wrci350

No worries. The actual answer (in the category "Radioddity GMRS Radios", is "What is ... buy the RT Systems programmer?"

Yes. You are agreeing with what I said in my post: "I also noticed that there is at least one menu item that isn't in the programmer (or at least I cannot see it). The software lets you pick English or Chinese for the voice prompts but there is no option to turn them off, which you can (thankfully!) do on the radio." You can do it through the menu system, and I found that all by myself without looking at the manual. What you cannot do (and this was my point) is change that setting through the CPS.

Yes. but thjat's for the GM-30 (which I also have). This thread is about the GM-30 Plus, which is a totally different radio.

I downloaded, installed, and used the Radioddity software (v1.0.6) in early September without any issues. It's a typical CCR programmer ... *works*, but leaves a lot to be desired as far as features go, including the lack of ability to cut-and-paste. I also noticed that there is at least one menu item that isn't in the programmer (or at least I cannot see it). The software lets you pick English or Chinese for the voice prompts but there is no option to turn them off, which you can (thankfully!) do on the radio. Grabbed the radio yesterday to play with it a bit more and decided to look to see if there was a newer version of the software. Did an Internet search and the first link was to the Radioddity site, where a new version is available. Downloaded and tried to install and Windows Defender flagged it as malicious. *Could* be a false positive, but it could actually be infected with something. I noticed that the second result from the Internet search was to a programmer from RT Systems. I am a big fan of their programmers so I went ahead and bought and downloaded it (I already have their K-type programming cable but they imply that it will work with other cables). I would highly recommend the RT Systems software. Yes, it seems a bit silly to spend $25 on software to program a $35 radio, but it works SO much better. Just being able to select a range of frequencies and cut-and-paste (or copy) them to another bank makes it worth it in my book. Interestingly enough, I still don't see the "turn off voice" in the settings. Maybe they forgot to include that in what's visible through the programming interface!

Yes, I found that amusing. The description of the system that was shut down is also not accurate. I have no idea how many members the club had (although I think it was more than 50) but I do have first-hand knowledge that it was more than two repeaters. I think it could also be argued that a linked repeater system that covered NY State from 20 or 30 miles east of Syracuse westward could be considered "large", at least from a geography standpoint. No, it was not a huge multi-state system with dozens of repeaters, but UHF coverage of that much territory was pretty impressive.

Link?

Where do you see "Disabled by owner"? I just looked at the GMRS repeater map for the Pittsburgh area and I don't see that on any of them. Normally "Disabled by owner" means "Don't ask for permission ... it's an open repeater and the tones are provided". I think maybe you have to be a member to see the repeater database, so try again once your call sign has been uploaded to this site and you can create an account.

Chances are you already HAVE a radio in your car, yes? Has it been cooked yet? Seriously though, mobile radios are designed to be used in cars. I just randomly grabbed an owners manual for one of mine and I find: Operating Temperature -20℃~+60℃ 60C is 140F. I think it's possible for the interior of a car sitting in the sun in the summer in the desert to get hotter than that, but that's the *operating* temperature. So do the radio a favor and wait a few minutes and let the A/C cool down the interior before you turn it on and you'll be fine. No matter where you live, there are lots of vehicles that have mobile radios permanently mounted in them and they work just fine.

Go read the Part 95 definition of "base" versus "control" again. If you are using your mobile GMRS radio connected to a power supply and outside antenna to talk directly to other GMRS radios (NOT through a repeater) it's considered a base station. If you are using the same radio to talk through a repeater it's a control station. Is it silly to have that distinction? Perhaps. But that's what the rules say. In any event, it's perfectly fine to have a "base" GMRS station and use repeaters.

There's one, at least. Not sure how many people actually buy them. $369.99 is a lot of money for a 2 watt, 5 channel radio. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-1000m.html I just looked on eBay and you can get a 25W 4 channel Motorola CDM750 for less than half the cost. I'm sure you could do better from one of the used Motorola dealers. Of course that radio isn't type-accepted for MURS. As far as MURS HTs, the Wouxun KG-805M is $79.99. There are a couple cheaper options (Radioddity MU-5 is $35 or less, BTech MURS V-2 about twice that) on Amazon. But there aren't a glut of MURS options.

Radiodditty GM30 (decent basic GMRS radio). $23.19 Radioddity MU-5 MURS radio $27.99 TYT UV-88 amateur radio (IMHO a step above a Baofeng). $26.39 or 2 for $47.99 I won't be buying any of them because I already have them, but might be good options for others.

This would appear to be the relevant rule in Part 95 E: (3) A station may be shared only: (i) Without charge; (ii) On a non-profit basis, with contributions to capital and operating expenses including the cost of mobile stations and paging receivers prorated equitably among all participants; or (iii) On a reciprocal basis, i.e., use of one licensee's stations for the use of another licensee's stations without charge for either capital or operating expenses.

That's because it didin't.

It's obvious that some are reacting to the shutdown of this network with extreme glee, and are expecting the FCC to drop the hammer on every other linked GMRS system any day now. Could that happen? Sure. Could that NOT happen? Yes. But many of the allegations that are being thrown about are simply not true. This was not a multi-state system. I have no idea where that idea even came from. The system used ONE repeater pair (hence simulcast). There were (and are) a number of other repeaters in the region using different frequencies and some pairs that are vacant, so the system wasn't crowding anyone out. The system was not owned by the club ... the club had permission to use it. Yes, the club collected dues ... but so do most if not all amateur radio clubs. Did some (or all) of those collected funds get used to support the repeaters? I believe so, but since I was not a member I cannot say for sure. But this was NOT pay-to-play ... the repeater system was open to ANYONE, club member or not. I know, because I used the system, and am friends with others who WERE members. As others have pointed out, this was NOT precipitated by an official notice from the FCC. The owner of the system got a "heads-up" email from someone at the FCC and reacted as they felt best. I also find it interesting that the letter seemed to call out the voting receivers specifically, rather than the liniking of the repeaters.

If you are suggesting that the GMRS repeater network in western/central NY was shut down due to DMR (or other digital format) being used, I think you are incorrect. What brought you to that conclusion?

It's long, it's stiff, it's ugly, and I still haven't figured out how to make it fold! But ... I was using it on a magmount on top of the roof of my crew cab truck and had a good SWR on GMRS and MURS as well as 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm amateur frequencies. The only place it went above 2:1 was at the very bottom of 70cm although it was between 1.5:1 and 2:1 on the entire band. It worked well for me ... but it's long, it's stiff, it's ugly (did I say that??), and I now have a permanent NMO mount on my truck and I'm using a Larson NMO2/70SH which is only 19" long (less than half as long as the Comet) and actually has a *better* SWR not only on 2m/70cm but also on GMRS and MURS. It IS a unity gain antenna which may be good or bad depending on the terrain. And it's nice to be able to go through a drive-thru without taking my antenna down!

Yes. That tends to work a lot better than an HT (with rubber duck) inside a vehicle.

Take a look at the Alinco DJ-G46. My experience has been that it has a better receiver than other GMRS radios I have.

Leo, your call sign is WSCI776. That's the letter "I", not the number "1".

Sweet. What are you doing for an antenna?

Just one more note on the DJ-G46. RT Systems has released their programmer software for it. I purchased it this past Monday evening, downloaded and installed it, and right away I noticed a bug. I read the programming from the radio (that I had done with the Alinco software) and the frequencies for the custom repeater channels I had programmed were totally off (578.xxx receive and 583.xxx transmit). I contacted their tech support via email Monday night, and after I supplied a copy of my programming file via email (which was delayed because I was away from the radio and computer on Tuesday) they found and corrected the problem and issued an updated version of the software by Wednesday morning! As I said in my review, this radio doesn't have a 'menu' system so the changes you can make without programming software are quite limited. The Alinco software is "ok", but I would highly recommend the RT Systems software and cable instead, not only because it is more polished but because of their excellent customer support. I really like this radio. Hopefully it will be a success for Alinco.

OK please pardon the ignorant question, but what is the orange bar on top of the hood? Nice looking vehicle and radio install, BTW.

It's not designed to be tuned, but it IS designed to have an SWR of 2:1 or less on GMRS. I have one and it sweeps at < 1.7:1 on 462 and 467. So should work out of the box on GMRS. It's a tall and ugly antenna though!

If by "private" you mean, "no one else can use the repeater" (or at least "someone needs the non-standard tone to use the repeater"), sure. If by "private" you actually mean PRIVATE, like no one else can hear you, that's absolutely not the case. Anyone listening to the repeater with squelch tones turned off can hear everything. But you knew that, right? Keep in mind that someone doesn't need your secret tone to jam your repeater, either.

Some of the models will; some won't. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-805g.html Scroll down and there is a table listing four. 935G does, 805G, 905G, and S88SG do not. And having a dedicated NOAA radio that runs off AA or AAA batteries is a good idea. That way you aren't dependent on the battery in an HT.