WRHS218

Someone using the built in scrambler in some inexpensive radios will sound like they’re on the wrong sideband. It’s really just inverted frequencies. 

I have owned several VX-6Rs and VX-7R and they are both great little radios. I still have one VX-6R. The VX-6R makes a great e-comm radio, in my opinion, because of the size and waterproof rating. I think most tri-band and quad band radios are a compromise at best mostly due to the antennas. When I carried the VX-6R into the back country I would bring two single band antennas tuned to the range I expected to use. My biggest problem with the VX-6R is the older I get the smaller the buttons seem to be so the feature I liked most, the small size, has now become a problem for me.
I don't own, nor have I been able to fondle the KG-Q10H. I have multiple Wouxun GMRS radios and one of their HAM 2m/70cm HTs. I like them a lot and trust them, but again, I don't have the Q10H. I would think the GPS function would be a plus for me and my wife, being able to have a location function. My wife isn't and has no desire to be a HAM and the complexity of the Q10H or G would be an issue for her (and me). She will use a GMRS radio but wants me to set it up and then lock the keypad for her.
I suppose a big part of the choice of which radio to have for e-comms would be who would be using them. In a situation where you have to depend on radio communication the stress level is probably going to be a factor anyway. So handing any HT to someone who is not accustomed to using them and trying to have them change bands or even frequencies may be problematic. I try to follow the KISS method when I can.
 
 

Every station is required to ID once every 15 minutes and at the end of the conversation whether you’re on a repeater or simplex.  You are not required to identify as different units when the call sign is shared amongst family members, but you might want to.  
In reality very few people follow the identification rules and nobody has died as a result.

Are you able to read data from the radio? (rule out something like the wrong com port or bad com port drivers) If so, a few things to keep in mind on the VXR-7000
1st) If you can read the radio and it shows Rx Freq in the 150-170MHz range, you have the VHF version and not the UHF version of the repeater and won't work on GMRS.
2nd) Modify the program startup for dealer mode by adding a -d to the end of the program to enable dealer mode (ie "C:\Vertex Standard\CE27 for Windows\CE27Win.exe" -d"). This will allow you to change the CW-ID of the repeater if you are going to use it.
3rd) Most GMRS repeaters run in wide band. Due to FCC narrow band mandates after 2003 the software forces you into narrowband (you will get a warning when starting the software). Change the clock on the PC to 2002 (make sure to disable clock auto set) and you can enable wideband.
Below is a screen shot of one I picked up awhile back and donated. I setup the first 14 channels for every option I though he might need (Channel 1 CTCSS 77, Wideband, Hi Power - Channel 2 same but low power, Channel 3 narrow band, etc). Channel 15 and 16 are on the next channel up and down for testing. Then printed out the config and taped it to the top of the repeater.
 

That guy is just a shill for the Chinese manufacturers and will say whatever they pay them to say!!!1

If you can't enable a roger beep on your radio, just say "Over" after every transmission. They will think it's cute for the first 2 or 3 times you do it, but be consistent - do it EVERY TIME.
I did this on a ham repeater using a Ham HT (which typically do not have Roger Beeps) while visiting a new town and got reminded that the repeater has a built in "Courtesy tone" (roger beep) so I didn't need to say "over". I replied "10-4, over". 
And for some reason, I didn't make any new friends that day...

I have no idea what any of that means.

It may as well say “The blue tree fish highway hiking right. Lemons toe rubber hand cow flight highway. I like pie”

🥸

Setting the duplex to OFF will disable transmission. The easiest way to do this is within CHIRP. You actually have four choices for duplex: blank (for simplex use), + , - , and off. Selecting off disables TX for that memory channel.
Here is a screen shot of CHIRP so you can see what I am talking about.

But if you leave it in Tone mode instead of TSQL, it doesn’t matter what the receive tone is. 

Some of this information should have been provided by the repeater owner when your access request was approved. The rest is in Chirp documentation. Chirp is mostly pretty straightforward, but can get more complicated than I am qualified to explain. You should refer to Chirp documentation for that. 
https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/wiki/MemoryEditorColumns
What I can tell you is that when I was given repeater access recently, the owner said something like "Welcome, the PL is 131.8" (this is just made up.) So, the PL is  called T-CTCSS in my radios, and Tone in Chirp. The only extra data I had to put into Chirp for this repeater was: Tone Mode = Tone, Tone = 131.8, Duplex = +, Offset = 5.000000
One extra thing though. I've never needed this, so not tested, but the Chirp documentation says that if there is also a receive tone and it's the same tone, then the Tone Mode column changes to TSQL instead of Tone. 
 

I was chastised by a "helpful" HAM two decades ago for inadvertently using a 10-code with a fellow off duty LEO on 2m. It just amazes me how HAMs will use Q codes on voice and end their transmissions on 2m with 73s and then complain about other people. Of course, I don't play well with others.

1. Yes, theoretically, but you’re really asking about how well the various body parts are bonded. If you have enough impedance between where you connect the black wire of your radio and the negative post on your battery, you’ll see a voltage drop to the radio, worse at high current.
2. Yes
Your chassis ground is a DC ground used as the return for the car’s electrical system. Your ground plane does not need to be connected to your chassis ground. You could use a sheet of metal completely isolated from your vehicle as your ground plane, but your radio requires a good low impedance path for its dc power source. 

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that I have probably used and owned more GMRS radios than anyone else here - and in my not humble opinion, the answer is "it depends" ...
Usually, but not always, a higher priced radio will be better built, last longer and have more features than a less expensive one.. But not always.
And, 50Watts is not necessarily the best - in most cases, for most people, usually, a 20W radio will give you just as many fars as a 50W radio when doing normal-people communications - your geography/terrain will usually limit your fars more than the watts, most of the time, on average, in most scenarios.
For what you have indicated you want, I would say to check out the Wouxun XS20G or the KG-1000G .. If you want SUPER SIMPLE (but limited), look at one of the Midland 40 or 50W models.
Based on my experience, and the experience of hundreds of personal friends (in my offroad/radio groups) and thousands of online 'friends', I would be cautious of the very cheap high-power mobile radios like the Btech, due to their high failure rate.  Also keep in mind that EVERY manufacturer sells duds - so you will hear horror stories about ANY radio.. The thing to pay attention to is how often does that happen and to your point about customer support, how well does the company take care of them.  Midland and Wouxun both have overall very good reputations of good support. 

It's a scam/spam, had the same issue. It's clickbait so someone can monetize their extensive YouTube channel

It's channels 8-14 that are only a half-watt on transmit power. Channel 7 is allowed 2-watts on a FRS radio and 5 watts on a GMRS radio.

15-22 are the same receive frequency as the repeaters so if you hear a repeater on a repeater chennel then you would also hear it on the matching simplex and yes of coarse you can use 1-22 those are the gmrs channels.  If you can’t use 1-22 you can’t use gmrs. Also keep in mind if your using a gmrs radio 7-14 are only 1/2 a watt so that limits range a lot.  Gmrs is mostly a bring your own friends kinda thing.  I see this so often Atleast once a week people buy a gmrs radio and think that there are millions of people all over in every corner of the country just chatting away.   Just because you reach out does not mean some one heard you or cares to respond.  Again it’s a bring your own friends thing for events, off roading, hiking, ect……
also a hand held radio has a range from 1/2mile or less to 30plus miles depending on surroundings. It’s extremely line of sight anything gets in the way.  Buildings trees homes hills mountains ect.   I think you may be expecting to much.  If you join a good repeater that is well within range that is the best way to make radio friends.   If you need or want to talk further to more people, ham may be the way to go. 

Hello, 
You are free to use 1-22 for TX/RX (transmit/receive). Unless you’re in a densely populated area of radio hobbyists, you may seldom if ever receive a response on those channels via simplex (handheld-to-handheld) simply due to limits of range. If you are hearing RX frequently on those channels, and still never get a response (for example roadwork, daycare, schools, etc) it’s likely because they have tones set on their radios to not hear unintended traffic. 
If you can, I suggest grabbing an inexpensive radio to loan a buddy who will do simplex tests with you. Fun, of course, and really helpful to understand the behaviors of 462MHz propagation. 
 
Additionally, see this link for the GMRS channel chart, specifying usage parameters: 
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart
Have fun! 
 

New to the forum, WRKW564, Athens, Ga.  

Welcome new Mygmrs members @WSCD623 and @WRKW564 👋😀

I usually do both.  I will ask on a forum but also research online.  I like asking because at times people will elaborate what usually works for them and what to stay away from.  Along with that, friendships are often made when asking through a forum.  A tad more human interaction in forums; something that is lost searching videos over the internet.
I hope I did not cause you any distress by asking.

Because I often have new model radios I would like to be able to send them to CHIRP developers so they can get them on the compatibility list - but I am not able to find how to get radios to them.  If anybody knows how, or can read the CHIRP website better than I can, please share.
 

You are now the neighbor of the beast...

Yah.. Sorry.. I'm just learning all this socially ree-tarhd-ed stuff.

Since, I don't have a need or can I use a radio on 700/800 MHz, and I am not a HAM dude and never will be, and I don't intend to use MURS for anything, I don't think I would ever have a need for a multi-band APX radio.  I thought about getting a single band APX radio for UHF just so I can learn about that series a little more but, I just haven't done that yet, maybe on a rainy day when I am bored and want to spend some money for the hell of it.
Since, I've had my GMRS license(s) since the early 90s, I guess I am one of those GMRS old dogs and UHF suits me fine.

I don’t know anything about hate or controversy over squelch.  Now, politics is a different matter. 🙂
But let’s just see if we can get you back to hearing repeaters first and then transmitting to them.  I already posted with a suggestion to change squelch mode to Tone, rather than TSQL. In that mode your receiver will let everything through. I like to work methodically through different things to rule them out.  Once you hear the traffic on the repeater just fine then we can tackle transmitting.
Now if you’re concerned about carrier squelch, that could also interrupt listening and there are some deeper settings in some software defined radios that affect carrier squelch.  
But actually activating repeaters comes down to two things: transmitting on the correct frequency and transmitting the necessary code or tone so the repeater doesn’t disregard your call. Of course this assumes you’re within range.