the audio was still BAD. It was square wave audio between the Talkabouts and hearing expanded audio from non-companded radios was even worse. It. Was. THAT. Bad. It is no wonder that Motorola's X-Pand audio companding system is so seriously hated. The Talkabout FRS radios and Motorola's business radios aka business bubble packs as I like to call them could be cleaned up and made a lot better if Motorola would add the option to disable X-Pand. Using X-Pand requires ALL radios talking to each other to be using X-Pand in order for all radios to sound right. Use X-Pand when all radios are using X-Pand and disable X-Pand when one or more radios in a group don't have X-Pand. If a radio has an audio companding feature, the radio needs to have the ability to enable or disable the feature. Unfortunately X-Pand is always enabled in the Talkabouts and in Motorola's analog business radios and there is no option to disable X-Pand. I expected the T600 H2O radios to have X-Pand like the other Talkabouts and was pleasantly surprised to find it is one of a few Talkabout models that don't have X-Pand. The only newer T-series Talkabouts I have experience with to date are the T800, T600, and T460/465. T460/465: Has X-Pand T800: Has X-Pand T600 H2O: NO X-Pand

https://shop.motorolasolutions.com/t600-rechargeable-two-way-radios-dual-pack/product/T6B22201GWRAAW I keep a few FRS radios around for occasional light casual use, especially when my young nephews come for a visit. Even though I have higher end commercial radios for GMRS and ham use, I keep a few FRS radios around to have as disposable radios and for my nephews to play with. One thing about the Motorola Talkabout FRS radios and Motorola's analog business radios is they use companding on narrowband channels. It is an audio enhancement feature to try to improve the audio S/N ratio. Motorola claims it helps the audio sound "clearer" compared to other radios. Motorola calls their companding system "X-Pand" and implemented it across their product lines. With Motorola's top tier radios, the compander can be enabled or disabled per channel. On the Motorola Talkbabout FRS radios and business radios or business bubble packs as I like to call them, the compander is always enabled and there is no option to disable it. Motorola went all in with companding on narrowband channels in their low end radios. Companding - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Motorola's X-Pand companding system generally works as advertised but it requires ALL radios talking to each other to be companding their audio for all radios to sound right. It's an all or nothing type deal. Problems arise when some radios talking to each other don't compand their audio. The expander in the Talkabout's receiver expands audio that wasn't compressed originally and blows it apart, resulting in muffled and distorted audio. The Talkabout's receive audio overall sounds like 'expletive' when this happens. It sounds like somebody stuffed a sock in the speaker. This is what Motorola's crappy and much hated X-Pand audio companding system tends to sound like more often than not. Motorola could really clean up the audio on the Talkabouts and business radios if they provided an option to disable the compander. Use the compander if ALL radios talking to each other are companding their audio, otherwise don't use the compander at all. I found a couple of Motorola Talkabouts don't have the companding feature like the others have. The Tx/Rx audio is a world of difference better on these radios. One model is the T600 waterproof radio. I recently picked up a few of these and was pleasantly surprised to find this model DOES NOT compand the audio. Yay!! The Tx/Rx audio sounds pretty good compared to my commercial radios I use on ham and GMRS. The Talkabout model the T600 replaced (MS350R) also did not compand the audio. https://shop.motorolasolutions.com/t600-rechargeable-two-way-radios-dual-pack/product/T6B22201GWRAAW Just thought I would share what I found about the Talkabout T600 waterproof FRS radio. :)

I've thought of doing this but don't have any LTR capable radios. It would be set up as a single channel LTR system and with the pulse turned off. I have heard of exactly this being done to thwart repeater jammers and unauthorized users. I've thwarted a well known jammer in the past by using DCS/DPL instead of CTCSS/PL. The jammer in this case had antiquated radios that only had CTCSS/PL capability and no DCS/DPL capability. He also didn't have a clue about DCS/DPL. I've heard him screaming on the air about being unable to get into my repeater. He was continually p!$$ed about not being able to get into the repeater after trying almost every CTCSS/PL tone. I've heard of DPL also being referred to as "Definitely Prevents Losers" LOL. This won't work today with most modern radios having DCS/DPL in addition to CTCSS/PL.

I would leave them alone and enjoy what you hear. They could be using DLRs instead of DTRs because they are compatible with the DTRs. The local Costco Wholesale store near me uses DLR radios and I can hear them on my DTR650 and DTR700 radios when I'm in range. The local business you are hearing is 100% legit with their radios. It's not your problem, so don't make it your problem. No need to spoil their fun and your ability to listen to them. They probably don't have a clue and are simply using the radios right out of the box at the factory default settings like FRS bubble packs. That's how the local Costco store near me seems to operate. The DLRs will transmit very badly distorted audio if someone shouts into them or talks too close to the mic. You can tell when DLRs are being used by the badly distorted audio. The DTR600/700 models have better transmit audio due to automatic gain control (AGC) in the Tx audio path. The DLRs and legacy DTR410/550/650 models don't have AGC in the transmit audio. The DTR600/700 models have the best Tx audio, the DLRs have the worst audio, and the legacy DTR410/550/650 models are somewhere in between. I wish Motorola would update the firmware in the DLRs to add AGC to the transmit audio. I have custom programming in my DTR fleet and have several private groups set up in them. I mostly use the private groups. I purposely keep the factory default programming in them as part of my custom programming to monitor for local activity in my travels and to be able to talk to defaulted DTRs and DLRs if needed.