PACNWComms

I would caution the OP and anyone else on the Harris XG-100P radio for hobby use. While multi-band, there is very limited support for this discontinued model. Getting the Radio Programming Manager software, parts, and accessories can be an issue. Cool factor wise, you can't beat it by much, unless you have a full blown military AN/PRC-152 though. They are available for about $1000-1200 on the auction sites, but getting that software to program one radio is not worth the effort in my case. (I have RPM12 for one Harris XG-100P bought as a demo unit). +1 on those mentioning the Anytone 878 series, that is a lot of radio fort he buck, as long as it is known to be a much cheaper alternative than a Motorola (or Harris) or any other commercial radio. My own 878 is the Anytone AT-D878UV Plus with GPS and Bluetooth. It does not have some of the more recent features that have been added to newer models, mine having the blue button on top. $2500 can get a lot of radios, or one really good one, if you can find someone trying to offload an APX8000 radio for that price. Good luck OP in your search.

I added another camera where it could be easily seen by delivery people. That gets me better service, less thrown items at the porch area, and lots of hand waves and smiles at the camera. Sometimes I talk back and say "thank you" so they do not know if I am there or not, but re-enforces the "someone is watching" process. At least amazon did give you the refund, and having this evidence is great. I had an issue in the past with "signature required" items, sometimes high end radio gear or test equipment being left without even a knock on the door. Luckily, none of it "walked" away, but it was frustrating. Which kind of frequency counter was it? Looking for a fluorescent display multi-meter and frequency counter (two separate devices) myself, to go easy on the eyes. Fluke 45 may be on the shopping list multi-meter wise, but still looking into a bench top frequency counter. Have an old HP that is falling apart now.

I am on the fence for more or less GMRS repeaters being needed. There are only a few GMRS repeaters in my area, and more amateur repeaters still....but none of them get much use. I throw out a call sign and get a response back at times. When I hear people (rarely) I respond with a radio check. When speaking in person with the repeater owner or administrator, many just "monitor" and never respond back to anyone. Maybe it is a hobby in this area, and I own a Motorola Spectra based portable repeater, which I only put up for my own family use. But, for others there is the bragging rights of being a repeater owner, administrator, or adding another radio service notch to their resume. It varies for all involved on what motivates them. So, more or less, my own opinion is to work within the rules and have some fun. For some, it may be a hobby, for others it may help a business or organization. I tailor my own radio usage for what I am doing, VHF for short range (MURS), GMRS for family use when I am in areas known to not be saturated with UHF (which is hard as many public safety and interop systems are UHF based in my region), and 900 MHz FHSS Motorola DTR radios when I do not want to hear anybody else, but stay within about a mile of other users. Money is often an issue, but then I see many that spend a lot more money on consumer grade hardware, when used commercial gear would serve them better. Or, recommendations on higher end gear, but cost considerations leave out software, special programming cables, or computer operating system upgrades (which all add to overall cost). I may use some of my older Motorola GR300 repeaters, with hardware radio upgrades (replace the Radius based radios) XPR4550 mobiles, as future GMRs repeaters (I know the "radio police" will flame me for that part). It would be nice to see more repeaters in the Pacific Northwest, to include GMRS, but with what is available and under used, it just becomes an ego boost to add more in this area. Getting more people to communicate and respond on local repeaters would be even better. Throw out a call sign and respond to someone who is....that will get more people on the air in some way, shape, or fashion.

I have stock in Garmin, and own way too many devices, to include several Rino series GPS/radios. Good concept and at some point I will probably break down and get one of these. I used to use a Motorola MW800 mobile data terminal with Maxtrac data radio, GPS, and Streetview USA. It was a very cobbled together mess that weighed about twenty pounds, another twenty with the MobileView camera and VHS recorder, but did well for showing my off road adventures. All taken from police and fire vehicles. Now, Garmin bundles this together at a tenth of the cost, with streamlined capabilities, twenty years after the public safety version. Thank you OP for sharing.

There is a "Range Extender" version and then another standalone repeater available for the DTR series Motorola radios. https://www.twowayradio.com/motorola-dtr-range-extender.html The standalone is the CW-DRX1020 repeater. There used to be a third company making these, back a decade or so when the DTR series first came out, none were Motorola, but the first one I used looked like a MotoBridge system. It required a "donor" DTR series radio and could only extend a specific TalkGroup, so one repeater per TalkGroup. Not very cost efficient of an option, and the DTR410/550/650 were only one watt output, so the range expectations were not very far to begin with. I still have several schools using DTR series radios a decade after implementation, no repeater needed for a campus about half a mile across. Some large warehouses had the repeaters, but may not be using the radios as they complained about not being able to get "cell phone" batteries any longer. I told them to buy BL-5C batteries, as they said range was less due to poor battery performance. So, I know of three repeaters that worked with the Motorola 900 MHz ISM band FHSS radios. With two still being available. Might be useful for those using the DTR series, not sure about newer version DPL, etc. though, have no experience using those.

I get a kick out of this as well, as a quick Google search gets a lot more than many people realize. I had a guy in a fishing forum mention that the "blackout" headlight on his truck was on his "bugout rig" and that he could not say more due to OPSEC (Operational Security) reasons. A quick Google search showed this guy used the same screen name for other forums, and in one included a picture of his Texas Fish and Wildlife pickup truck, with the military style blackout light on the brush guard. It was his issued work vehicle, not personal. Similar searches in radio forums result in similar results. In another radio site forum, a member posted many APX series radios, claiming they were for personal use (all 7/800 MHz). Well others then called him out, as they showed county names on the screens, and people found out whom it was and mentioned to the local departments that some of their "missing" radios may have ended up with a certain user. Online searches are easy, just using a call sign, and other details, as it is public record as you mentioned.

While in Iraq in 2008, there were conex boxes filled with EFJ 5100's. At that time, Kirkuk was being readied to become "basic training" and flight school for the Kurdish Air Force a.k.a. Iraq's "New" Air Force (pre-ISIS take over). All Motorola gear was being swapped out for older equipment, going back to Maxtracs, consolette's, and EFJ5100's being put into play instead of XTS series radios. A cheaper alternative and as mentioned earlier, used XTS accessories and batteries. Decent radios for what they were. The ones I dealt with were 800 MHz on a trunked 16 channel Quantar network.

I have an Anytone with FM receiver and have used it a few times, just to hear local news and to see if the reception is available in a remote or rural area. Works as a great accessory for that type of use. However, I have a co-worker that bought a Baofeng, then a Nagoya antenna about two feet long, as the "math" says that this antenna will give better performance on the FM broadcast band. So of course, this meant testing the Anytone and Baofeng side by side, with no perceptible difference on FM broadcast, at least to our ears.....if we had looked at dB levels it may have been different. But, I can't get the guy to even bring the radio into work again, several people hassled him with the two foot antenna on a cheap Chinese radio, sticking out of a backpack (he was trying to LARP as a forward observer (guy is retired Navy avionics technician that tries to tell people he called air strikes in Afghanistan.....we all see through it). As for including FM broadcast, I find it useful to have as a feature, just like FRS/GMRS radios that came with Weather receivers, and Weather Alert functions, it is a plus over those radios that lack these features.

I have been out of the office for a few days and had my crew watch this. With some even stating that they had 'Merican made GMRS radios. Not having watched the video, I thought there may be one or two companies that might make a model here stateside, so it was no surprise to see a blank sheet of paper. Then I had to question the co-workers who said they had 'Merican made radios. No Ritron, Datron, Harris, nothing. Great video and point to those that think electronics are still made here. The last domestic radios I have purchased for a government contract, where made in Chicago, and had to be pre-ordered months in advance, but were indeed made here (at about twice the price of their Malaysian made equivalent - P25 non-GMRS in this case). The individual chips in those radios, they were made in Texas by E-Systems. For a domestic company to make a GMRS radio, I would expect it to cost several hundred dollars, as even this order of P25 radios doubled in cost to be made here, and with only a few vendors making the components that met federal government specifications. This entire thread reminds me of when I found out in 1992 that the federal government was going to use Cisco Systems hardware for data network hardware, everywhere. Then they dominated the business and commercial market. Now Cisco Systems continues to dominate the industry, while their hardware is made in China. Then people wonder why our intellectual property is being compromised. It would be nice to see a 'Merican made GMRS radio, I would buy a dozen just to prove a point, provided they were less than $500 each.

Wow. Thank you for the heads up. I am due to purchase several hundred XPR7550e radios this year, with my last order being placed last November (2021), with a reported ship date this coming November (2022). The decision makers I work for stressed the ordering of APX6000XE and XPR6500 mobiles, and decided to leave most of the Trbo series radio orders until later this year. We do not use Bluetooth, WiFi, or GPS, but I am sure the big /\/\ will still charge the same or higher prices without those features (chips) over the next year. This messes with my intended plan to implement Radio Management and WiFi programming if the newer XPR7550e radio lack the chip for WiFi. Another project revolved around GPS location, which would be impacted as well. Glad that even my Baofeng's and Anytone's are older, which still have th eFM receiver chip.

I took scan and monitor DMR and GMRS radios in my area, using legacy scanners for GMRS and an Anytone in promiscuous mode for DMR. In my area, UHF radio is so over saturated, it is also very common to hear digital modes in use. Then, there are the Garmin Rino radios that have been issued to search and rescue personnel, some National Guard (Army and Air) members, as well as Community Emergency Response Teams that pushed for FRS/GMRS use as the technology became cheaper. This, along with several radio shops that push new product very well, means there are many first generation XPR series Motorola Trbo radios proliferating the secondary market. As for digital use on GMRS frequencies, one of my first "catches" as a frequency and spectrum manager in the military was a unit that was using data and encryption on their military STX3000 UHF radios, programmed on GMRS frequencies. They said they did not have training frequencies that they could use. Checking the NTIA listings, they really did have official frequencies they could have used to stay legal, and after setting them straight, did not hear digital modes on GMRS, until after the FCC changes made in 2017. When the Motorola DTR series 900 MHz ISM band frequency hopping radios came out, they were sold as a great alternative to the saturated UHF radio market and users. This means I also hear many of them, being used in their defaulted state, on the included TalkGroups.

Yes, just bought a lot of these for some sites in Middle America, great radios and also use the chargers/accessories for the XPR6550 UHF radios they already had. They were going to spend about $1000-1200 for XPR7580e handhelds, new, and waiting at least six months to receive due to the current supply chain issues. The XPR6580's were ready to ship as refurbished units (re-cased with 80% or more on the batteries guaranteed).

I still have to explain to die hard dispatchers that this is the case. Analog sites complain about analog, while digital trunked sites complain about digital delay. Then others ask what the tones are, MDC ID, Basestation ID (BSI), which then leads to a discussion on Pre and Post sending of MDC ID versus Pre only. I like MDC ID on my own repeater, but respect those that do not want to hear it on theirs.....there are only a few other GMRS repeaters in my area.

Excellent advice, it also means that those with "sticky" fingers will need to take a 6-bank charger too, instead of swiping one radio and single charger. It is common to lose one radio, but six, with a 6-bank charger?

Here on the West Coast, Day Wireless has been known to rent DTR/DLR radios at times. I have not seen a 900 MHz ISM band Motorola rental in a while though, as many people must have realized the cost and purchased them outright instead, they proliferate in cities where UHF spectrum is very congested. I still support a fleet of DTR410's for several local schools, but bought them outright as well. What I do see as rentals and many XPR6550 Motorola Trbo series radios, mostly in UHF band, and working for a large corporation with many contractors, get several back each month that are actually rentals. I have one at my desk now, and this particular XPR6550 was rented to Veca Electric, has the Day Wireless engraving , and when rented by a corporation, they fall under licensed spectrum of the rental company, in this case Day Wireless. You should not be paying yourself for spectrum for rental radios, rent what they have and on their license, channels, and TalkGroups when possible. Then you get a different radio, which is legal for the area you are using/renting them for......did many trade shows, oil spill responses, and training evolutions this way. Another company is Bearcom, that often rents radios. I hate to mention either one as they have "hit or miss" customer competence/service, but have stocks of rental radios. A third that has been great for sales is Used-Radios.com also known as Sunny Communications out of Colorado. They may have rentals that will work for you on short notice. (SunnyComm would be my first call, then Bearcom, Day Wireless is just west coast - a regional company).

In my area of the country, many GMRS repeater owners state that they want users to refrain from using MDC, Talk Permit Tones, "Roger Beeps" or any other signaling, mostly due to the noise of those signals, or to keep Motorola users from "flexing" on other users......used to a thing in the past but surplus Motorola is also a lot more common now (as is other manufacturers including MDC in their products). On my own Spectra repeater system, I do have MDC set, so I can see which radio is keying up the repeater by its Radio ID number (just me and my family using my radio net most of the time), but that is a private repeater and I want to know when some outside person is on the net. (Usually other guest users do not have MDC set up, so I see a "1" or "0000" come through).

I used XTS5000's while in the military, which were great radios for P25, as for GMRS use, I want something smaller, lighter, and more recent. Mobile it is a combination of Motorola XPR5550e and CDM1550 LS+, and handheld it is XPR6550/7550e radios. That XTS5000 is just too big to be lugging around unless I am using it for something else as well. Still, the XTS5000/3000/2500/1500 proliferate my own collection, as that is what I have supported in a long career, both military and civilian, and they continue to be used as long as parts and batteries are available. As another posted before, it is nice to have the XTVA option, switching radios as needed and having a Hand Held Control Head and multiband antenna installed on the roof. +1 on buying Model 3's as well, you will want Front Panel Programming, and a display....I do this with XTS2500's and pretty much any radio I expect to use a lot. That display comes in handy for troubleshooting when you need to do so.

Those have really gone up in price, have used many of them for Icom A110/120 aviation radios, as that connector is also used by that series of mobile radio, with electrical noise being a huge problem with AM radio. Great filter, and does work well. I also add chokes to power cables, a practice that came from Motorola shipping cases of these when doing large projects, such as P25 installations at Public Safety Answering Points (911 Call Centers). That filter should work well to curb much of that noise heard. Back when you could still go to Radio Shack, they had a version that was sold for use with CB (AM 23-40 channel) and stereo equipment too, which was larger, cylindrical and comes up in many auction sites, for about the third of the price of the Kenwood version, it works too. Bought many on clearance years ago and used them all over the place.

One reason why many people run their repeaters for their own use and others they trust only. This is a lot easier in the amateur bands as there are so many more options and variables. GMRS radio use, well, people can figure it out easily if they know what they are doing.....and more reason to not even acknowledge the trolls, jammers, or other people that mis-use the radio system in play. Sort of like school yard bullies, unless you are ready to draw blood to prove a point, you only feed them what they want, acknowledgement and the thought that they have power over you. I see this on here at times, people that bully others, to make themselves look more important, or reply with flippant answers, attempting to belittle others, this does impact the usefulness and utility of this site (and is most likely why it has not grown as quickly as other radio related sites). Great advice has been given, do not "feed" these people or it gets worse. Some ways around this, use radios that have voice inversion (yes, some had/have this), do not acknowledge that you even hear these users, change channels, tones, or get off the air for a while. They do go away if they think they are unsuccessful. There will always be those that engage, and then rant about being jammed, trolled, or doxxed because of it, but it does not have to be you, if you keep it quiet. For clubs, business users, and individual families; bad news stays internal, good news goes public.

I always have some version/ hard copy of the ARRL Handbook, coupled with Motorola R56 guide for site installation. Then specific equipment manuals, and guides......much of this is available in PDF format. R56 for site installation https://www.k3emd.com/downloads/Motorola_R56.pdf?msclkid=7f0e394bc5a411ec9ff5a858ab2bd53d Military tactical comms https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN20819_ATP_6-02x53_FINAL_WEB.pdf Very basic for ARRL/ARES/Emergency comm/CERT types https://trainex.org/osc_readiness/2004materials/IntrotoRadioTheory.pdf?msclkid=af0a48dfc5a411ec9e189629d5f536f4

Unfortunately, I have only used the VX-3200/4200 series radios. The 2200 series was something that was used in other areas by a former employer of mine, but I never had experience with them. However, with CE-52 (for VX-3200's) there was no warning for the wideband/narrowband requirement, as it was made well before the 2013 mandate. Turning the "clock" back to pre-2013 also works with many other radios and software as well. An issue to watch out for with the VX-3200/4200's is that many had filters that were manufactured with a defect, high humidity in the plant in Japan, where the radios could not go into narrowband due to defective narrowband filters. That cost thousands of dollars when January 1st, 2013 came around....and it was not just Vertex. Many then end up being sold as fully functional, either unknowingly, or by those that do not care. Good luck on the VX-2200. Quality wise, they are an older Vertex which were made well.

Yes, 1/4 wave antenna for UHF. On my car, I use a dual band Tram (VHF/UHF) NMO mounted antenna, and it is about 1.5 feet long that would work pretty well in an apartment too if someone were to need dual band, and a small antenna on a magnet mount, baking sheet ground plane setup.

I had to look back at my gallery posts, to see the Laird antennas I use. It is the 6" QW450, with the GB8UM magnet mount base, then placed onto a metal object for a small ground plane.

Same here, and why I never was able to work from home these past two years.....DHS CISA letter meant me and my crew came to the office and job sites. We do SCADA, microwave, satcom, and land mobile radio, along with telemetry for flight testing of experimental aircraft. As for radio, I find FRS/GMRS equipment all over the place that should not be in use, whether voiding company policy or FCC regulation, like that buffet example provided earlier in the thread. What I tend to find around my house and at work sites are the baby monitors (audio), some video capable units, and then lots of sites that are supposed to use corporate radios, using Midland GMRS handhelds bought at Cabela's (most are camouflage models). The local thrift stores have received many Midland sets, after providing the corporate users with UHF HT-750/1250, EX500, EX600XLS, PR400/CP200, up to XPR7550e replacements. At this point, I am no longer surprised what is being imported that operates in the GMRS frequency band, as so many consumer products come into the country with little to no scrutiny.

Here is the link for a previous thread on this subject. For my own use on the second floor of my house, I just use a New Motorola (NMO) mount UHF antenna, a magnet mount, and have it mounted on the top of a 19" network rack. Other people use metal baking pans for GMRS antennas as a ground plane. GMRS antennas do not have to be big, or even outdoors to work....I get consistent 8-10 miles in a mountainous environment, but this drops to about 5-8 miles when I move my base station to the first floor (daylight basement) setting.