SUPERG900

A determined harasser/jammer can easily find out that you're on separate frequencies - and yet still - they need only transmit on just one of them to break your stride. There just aren't that many GMRS frequencies. Now, if it's simply a matter of avoiding hearing somebody else's objectional and uninvited comments - PL tones, or even better, DCS codes work quite well. Remember - nothing can stop someone from transmitting on (any) channel - but you can filter them out - easily. It's exponentially way more work for them to flip through codes and tones than it is channels. Filtering is the purpose of PL and DCS - it only opens squelch when it sees a signal with the code you have programmed in. Really, hearing an unintended party is only an issue if you have no PL or DCS set for a channel. (...and this is why repeaters use PL tones....) Now it may be that you initiate a call on a channel for which you have no squelch code programmed (and third parties can talk on and you hear them too) - but you can easily switch to another channel for which you do have programmed on both radios same squelch code - obviating the need for a split operation.

Yep - scanning on DMR is pointless - just enable promiscuous mode. The only case where scanning DMR might make sense is if you are scanning different repeaters/hotspots, and even then, with promiscuous mode on, you only need that repeater/hotspot listed once in a list. I'm happy as can be with my Anytone's. I see that some folks have quibbles with this feature or that feature - my guess is that you'll have pretty much the same amount of idiosyncrasies in a radio even if you buy from Yaesu or Kenwood, plus you''ll pay more, too. The amateur market just isn't as big as the commercial market - and those established vendors will respond to quibbles with just about that much alacrity too.

Non-standard splits-> This is one of those things where, although technically possible, isn't really all that useful. It's really (half?) a solution in search of a problem.... If privacy is an issue, a commercial license and some digital radios will do the trick. There's no privacy allowed on GMRS, nor Amateur bands, either.

I think know where you're getting it wrong - and this has to do with all the "lists" of data in a DMR configuration. A scan list is just that: a list of channels to scan through - and those channels can be mixture of analog and digital. You can make up as many custom scan lists as you want - you select a scan list, turn on scanning, and your your off and running. The anytone lets you assign a channel to a scan list in the create channel dialog, but the better place to do it is in the scan list dialog. Channel scanning is an optional radio feature though - not part of the DMR standard. What a scan list is often confused with though is a "Receive group list" - which a digital channel may optionally use. This is just a list of talk groups ID's or private ID's that you'd like that particular digital channel to "open squelch" and listen to, in addition to the primary talk group or contact ID the channel is set to. You don't have to set a receive group if you don't want to. An ID is an ID is an ID..... After a time - it dawns on one that, conceptually, contact ID's, radio ID's, and Talk Group ID's - they're all just treated by the radio as nothing more than digital squelch codes - like PL tones (but of course no actual tones used) This is why these DMR radios can be set to listen to just about anything, and make it easy to implement direct-to-handset calls even across a repeater system. All one needs to do is turn on "Digi Mon", otherwise known as "promiscuous mode" on a DMR radio - all of a sudden you can hear everything no matter what, and the reason why is that the radio is simply ignoring whatever (contact/talkgroup/private) ID is assigned to the transmission - and therefore simply plays that transmission out loud. The receiver really doesn't distinguish what type of ID (private contact, talkgroup) in operation, it's just an ID. Classifying those id's into private contacts and or talk groups is a human convention, the radio itself just doesn't care.

You know - if you can pass the Tech license, you have the smarts to figure out DMR. I think DMR gets a bad rap because some folks are just old stuck-in-the-muds. DMR does have it's differences from analog - but of course it does - as it's a way more capable radio. Conceptually - our DMR radios are very much like any locked-down commercial radio - they need to be preprogrammed. But - they don't just *have* to be that way. Chinese radios like the Anytone actually *cater* to hams with ham-friendly features - you can easily punch in a brand new channel and/or talk group from the keypad menus - on a VFO even, in a few seconds. Loading things like rx/tx frequencies and talk groups into channels become second nature - using talk groups is even easier than linking to a reflector. Normally, we store all of the required information in a channel for quick access, but creating a channel on the fly from the keypad is straightforward.

I've been really active on DMR lately with a lot of irons in the fire going. I have an AT-878 HT, and a AT-578 being used as a base station. Albuquerque is a very active DMR town, and we have both the BrandMeister network available, as well as private and semi-private regional DMR (RMHAM, MPRG) clusters as well. I'm able to hit multiple DMR repeaters on Sandia Crest using the base station, but the rolling foot hills here at my QTH make the HT untenable, unless I'm on the top of one. But hey, I can use the HT (and the base too if desired..) with a pi-star hotspot. Even better, since I've set up DMR2YSF cross-mode, I can ragchew with my buddy in Tucson on a YSF reflector. (Tucson is a Yaesu town for sure, and Albuquerque NM has no Yaesu repeaters...) I've wrestled out how to set-up a pi-star from scratch with a blank micro-sd.... pop a msg to me if you need some help. Also, just got myself a new duplex pi-star - which alleviates the problem my other, simplex pi-star has switching talkgroups when someone is already talking. Very-cool - BrandMeister sees the new duplex pi-star as a repeater and, for all intents and purposes it is, but it's just running at 10mw, with about 1/4 mile range. Very cool - two time slots.

It does, but apparently they've disabled the edit field in the CPS for Wide/Narrow in the latest version 1.48 (why?), and of course, it's disabled modifying it via keypad. But, you're a lucky guy after all.... It just so happens that I have a copy of RT76P.exe version 1.45, which does allow you to modify W/N. (I actually broke my Retevis programming cable, so I replaced it with a generic one from Amazon for $9.99 - no big issue.) https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjoUJvZyt8o5iOIgB8Bx6ElB3Hz9DA?e=BqVkCZ I'll have a beer....

They were down for maintenance in the wee-hours last night. I waited for it to go back up and snuck in my application for a ham vanity callsign before they start charging for it. Ka-ching!

A lot depends on a network's backhaul design. If it uses the internet as in myGMRS and other Asterisk-based (voip) linked repeaters - an internet outage is going to bring linked networking down, although the repeater will still work locally. Where I am at, some of the Ham repeater networks here use RF or microwave based backhaul link. They are not reliant on the internet. The only Achilles heel is the usual one all repeaters have, they run on battery backup when the power goes. If the power isn't back up before the battery drains....

GMRS - to me it's like a gateway drug. Two months after getting my GMRS license, I went and got a Technician class ham ticket. Two months after that, I then upgraded that to a General class license. Radio is fun, and I do a lot of rag-chewing on GMRS - but ham radio offers even more opportunities to "play around" with more bands, more modes, digital, CW, and so on. Just bought a used HF rig - it's gonna be a lot of fun.

Wouldn't exactly be legal here as Hams would be all over up in arms. As they're somewhat based on DMR they have a lot of potential, but they are limited to 500mw

There's loads of folks using ANI, roger beeps, MDC, etc. Somebody forgot to tell them it's passe.

They're trying to keep the radio part95 E legitimate. If they would let you mess with the bandwidth and/or power level from the keypad - they'd have to add enough smarts to the radio's firmware to properly follow the GMRS/FRS bandwidth and power levels rules depending on the frequency. (It's probably doable - but not likely worth the OEM's time. GMRS is a small market, afterall.) It's way easier to process GMRS rules logic in the CPS software. Basically - everything that would break GMRS rules has been disabled in these radios. That's ok. For those who would like more flexibility in their radios - the simple solution is to upgrade to an amateur license.

Okay - was on Amazon today and this popped up... I'd venture a guess that somebody manipulated this photo - not very obfuscatory - FAIL! Same FCCID as my pair of RT76P - on those you might as well expect a code reuse since it's targeting the identical part 95 application. They even look somewhat similar to the RT76. But not here, at 10 watts! Hmmm...

Welcome. I've found GMRS to be a very friendly community. Give it time, and you'll make a lot of new friends!

The way antenna "gain" works is (in an omni, anyway) is by flattening it's vertical profile - less energy directed up or down means more energy directed "out". (Like squashing a beachball?) This poses a problem for people living in valleys near a repeater located on a mountaintop - the repeater's signal passes right over them if the repeater's antenna gain is very high. So in the case of an omni antenna on a mountaintop - best not to overdo the antenna gain (if) the nearby valley(s) will be a problem. If you are *in* the valley - a super high gain antenna could prevent your signal from reaching upwards towards the repeater. Mostly - the higher gain antennas give you additional line-of-sight range, but if you're blocked, you're blocked. I'm in a low foothill area and my HT *barely* makes it to a repeater just 6 miles away due to the blockage. Conversely, my base antenna, at 28 feet just rises above those hills. My base radio can not only hit that repeater 6 miles away, it can hit one 25 miles away on a mountain top - full quieting - on just 1 watt. I'm using a Diamond X-50A base VHF/UHF antenna - a rather ordinary beast, and it went for under $100.

The NanoVNA is a great tool for tuning an antenna, or checking a new one prior to attaching a radio. You'll still need an swr meter though, for everyday monitoring. 2cts

Interesting questions indeed. So noting that a Retevis RT95 is identical to an Anytone AT-778UV.... I see the Anytone does have an FCC ID... but I can't find any information on the RT95 - every available picture or video that I attempted a blow-up on to peek at the label - well, apparently they're only labelled for CE compliance and no reference to an FCC ID. It's a hundred dollar question: that's price of buying one to find out if an RT95 actually has a FCC ID on it's label... Are they being imported illegally...?

There's an element of personal taste, for sure, in choosing a SWR/PWR meter. I understand the usage, benefits, of a cross needle meter, for example. It has everything right there. But, it just doesn't click for me. I'm just too used to a single measurement (at a time) type of analog meter. So, for me, I go with the Diamond SX-400. I can get it to display either reflected or forward power, as well as swr - just not all at once. It's usually left on fwd power anyway, as my radio will dump power output if swr is an issue - and if it is, I'll then go look-see the swr and/or reflected power and see what's up. I've used Bird meters - they're great toolkit items. There's nothing better for field use, they're super awesome and accurate with a calibration. They're just not my cup of tea for sitting on my radio desk for everyday use. I think that if I were to get a desktop meter to display fwd/ref/swr power all at once - I'd go for one of those digital displays - that would be ideal IMHO. Of course, some folks might have concerns regarding "accuracy", but I would think that in most situations, these consumer power meters are "good enough" for what they're used for. Mainly, they work well for keeping an eye out for that inevitable cable/antenna issue that will occur at sometime (it always does) - and allowing you to correct things before they damage your equipment.

What you're describing is pretty much how the repeater owners in New Mexico have done it over here. There is one group of repeaters connected to the MyGMRS network, and a smaller group of repeaters that are networked locally. The smaller group can handle local Albuquerque calls if the myGMRS network is too busy to use.

Super AWESOME Idea, guys! Love to chat with folks all over the US on Christmas evening. Lot's of fun!

There's no need to write "every time" you "plug it in". You can save a configuration as a .dat file and open that, or you can read the current configuration from the radio. The CPS program is about as simple as it gets.

A lot depends on your *local* community. There's traffic on the Southwest myGMRS net most hours of the day - some hours more than others, and nobody minds responding to a radio check request. We've even had to spill over to a non-networked local repeater on a occasion just to keep myGMRS Southwest open. Best thing I can think of, if you have time on your hands, is to keep that radio on during the day and be an ambassador of sorts - greet new people, say hi, welcome them to GMRS, and all that. They love that, and they come back.

All good - but it'd be a much more accurate comparo (to the previous test) if you'd match the receiver and video bandwidths - and the test was done using the same test equipment....

There is no password set on these radios as they come from the factory. Leave it blank. Do not use Chirp - use the CPS (RT76P.exe) provided by Retevis for these radios.