PACNWComms

I have a 1941 Coronado LP record player/AM radio that still works, a testament to the use of tube construction and quality of manufacture. Granted it is only a receiver, but I have a much newer Courier 23 CB radio, tubes have not changed color (always transmit with an appropriate antenna) and only very light flaking on the chrome mess case. As you said, tubes were very forgiving.

That what these forums are for, to figure out what is in place, and what could help if needed. Stay the course and continue to explore, the site and the outdoors. I miss the days of going into the wilderness of Wyoming on a snowmobile.....had a Polaris Indy 450 way back when. Now I have to drive to the mountains, and rent them. Back then, cell phones were still new, and it was great making calls from the middle of the prairie. Glad to know that SAR is effective in your area, there are still many where there is no cell phone signal, nor radio signal. This is where satellite based systems may be needed as well.

Quality Control and Manufacturing Tolerance. I know of a corporate site that bought many different Midland products to support work and office operations in two buildings that take up about one square city block. They noticed the same thing, and boxed up the radios that did not work as well as others. Many of these were Midland T7x series handhelds, and we had to break the fixed antenna off to test them with Aeroflex and Hewlett Packard/Agilent Technologies test equipment. Their performance was all over the place. Receive sensitivity and selectivity was anywhere from about 0.27uV to 0.50 ish uV (most being toward the 0.50 uV end of the scale).....for UHF 0.35uV is considered "good" by many. In your case, there could be other issues as well, being mobile radios, as the antenna connectors could be better/worse, bends in the coax and the center conductor to sheathing/ground, quality of coax, ground plane around antenna. Lots of factors. Even power from the vehicles could impact range, power output, and radio function. You can take piles of Midland MXT275 radios, place them into the same make, model, and year of vehicle, and still get some variance based on many factors. The more of those factors that are the same, the easier it is to narrow down. A co-worker of mine, installs Motorola XTL1500 mobiles into Chevy Suburbans, same make, model year, and places the antennas int he same location. He still has some variation in function, but much less deviation due to manufacturing tolerances and quality control. A thousand dollar radio is usually built better than one that costs only a few hundred. Couple that with better coax, a quality antenna, and install it with attention to detail, and it will outperform a cheaper model. Likewise, two different installs of the same equipment can have variations based upon that installation. Are the coax connectors soldered or crimped, is the ground braid even around the connectors, are there any tight bends or twists, is there a coil of extra antenna cable at either or both ends (radio and antenna if applicable), what is the output power to the radio (12v -13.8 VDC), was the radio made at the end of a shift, where was it made, etc.

Still trying to get my salesman to get me pricing, as MSRP was listed by one vendor as $1716.00 (that better have a SUC Single Unit Charger included), but good to know on CPS 2.0 instead of MOL cloud. Although, I did just inundate him with a huge XPR7550e/XPR5550e/APX4000/APX6000XE order as well, he has been busy this week. (It's easier for me to spend corporate money than my own too....lol). Thank you for the additional info on the R7.

Here is the one I was looking for. Had to look in my history a bit. Was an interesting thread.

This was brought up in a previous thread about "standards".....I was the one to mention that the Wyoming idea was based upon the area code, I used to live in Cheyenne. Now in the Pacific Northwest, there was a push for FRS channel 1, in use by the Coast Guard and search and rescue in some coastal areas. Then, someone else said to use the 3-3-3 method, which is based on three per-centers and use of the third channel on a radio. There has actually been a lot of discussion on which channels, tones, and when to monitor what in these threads. You will find a lot of discussion on this subject, and differences around the country. Glad people are discussing this, and have some method, although some seem more prevalent and easier to recall when needed. For some light reading, here are two of the previous threads below.

+1 on this. And why many law enforcement squad cars still have some sort of scanner in their console, along with their comms. Plenty of people still use analog VHF and UHF in the commission of crimes. Whatever is cheap and abundant. Go to an auction of seized items and there will be groupings of CB, FRS/GMRS radios and beat up handheld scanners taken off of perps. If they were smart, they would find a lucrative job, or way to make more money.

The DTR series is the same, only four digits. What I did have happen once though, was a group that set many channels to different hopsets, and they were smart enough to change channels often. However, we are still talking about a 1 watt radio. As for the government backdoors, I do not know about that, if they have them or not. VSELP and FHSS would take some test equipment, but should not be outside the capability of a three letter agency or even SPAWAR or whatever they go by now. What I experience in my area, is a lot of users of DTR and DPL radios leaving them defaulted, so my DTR on a default hopset hears all of them talking....usually tugboats. This area is saturated by UHF (FRS/GMRS) radios, so they must have wanted something else, in the unlicensed ISM band. Motorola must have sold every barge, crane and construction crew in the region DTR and DPL radios, they are all over the place. So, they also end up in crimes, probably with default settings.

They are not even worth the shipping costs, and then I would have to dig for them, somewhere in the garage buried in a box somewhere. eXRS radios were that bad.

I'll have to look into that model as a second unit. Currently, I have been using my SW-102 for handhelds by attaching the metal plate for a ground plane and removing the thumb stud, butit is a bit tedious. It does work though.

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum ISM band radios like the Motorola DTR and similar series, with a custom hopset loaded......oh wait, legal, yes, legal....lol.

Received the legit Motorola brochure and documents sent to my work email account, but still no pricing. I foresee buying as many XPR7550e radios as possible to keep consistent radios in use a while longer, until APX transition takes place. With the current supply chain issues with receiving product from Motorola, unless these are very cheap and available (made in USA or possibly Mexico if they can get them over the border fast enough), these won't hit the streets for a while. Not holding my breathe.

My first GMRS radio was some version of Motorola TalkAbout, I think it was some 62xx series, and I still have them buried somewhere. Getting back into it again recently, I dug out a Motorola CDM1550LS+and mounted it to a power supply, and connected a Laird NMO antenna. (The one in my icon picture). Then, I programmed an older Motorola XPR6550 radio for GMRS use. It was only recently that I added a Radiodity GM-30 handheld (which I put away somewhere and need to firmware upgrade) and a mobile VHF/UHF DB20-G which works great mobile. However, I now wish I had room in my current car for a Motorola mobile.....may have to search for a good HHCH (Hand Held Control Head) mobile to save space up front. They just work better.

In my area, this is still done with Yeasu VX-7R/8R versions, and it was not just law enforcement. The Coast Guard has been noticed doing this as well. I live on the coast, so there are lots of people trying to transit local waterways. Some may be carrying people and cargo. My own VX-7R is one of my more useful radios, I used to use it to radio check almost everything in the radio room/rack of many of the local vessels that respond to oil spills. We also have many Auxilliary Communications Services (ACS) in the area, that have replaced Emergency Communications groups, with the ACS staffed by retired/former law enforcement and federal agents that also enjoy amateur radio. Much more effective than the emcomm crowd in this area. Having someone that has time to monitor, and still has the authority to arrest as needed. Great point on the use of amateur radio by law enforcement.

This thread just made my week. You see, I, like OP here have done the exact same thing to a few radios over the years. Then, to make it even more interesting, I paused the movie I was watching, and took this picture. I watch this movie at times, as I began my professional career working on ICBM's and now have worked in radio for a long time. Just an interesting coincidence, but made me laugh. Easy solution for the other/better half, buy her another radio, now you have two that are freebanded, enjoy.

This is true in my area as well. When FRS/GMRS (pre-2017) radios were becoming more common and available in blister packs at big box stores, local law enforcement often found criminals using them. This led to some even carrying FRS/GMRS radios in scan mode themselves, and the programming of squad car scanners (often Uniden Bearcat models) with a bank just to monitor this frequency band. Just like pagers and cell phones, any communications method that may assist in legitimate use, will also benefit criminal enterprise.

Noise that changes due to engine RPM is a common issue in other types of radio installation as well. Noise suppressors can help, and it was common to use them with AM Citizen's Band radio, think "Convoy" days. This applies now as well, even with FM radio. Here is a link for Crutchfield, the seller of car stereo equipment, which discusses how to mitigate this problem. https://www.crutchfield.com/S-YvooC7Rfvdw/learn/learningcenter/car/noise_suppressors_installation_guide.html

Yes, people are responsible for their own actions. Now, where do they get the idea to do certain things.....often times other people. Take what someone else says for what it is worth, an opinion. That applies on these forums, on YouTube videos, and everywhere else in life. This is yet another example of the "ham radio mindset" just in this forum instead of YouTube in this case.

Great advice given for different types of splice connectors. My only input is to buy a tool that will give you a better crimp than a standard pair of pliers. The cheap version, available at Home Depot (where you can also get the butt style and male/female splices in the electrical section) is at this link https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-9-3-4-in-Crimping-Tool-and-Cutter-CE180409/300715141 However, if you think you will be doing more of this, connecting a new car stereo, adding more GMRS gear to your shack, I would recommend the Klein Tools version of the tool, often copied but usually not to the same quality standards at this link https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Crimping-and-Cutting-Tool-for-Connectors-1005SEN/100352095

For newer/better made radios, this is true.....you can get away with transmitting without a load......as he shows in the video. However, it is bad practice as he is stressing that protection function. This could result in damage if the user takes this practice to a radio or other RF type of device (test equipment, and setting combiners or du/multiplexers) that does not have this protection function. This is also why many radios still have a default or "as shipped" setting for a transmit "Timeout Timer" that is usually set for 60 seconds. This also prevents hot mic conditions as well. While the advice in the video is correct in this case.....he may be responsible for many people who may try this with older equipment, rendering it useless, or adjusting their gear with less precision and accuracy as a result. There is a reason that many radio related test procedures start with connecting a 50 Ohm dummy load, or using a specific amount of attenuation. My professional radio related experience began with heavy transportable military (Raytheon) satellite communications terminals. These terminals requires 50 Ohm dummy loads, a specific (lowest necessary) transmit power and frequency, and adjustments to be made while transmitting, with a note to transmit for as short a time as it was necessary to get a good reading or adjustment. Then double check after letting the gear cool down at bit. After twenty years, the shift is now to transmit at max power (off satellite of course) and adjust attenuation to bring power output down. This is contrary to how it was done in the past, but not wrong for current equipment. As for heat, well I have used thermal images to identify antennas on board large vessels, by having someone key up the radio and looking at which antenna gets warm. Many of the ships I worked on had up to fifty antennas spread across them, and with that antenna farm, looking at the heat signature was the best way to map out which radio was in use.

This is huge in my part of the Pacific Northwest....along with "pine" needles (pine being used for all conifer frees). I have had many people think that the range mentioned on many GMRS radios sold in pairs is realistic. UHF comms are always impacted in conifer forests and wet environments, yet it is also somewhat cheaper than 800 MHz when you have to buy spectrum and hope to get a license. With the telco's and public safety using that spectrum, many commercial enterprises, hobbyists, and others have to resort to UHF, or even VHF in this area once again, as it was pre-1980's. Then they find that going down to 450-470 MHz is not working in the forest or during rain, unless the systems can compensate automatically (P25 digital GTR based system), or going down further to VHF. Back to GMRS, the combination of marketing and environmental impact to signal propagation causes a lot of issues for those that try to us GMRS for their businesses, hiking in the wilderness (mostly conifer forests), and others in a similar frequency band. This is where power comes into play, and optimizing installation practices. It is common to find coax connectors corroded, or heliax filled with water if connections are not protected properly. Great point on attenuation at UHF frequencies, this is something many people do not even realize or prepare for.

When I recently got back into GMRS......have been doing commercial radio for decades, but have carried many pre-2017 FRS/GMRS radios for years, I also bought that Amazon combo package. I have yet to dig out the GM-30 handheld, as it was not the easiest to program, driver issues with the programming cable. But, the DB20-G has been a great radio, as it fits a dash cubby in my daily driver car, still puts out a realistic 20 watts, and is easy to program. This is a great radio, as others have said, and you will find it useful and convenient. Enjoy.