SteveShannon

We use CTCSS for GMRS simplex frequently. We do so to keep our conversations separate (not private) from other people on the same channel. Before heading out into the field we make sure that we’re all on the same channel and tone. Our radios are not inexpensive; in fact they are probably the most expensive off-the-shelf GMRS radios available. I fully understand why @WRXN668 would like to save those settings as a custom channel. If his radio doesn’t support that simple capability I can understand why that would cause frustration.

Even though the receiver is tuned to a 5 MHz offset, without filtering on the receive side the 5 MHz offset ceases to be meaningful. The receiver front end will receive it. I don’t know whether it will overload it.

They’re all defined in Part 97 of the FCC Regulations: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97 (c)The following terms are used in this part to indicate emission types. Refer to § 2.201of the FCC Rules, Emission, modulation and transmission characteristics,for information on emission type designators. (1)CW.International Morse code telegraphy emissions having designators with A, C, H, J or R as the first symbol; 1 as the second symbol; A or B as the third symbol; and emissions J2A and J2B. (2)Data.Telemetry, telecommand and computer communications emissions having (i)designators with A, C, D, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol, 1 as the second symbol, and D as the third symbol; (ii)emission J2D; and (iii)emissions A1C, F1C, F2C, J2C, and J3C having an occupied bandwidth of 500 Hz or less when transmitted on an amateur service frequency below 30 MHz. Only a digital code of a type specifically authorized in this part may be transmitted. (3)Image.Facsimile and television emissions having designators with A, C, D, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol; 1, 2 or 3 as the second symbol; C or F as the third symbol; and emissions having B as the first symbol; 7, 8 or 9 as the second symbol; W as the third symbol. (4)MCW.Tone-modulated international Morse code telegraphy emissions having designators with A, C, D, F, G, H or R as the first symbol; 2 as the second symbol; A or B as the third symbol. (5)Phone.Speech and other sound emissions having designators with A, C, D, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol; 1, 2, 3 or X as the second symbol; E as the third symbol. Also speech emissions having B or F as the first symbol; 7, 8 or 9 as the second symbol; E as the third symbol. MCW for the purpose of performing the station identification procedure, or for providing telegraphy practice interspersed with speech. Incidental tones for the purpose of selective calling or alerting or to control the level of a demodulated signal may also be considered phone. (6)Pulse.Emissions having designators with K, L, M, P, Q, V or W as the first symbol; 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 or X as the second symbol; A, B, C, D, E, F, N, W or X as the third symbol. (7)RTTY.Narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy emissions having designators with A, C, D, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol; 1 as the second symbol; B as the third symbol; and emission J2B. Only a digital code of a type specifically authorized in this part may be transmitted. (8)SS.Spread spectrum emissions using bandwidth-expansion modulation emissions having designators with A, C, D, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol; X as the second symbol; X as the third symbol. (9)Test.Emissions containing no information having the designators with N as the third symbol. Test does not include pulse emissions with no information or modulation unless pulse emissions are also authorized in the frequency band.

@markskjerve First, I applaud your wish to help the repeater owner. In a world where generosity sometimes seems to be lacking it’s refreshing to see someone perform an altruistic act. I think there’s an easy way forward. You can use incandescent light bulbs or heating elements as a dummy load if you really want to surprise the repeater owner or you can surprise the repeater owner with an untested repeater and he/she can come up with a dummy load. At the lowest power setting you don’t really need to worry about power damage to your finals as a result of impedance mismatch.

They must have seen one of your videos. I’m only partially kidding. I do wonder what has galvanized them and I really wouldn’t be surprised if they saw one of your videos.

Correct; pressing the MONI button simply allows you to monitor everything on that frequency, regardless of squelch level, tone squelch, or even time slot or color code for DMR.

I agree with you that programming Amateur Radio handhelds with a PC is much easier that most front panel programming. You sure don’t need to apologize though. I could and should have said what I said nicer. Btech sells the 1701 and 1801 Baofeng amateur DMR radios, don’t they? If not, Radioddity does.

Thanks for the information. It’s really not too surprising. GMRS is right at the edge of the range advertised. What’s surprising is that SWR is that low that close to the edge. It would be interesting to see the SWR sweep for the entire advertised range.

The joke kind of lost momentum

In order to rock that you need to wear dark glasses, a suit, and talk to your wristwatch.

You’re doing it correctly. For future reference you can leave the code off the receiving frequency. Sometimes that’s helpful for troubleshooting. When you leave off the receive tone you’ll hear everything transmitted in that frequency. When you include the tone you’ll disregard anything that hasn’t been transmitted using the same tone.

She’s a YouTube personality and the foul fowl is her foil.

I just bought a RigExpert Stick Pro which works up to 600 MHz. I have the NanoVNA with the N connectors and I feel comfortable using it but it’s a pain in the ass to recalibrate every time you want to switch to a different band or zoom out and realize that your calibration doesn’t include what you’re trying to do. The RigExpert is much more convenient. Is it $300 more convenient? I think so, but time will tell.

There are, but I don’t know about amateur radio use? Repeaters can be used with dPMR modes 2 and 3. The unlicensed dPMR446 and dPMR mode 1 do not use repeaters.

I wonder about RF exposure to the cranium and its contents. Radials radiate, right? ?

An antenna with radials mounted to the top of a hard hat really seals the deal!

It’s something that people are easily confused about. A type 90 accepted radio may be used on the amateur frequencies, but a radio built and sold for the amateur bands is not necessarily type 90 accepted.

My Alinco DJ-MD5 does VHF 136-174MHz / UHF 400-480MHz

Yes, my Yaesu radios can be on the same tabletop. My Baofeng has to be seven or eight feet away. I would recommend having someone else take the other radio outside.

I think you will have better results writing to customer support for whatever company you bought the radio from. This is a public forum, not dedicated to any specific company. The owner of the forum has an online store as well and perhaps that’s where you bought the radio, but that might be better handled by looking at the contact information on the invoice. Good luck!

Yes, very good catch, if the OP means sending text messages instead of analog voice. The regulations prohibit sending digital data on the 467 MHz Main channels: 95.1787 (5)GMRS units must not be capable of transmitting digital data on the 467 MHz main channels.

I agree about those links being down, but that’s just a portion of ham radio. Most of the newer digital modes are alternative means of communicating that are specifically designed to be available in the event that the internet is gone. They support email (sans internet) and sending files. And of course the traditional CW and phone communications have no dependencies on the internet. You know better.

The main problem is that none of the current GMRS radios are compatible with those changes.

Yes, I understand TDMA and time slots. My disagreement is that the current allocation of channels doesn’t support frequency division.

From your first post: “Thus, four conversations can be supported within each of the current GMRS channels.” But the experiments you’ve done are very interesting and I enjoy hearing about them. ?