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We've had a real problem with "impact wrench" transmission here in Pinellas county FL for years. So much so that I had to stop scanning freqs because it would show up on each scanning revolution. Then it stopped. It was wonderful! I did not heard it for over 3-months. Now it has started again! Always on the same freq and channel (462.700 - CH21) and that makes it show up in repeater channel 21, 462.700 / 467.700. It is at not in My GMRS so it seems an unused repeater freq in this county. And because that dreaded "impact wrench" is L&C county wide I suspect someone is using a repeater in that freq. Here's a short sound byte recorded 4 days ago of what we're up against down here (the whole thing lasted about 4.5 minutes). New Recording 5 copy.m4a

Thanks for the response. I clicked on the link inside the "Up To Date FCC Title 47CFR95 Regulations" pinned 2017 post that should lead to part 95 and it goes here:

The pinned post of the GMRS regulations dates to 2017. Should that be updated to at least 2021?

LOL! The quote was in reference to explosives, detonators and wiring mainly, diving gear essentials, AND radios, both satellite and individual comms. For weapons, they carry more than one, sometimes three, depending on duties (team sniper etc.).

I just did that for my mobile setup. With the right antenna setup the difference is not huge it's A LOT bigger than that! A whole new world....

I mentioned this in another post but I will show you what I use here in case anyone finds it useful, or have a better suggestion... Midland mobile radios are different. they use 2-digit numbers for repeater squelch codes, different channel #s than HTs and such. I use HT's not made by Midland. Those are easy because you can program the name of the repeaters so just looking at the display on the radio you know which repeater you are listening or talking to. Not so with Midland -just a channel #. So, I made a cheat sheet on excel that has both the HT names and the Midland channels. The sheet is a 4x5 card that I keep clipped on the inside of my visor. When doing a scan and it stops on a repeater channel, or if I want to tune to a specific repeater, I look at the radio, lower the visor and quickly know which of the repeaters is transmitting or which channel to tune in while mobile. I can add more repeaters on the same frequency and make that work on the Midland radio. (Already have one duplicate in there) and it's just a matter of looking at the Midland squelch code on the excel table (22RP) and switch that squelch number on the radio - car stopped of course. It looks like this - (all this information is public on My GMRS. I blanked out the owner names and FCC ID): MY CALL SIGN - WRKP245 GMRS REPEATERS IN MY AREAS REP # GMRS CH * AUTHORIZED RX TX PT IN PT OUT Mid SQL Owner FCC ID UV-5R MIDLAND 1 - 23 15RP NONE 462.5500 467.5500 2 - 24 16RP TAMPA 575* 462.5750 467.5750 141.3 141.3 22 3 - 25 17RP TAMPA 600* 462.6000 467.6000 131.8 131.8 20 4 - 26 18RP CORTEZ 625* 462.6250 467.6250 103.5 103.5 13 5 - 27 19RP ORLANDO 650 462.6500 467.6500 173.8 173.8 28 6 - 28 20RP SEBRING 675* 462.6750 467.6750 100.0 100.0 12 7 - 29 21RP NONE 462.7000 467.7000 8 - 30 22RP LWS APOPKA* 462.7250 467.7250 103.5 103.5 13 8 - 31 22RP SEM 725 462.7250 467.7250 141.3 141.3 22

I think I have a better answer for you. Navy Seals have a saying: "Two is one and one is none" One expensive HT is useless out in the woods or dessert canyons if it stops working for whatever reason. Two less expensive ones is a much better bet. Differences are small between the two. They both work. The cheap ones might have a bit less wattage but it's an insignificant amount. Oh, and for cheap HTs get a GOOD antenna. Makes a big tested (by me) difference. I have a 30-inch Nagoya folding whip antenna on one of my Baofengs. No comparison on SWR with the standard antenna, It shows in both RX (especially) and TX. You can by a $200 dollar superheterodyne HT radio, which will sound clearer on RX depending on range. But, you can buy eight Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios for that. Cheap and work very well. (two is one...) And after all they are just HTs. Quality high power mobiles blow all of them away... All the more expensive radios tend to have more (listening) bands hence more frequencies, and better user interfaces and that is a big plus. The better interface of some of the expensive ones IS a big deal... If you can afford one then definitely go for it! But by all means get two! $400... (two is one)

Update: Well, I hate saying this but reception went back to normal today - no different from the MXT275 with the same antenna. The other day above was too good to be true reception wise on a regular basis... But, it didn't affect TX at all. I could hit the repeaters really well from 26 miles. I'll post the ducting forecast for today below for comparison. I also tested the SWR with my Surecom meter today on the new MXT575 radio, using two of my antennas: The daily use Midland MXTA25 3DB Ghost and the Midland MXT26 6DB whip which I use when traveling. I drove down to our local beach park out in Tampa Bay so I could get a wide open space. Drove down with the whip installed and back with the ghost. Very little difference in reception. Actually the ghost wins because it cuts all the unintelligible scratchy stuff out. The Results: MXT26: 1.02 SWR all regular channels - 1.15 on repeater channels MXT25: 1.08-1.09 SWR all regular channels - 1.51 on repeater channels Here's the tropo ducting forecast - Purple is marginal - almost nil:

I bought a Nagoya folding whip ( NA-F30G) for my Baofeng UV-5R GMRS at Amazon and got the original in the original packaging. The folding whip is easy to deal with in the vehicle and transmits OK when folded. I wanted to see if it would improve my reception at my house, which is in a RF black hole! The antenna is 30-inches long unfolded and not for walking around or using in high wind when unfolded because it is very flexible and folds easily. I've gotten used to that and got a modest 20-30 percent or so in reception which is great quite a difference in clarity. I have two UV-5Rs and had them on the same table out in the patio - that's how I tested it. I can hit the clearest repeater 24 miles from my house but its scratchy at best. Nine miles away it it hits it well. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZ59WT5D?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

The people that you might be hearing on 15-22 and trying to talk to are probably on repeaters - very common in my area. The repeaters transmit in the open on channels 15-22 but you can't talk to them unless you're on the repeater channel. That's a whole other ball game. You need to activate the repeater channels - they are inactive from the factory. And then you would have to program the repeaters in your area - again, that's a different ballgame but the way to go eventually. Also, you might have accidentally set the high power channels 15-22 to low power when setting up the radio. Like was mentioned above, ask for a radio check those are always replied to if there is anyone listening on frequency. PTT and say "Good morning/afternoon/etc. this is -license call sign- on -channel #/repeater name- requesting a radio check on a new radio" When you get a reply then say "Thanks so much you are coming in loud and clear/a bit scratchy/broken/whichever" this could start a conversation about location, type of radio etc. then after you're done pause a bit and say: "Thanks again I'll be listening here from time to time -call sign- out or standing by" Once you are past radio checks and want to jump in at another time out of the blue you can always say "Good morning/etc. -call sign- listening on -channel/repeater name-. that tells people you're available to chat. If people want to talk they will respond. Polite is always the best intro and it works .

OK, couldn't get this bouncing thing out of my head so I started researching it. I'm an analyst (business) by profession - first four letters - anal . There I sat all evening thinking and came out with four clues - which now leads me to believe that my new radio enthusiasm yesterday needs to be tempered somewhat until I run more tests: I think the stellar results might have been the result of UHF Tropospheric Ducting. First Clue: On my original post on this new radio I said "For some reason, the reception is much clearer with the new 575 as well which has nothing to do with watts." Only two reasons - better radio circuitry OR, some bounce. Second clue: I usually sit by the pool listening to my UV-5R equipped with a Nagoya NA-F30G 30-Inch Tactical Foldable Whip before dinner with my favorite beverage. Listening only because I can't raise anyone with 5 watts from my screened in pool. In the last week I've been picking up sporadic but clear conversations from a repeater on 462.675 MHz - early evenings. There are none of those within 30 miles of me. So, I went looking and the only one it could be is in Sebring, FL - owner's estimated range 65 miles! My distance to it - 77 miles! and very L&C. Third Clue: I found a website that forecasts Tropospheric Ducting. Forecast for my location for yesterday was moderate to strong. Link and picture below. Fourth clue: In reading all about UHF Tropospheric Ducting I found relevant conversations on this forum and also ran in to an article saying that the Gulf of Mexico is famous for this phenomena and the atmospheric conditions this past week have been excellent for it - moist warm air temperatures with significantly cooler water (temperature inversions). Links: https://dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html , Wikipedia (see UHF propagation records at the end!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation Forecast image for my location yesterday:

Thanks! Didn't know what that was so I looked it up. That doesn't sound right though. The reason is that I was mobile and traversed around an 18-mile round trip, going closer and further away from the repeater. Both the RX and TX never wavered, which doesn't sound like picket fencing. If I understand the concept the signals would vary and they never did.

Never thought of it as bouncing. Interesting. Sounds right though, especially for us lowlander Floridians! In my case on an island 11-feet above sea level, which when it comes to RF everything around me seems to be an obstacle. In my particular case, the difference between transmitting (and for some weird reason receiving) on a 15 watt MXT275 and a 50 watt MXT575 is nothing short of spectacular, and both tested with the same antenna on my vehicle. I said game changer for the MXT575 on my post and I REALLY mean that, nothing short of that.. Oh, and I enjoy your channel (subscribed).

Not on this website that I know of. Some people on YouTube have said it's all line of sight, etc.

Update: I Swapped my MXT275 out with the MXT575 today. Left the magnetic mount and the ghost antenna from the 275 on the roof of the vehicle so as to compare apples to apples. This new radio is a game changer. Whoever said that watts don't matter is full of it. This thing cuts through suburbs and 11-story buildings like they are not there. All from 12-feet above sea level. My first two PTTs resulted in two crystal clear conversations on two different repeaters. One 17 miles the other 24 miles. The 17 mile connection was through a repeater across Tampa Bay - Cortez625, FL. It's a more challenging one because it's not on a really tall building like the ones in Tampa. The owner estimate here on My GMRS is 15 miles but I'm not anywhere near being inside the green circle estimate on this website - North end of TIerra Verde, FL That's excellent in my book for us FL flatland dwellers. The 275 could not do it, would not even get connect squelch. For some reason, the reception is much clearer with the new 575 as well which has nothing to do with watts. And, I didn't hook up the 575 to the battery as recommended by Midland. I cut the radio's power cable a foot or so from the battery terminals and spliced in a high end cigarette lighter plug that came with 14 AGW wire and a 20amp fuse. Measured the voltage both at the battery and at the radio cable connector are both exactly 12.8 volts with the vehicle not running. When the vehicle is running it goes over 13 volts on both. I am a very happy camper!