MichaelLAX

I am not sure that comparing your MFJ VHF's readings to your Diamond's VHF's readings is a good way to confirm the accuracy of your MFJ's UHF readings.

No, on the contrary, if you can have fun on MURS in VHF and FRS in UHF unlicensed with a cheap Chinese radio; all the more to you! I purchased the clone of the GM-30, the Pofung 15UV, but I was unable to open it up for Ham use, so I gave it to my grandson. I purchased instead the similar TYT-UV88 Ham Radio and opened it up to GMRS and MURS.

You have figured out a way to get the GM-30 to transmit on MURS?

It is like getting a UV-5R with only 2 watts and for half price! Yesterday, I did confirm that it works on the local 650 repeater, with obvious limitations due to 2 watts.

For a guy who has no patience about those Newbies who don't understand why a 50 Watt radio does not actually output 50 watts; you'd think you would research and understand the FACTS behind why California has Flex-Alerts (which BTW are NOT mandates) and why Ohio doesn't...

It can cause cancer in the other 49 states as well! NO ONE said you can't charge an EV during the recent Flex Alerts in California; you were advised to do so when electricity is cheapest: after 10pm!... which is when most cost efficient EV owners charge their EVs anyway... AND the Flex-Alerts worked: NOT ONE rolling blackout occurred in California: the only blackouts were equipment and/or communication failures due to the excessive heat. What's the title of this thread again? DON'T BE AN IDIOT! Flex Alert Ends Without Rolling Blackouts

SUCCESS!!! This software creates code plugs that are unencoded XML. I used my HEX editor to change the TRANSMIT frequency on Channel 19 to the INPUT frequency for Repeater Channel 19R and used the BF-T11 software to enter the ENCODE CTCSS tone and now I have confirmed at home that these handy little units can transmit and receive on the 5 MHz split! Now 2 watts is not enough for me to actually access my local repeater from inside my home, but later today when I go driving closer to this repeater, I will confirm that this will actually allow me access to this 650 Repeater:

Yes, eBay seems to have 4 priced for the same amount as 2 on Amazon!

AZ

So this is like the TYT-88UV but has 10 watts?!?

Nice tip! The Gigaparts ad that I reviewed did not mention the download and even included the RT systems software as an add-on for $50. Now I can save the cost of CHIRP! ?

Oh look at that: Yaesu for only $85! Is it CHIRPable?

Amazon's ears must have wiggled when I posted about the volume problem of one of my BF-T11s because two more just showed up at my door! I'll test them this weekend.

Well, if you are accurately measuring its power output, you should get a replacement. It should be 18 watts UHF and 20 Watts VHF.

Thank you for that information. I don’t know a way to test if the software truly opens Wide FM other than two listening tests. I, of course, did not attempt to widen, or increase the power of, the 467 interstitial channels.

Which HTs are you using?

Yes, and some adapters allow for much more stress to be applied inadvertently to the HT antenna connector which can result in its damage.

I recommend no receive tone be set; unless you are receiving much interference from others using that frequency. There is actually a 2 meter repeater above Santa Barbara that I have confirmed with the SysOps that the Radioddity DB-20G and the Anytone AT-779UV have a glitch on their CTCSS tone and they will not receive this repeater when a receiver tone is set. I did not have the ability to test the Ra-25. But in any event, I like to have open reception and not have someone filtered out, especially as I travel.

Welcome to GMRS and this Forum: I'd ask you what radio are you using, but this question seems to be a bit controversial on this Forum!? Mesa 725, Mesa 650 and Rebel 725 It looks like Mesa 725 is inactive but the links to the two other repeaters have Requests for Access (permission). However many time these requests are ignored, so I like to go onto the Repeater and ask directly about its usability.

It was a trick question! ? He asked it a bit obtusely, but showed it correctly in his CPS codeplug example. For the OP, Freq In and Freq Out refers to the actual reception/transmission of his Ra-25. A wise man once said: "Sometimes an exact answer is not enough..."

It is a fair question that deserves a fair answer. Most Newbies do not know how to ask the correct question to solve their problem; hence why the are Newbies. Perhaps I should have left it to the two posts that answered the literal question posted by the OP and stayed out of this thread - as no good deed goes unpunished!. But in my experience of helping many Newbies on this Forum in their attempts to find and use nearby repeaters (most of which are far away from my location), I have come to understand how to read Newbie questions to answer them more broadly that how they are asked. In this thread, it was clear to me that the OP had little or no knowledge of how to access his local repeater, and to help keep the answers confined to his circumstance, I suggested that help would be easier if we knew his radio. Two Bullies came out of the woodwork and came to this thread to dump on me and call me names without a word of help to the OP and one of them doubled down with his name calling ("off my meds, go to the basement, feel sorry for my family') -- these are not pertinent comments to someone offering actual help! That being said, I showed a clear example of one radio that accesses that repeater as Channel 25 and then discussed the exact CTCSS code that the OP will need to gain access to his repeater -- 123.0. Information that is essential to the OP's desire to be able to use that repeater. Sometimes an exact answer is not enough...

That’s Mr Dude to you! So much for your helping the OP!

Without knowing which specific radio you have, if you have a HT or mobile GMRS and since you are unable to confirm being able to hit Elliot Knob 600 from Covington: • Add the CTCSS tone of 123.0 to your Output (do not put any tone in to receive for now) on Channel 25 (sometimes known as Channel 17R depending upon your radio); and • Drive out towards Buffalo Gap to see if you can access the Elliot Knob 600 repeater. • Once you confirm that Elliot Knob 600 works for you, then antenna suggestions can help you to hit it from home. I am sure that @TNRonin, @BoxCar and @gortex2 would have given you some helpful advice, if they had gotten their heads out of their past! ?

Et tu @gortex2? Criticize all you want, but at least offer the OP some assistance during your busy day!

Do what I did: Send them to @lougasp61to use at his New Jersey Homeless organization. Non-Profit Needs HT donations