WyoJoe

If you're hearing it on the air, then they are actually using a radio. It may, however, be a remotely controlled radio, whether via Echolink or some other method.

The ones I have came with the old firmware and I updated them when the new firmware update was provided. When I turn them on as described, I also see P51UV01 on the display. I don't know what it showed originally.

On my KG-UV9G Lite, this happens if the TDR option is selected. If I press TDR to turn it off, then it will allow me to scan the active band, and when I press the "Band" button, I can then scan the other (now active) band while the first band continues to scan.

I have the KG-UV9G Lite, and can scan from either or both A and B "bands" at the same time.

Try looking for selections like T-CTC, R-CTC, T-DCS, and R-DCS (It may differ from these, but should look similar). The first two of these are Transmit and Receive CTCSS tones. The second two are Transmit and Receive DCS codes. Assuming you want to transmit a CTCSS tone, you would enter that in the menu for the T-CTC selection. All the other selections should be set to off. The "tone" selection may refer to DTMF, 2-Tone, or 5-Tone options that would not be necessary in this case. This should also be set to off.

I found that Daystar radio on Amazon. It looks like a rebranded (and more expensive) version of the TYT TH-8600: Daystar-KU73011BK TYT TH-8600

2.29 on the radio I have at my desk. I suspect the one in my truck is different and needs to be updated.

By "extended repeater channels," I mean those beyond channels 23 - 30. It is on those channels that I was having issues. I haven't had the radio change the programming as you describe. It only happened to me with the software changing the programming. It's held the tone when I've programmed it, so I'm not having the same issue that you are describing.

If you have a cable that works for the GM-30, it should also work for the KG-935G as long as it has the same kind of connector, which I believe it does (My KG-UV9G does). You shouldn't need a separate cable.

I'm not sure what the issue was for me, but with the programming software, I found that the Tx frequency would change to 462.xxx whenever I tried to enter a tone for some of the extended "repeater" channels. If I didn't enter a tone on those channels, the Tx frequency would stay at 467.xxx as I wanted it to. I resorted to leaving the tone off when I send the program to the radio, then I just enter the tone from the radio instead. I haven't figured out what the problem is for me, but I have figured out how to work around it. In my case, it may have something to do with running the software under Wine in Linux, rather than running it natively in Windows. I mention this problem only so you can look to see if your software is acting similarly, and is thus causing the problem you're experiencing.

This does sound a lot like a configuration issue. As for the use of the tones, you want to be sure they are set on Transmit, and if your radio allows it, they should not be set on receive. That way, your radio will transmit the tone necessary to open the squelch on the repeater (so the repeater will hear you), and will not need to receive a tone to open the squelch on your radio (so you can hear all transmissions on that frequency in your area). As for your hand held radios, there is no need to use tones for radio to radio (simplex) communication, unless you're trying to filter out other users on the same frequency. Your radios may be suffering from desense, where the transmitting radio overloads the receiving radio. To test them, be sure both radios are on the same (non-repeater) channel, and are sufficiently distant from each other to prevent the transmitting radio from overloading the receiver on the receiving radio. Having the radios in different rooms, or one indoors and one outdoors should be enough distance to effectively test them. You should use another person to help with this so they can respond when you are testing.

I have a mountain just a couple of miles out my backdoor that has several repeaters on it, and of those, at least one of them is a closed "members only" repeater. This immediately came to mind during the discussion, so that's why I'm bringing it up.

I suspect this was just a ploy to add drama. I'm sure those guys have old-school 2D GPS (paper maps) available to them, as well as direct connection (simplex) via radio. But, how would the show be able to drum up suspense if they simply used their back-up systems without incident?

Generally speaking, you'll want to use the SWR meter to ensure the antenna is properly tuned, then remove the meter. As for the "jumper" cable, no, it does not need to be the same as your feed line. A short length (12 to 18 inches is typical) of 50 ohm coax with suitable connectors is sufficient. Because of the short length and temporary nature of the connection, the type of coax doesn't matter much.

This isn't entirely true. There are "closed" repeaters that are intended to be used only by club members or members of specific groups (such as Search and Rescue). This seems to be the exception for the most part; many ham repeaters are "open" to all licensed hams to use freely. In fact, for most that I'm aware of, use of the repeater is encouraged, likely to increase traffic and give people someone else to talk to. Unlike many GMRS users, most hams I've met like to talk to others whenever the opportunity presents itself.

As of the time of this post, there are only 386 active GMRS licenses in the entire state of Wyoming! Surprisingly, to me at least, Wheatland has 12 of those. That seems to me like a high percentage since there are so many towns throughout the state.

Welcome aboard Ben, Hopefully GMRS won't be disappointing for you. One thing you're likely to find is that there aren't a lot of people sitting around waiting to talk on GMRS. The way the service is licensed, many users have GMRS radios primarily for talking with family members either on simplex (radio to radio) or on private repeaters, and in many cases don't seem interested in talking with anyone outside their small group. This seems to be a fairly common experience shared by new GMRS users. In some areas, however, there is a fairly active GMRS user base that tend to use mostly open (shared) repeaters, and will chat readily with others. The best way to find out if that's the case in your area is to monitor the repeater outputs in your area to "see" what you can hear. You might find that there is an active GMRS community using one or more repeaters in the area. If so, you should be able to get information on who to contact to use the repeater. Remember, permission to do so is granted by the repeater owner, except in the case of open repeaters.

With the prefix "KG" this would indicate that it's a Wouxon radio. Baofeng has a UV-9R model (without the KG prefix). The same is true for the two "9G" models: KG UV-9G from Wouxon and UV-9G from Baofeng. These radios are the GMRS versions of the 9R radios mentioned above.

I know I found the firmware update on their site in the past, but like you, I only saw the setup file this time. Perhaps an email to them would result in them sending the file?

From the GM-30 specs: Rx Frequency Range: 65-108MHz, 136-174MHz, 400-470MHz The specs for the DB-20G shows the same. It looks like both radios receive the same frequencies. Of course 65-108MHz is the broadcast FM spectrum (~88-108 in the U.S.). I suspect the tuner won't allow you to tune in anything outside of the specified range, although I haven't tried to do so. As these radios are FM only, you won't pick up anything understandable on digital modes, although you may hear something when they're being used.

B=Base, R=Repeater, M=Mobile, F=Fixed, RM=Repeater + Mobile, etc.

I've noticed quite a few "Hot" or "Nashville Hot" chicken places opening up recently. There's a local-ish chain called Angry Chickz or something like that with several locations in the L.A. area and even one in Bakersfield. Anyway, we've strayed a bit from the original topic, so to bring this thread back a little bit... Do you think you could reach your home base from Crazy Hot Chicken?

There's a difference between the original UV-5X, the UV-5X3, and the UV-5X GMRS (also called UV-5G) radios. The UV-5X3 is a tri-band model and comes with the newer firmware than earlier variants of the UV-5R series. The older (non-GMRS) UV-5X model is essentially a UV-5R in a slightly different housing. The UV-5X GMRS (and UV-5G) model is the only variant of the UV-5R series that I'm aware of that has firmware that can be updated. The original firmware on the UV-5X GMRS models was poorly implemented. It prevented users from changing parameters that they often had a need or desire to change, including things like CTCSS tones. Thankfully, with upgraded firmware, the radios function as they should, and allow the addition of custom repeater channels >30 which did not work with the older firmware. The updated firmware and the tools to install it can be downloaded from Radioddity. Here is a link to the download page: https://www.radioddity.com/pages/baofeng-download I remember seeing a "how-to" for upgrading the firmware, and didn't find it when I looked for it, so you might need to reach out to Radioddity to have them send it to you.

I'm not familiar with it! It's been a while since I went to Rattler's. I don't think Wicked Chicken was there the last time I went. Perhaps I'll have to give it a try. Perhaps Papatree has tried it?

Here are the steps to set these particular options from the radio's keypad: Select the channel you wish to change the options for. Press MENU, then 2, to get to TXP (Transmit Power) option. Press MENU again to change the setting, then up/down arrow to select High or Low as preferred, then press MENU again to save, and finally, press EXIT to exit the menu. For selecting Wide or Narrow, use the steps above, except pressing MENU then 5 (instead of 2) to access the WN (Wide/Narrow) function. For PL tones, follow the steps above, but using the following menu options: 10 for R-DCS (to set the receive DCS code) 11 for R-CTCS (to set the receive CTCSS tone) 12 for T-DCS (to set the transmit DCS code) 13 for T-CTCS (to set the transmit CTCSS tone) To summarize, regardless of which option you wish to program, the basic steps are: Select the channel to be changed and tune the radio to it. Press MENU (to enter programming menu) Press option number (or use up/down arrows to select the correct option) Press MENU again (to change selected option) Use Up/Down arrows to select preferred value Press MENU again (to save) Press EXIT (to exit programming menu) The step I miss most often is the third press of the MENU button. I have pressed EXIT at this step more times than I care to admit, and when I do that, my selection is not saved. If you are following all the steps above and still having problems making the changes on your radio, it would most likely be due to having an early version of the firmware installed on the radio. I hope this helps.