SteveShannon

It’s too bad the Motorola flyer didn’t show a side view.

Yes. Exactly.

Yes, many people remove their stock antenna and attach a cable leading to an external antenna. That would make more difference than having a higher powered transmitter. Comet, like @MichaelLAX mentioned would be nice. There are also longer antennas for handheld use. Probably the most well known is the Nagoya 771G (tuned to GMRS frequencies), but there are others also. Just make sure you match the gender of the integral connector.

It is pretty amazing isn’t it? They learned to make the most of their antennas and the capabilities of HF. NVIS is intriguing to me. Looking at the link that @axorlov posted it looks like that could be it. The side panel of the radio looks similar.

Are you guys done?

An upgraded antenna, especially if mounted high, can make a significant difference.

That’s right. You are required to transmit on the channels established in the regulations. Tune step is meaningless for a compliant GMRS radio.

Make sure you don’t have any tones set on receive. Some places simply have much more activity than others. This map illustrates where repeaters are concentrated:

Most handheld radios have the ability to automatically scan through several channels looking for a signal. The channel switching and pausing when a signal is detected is automatic. For some you have to create a “scan list”. Some others simply scan all channels.

Premium members can download a list of all repeaters. Maybe I should put those in Arcview. ?

Maybe I’m misunderstanding your comment. This site does have a U.S. Map of repeaters. You have to zoom in for detail of course.

Under your Chirp folder is a sub-folder called "stock_configs" It has all of the generic channels that you can import for any radio using Chirp. It is full of CSV files. I'll attach the one for standard GMRS/FRS channels. If you put your file into this format (not an IMG!!!) and place it into this folder, you might be able to simply import it into Chirp. Have Chirp set for the correct radio in the first place. Then see if you can upload it to your radio. I do not believe you can move IMG files from one radio type to another. I think all file migrations must be done using CSV files. US FRS and GMRS Channels.csv

See if this page doesn't help you get where you're wanting to go: https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Beginners_Guide In particular look at saving to a generic file.

Also, at that point when you are hearing the input channel, some radios allow you to scan for tones.

Maybe a link to a previous post will help:

So are you hearing the repeater courtesy beep and wanting to get rid of it? Courtesy beeps aren’t held in the same disdain as some hold Roger beeps. http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/9509075.pdf

No, you’ll have to import it as a CSV. You might have to massage it in excel if it’s not in the right format. I would import it and see how it looks. Don’t upload it unless it looks perfect.

@KekistaniRefugee I’m sorry, I had to go to bed. I’ve got a full day tomorrow too, but in the afternoon I’ll check to see how you are doing. Hopefully, you’ll get on the repeater by then. Don’t worry about asking questions. We were all beginners once. And I really don’t think Notarubicon picks on honest questions based on lack of experience, but rather “know it alls” or “experts” who don’t truly contribute anything. A lot of us enjoy his videos.

I went ahead and joined at the $50 level because it’s the only way to support right now, but I still think that if there were additional, lower priced levels of support, even if they don’t receive anything for it, people would join them, just to provide some financial support. Having 200 people pay $20 is better than 20 people paying $50. $50 might not seem like much, but it’s more than twice what I spend to belong to other hobby forums. I’m not a professional. I don’t have a repeater and I don’t care about most of the features that come with premium membership. I just enjoy the forums. Although I just use GMRS radios for very simple communications, apparently forums are my hobby.

Your two radios can identify themselves to each other or to others of the same type. I would put my first name in it, but you could put “WRVY822-1” and “WRVY822-2” or something. Then you and a relative have the ability to send each other your locations, etc.

Some radios will scan for the tone coming from the repeater and Notarubicon ( @OffRoaderX ) has a couple videos about that, but there’s no guarantee that the input tone and output tone are the same. Anyway, until you need it, leave it blank for the receive side.

Okay, first, just use the preprogrammed repeater channel for 462.675. Just change the tone. Second, clear out the receive tone. If a receive tone is incorrect you will never hear the repeater. If you leave it blank you hear everything on the channel. Good luck!

Why not just use a piece of steel running crosswise and stick the antenna base to it? The metal will serve as your ground plane.

The radio doesn't directly accept CSV files. First you have to import the file into Chirp, then make sure you have your serial port selected. I suspect that's your problem. Here's what I suggest. First, make sure the correct serial port is selected. Until you have chosen a serial port, downloading and uploading options will be grayed out. Until you choose the correct one downloading and uploading will fail. Then, download the current configuration of the radio. Get in the habit of always doing that. Otherwise, if you screw up the upload later on you have something to revert to. It's also the best way to ensure that the correct port is selected. Save that as a backup, then tell Chirp you want to start a new file. Import your CSV file. The columns and rows of Chirp should populate. Select "Save As" and then save that under a different name than your previous backup file. Now upload that configuration. That should do it.

FM on your radio is probably the same as Wide FM or WFM. That shouldn't prevent you from connecting to the repeater though. I suspect the reason you cannot connect to the repeater, despite being close to it, is almost certainly because you are transmitting the wrong CTCSS tone or DCS digital code. With DCS (also called DPL or a few other things) you also have to say whether it's normal or inverted. Or you're transmitting on the wrong frequency. Typically you transmit to a repeater exactly 5.000 MHz higher than you receive from it. Most commercial GMRS radios will automatically add in the offset if you're on a repeater channel. That can cause problems if you're on one of the very few repeaters that have an offset that isn't exactly 5.000 MHz. However, this happens very infrequently. I would be inclined to think it's a tone problem. You don't need a tone or DCS code to receive and when people have problems receiving the first thing many of us will advise is to clear out any receive tones. But you do need the right tone when transmitting to the repeater or it will simply ignore your tranmission.