wrci350
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Posts posted by wrci350
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On 3/28/2025 at 10:56 PM, WRYZ926 said:
That is one way of doing things just as using call signs is another.
Yes, except the FCC regs require use of call signs, not "numerical IDs". Apparently the owners of those repeaters don't care, unless you are saying these IDs are used along with the call signs, not instead of.
For whatever reason, the "cool thing" around here seems to be using just the numeric part of the call sign. "123 this is 456".
Not sure I would find memorizing a three-digit number any easier than memorizing an alphanumeric call sign.
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3 hours ago, WRTC928 said:
On the repeaters I use, it's not the norm to give a callsign at the end of every transmission. People typically use their callsign at the beginning and periodically (usually when the repeater IDs), then when they're finished with the conversation. I suppose it varies from one location to another. Things often become customary not because there's any requirement for it or even inherent logic in it, but just because it's what someone did and everyone else followed suit.
There is no need to ID after each transmission on either GMRS or amateur radio. Periodically (15 minutes on GMRS, 10 on amateur radio) and at the end of a conversation.
The point of IDing at the beginning of a conversation is just that ... identification. "Joe this is Bill do you hear me" is not as specific as "This is <callsign1>. Callsign2 do you hear me? Sure, if it's a private repeater and only you and other members of your family are using it then just names works fine. But in the general case, not so much.
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3 hours ago, WSHH887 said:
So who would I call. Pretty much anyone who would answer. In a disaster information is vital. And authorities do monitor the full spectrum of radio communications. Both to send help and to obtain information on the scope and severity of the incident.
In short the same thing folks originally used CB for.Having a plan to "just call anyone" isn't really a plan. As has been mentioned, that's the flaw in "I got my GMRS (or technician) license and bought a radio that I store in a box in case of emergencies but have never actually used it".
Rumor has it that there is a TLA agency that monitors "the full spectrum of radio communications" but they are looking for particular types of radio traffic and are not going to send help, no matter what the disaster. There is no way for local authorities to listen everywhere all the time. Chances are they don't have the resources to even listen to a few frequencies. Back in the day, CB 9 *was* monitored in a lot of places, but those days are long gone.
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2 minutes ago, TDM827 said:
On the other hand the micro mobile does not even have these channels programmed in. So you truly cant utilize those channels.
8-14 are for HT (hand-held) use only.
467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz.
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I had a pair of GXT1000 radios back before the 2017 rule changes. They *were* GMRS/FRS 'combo' radios, and in the owner's manual it told you that you were only allowed to use it on channels 8-14 unless you had a GMRS license. As can be expected, 99.9% of owners either never read the manual or ignored that rule, and used them as high-power FRS radios.
As part of the 2017 changes, all of those combo radios were reclassified as either FRS or GMRS, based on the power output. A lot of them are now FRS, but the GXT1000 is considered a GMRS radio BUT it is not repeater-capable, just as it wasn't back in 2015.
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Yes.
The GM-30 Plus has 10 banks of 100 channels, and you can use any channel for either a GMRS frequency (that you can transmit on) or a VHF or UHF channel you want to monitor only. The one restriction to note is that the radio can only use one bank at a time. As long as you have 100 or fewer repeaters you want to program (which I'm going to guess is the case) you can put them all in one bank; if you have 101 or more you will have to change banks at some point ... but still easier than reprogramming!
- WRUU653 and SteveShannon
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46 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:
Slip the battery off the radio when stored.
Exactly ... but you shouldn't have to do that.
- Jaay and SteveShannon
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The Wouxon KG-805M has 128 slots and looks like you can program the same MURS frequency as many times as you want. I would have included that in my ealier reply but I had to charge mine first ... some of the Wouxun radios (including the KG-805M) are notorious for having a parasitic battery drain when stored.
I think the Baofeng Tech MURS-V2 will let you do what you want as well, but I don't seem to have the programming software installed, the download from the BTech site is broken and won't install, and I don't feel like installing CHIRP so I cannot test on the one I have.
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1 hour ago, WRTC928 said:
Are there any MURS radios that will let you have more than 5 memory slots?
The Radioddity MU-5 has 20 slots so you can definitely have with and without tones. One thing to note is that slots 6-20 are just the five MURS frequencies repeated three times so you can't (for example) have 151.820 with 8 different tones, but you could have each frequency with no tone and then three more times (each) with a CTCSS or DCS tone.
- WRUU653 and SteveShannon
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4 hours ago, SteveShannon said:
Or one of the radio manufacturers (or both) saved money on a less expensive CTCSS circuit.
The difference between 136.5 and 141.3 is what? About 5%? Probably within the tolerance of that Retevis repeater's tone detect circuit.
I would try setting the repeater to a PL of something like 203.5 and see if that fixes the issue.
- WRUU653, SteveShannon, amaff and 1 other
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467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz.
If you want to follow the rules, lock them out.
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24 minutes ago, WRUW493 said:
I'm considering a Kenwood TM-481a, available on eBay.
You might want to do a bit of Internet research before you buy one of the "new" ones from China (if that is your plan). They are probably counterfeit.
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The post mentioning DMR and the Anytone AT-D578 reminded my of another radio that fits in the "lower power on 220" category: Alinco DR-MD520, which is the tr-band version of the DR-MD500 DMR radio. (If you ever see them side-by-side you'll quickly discover that they are cousins to the D578.)
The MD520 will do 55 watts on 2 meters, 40 on 70cm, but only 5 watts on 220.
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19 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:
And right now the only two mono band 50 watt 1.25m mobile radios available is the Alinco DR-CS25T or the TYT TH-9000. And there is the 30 watt Bridgecom BCM-220. But none of those three radios get the best reviews, especially on e-ham.
I actually have all three and the Alinco is the one that's in my shack ... the others are in their boxes. I really like it. It only has three reviews on e-ham (two 4 and one 5) so I think that's pretty good.
As far as HTs go, Kenwood has a history of putting out tri-banders that do full power on 220 (TH-F6A, TH-D74A, TH-D75A) so I"m hopeful that the mobile will do that too.
Pretty sure the TYT TH-350 does 5w on all three bands too. I had one and it's a decent radio, IMHO a notch above some of the other CCRs.
The Yaesu VX-6R *does* fit into the "lower power on 220" category though, and that's kept me from buying one. So far.
- SteveShannon, WRYZ926 and WRUU653
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14 hours ago, Davichko5650 said:
From the traffic I hear on channels 1-7 and 15-22, I don't know of any enforcement going on with the schools, const. workers, bus company or nursing homes I hear using them with nary a callsign spoken. But I worry about my own operating, I'm not there to worry about what they're doing. On the FRS channels, more of the same with a few scattered kids playing radio thrown in, but they don't need to ID anyway.
Chances are pretty good that all those people you hear are using FRS radios, and traffic of that nature is explicitly permitted by Part 95B. FRS is licensed-by-rule, so no call signs.
As of 2017, there are no "FRS" channels, since GMRS and FRS share the same frequencies with different max power and (in some cases) bandwidth. The only exception is that FRS radios cannot transmit on the repeater inputs since repeaters are not allowed on FRS.
If the schools, construction workers, bus company and nursing homes are using FRS radios (on any channel 1-22) there is nothing to "enforce".
- SteveShannon, WRYZ926 and WRXB215
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23 hours ago, GMRSJohn said:
Also too, is the programming cable the same as the Yaesu?
@WRPV394 Were you able to get that Amazon multi-cable to work with the Alinco DJ-G46T?
Here's what I said in my mini-review about the cable:
- While the radio has a K-type accessory connector, it does NOT use a K-type programming cable. That means the Baofeng cable many folks have lying around will not work. Instead, an Alinco ERW-7 or ERW-15 cable is needed. Expect to spend at least $25 to get the correct cable. I'm also curious to hear if one of those Amazon multi-cables works since that might be a cheaper option. Fortunately for me, I already had the RT Systems equivalent cable (USB 29-A) since it is used for a number of other Alinco radios, both HT and mobile.
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My disclaimer is that I am not a GMRS power user by any means, but I do have all three of those radios.
Many consider Alinco as the fourth of the big three Japanese amateur radio manufacturers. I have a number of Alinco radios (I'm also a ham) and I really like them. The DJ-G46T appears to be built on the same chassis as some of their commercial radios. Nice little radio and not cheap-feeling at all.
I posted a review here:
Couple other posts in that thread talk about the RT Systems sofware and cable.
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A couple more options:
Radioddity GM-30. Black Friday special. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SLR7W7F/
Radioddity GM-30 Plus. Black Friday special. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D8752P5L/
Alinco DJ-G46T. Also Black Friday ... put in cart for discount price. https://www.mtcradio.com/alinco-dj-g46t-portable-5w-gmrs-ht/
RT Systems has software for all three which I highly recommend but there is vendor software for all three as well. Either way you'll need a programming cable if you don't already have one.
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Again, they have just as much right to those frequencies as you do. Don't like it? Find a different channel.
- jwilkers, SteveShannon, kirk5056 and 1 other
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As others have said, one of the reasons that only type-accepted radios are supposed to be used on GMRS is that those radios can only transmit on the GMRS frequencies.
Obviously the radio you are using is not FCC Part 95E accepted. It's up to you whether or not that is important.
But the "private frequency" you picked is a Part 90 business frequency. You are not allowed to transmit on that frequency.
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But back to the GM-30 Plus. Available on Amazon (for Prime members) today for $29.59 or in a two-pack for $55.99.
As an aside, the GM-30 is $19.99 and extra GM-30 batteries are $12.79. Oh, and RT Systems has a programmer for the GM-30 too!
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1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:
I have several of the RT Systems programmers. Two of them, the ones for DMR radios, can corrupt channel memory, which I submitted to RTS as a bug. Instead of saying “Thanks, we need to fix this” they said (paraphrasing in my own snide way) “yeah, that’s really risky to try and use the features we provided.” So I no longer try to move channels up or down in the channel list or zones in the zone list, but I really do like the DMR calculator that builds multiple channels at a time by conflating talk groups with frequencies.
CPS for a DMR radio is a different beast than that for an analog radio for sure. I was VERY happy with all the RT Systems programmers I purchased until they started releasing (and of course I started purchasing) ones for Alinco and Anytone DMR radios. A lot of erratic and annoying behaviors. I learned to save often. Over time they have gotten better for sure, although still a few oddities when updating a zone or scan list. I've found that sometimes I have to restart the program to see changes I've made. I still prefer them to the manufacturer's CPS though!
Also disappointing to hear that was the response you got. I've always found them to be very responsive and a couple times they've fixed issues for me overnight.
Where's the DMR calculator function? Haven't used it, but sounds like I should!
Spurious RF emissions?
in Technical Discussion
Posted
The "Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005" mandated that TELEVISION move from Analog to Digital, to free up space for public safety. It did not mandate that public safety move to digital.
Either you misunderstood your friend or he is misinformed.
Federal grants for new communications systems mandate P25. That doesn't mean a new DMR, NXDN or analog system can't be set up, it just means that system won't qualify for those grants. There is nothing "illegal" about analog or non-P25 digital public safetey radio systems.