SteveShannon

Couldn't you just leave the CW ID blank when configuring the controller?

A schematic and an oscilloscope sampling signals along the path to and from the antenna is what you probably need to do. That’s what I would need to do for a circuit that I was unfamiliar with.

That’s not a petition; it’s a rant. I won’t sign it.

How do you know it’s GMRS?

On my Alinco, analog APRS positions are sent either at the beginning or end of PTT or at periodic intervals. I had it set to report periodically on 144.390, regardless of the channel I’m using. It seems to work just fine and I can see my history on APRS.FI.

Use a good quality lightning arrester where your coax enters the house and ground it. If you know a storm is approaching you should disconnect your radio from all external cables: power, ground, and coax. If you want something that is more resilient then there’s a document that describes how commercial communication sites are protected. Nobody goes to them and unplugs everything when there’s a storm. I’ll post a link: https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/Lands_ROW_Motorola_R56_2005_manual.pdf Meanwhile here’s a short video:

I wish you the best results possible with your chemo.

I’ll look to see if my Alinco receives APRS. It definitely transmits APRS.

It’s used to enable or disable simultaneous receiving on the two VFOs. When off you’ll only hear one.

I absolutely agree with Wayoverthere. Look at the configuration in whatever CPS you’re using to see if you can see what the problem is. Sorry to be Captain Obvious, but for future reference, try programming one first and make sure it still works before programming the second. Also, read from the radio and save that configuration before ever programming something new so you have that to get back to. Since it works when you press Moni, the first two things I would look at at changing from TSQL to TONE and I would also decrease the Squelch level. Either one of those could cause you to miss hearing transmissions.

I have and like the Alinco. I have never owned the Anytone, but I believe Anytone made the MD5 for Alinco and that it’s similar to a slightly earlier model/version of the 878. Many of the guys in my radio club have the Anytone and like it. They are so similar that I would have almost zero time spinning up to use an Anytone. Both are commercial radios. The Alinco is more compact. The Anytone has much more memory (500,000 contacts versus 300,000) but I loaded all the DMR users in North America in mine and have lots of room still so unless you plan to load the entire world you may not notice it. There are a lot more tutorial videos available for the Anytone, especially if you buy it through Bridgecomm. I cannot point to anything about either brand that makes me think one is higher quality than the other. The Alinco accepts antennas made using the reverse SMA connector that the Baofeng uses, female threads and male center pin on the radio body. I don’t know for sure that the Anytone does, but I’d be surprised if it doesn’t. I have the following Amateur handheld radios: Baofeng UV5R, Baofeng GT5R, Alinco DJ-MD5GTP, Yaesu FT65R, and Yaesu FT5DR. All except the FT5DR use the Baofeng pattern SMA connector. I’ve been complimented on the quality of my signal when using the Baofeng GT5R and a faux Nagoya 771 made and sold as the Tidradrio 771. They told me that I was getting full quieting on our 2 meter receiver. The repeater site is on a mountain 16 miles away and is the site of a UHF DMR repeater also. When I screwed that same antenna onto the Alinco and monitored the signal strength reported for my DMR transmissions, the signal goes from S5 to S7 and sometimes even S8 while sitting in the same chair at my kitchen table on the other side of the house. So, I like the Alinco. I would like the Anytone just as well or even better because of its features. My favorite dual band analog radio is the Yaesu FT-65, in spite of the FPP interface. I like the size, sound, and price. I feel like it’s an excellent analog handheld. As long as I’m doing a very subjective data dump, I prefer the way DMR is structured over C4FM, at least so far. C4FM is easier to program from the front panel, but the underlying infrastructure is more complex. When it comes to digital modes, it’s probably not very realistic to expect to program many digital channels via the front panel. I can and have done it on both the Alinco MD5 and the Yaesu FT5DR, just to make sure I could.

Actually GPS Roaming as implemented by Anytone switches to either DMR or analog repeaters based on location, rather than DMR handshake:

Is that the GPS Roaming that Anytone has? The Alinco has regular roaming which is the same as roaming in the Anytone, but a few Anytone models have GPS Roaming where a repeater in memory that’s within a radius of a gps point will be selected automatically. The repeater must be programmed in though. Of course a single download from Repeaterbook can accomplish that. I will check my Alinco, but I don’t recall seeing GPS Roaming.

I’ll bite; what is “near repeater”?

The Alinco DJ-MD5 is a radio I mentioned earlier as well. It only requires a configuration change for opening up. It’s very similar to the Anytone handheld internally (contract manufactured?). Once you learn how to setup the codeplugs it is very easy to use in my opinion, but it had a learning curve up front. I haven’t opened it up but maybe I will and set up a zone just for GMRS.

Yaesu’s good about publishing free CPS for their radios. The FT5DR is really nice in that you can put the programming on a micro sd card and pop the card into the radio.

I bought Yaesu’s cable for the FT-65. I haven’t tried it yet though.

Thanks. I did look at it. Since I already did the change to the 65 I don’t feel like I need to. I did look though:

You kids get off my lawn! Fortunately I live in an area where I can always find a clear channel, otherwise I’m sure I would feel similarly.

The antenna for the FT-65 lists a range of 400-470 MHz. The antenna for the FT5D has no range markings that I have seen.

Yes I do! I love everything about the FT-65 except the front panel usage. That’s probably my fault for having multiple radios and not becoming as proficient in each of them, but the Baofeng UV5R is one of the few that I can do from the front panel without having to consult the manual. I do have the FT5DR, since you mentioned the SMT chip removal on it. I haven’t done it, even though I have quite a bit of SMT experience. I just don’t feel the need yet. You did stimulate my interest in doing the software configuration for the FT-65 though. It worked exactly like the video showed and I was able to transmit to it using my Garmin GMRS radio.

Here’s how to mod the Yaesu FT-65.

Even the software configuration changes are commonly referred to as MARS/CAP modifications. What you’re wanting to do can probably even be done with a Baofeng UV5R. The older ones just were sold opened up but the FCC made that change. I don’t know exactly the sequence there, but I doubt it is too difficult. My Alinco DJ-MD5 only requires a software change similar to a reset.

I think almost any of the dual band handhelds by Yaesu can be opened up to do GMRS. I have an FT65R that can be using a numerical sequence after a multiple key press on power up.

Welcome! In some ways GMRS repeaters are more defined than ham repeaters. GMRS repeaters should always receive in the 467MHz frequencies and transmit at 5MHz lower, where the offset for 2m repeaters can be positive or negative. Also, the frequencies are specifically defined as channels. The repeater database here is very helpful. Repeaterbook is too, but doesn’t have as many repeaters as the MyGMRS database. I hope you like it here.