tcp2525

Do I believe my eyes? Someone that actually nows their stuff. Using anything other than LMR-400 is totally taboo from what you read on this forum. Did I tell you that it's totally and utterly foolish and breaks every terrestrial and celestial boundary of human stupidity to use anything other than Heilax for UHF.

Yep, only proves my point. Way too much overemphasis on seeking the "perfect" ground plane when most people accidentally get it right without thinking about it.

Putting your antenna dead center of the roof for that "perfect" ground plane is overrated and only matters to people that want to sound like they are smart. Sure, there's going to be lobes were you have a strong signal and others where it is going to be weak. Guess what? It doesn't really matter because you're not driving in a straight line +/- 1° 100% of the time. So your radiation pattern is always changing just as long as you are moving. I can understand your apprehension to drill, that's fine. You can use whatever mount you want and put it in a spot that's easy and convenient for you and your performance will be good. I put my 2m/70cm NMO antenna right above the 3rd brake light and it performs really well. Very easy install and didn't have to pull the headliner down. The Midland for GMRS NMO is close to center, not perfect and performance is good. Don't sweat it, enjoy it.

Wow! In a futile attempt to always be right and save face for wrongfully assuming something he knows nothing about is not only amazing but sadly pathetic. I asked for this to be dropped but you feel the need to carry on. Have at it without me.

That might work for $5 items, but not for higher priced ones. We've had people dumpster dive on a daily basis for our broken or uneconomic to repair goods until we started to fully crush them. Best to sell in large lots for scrap.

Yep, I understand all that, but as policy, I would pay to have it shipped back and dispose of it myself or throw it in lots to auction off to recoup losses. The point being there is way too much profit margin on these disposable goods. The other benefit is it weeds out the people that claim defective if they know they getting keep the items.

Thanks for the well thought out explanation, but it is wasted on deaf ears and it's not worth enabling him. Please let this topic die.

Install it in the sunglass holder above your head. Close it when not in use and it is hidden from prying eyes. I did and love it. I'm on the road and unable to post pictures

To any reasonable person, absolutely nothing. Here's an example. One of the directors in the company I work for ordered an electric power washer that was almost $400. It didn't work under load, so he contacted tech support and he went through all the steps he was told to do, still nothing. Call ended with them overnight a new one and told to toss the first one in the trash. I was asked to take a quick look at it and found the neutral wire under a screw that was never tightened. I looked at the tag and guess where it was made? I tightened the screw and they now have two power washers. No quality control and won't even take the defective one back to repair it. This is the true definition of disposable goods. Goes to show you the high profit margin.

I too have an F150 and the power sunroof is not an issue. Plenty of room for an NMO mount.

Really? If one's motives are honest they wouldn't need to explain themselves. If you feel the burning desire to continue this petty nonsense please feel free to PM and we can discuss this in private. I won't discuss this in an open forum as I will be the one to get reprimanded, not you. No further bait will be taken.

Oh, I am so happy I bought my 9700 when it came out. Amazing radio. My stacked beams add to the fun.

It does it automatically in VMware, but you can have it setup to NOT default to connect at the start of the VM. I purposely set it up that way to be able to chose between the host or guest when I plug as cable in..

Definitely neat gear for people that don't want to drill a hole in the roof. Just go through the pain of drilling the 3/4" hole in the roof and install a shiny new NMO mount and be done with it. And for added strengthening add a thin fender washer behind the mount to distribute the force if you hit low hanging branches or go into parking garages.

Yep! And that's why I just bought bought a shiny new 2025 Honda Goldwing 50th Anniversary before the next batch comes in with the attached tariff. I'm in the process of removing my radio gear from the 2018 Goldwing and transferring it over. I wasn't ready for this, but I figured I better jump on it before it's too late. In a couple days I'll be GMRSing in style.

I've been using for a long time to get into local repeaters without issue. Performance is much better with a whip cut for 220, s9 no worries about damaged PA.

Nice! That's really good to know. Did you try it recently or many generations back? I find the latest versions work really well, surprisingly since Broadcom took over.

Have you tried VMware? It supposedly works on a both MAC platforms. It's free. Plus, you can download Windows 11 directly from Microsoft. You will have 30 days before having to buy a product key. If it works, great. Pay if you want to keep it after 30 days. I use VMware foe all my radio programming whether in Windows or Linux.

You're smart enough to understand economics. The 878 is a $14 radio, but some of us will pay what it's worth to the individual. I happen to feel that $200 for a disposable radio is a fair price. Would I pay $205 for it? He'll no, that exceeds fair market value for me. Would I pay $600 for a Yaesu FT5? Not on my life. The 878 far exceeds my performance expectations for a disposable radio. Simply put, a bargain.

Unfortunately that's what we have to deal with. I know Yaesu's HTs are garbage as most have poor recieve audio quality. At that price point I would expect more. That's why I opted to buy my 878s for $200 instead of $600 from the big three. At $200, I consider it a throwaway radio, which it is. Gotta admit Yeasu does build reliable HF rigs. They have yet to get the VHF/UHF sector working reliably.

Another neat feature of the 878 is it will do 220, albeit only 1/2 watt. Same chipset as the 578.

No doubt! I have zero respect for Yeasu and their incompetent service techs. Years back I had their quad bander, the 8900 or is it the 9800 that went back to them four times for a $0.03 chip resistor in the PA that was a known issue. I sold the radio for parts instead of having it fixed. I'll take an Anytone over a Yaesu any day of the week.

I'm not a Yaesu fan, but they're not going to fix that board on a component level. They will replace the board, common industry practice. If it's a reoccurring problem one can assume it might be outside influences blowing it. At least they repair it, whether or not you like the procedure or price.

Please don't start calling me a racist like you did last time as I'm not going to take the bait. Anyway, look at it this way, I have a Kenwood V71a that the production run is about 20 years. And guess what? I can call Kenwood and buy parts for it. Try that with Anytone. That's not racist, it's common sense.

To each their own. When one buys one of these knock-offs you have to consider support and does it have qualified repair facilities worldwide. Can you buy parts if you want to repair it yourself? My experience with the Chinese radios are they just exchange it for a new one and trash the defective one. On the surface that sounds great, but that's what you're dealing with. The big three have service centers and a parts department should you need them. Sorry, I refuse to pay premium prices for throwaway goods. That's just me.