coryb27

Unfortunately, a lot of crap is made right here in the US and some quality product is manufactured overseas. Not only that, but some products sold by American companies are imported, especially at the low end of the line.
 
But, I think Corey hit the nail on the head when he wrote...
... and many other things in life.

I will let these images do the talking... All tests done on Wideband 462.550, High power, 1 min on 5 min off for a total of 10 min TX time over 60 min at 14.7V. I have worse results but these will do. After the 3rd cycle the power output started to drop and the current draw increase. Not sure if poor thermal management is part of it but I am sure most of it is the junk output transistors.   
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/1.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/12.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/9.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/testresults.jpg

Wow!  I only tested at 5 feet/meters.  It didn't dawn on me to see just how far I could get.  I'm really shocked... but I shouldn't be.  LOL

This is no different from any of the cheap Chinese radios that have come across my bench. I think its time the FCC starts doing its own testing, this goes to show the Chinese manufactures dont care and will fudge the paperwork to make this junk sellable in the US. As I have stated before none of these CCR's belong in use on GMRS as even the certified ones don't meet spec or standard. The spurs in the 900 band where strong enough to pick them up several 100 feet away on a scanner.

This is no different from any of the cheap Chinese radios that have come across my bench. I think its time the FCC starts doing its own testing, this goes to show the Chinese manufactures dont care and will fudge the paperwork to make this junk sellable in the US. As I have stated before none of these CCR's belong in use on GMRS as even the certified ones don't meet spec or standard. The spurs in the 900 band where strong enough to pick them up several 100 feet away on a scanner.

My guess/opinion is that someone cherry-picked a "special" radio to be tested or the results are fraudulent.  Again, just my opinion.

Its been my experience that everybody wants to own a repeater till they have to maintain it or pay tower rent. Also Lot's of people build small repeaters with low power radios using cheep duplexes with low antenna height. I decided to hunt down some of the machines in our area only to find "GARAGE" repeaters, (3' antenna on a 3' tripod on somebody's house roof) over half with less coverage then what you could work simplex from a base but listed at 35 miles of coverage. I can not understand why people put repeaters into service that don't cover any useful area and then list them on myGMRS. I would bet a lot of the machines listed are no longer on the air or have a tiny foot print. I would also bet when somebody takes a repeater down the listing remains.
 
Here is some other food for thought. Several of us in the WI, IL and IN area have linked a system of repeaters together on the myGMRS network. Our system of 5 machines is open to any licensed user and covers a few 1000 sq miles of area and it yet it has only 18 users. I promise it is not because the machines are junk but rather the limited number of GMRS users. I know Rich is working on something new and he is well aware of the dead listings, we will just have to wait and see.
 
Just my $.02

Indistinguishable from a wide band UHF frequency jammer.

I will let these images do the talking... All tests done on Wideband 462.550, High power, 1 min on 5 min off for a total of 10 min TX time over 60 min at 14.7V. I have worse results but these will do. After the 3rd cycle the power output started to drop and the current draw increase. Not sure if poor thermal management is part of it but I am sure most of it is the junk output transistors.   
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/1.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/12.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/9.jpg
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/testresults.jpg

I've been working on a new map replacement which will hide old and offline repeaters by default, but still gives you the option of showing them all.
 
https://mygmrs.com/map-new/
 
I still have a lot of things to add to make it ready to replace the current map, but I wanted to share the progress now and get feedback from the community here. Some outstanding issues are:
The label below each icon needs to be styled, so it stands out against a dark background. I'm having trouble getting this to work with the library I've chosen to use on this version of the map, but I'm sure I'll be able to find a way without scrapping anything.
  Clicking on the repeater icon should modify the URL to point to the repeater ID that is selected.
  Repeater details (the description field) aren't visible yet.
  Several repeaters do not have GPS coordinates and show up at 0, 0 which is off the coast of Africa. This is mainly a problem with the database that needs to be fixed, but the map should hide them since it's obviously wrong. At least the performance of loading that many repeaters and toggling the switches on and off seems to be quite good. Let me know if it's slower for you than the current map.
 
I have big plans for a complete site redesign to make it more modern. I've headed down this path several times but got bogged down between work and my personal life, so I never got a complete redesign done. I've been making small changes here and there to support this big effort, so I'm hoping we can get a better site off the ground which will solve some of the pain points like the stale repeaters.

DB-404 in the attic of my 2 story condo, simplex base to base 25 miles and repeaters 45 miles.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/uhfbase2.jpg
 
Fed with 1/2 hardline
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/hole.jpg
 
Into a custom wall plate with N female bulkheads. I have a UHF, VHF and Scanner antenna up there.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/wallplate.jpg
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/scanner.jpg
 
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/vhf.jpg

This is a myth. There are still a LOT of TV stations using low band with ATSC digital transmisions, and there will continue to be.  What was freed up is everything above UHF channel 36.  All of that area has been re-assigned - mostly to cellular services.  TV channels 2-6, 7-13, and 14-36 remain unchanged in frequency allocation.

I miss being out west. Almost unlimited wheeling. And generally people took care of what we had. OHV parks arent my cup of tea but thats all we have in Texas. Public land is a rarity here. I spend a lot of time in Arkansas around the Ouachita Ntl Forrest.  

 
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

DB-404 in the attic of my 2 story condo, simplex base to base 25 miles and repeaters 45 miles.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/uhfbase2.jpg
 
Fed with 1/2 hardline
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/hole.jpg
 
Into a custom wall plate with N female bulkheads. I have a UHF, VHF and Scanner antenna up there.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/wallplate.jpg
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/scanner.jpg
 
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/vhf.jpg

Corey, yur a spendy  Hmm give you a quarter and get 3cents change.

Sounds like another decoder issue. I have got wind of this issue from several users of this unit. This is caused by overloading the front end, or simply being to close to a base or repeater. This is what cheap hardware gets you, in order to cut costs you have to cut quality and engineering. For the record it can be repaired but in the end its not worth it. I don't know about others but my min charge is an hr and that is more then the radio costs new.

Another part of that notice recognized that they could've used FRS but their transmitters lacked the proper certification.

Mostly Jeeping in the mountains of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
 
 
http://fiveguysracing.com/marc/HardRock/Rubi_W_Lift.jpg
 
http://fiveguysracing.com/marc/RauschCreek/June_2018/images/20180616_115106.jpg
 
http://fiveguysracing.com/marc/RauschCreek/June_2018/images/Image12.jpg

I have to know, why are you so set on a repeater like this? Unless a Manufacture knows its going to sell 100's of units its not going to put the time and money into this. Even construction sites that only need a repeater for a few blocks install full size repeaters simply for the duty cycle and reliability. Now in the part 90 world you can have your self a Motorola SLR1000 these do analog or DMR and are made to be tower mounted. This is all deal breakers for your wish list, its not part 95 and it will set you back $1900 but hey it is "new". I have state of the art SLR5700's in use on a business system and many 15 year old MTR 2000's in use on GMRS. For the record the SLR5700's I own (2 @ $2200 each) have given me more issues in 2 years than 10 USED MTR2000 have in 4 years. In fact one needs to go back to the depot for repair again! NEW is not always better, the list price on a NEW MTR2000 was upward of $8000 so I am more then happy to run a USED $8000 repeater I got for $800 bucks or less vs a NEW machine I paid $800 to $1000 for.
 
In your price point and requirement of off the shelf and legal I envision this big lunch box size FRS/GMRS radio with a 4' telescopic center loaded antenna and a rechargeable battery inside. I'm sure adding a solar panel and maybe a dynamo crank to charge the battery, a local mic, weather channels, maybe even a flashlight and an AM/FM radio will help sell more to the masses. This all sounds good (ha ha) but an off the shelf turn key repeater marketed as part 95 for GMRS is just a bad idea. Last thing we need is 100's of unlicensed repeaters all over the place with kids on them causing interference to real repeaters that people invested time and money into. If you need an example just look at all the FRS/GMRS combo radios that never got a licence and the FCC just made them licence by rule, again not good for GMRS. This unicorn you have been hunting will work about as good as simplex without an antenna at significant height above ground. 

I have to know, why are you so set on a repeater like this? Unless a Manufacture knows its going to sell 100's of units its not going to put the time and money into this. Even construction sites that only need a repeater for a few blocks install full size repeaters simply for the duty cycle and reliability. Now in the part 90 world you can have your self a Motorola SLR1000 these do analog or DMR and are made to be tower mounted. This is all deal breakers for your wish list, its not part 95 and it will set you back $1900 but hey it is "new". I have state of the art SLR5700's in use on a business system and many 15 year old MTR 2000's in use on GMRS. For the record the SLR5700's I own (2 @ $2200 each) have given me more issues in 2 years than 10 USED MTR2000 have in 4 years. In fact one needs to go back to the depot for repair again! NEW is not always better, the list price on a NEW MTR2000 was upward of $8000 so I am more then happy to run a USED $8000 repeater I got for $800 bucks or less vs a NEW machine I paid $800 to $1000 for.
 
In your price point and requirement of off the shelf and legal I envision this big lunch box size FRS/GMRS radio with a 4' telescopic center loaded antenna and a rechargeable battery inside. I'm sure adding a solar panel and maybe a dynamo crank to charge the battery, a local mic, weather channels, maybe even a flashlight and an AM/FM radio will help sell more to the masses. This all sounds good (ha ha) but an off the shelf turn key repeater marketed as part 95 for GMRS is just a bad idea. Last thing we need is 100's of unlicensed repeaters all over the place with kids on them causing interference to real repeaters that people invested time and money into. If you need an example just look at all the FRS/GMRS combo radios that never got a licence and the FCC just made them licence by rule, again not good for GMRS. This unicorn you have been hunting will work about as good as simplex without an antenna at significant height above ground. 

I figured, but wanted to clarify in case someone were to get confused.  Best regards

Hi David! Thanks for stopping by. I strongly recommend joining the forum and looking through the many threads that include equipment reviews.
 
There are many options and varying opinions. Some of the topics may fall inline with what your intended use, and give you a chance to ask some more specific questions.
 
What, specifically are you trying to accomplish? Such as, what will the radio be used for, type of terrain, what kind of distances are you looking at with regard to the repeaters you want to reach, etc.?

These radios "Field programmable"  are dangerous in the wrong hands. Way to easy to change freq. and accidentally key up on restricted frequencies. This may seem innocuous, but could have disastrous ramifications if it interferes with emergency services, causing death. I can not stress how easy it is to cause this type of interference with this "wrong type radio on GMRS",  

What part of “The transmitter output power of [a]... ...repeater... ...must not exceed 50 Watts” is not clear? There is no mention of a duplexer because one is not specifically required to have a useable repeater. You could just use two antennas with sufficient separation. BTW, the power loss in a good quality UHF duplexer would be under 0.5db.