WyoJoe

Another funny thing: right after I clicked send on my last message, she came on the air within about 30 seconds!

Michael, I know what you mean. She interrupts almost every conversation I hear on that repeater! It's a little better now, though, because you can talk over her if she interrupts you. It used to be that she would talk over you in that case, but it's been changed (for the better, IMO). The funny thing is that she says to limit your QSOs to 20 minutes, but she doesn't say anything about additional QSOs immediately following...

Those situations sound plausible, but most likely wouldn't require the use of a mobile radio. I'm pretty sure I'd be using a handheld radio for instances like that, so I don't really see the need for those channels on my mobile radios. They can often be added to a mobile radio in the event that one wishes to monitor those channels. In that case, if you hear something you want to respond to, just grab an HT, tune to the appropriate channel, and respond as appropriate. I suspect almost all of us have an HT within reach whenever we're using our mobile radios anyway...

I've found with radio while traveling is that you have to be in the right place at the right time. Unless someone is involved in a long ragchew as you're passing through, the radio seems to be pretty quiet. I occasionally monitor the "KERN System" and sometimes it's silent for hours at a time, yet at other times, it's quite busy. During this holiday weekend, it's been pretty quiet when I've listened to it. I haven't looked at the numbers, but I suspect there aren't a lot of GMRS users in the Taft and Cuyama areas. My experience shows that there may be only about one GMRS licensee for every 10 or more ham licensees. Other than on my family's personal repeater, the only place I've heard traffic on a GMRS repeater is in L.A. where there are a lot of users. I've found the same thing with CB. Unless there are a couple of people ragchewing, local traffic on the radio is basically nonexistent. About the only time I hear much of anything is when there are traffic problems on the freeway, and even then there isn't a lot of traffic. The airwaves are a lot like our roadways. It's often nice to have the road to yourself, but it does feel lonely when you don't see any other cars around. In some ways, it's kind of nice to have the airwaves mostly to yourself, too, but only as long as you have someone else to talk to when you want to talk. Like you, my experience is that the family's interest has mostly been passive. I think the biggest problem for me is that most of my family is spread out to where we are out of range of each other for CB, GMRS, and UHF/VHF ham bands. In order to use the radio to talk to each other, we would need to use either a linked system or HF (which would likely require they get at least a General class ham license). We would probably also have to call each other to find out when we would be on the air, so we could coordinate our contacts. This kind of defeats the whole purpose of radio, since we could just talk on the phone in that case. It would be good to have the ability to use radio in the event of a major disaster, which where we are would most likely be a major earthquake. In such an event, I will likely scan CB and GMRS frequencies, and the local ham repeaters. If I need to reach someone by radio, most likely, it'll be on a ham repeater as that's where most of the radio traffic seems to be.

It's available from the Radioddity website for about $100 today, and the Anytone version is typically available for about that price, too.

I just checked and it's $87.99 for me too. That's a bit better than the ~$100 price on their website.

While I can't say with certainty, I expect the new Midland radios will be programmable to some extent, which would make it likely you could add channels 8 - 14. Keep in mind that transmitting on those channels is limited to 1/2 a watt, which is significantly less than what any mobile radio puts out on low power. That is the reason that mobiles that include those channels do so only for receive, not transmit. Having the ability to monitor those channels may have some use, but when configured for receive only, you wouldn't be able to respond to anything you hear.

Retevis also has the RB-17P which has what looks to be a pretty nice display. It isn't without problems though, because from what I can tell, the repeater channels are reversed, meaning transmit on 462.xxx and receive on 467.xxx. It also appears to be locked in to narrow mode. Like the RB-17A and some other radios, the RB-17P also comes with CTCSS/DCS codes pre-programmed on all channels. I believe these can be modified with the programming software. Of these two models, it looks like the RB-17A would be the better radio overall at this time. The RB-17P still needs work to function properly, and doesn't seem "ready for prime time."

I guess I should have clarified what I meant by power supply. The RT-97 has a 12V input, and includes a 120V to 12V power supply to provide power from a household outlet. What I meant by power supply was a battery or solar panel, for example, that would provide 12V to the repeater. I guess what I should have said was that the RT-97 doesn't come with a 12V source. The user has to provide a source if not using 120V AC power.

Mobile and handheld radios normally need an "operator" to make the radio work. Your idea would work at that location only if someone was there using it. It wouldn't work without someone to operate it. Someone using a mobile radio at the shooting house should be able to reach someone else with a mobile (or handheld) radio elsewhere on the property, provided there aren't significant obstacles between them. On the other hand, a repeater works automatically, anytime someone keys up the repeater from another radio. Ideally, if the repeater is at the high point of the property, it could reach the whole property, and would allow anyone to communicate from anywhere on the property to any other location on the property. At my house, I have a repeater set up, and I've used it when I've been on my way home from work to talk to my wife while she was out hiking a couple of miles from the house. This allowed us to communicate over a ridge that prevented us from direct radio to radio communication.

That looks almost exactly like a black version of the Retevis RB17. It looks like the shape of the front panel and the color are the only differences.

I hadn't seen that kit before, but it looks like a pretty good deal. It's not a whole lot more for that package than the standard price of the RT-97 by itself. The only thing missing, from what I could see, is a power supply or battery for the repeater, and programming cables for the radios. While the power supply varies from user to user, and is normally user supplied, the programming cables would be a nice addition to the kit. I don't have any experience with the radios in the kit, but as for other handheld radios, the Wouxon radios are generally regarded as the better of the new GMRS specific radios that are available, but they do come at a price premium compared to some of the other "CCRs" that are available from Radioddity, Baofeng, Retevis, and others. There is also the option of purchasing "Land Mobile" (i.e. business band) radios and repurposing them for GMRS. These radios are not specifically type-accepted for GMRS, but under old FCC rules (such as from when the radios were manufactured), could be modified for GMRS use. There are many threads on this forum about the radios mentioned above, so you'll have to consider a lot of options.

An antenna by itself will not work. It does need to be connected to a radio. What it sounds like you would want there is a repeater. There are a lot of posts on this forum about repeaters, and much more than I can share in this reply. Basically, though, a repeater repeats (or re-transmits) the signals from one radio to other radios that are in range. I believe the MXT115 will work with a repeater, but I don't believe the GXT radios will. You would need some other handheld (or mobile) radios that are repeater capable in order to use a repeater. Anyway, the Retevis RT-97 would probably be a good repeater option for this location. With a good antenna placed on the shooting house, a battery, and a solar panel, it should be essentially self-sufficient.

Why would you want it to? I know when I'm scanning, I want the radio to stop scanning when it detects a signal.

Welcome to the GMRS community. The KG-935G is made exclusively for buytwowayradios.com so they are the only vendor you will find that sells it. Wouxon makes several other GMRS models, and most (if not all) of them are also exclusive to specific vendors. Even though the radio is shown as out of stock, I believe you can still order it in order to get into the queue to receive it when it becomes available. Vendors typically sell out of their popular models very quickly, so it is uncommon to see them in stock at this time.

You didn't indicate if you were interested in a ham radio for your 12 year old or a GMRS radio. Since you mentioned the GMRS license, I'll give a couple of suggestions: Pofung P15UV / Radioddity GM30 / Tidradio TD-H5: These GMRS radios are essentially all the same, but are programmable either through the keypad (to a certain extent) or through manufacturer provided software (available for Windows). They are not supported in Chirp as of now. They are in the $40 range per radio, but the Tidradio is sold only in pairs as far as I know. They offer decent performance but suffer from the same maladies as most CCRs, primarily the lack of filtering, resulting in poor sensitivity in high-RF environments. Baofeng UV-9G: This is the GMRS version of the UV-9R / GT-3WP. This is a "waterproof" radio also in the $40 range. This is another Baofeng CCR, and there's not much else I can say about it as I haven't used this model. I expect it also suffers from the common CCR issues. This radio may be supported in Chirp, but I'm not sure. Baofeng UV-5G (also known as the UV-5X GMRS): Another Baofeng CCR - this one is in the popular UV-5R format, but is firmware upgraded to work as a GMRS radio. These were also sold only in pairs initially, and may still be sold that way. The pair was selling in the $60 range last time I checked. These radios also suffer from the same common CCR issues as those above. These radios are supported in Chirp. There are ham radio equivalents to all of the radios mentioned above, all at similar price points. If that's what you're interested in they're listed below: TYT-UV88 / Retevis RT85: These are the ham equivalents of the P15UV / GM30 / TD-H5 triplets. Baofeng UV-9R / GT-3WP: As mentioned above, these are the ham versions of the UV-9G Baofeng UV-5R series: Also as mentioned above, this is the ham version of the UV-5G. There are many variants of this series, but most are the same internally. The latest version, known as the GT-5R is supposed to be the current "legal" version of the radio, with reduced spurious emissions and more restrictive transmit capabilities. All of the above radios are in the "CCR" (cheap Chinese radio) category, and there are some issues common to most CCRs. I believe all of these radios have some of those issues. I would consider all of them to be "entry level" radios. There are certainly better radios available, both new and used, that will perform better, but they typically come at a higher price.

If I'm not mistaken the speaker output on the DB-25G uses a TRRS (tip ring ring sleeve) connection, making the standard plug on most external speakers useless with this radio. If you didn't use a special breakout cable for your speaker, I actually surprised it worked at all. When I tried plugging an external speaker into a QYT KT-7900D (a very similar radio), it locked the transmitter open until I unplugged the speaker.

This is a widely recommended practice with any new radio that you want to program with Chirp. Once you initially read from the radio, you should save the resulting file immediately and name it something meaningful to you like "GT-5R_Original." Then save it again with another name like "GT-5R_20211117" or something like that (in this case it's Radio_YYYYMMDD). You can then edit that second file, save it again, then write it back to the radio in order to load the updated file information into the radio.

I'm not sure what the issue is for sure, but perhaps the frequencies you're trying to add are outside of the radio's permitted frequency range. If so, the radio could be rejecting the programming you're trying to add.

I agree with Michael that you are likely experiencing desense on your receivers. With what you describe, it sounds as though the transmitting radio is overwhelming the receiver of the other radios so they are not receiving the signal from the repeater. If you can separate the radios enough and try again, you would probably hear the signal from the repeater. I would say to turn up the volume on one of the radios and separate it from the transmitting radio far enough so you are just able to hear it when it receives a signal. Then transmit on the other radio and see if it comes through. with enough separation between the radios it should work through the repeater. The other option would be to have a "family member" (so you can share your license with them) use one radio in one location while you use another radio in another location and try it. Again, with enough separation between the radios, you should have success.

There are lots of options, and which would be best will depend largely on what the youngster is interested in. One inexpensive option would be an SDR dongle that can attach to a computer. There are units that can scan most of the radio spectrum. Of course a decent antenna is also required to make the most of it. Another, possibly less expensive, option would be to use a scanner application on a mobile phone. Scanner Radio is one that I know of. These applications allow the user to select the bands they wish to listen to from those that are available. There are some limitations to what's available to listen to, but if you already have the device, there is little or no cost to this option.

You've got it. The primary advantage to most repeaters is the elevation. In general, they are placed on mountaintops, tall buildings, radio towers, etc. and have significant advantage due to their position. If you were to stand where the antenna is placed, you could expect to reasonably transmit to the places you could see from there provided you have adequate power to do so. In theory, any handheld radio in any of those same places should be able to reach the repeater, too. In reality, there are some real world obstructions that lessen the range or interfere with transmissions from some radios, but in general, the communication will be line of sight. When you transmit to a repeater from a handheld radio, the repeater in turn re-transmits your signal to everywhere within its range. Any other radio within that range should be able to receive that signal, and provided conditions are right, should be able to transmit back to the repeater, to have its signal re-transmitted.

The Tidradio TD-H5 is a decent, inexpensive radio, that, as you found, can be had for about $85/pair with some extra goodies thrown in. It's not a Kenwood or Motorola radio, but it will suffice for many purposes. It is also sold as the Radioddity GM30, the Pofung P15UV, and, from what I can tell, the Rugged Radio GMR2. The TD-H5 two-pack seems to be the best value of these from what I've seen. The included speaker-mics could be nice to have if you're using them while traveling. Retevis sells a similar radio, the RT-85, but that is a clone of the TYT UV-88 dual band ham radio, not a GMRS radio. It looks nearly identical to the TD-H5 types. If you're just looking for basic car to car communication while you travel on vacation most radios should work okay for you. If you also want to have the ability to access repeaters, that narrows the field a bit, but the TD-H5, Baofeng UV-5G, Baofeng UV-9G and quite a few others will work in that case, too. With all of these radios, you can connect an external antenna to give you better performance. I've used a magnetic mount antenna on the car with this type of radio to improve the range and signal quality. If you might want repeater capability in the future, then you'll want to avoid all the "bubble pack" radios that are sold in the big-box stores. Generally, I'd avoid them anyway because they don't offer the same features or performance as those other radios mentioned above, and do not allow the use of external antennas, yet they cost nearly as much. As you noted, you can spend quite a bit more for handheld radios, and in some cases it's worth it if that gets you additional features or performance that is needed. For your stated purposes, though, I don't think it would be necessary at this time.

I like the Vertex VXR-7000 for GMRS. I found mine on eBay for about $400 a few months ago. I bought a programming cable with software for about $50, and could then program it myself. I did purchase a duplexer, and am using it, but you could also use two antennas with appropriate separation between them. With a duplexer, you're pretty much limited to using the frequency it's tuned for. I haven't tried using mine on other frequencies, but it works well on the one it's tuned to. Of course, two antennas means added cost for the extra antenna, the feedline, and likely, a taller mast to mount them on. These costs can be greater than the cost of the duplexer, so you'd have to look at the circumstances in your particular instance. The advantage to having a two-antenna system is you can change frequencies much more easily as you're not limited to what the duplexer is tuned to. The VXR-7000 is not a rack-mount unit in basic form. There are rack mount kits for it, though I haven't seen one, and can't comment on it. The unit can easily be placed on a shelf that is installed in a rack if you have one available. You might want to strap it down to keep it in place, but that would be pretty easy to do also.

I was going to basically echo what tcp2525 said. Optimizing your antenna system will give much greater gains than more power ever could. Given the restrictions you have to comply with, your best bet is to get a good antenna as high up as you're able to without getting in trouble with the HOA. One option might be to put a "stealth" antenna in a tree, provided it's close enough to run the cable to the radio. Something else to think about is if you have a friend nearby whose house is on a hill where coverage would be better. If so, perhaps you could talk them into allowing a repeater at their house (of course they will also likely have to comply with HOA restrictions). Of course, that would not help you to reach other repeaters, but it could give you an option for broader coverage in the area around your community, but it would likely be limited mostly to those in your group or family.