[Moto GR300 upgrade?]

If you are looking for a Motorola radio that will easily plug into the 16 pin connectors of the RICK, and can be programmed via CPS rather than RSS, the CDM series or CM series would probably work for you and not cost too much. But you will have to source the CPS for those radios. Sometimes you may find in in an internet search, or you may find it through a Motorola dealer that is “ham-friendly”, or in the case of this forum, GMRS-friendly.

Be aware that some of the later Motorola radios are narrow band out of the box, to meet FCC regulations regarding commercial service, and may require an entitlement ID or “key” to add the wide band menu option to the CPS. This is dependent on the CPS version your radios are programmed with, and is generally not backwards compatible with Motorola models.

You may have seen videos where DOSBox is used to program GM300 radios with modern computers, and the videos show success. I have had not such luck using DOSBox on my GM300 radios, but I have a Zenith desktop from 1995 running DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1, so I didn’t try too hard to get DOSBox working. The communications port speeds are the real issue when trying to program via old RS-232 comms ports.

[New repeater set up]

1 hour ago, gortex2 said:

Pins are programmable in the RSS. Until they are programmed your repeater wont work. Are you using the GM300 software for programming ? 

While generally true, I do believe the 16 pin accessory port is only programmable on the expanded logic 16 channel models. These radios have a letter C in the model number. If the OP is saying that option is not present within the RSS, it may be due to having masked logic board radios (letter D in the model number). I am not sure what else needs to be configured for the Repeater Builder Maxtrac RM board that is being used, but perhaps this may be part of what is happening.

[Repeater set up]

As for the “rough estimate” on putting it together...

Based on the price of two KG-1000 radios, and the other parts needed, as described above, you would be into such a build for at around $1000-$1200, depending on several factors.

Using the Retevis RT-97, you would probably be into it for $500-$700, again depending upon the cost of an antenna and the feedline you use.

Having many decades of hands-on experience with radios/repeaters of many types (I am not a professional), I don’t personally see the value of the RT-97 for most users of GMRS. Yes, it is basically everything in a box, just add an antenna, but the inherent inefficiency of such a device, at the price point, is difficult for me to see value.

As an alternative option, I have built two GMRS repeaters in recent months for fun, using older commercial mobile radios, just as you would do with the KG-1000. The cost of the build for each repeater (minus antenna, feedline and power supply) was about $350. That cost includes two 40 watt radios (Maxon SM-4450), an ID-O-Matic controller, a 6 cavity mobile duplexer, and the required coax jumpers, 12v. cooling fan and thermal switch, and miscellaneous wire/connectors. That’s pretty decent if you compare that cost to just two KG-1000 radios @ $740.

This is not for everyone, as there are a lot of other factors that go into a build like I did (mostly, the requirement to program old radios in DOS or early versions of Windows, and also some useful equipment to align/tune components). I chose the Maxon SM-4450 specifically due to the ease of making the necessary connections (if you want more info on this, I would be happy to share...only one solder connection needed, all others are done using Dupont connectors). But it is still a cost effective option, if you have the means, or know someone who can.

I will be offering my builds up for sale at some hamfests this spring, since I don’t need them for myself, so maybe someone in your area is as geeky as I am. Check out local hamfests. You might find some good options there.

 

 

 

 

 

[Repeater question]

If you don’t mind me asking...what is it you want or expect from GMRS ? And I don’t ask that to be a smart ass, I am honestly trying to learn what you are looking to get from GMRS. I don’t think your original question was  answered, although there were a lot of helpful technical suggestions as to why you may not be receiving a signal on your radio. And the recent suggestion about getting an amateur radio license may be a valid suggestion for you depending upon your answers.

I think there is a perception that GMRS is an alternative to ham radio, and that it is preferable for some since there is no test required. But if you get a GMRS license, expecting ham radio-lite, you may be disappointed. 

I understand GMRS has become a “thing”, and that is due to all the inexpensive Chinese radios that have saturated the market, and all the “reviews” of new GMRS radios by YouTube “influencers” (or “shills” as I call them...”some people”...”some people”) , and the threatened reduced licensing fee...

but what brought you to GMRS? 

What did you expect to hear?

and how did you expect to use GMRS?

Perhaps the answer to these questions will actually help you define what you are looking for, and where to find it.

 

 

 

 

 

[NEW Midland MXT275 Wideband?]

I also wanted to like the Midland MXT275, because it was going into my wife’s car, and I wanted the microphone control that the 275 offers, to make it easy for her. And also, because it is a small radio, and would have been easy to mount in a modern vehicle. But that was not to be for the reasons I mentioned. I sold my 275 to a Jeep owner. I think a radio such as the Anytone 779-UV (aka Retevis RA-25 or Radioddity DB-20G) are a much better value at around $100, versus the MXT275, but the 275 does meet many of it’s owners’ needs.

Your comments on how you came to buy the Midland are an example of the good job the Midland marketing department has done in acquiring new customers. Midland managed to move the Jeep crowd away from using CB radios, so they could sell more expensive GMRS radios. I congratulate them on a smart business plan. But I don’t drive a Jeep...I drive an Xterra, so I am immune to the marketing ploy . I think Midland has stumbled onto a potential cash cow with it’s marketing of the Jeep crowd, because the folks I know who own Jeeps, work lots of overtime to afford all the mods they do to their vehicles. 

 

[Firestik MURS45 / Wouxon KG805M SWR]

And just for some general information for other folks looking to use a similar antenna like the Firestik antenna you have, and are relatively new to radio operations...

-3/8x24 mounts are not ideal for VHF and UHF frequencies. They are fine for HF frequencies (like CB). That is why you don’t find a lot of V/Uhf antennas made with 3/8x24 studs.

-The instructions/recommendations you posted from We Are CB refer to using 18 feet of quality coax. That is a generalization commonly applied in the world of CB radio usage, but that is not really necessary, as you should only use as much coax as is needed from the radio to the antenna, but I understand not everyone is comfortable in cutting coax and soldering on connectors. It is a skill worth learning. 

-The NMO mount you are attaching to your vehicle is actually the best mount to use for V/Uhf, and there are many inexpensive VHF and UHF (and dual band) NMO antennas, so those would probably be better options for most people in these applications (MURS/GMRS). The PL type mount is also fine, and widely used in ham radio applications, but when we get to GMRS frequencies, the NMO is better.

-If you feel the need to have a spring on your antenna to endure strikes from tree limbs, etc., antenna companies like Larsen and others do make V/Uhf antennas with spring bases, that have been factored into the design for the operating frequencies.

-There is an antenna manufactured by Comet antenna (CA-2x4SR) which is designed to cover both MURS and GMRS (as well as the amateur 2m and 70cm bands), which is available in a PL (PL-259) mount or NMO mount.

-Proper grounding/bonding of an antenna system to a vehicle is an important component in the installation. Google “K0BG.com” for excellent info on mobile antenna installations  (that is K zero BG).

 

 

[(G M R S ) GENERAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICE]

I agree with the previous replies, but wanted to point out something that I thought of recently, that made me laugh, and the OP’s post reminded me.

I got my first GMRS license in 2003 and it cost $90 or $95 for a 5 YEAR license...I forget exactly. I renewed in 2008, then I let it expire in 2013 due to the cost versus return on investment. Then I re-up’ed in 2018 when the license fee dropped to $70 and they extended the term to 10 years...”what a bargain” I thought !

In the past year, we have seen an explosion of interest in GMRS when the FCC announced the fee would be dropped to $35, and the Chinese manufacturers jumped on that interest by offering inexpensive GMRS radios. The only thing is, people got tired of waiting for the fee to drop to $35, so they paid the $70 fee. 

Congratulations to the FCC on a brilliant marketing scheme. Say you will drop the price of the fee, then drag your feet for a year or more, and bring in more $$$ than if you had done nothing at all.

 

[NEW Midland MXT275 Wideband?]

Just saw this thread and see you got your answer from Midland. Interesting response from them.

Back in March of 2021, I found a Midland radio offered for sale in Australia (Midland ML-80) which looks like an MXT275 with different firmware. This radio is programmable via software (only available through authorized dealers) and is capable of wide and narrow band emissions, so I emailed Midland USA to ask if the software was available for purchase, or if there was a US dealer that I could send my 275 to for wideband programming.

Here is the response I got from Midland, verbatim, which was not entirely clear to me. Possibly a typo on their part,

“Unfortunately the MXT275 is programmable to to wide band audio we do not have software for this radio.”

Clear as mud, but either way it can’t or won’t be done with the 275, and their response to you shows they do not care about serious GMRS users, as their market is the off-road community. 

I had purchased a 275 when they first came out (with the crappy microphone that had no audio...they did replace that for me), but the radio was unusable on my repeater (Motorola GR300) because the audio was so low (both from the narrow band emission, and just low audio output from the 275 in general).

It is solely my opinion, but I will not purchase any more Midland products, and feel a bit sad for those that think the newer radios are going to offer good value. I do not believe that will be the case. But on the plus side, it has driven me back to using old commercial radios (Motorola, Maxon, EFJ, Kenwood) radios, since I still have a 486 PC with Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.2 on it. Honestly, these 30+ year old radios still whoop any new Part 95e radio that the good folks in China are pumping out. 

 

 

[Firestik MURS45 / Wouxon KG805M SWR]

You mentioned you were using a SS spring. It this a typical SS spring that is used on 102” CB whip antennas? If so, that may be impacting the SWR as it may be coupling to the 3/8” mount of the antenna and electrically lengthening it. Just a thought.

[New GMRS Licensee - Confused about repeaters?]

On 1/18/2022 at 2:15 PM, MichaelLAX said:

The morse Code should have included the following:

Dit Dah Dah, Dit Dah Dit, Dit Dah, Dit Dah Dah Dah, Dah Dah Dah Dit Dit, Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah, Dit Dit Dah Dah Dah

WRAV802

 

Just for accuracy, the letter V is dit dit dit dah. The way you wrote it out is a J. 

[GMRS vs HAM]

I would like to take a stab at answering your question “how similar are the operations of GMRS to ham radio ?”.

Short answer is...they both use radios, so they are similar in that respect. But beyond that, there are differences that may not meet the needs or interests of someone’s particular goals.

The equipment used is very similar in operation and handling, at the HT (walkie-talkie/portable) level, and with the mobile radios. In many cases, today’s Chinese radios (Wouxun, Baofeng, Radioddity, etc.) are all the same radio offered for both ham and GMRS service, but the firmware that controls the radio is different, so you can only use it in the appropriate band segments. The biggest difference between these radios is typically just the authorization/certification that has been given by the FCC. So if your son learns his way around his GMRS radio, it is not much a of leap to operate a similar amateur radio.

However, amateur radio has the whole HF band component that is very different from operating on GMRS or on the V/Uhf ham bands. This is one of the big differences between ham and GMRS. Ham radio is a hobby. GMRS, while called a hobby by many, is not really intended as a hobby. It is meant as a utility to serve the function of communications, particularly short range communications with family members, as witnessed by the umbrella coverage of family members in the license.

I would definitely agree with your consideration of starting your son out in GMRS, then allowing him to move on to amateur radio if his interest in radio continues. If you have GMRS repeaters near you, the interaction with other people may help define whether or not he wants to move on to the ham bands. 

 

[Uniden SMU250KTS software]

I have an old Uniden SMU250KTS 25 watt mobile radio that I want to program up for GMRS. I am in need of the correct software and wondering if anyone has access to it ? I have been programming old commercial radios for several decades, but this one has me stumped.

I have the AMX813 software which lists the SMU250K, but that apparently is not for this trunking version of the radio (SMU250TKS).

I have been told I need the AMX812 software, but haven’t been able to find any reference to this software. I have the APX812 software, but that is for a portable radio,

I have checked the usual sources...Hamfiles, HackersRussia, CQHam. I come up empty. 

Can anyone help me out ? TIA.

[Anytone AT-779UV GMRS Mobile Radio]

The AT-779 UV is a bit confusing. I have owned many Anytone radios for many years, and I find them to be responsive to customer requests (provided they get those requests there in China). I bought an AT-779UV a few months ago and it was configured for GMRS operation, where I wanted to use it. Channels 1-22 were as expected, along with repeater offset channels 23-30. Also, the U.S. weather channels were programmed into the last 7 channels (ch. 494-500). No TX outside of the GMRS frequencies, and not all menu options were available via the menu. Notably, the option to switch from Narrow band audio to Wide band audio was not available, nor was the option to add/change a sub audible tone.

This is fine for many users, but I bought this radio specifically to install in my wife’s car, and only want to have our repeater frequency programmed in, to make life simple for her. I had to download the programming software from Anytone.net (navigate to their download center) in order to switch the audio bandwidth from narrow to wide and add the required tone.

The second issue I ran into was that you cannot delete GMRS channels, and I did not want to have 30 channels programmed into the radio, since I only need one channel in there. This required me to download the other piece of software on Anytone’s site labeled AT-779UV SetO(V2.0). This software allows you to change the configuration of the radio (as does the power on button sequence) and I had to change to a frequency configuration (400-470/136-174) in order to be able to delete unneeded channels and just program the repeater frequency needed. It is now a one channel radio that I needed, but I suspect some will say it is now not valid under Part 95E, even though I am only running one GMRS repeater frequency in the radio... whatever. I tried to do it the way it was meant to, but that doesn’t work for my situation. It is exactly the same as running under the GMRS configuration...minus the additional GMRS channels.

Some time later, I received an email from the seller indicating a new firmware version was available for the AT-779UV, along with a link to the download. I will include the email text below. I performed the firmware update and now other menu options (including the selection from Narrow to Wide and tone) are available in the GMRS-only configuration. A nice upgrade. It does seem this upgrade does eliminate the power up button sequence to select different configurations (I don’t care, as stated previously, doing that wipes your memories), and the other software mentioned gives you that access anyway, so if that function is eliminated with the new firmware, it doesn’t impact me.

As far as the radio in concerned, I like it very much. I was first licensed for GMRS in 2003 (let it expire in 2013, and got another license when the price dropped from $90 to $70 a few years ago), and I have run a lot of commercial radios over the years. While these Chinese radios are not of the same overall build quality, the Anytone radios are quite good. I have several Anytone radios for amateur use and they have worked well, and Anytone has put out firmware updates to correct issues or add features. I tried the Midland MXT-275 for my wife’s car, but the narrowband audio was too low for our repeater use. The AT-779UV is nearly the same size as the MXT-275, and honestly easier to use for her needs, with only having one channel in the radio. 

The transmit output measures about 19 watts out with one of those Amazon-sold Surecom SWR/power meters, and I have a Tram 1174 antenna on the trunk lip. Previously ran a Laird  ETRA 4503 phantom antenna on there, and it did ok for a 4” antenna, but the 1174 helps out with the challenging terrain around here. It is literally like a roller coaster ride with all the hills and valleys. so the 10” Tram (trimmed for 467/462) fills in some of the dips and valleys better. Because the terrain is so rolling and varied, the AT-779UV/Tram 1174 combo works nearly as well as my 50 watt capable mobile/Comet CA 2X4SR combo in my truck. As always, your mileage may vary...literally.

 

edit...

here is the email text from the seller regarding the firmware. I tried to attach to the post, but the link was apparently not available.

 

 

Hi, thanks for you purchase AT-779UUV. The purpose of this email is to let our customers know more about AT-779UV.

----NOTE----
1. The factory default setting of the radio is GMRS band and the GMRS band cannot programmable, but it is also a dual band radio, you can operate it on VHF and UHF if the GMRS band cannot meet your needs. You can to do this as below:
a. Hold 【V/M】 key and power on the radio until enter the band selection.
b. Press 【up/down】 key to choose the mode (dual band), then repower radio.

2. The function of GMRS band is NO.17-30, other function was locked, you can upgrade the radio to get more function (excluding function NO.7-10/14）
How to upgrade this radio?
a. Please download the upgrade firmware at 【 https://hnt.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/779UV+upgrade+20210427.zip 】 (includ prgramming software, model name is AT779UV_Setup_2.01)
b. Running the software 【QXCodePro_Update_Setup_1.05】 as an administrator. If your computer firewall or security software warns of risks, please allow this software to run.
c. Connect PC cable and radio.
d. Hold 【MON】+【FUN】 key and power on radio, release the key when red light flashes.
e. Hit 【open update file】, choose right comport 【at779_UV_500_v2_30_1_VOX 2021_4_27.spi】, speed set 【115200】. choose 【Duplex】. (Please check attachment).
f. Hit 【wirte】, upgrade compelete. Thank you for checking our email during your busy schedule, we hope it can give you help. If you have other problem, please feel free to contact us.
Have a good day.

 

 

 

[Paint my antenna?]

I have painted all my base antennas with Plasti-Dip spray paint, since it is rubber-based. I have painted them with the camo collection to blend into the trees. No negative affects at all on my GMRS repeater antenna, my DMR ham repeater antenna, my ham dual band antenna, or my scanner discone antenna. 

 

The SWRs remain low on these antennas, and there is no degradation in performance, so I would imagine the same results would be achieved on a mobile antenna. Just don’t use a metallic-based paint like some of the Krylon/Rustoleum products.

I always buy black antennas for my mobiles, because I have no chrome on my lifted Xterra. In fact, I have parts of my Xterra painted with Plasti-Dip spray paint, and it shows no signs of wear after 2 years.