WRNP596

I had my GMRS license going on 2 months now. Right now I only own the Baofeng UV-5X which is only sold in pairs.

For a HT people tends to talk about the Nagoya NA-771G. You can get it here Authentic Nagoya NA-771G Handheld GMRS Antenna (15.3 Inch) (buytwowayradios.com)

I hit a repeater like 21 miles away using Baofeng HT with stock antenna. There is a lot of houses, a lot of tree's , farm buildings, factory type buildings between me and the repeater. Should be lucky I can hit the thing at all. lol

I just used Chirp software to add a repeater course using all the correct info for it and write it to the radio. At that point I launched Radioddity software then read the radio and I seen the TX freq field on that repeater was empty. The Radioddity software it self would not allow me to click on the TX freq field to add in the freq. Only way I could fix that issue was to save it on my PC as a XML file. Then open the XML file using a editor and add in the TX freq then save it. Then write the changed XML file to the radio using Radioddity software.

Just got my programming cable today so I tried couple things out on my UV-5X least that's what the labels says on the radio. But Chirp software sees it as a Radioddity UV-5G anyways moving on. ? I launched Chirp software and downloaded the info from the radio. I added a Repeater on memory slot #31 to see if it would work but it resulted not allowing it to TX. I then done a reset on the radio to get a fresh stock radio. Which at that point I used the Radioddity software and downloaded the info from the radio. At that point I saved that on my PC as a XML file. Then I opened the XML file in a text editor and added the same repeater on slot #31 and saved the changes to the XML file. Which at that point I used the Radioddity software to upload it to the radio. Guess what I was able to TX just fine using the repeater I saved on memory slot #31.

If the Baofeng UV-9G does in fact let people setup memory slots 31-54 for repeaters right from the keypad. That by it self will make it worth buying that model of Baofeng GMRS instead of the other Baofeng models like the UV-5X. I find only having memory slots 1-30 available right out of the box like the Baofeng UV-5X for TX/RX is outright dumb.

You can say that.

If I used the FCC search correctly looks to be a total of 2829 active GMRS licenses in my state of Ohio.829

I fully understand what you are getting at. My current smartphone costed me $300 dollars it most I ever paid for a smartphone. When I'm out and about and have it out of my pocket I handle it like very old unstable stick of TNT. Even though I do have a nice case on the thing I'm still worry I will drop it.

Yea, I bought a Baofeng UV-5X for my first GMRS radio which now comes with the updated firmware which fixed the code issue and narrowband/wideband issue as well. My GMRS radio I bought is on the UPS truck right now and will be in my hands in today. I wanted something cheap that's portable and where I could take with me when I go fishing. Least that way if something happens to it I'm not out of a lot of money after all it's only a Baofeng. Maybe at later date I'll get something better something like the Wouxun KG-UV9G which looks like a nice GMRS radio to me.

For me I'm limited to either a handset OR mobile device for car cause I don't own the house I rent. I decided to get the Baofeng UV-5X for my first GMRS device which comes with the updated firmware which fixes couple issues with it. Bought the GMRS handset for couple reasons. First one being it will let me try it out to see if GMRS is for me which could end up being. Another one being I like to go fishing at a lake not too far from me. Owning a GMRS handset will give me the option to carry it with me when I go fishing and waiting for the catfish to bite. Besides that I can all ways get a good antenna for my car to help get little more range for car use. Since I'm new to the GMRS scene I'm not up on all the good GMRS mobile's and handsets. But I seen people talk about the Wouxun KG-1000G GMRS Base/Mobile Two Way Radio. I'm not sure what kind of money you are looking to spend and if your looking for a base/mobile OR a portable handset. Side note our call signs close to each other you must have got yours just shorty after I did.

This topic brings back a memory from the very early 1980's when I was young. My dad was a semi driver all his life and back then we lived in a trailer. He had a CB base station with a tower and a fiberglass CB antenna. Which the antenna came in two sections with a metal couple in the middle and had a metal tip. One night there was a nasty lightning storm. That night lightning hit the CB antenna blowing it up in little tooth pick pieces. Few days later we found the metal couple fused together and found the metal tip in the cornfield like 200 yards away.

Maybe the employee's of the mall don't even know the license expired.

Anymore these days USPS is hit and miss when it comes to your mail/packages showing up. Even though it has the correct address on it which you been using for years. One time a package of mine ended up in New York which is two states away from where I live. The package clearly had my address on it which I been using for years.