SteveShannon

I don’t know whether the GM-30 uses an active chip based programming cable or if the cable is completely passive, but you’re exactly right that the computer should detect a device on the port when the radio and cable are plugged in together, although it might simply see it as an unidentifiable device, which would then require a driver. If the computer doesn’t see anything on the port at all (which is totally consistent with everything you have said all along) then either the USB port is disabled (security rulz or BIOS settings) or as you say a dead cable. If the radio requires an active cable, such as one with the FTDI or Prolific chip, then simply plugging in the cable should trigger a USB response of some kind. If you plug anything else into the USB port is it recognized? If so then it’s not the BIOS. Are you logged in as the admin? I prefer not to run that way generally, but sometimes you have to to diagnose things like this.

Those are the frequencies to scan. For amateur radio users, the transmit frequencies are calculated by taking the correct offset for the band and either adding it to or subtracting it from the receive frequency, based on the sign in the parentheses. For 2 meter band the offset is 0.6 MHz. For 70 cm or GMRS the offset is 5 MHz. Maybe a couple of examples would help: For the 145.290 repeater the transmit frequency for hams would be 145.290 - 0.6 = 144.690 MHz. For the 444.400 repeater the transmitter needs to be set to 444.400 + 5.0 = 449.400 MHz.

That’s an interesting question. At first I was going to say that I believe the “transmitter output” refers to the circuit, not the physical box, but I’m not sure.

I asked a couple of times what you see in Device Manager, but you’ve never answered that question. That’s the best way to diagnose what’s going wrong with a driver. Until the driver works, you won’t get an acknowledgement. A screenshot is best, but if not, then look for an exclamation point in Device Manager.

Do you get a sound when you plug in the cable to the USB port? Are there any devices listed in Device Manager with exclamation marks? If so, click on the device to see what it says. I had a device the other day that the only way I could make it work was to log off from my usual user profile and log in as the admin (I don’t run as the admin). Once I did I could see the a device driver wasn’t working. It didn’t matter how many times I installed the driver I couldn’t make it work. Finally I removed the driver and the device, then reinserted the device and re-installed the driver as the admin. Other drivers must be installed before the device is plugged in. Good luck!

Ahh, thanks. I understand now.

I agree, but I didn’t say anything about a club GMRS license.

He still offers them on his website: https://edsantennas.weebly.com/about.html

A GMRS repeater may only be operated under a GMRS license. A ham club certainly could collocate a GMRS repeater at their repeater site, but it would have to have a GMRS call sign reflecting its operator’s GMRS license.

Based on WRKC935’s second paragraph in the section “Dropping to 190”, it sounds like with a high gain antenna, there’s probably an RF null beneath the tower and for some distance around. The pattern of the antenna directs the RF outward, closer to horizontal, rather than up or down.

Marc’s explanation is absolutely excellent and should be pinned. I learned from it. I would just propose one addition and I apologize to Marc if it’s pedantic. Privacy tones do not prevent interference. If two nearby groups are on the same frequency, but different tones, and one person from each group transmits at the same time, a receiver with receive tones set will lock in on the stronger signal, regardless of tone. It just won’t reproduce the audio if the tone sent with the stronger signal is incorrect. This could mean that your receiver remains squelched, causing you to miss a transmission that you were intended to receive. Another thing to consider is that having receive tones set prevents you from hearing a conversation on the same frequency before you transmit over the top of them.

If you want just for temporary use when your car club gets together, what about a suction mount? https://www.amazon.com/Rugged-Radios-NMO-SC-Suction-Antenna/dp/B08177PQPH

I have no experience with the model you’re asking about, but in case you’re more interested in what the settings need to be rather than how to set them: I recommend leaving the CTCSS receive tone off until you are certain the frequency is correct. Once you’re certain the repeater is transmitting on the frequency listed you can always add the receive tone. By leaving the receive tone clear, you hear all transmissions on that frequency. Also, just in case you didn’t know, you transmit to the repeater at 467.550 MHz, 5 MHz above the frequency you receive. That’s commonly called the uplink frequency. You receive on the downlink frequency. So, to summarize, what I would do is this: 1. Simply set your receiver to listen on 462.550 MHz with no CTCSS Code. It may take some time if it’s not very active, but If the repeater is active this may confirm it. 2. Set the receive CTCSS to 141.3 Hz and listen until you’re certain you’re still receiving the repeater. If you no longer hear the repeater, turn the CTCSS tones off. You don’t need CTCSS to receive; they just filter out anyone who doesn’t send using the same CTCSS tone. 3. Finally, set the transmit frequency to 467.550 MHz with CTCSS of 141.3 Hz and transmit, using your call sign, to see if anyone hears you “This is wrph848 doing a radio check on (whatever the call sign of the repeater is)”. Listen for squelch tail, a slightly prolonged sound coming from the repeater after you let go of the PTT. Hopefully someone will hear you and tell you how you sound. I apologize if I’m misunderstanding your question. Good luck!

I don’t really know, but there’s a third choice. The company that hosts the forum you’re currently on sells a slightly different version of the RT97, which is the RT-97S. It has an external controller port which allows the repeater to be linked to other repeaters, including the MyGMRS network: https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/repeaters-and-accessories/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater?utm_source=mygmrs&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=rt97 The last time I checked it was more expensive than the US Retevis store, but if the addition of the external port is necessary for your application, there doesn’t seem to be an alternative.

Do you really mean should you be able to transmit, or are you thinking that your transmission should be able to be heard? Some radios arrive from the factory with transmit not allowed and a change to the configuration of the radio may need to be made. But if you’re thinking that because you can hear someone transmitting that they should be able to hear you, that’s a bit more complicated. Lots of things could prevent your signal from traveling to them. They could be transmitting at a higher power, for instance. Or, you might be able to hear transmissions because you have no CTCSS set, but they might not be able to hear your transmissions because you have no CTCSS set on your transmitter and they require it. So, I’m afraid my answer isn’t terribly helpful without understanding the actual problem better.

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/downloads/dl/file/id/1411/product/5287/wouxun_kg_1000g_owners_manual.pdf Menu 26 - set it to Off for receive CTCSS Menu [26]: RX-CTC Function: Sets the receiving CTCSS tone for each channel. Use the arrow keys to select, or keypad to enter the tone. 50 standard tones are supported as well as non-standard tones. See page 75 to learn how to enter non-standard tones. Options: OFF/standard CTCSS/Non-standard CTCSS Default: OFF So, use the arrow keys to select off.

I don’t have the KG-1000, but for many (perhaps most) transceivers using a tone involves two things: selecting the tone (separately for receive and transmit) and turning on the tone for receive and transmit. I suspect you just turn the receive tone off for that channel; it still will have a value in it, but it won’t use it to filter incoming transmissions.

To my highly untrained eye, it looked very similar to the xpr7550 radios that appear on eBay, but I could only see the back panel. It was used with an external microphone.

I was amused to see a Motorola radio prominently being used by the ski team in China yesterday! Would that be an EAR (expensive American radio)? Come on you two, take a break. Go to each other’s profiles and ignore each other. This is just an Internet forum, not a matter of honor, treasure, or life and limb.

Very good point! If the voltage sags when transmitting, that could explain it.

Did you look at the notarubicon video of the same unit? I think he tested it for power output (I could be wrong). @OffRoaderXtracks that YouTube channel pretty closely ?. Maybe he can comment.

I agree, seems disappointing.

Very well said. This hits the nail on the head. A lot of people believe that unless a receiver is superheterodyne it suffers, but it’s simply not necessarily true. DSPs and integrated circuit design has blown past traditional circuits. The flexibility that can be achieved with a direct conversion Software Defined Radio is just incredible and only going to get better. As an example here’s a link to a solicitation from four years ago for radio equipment: https://www.sbir.gov/node/1482371 Of course as your so correctly pointed out they can be done poorly also, but the over simplistic notion that superheat > all other technologies is incorrect. And this also explains why a number of companies can start with a reference design created by a SDR chip maker and tweak and tune it to come up with something that’s outstanding. It doesn’t make sense to go all the way back to a blank piece of paper. Want a dual band 2 meter/70 cm radio? All you need is different firmware. Want a really high quality commercial radio? Add some front end improvements, higher quality case, better parts, and firmware, but the core design doesn’t have to be thrown away. That’s where a very agile company can turn out numerous designs for different markets all over the world. And that’s why it’s silly to discount anything that didn’t start out on a blank piece of paper and only designed for the GMRS market.

What was the SWR at each of those frequencies and settings?

Thanks for the shout out. I’ll try not to be too slow in the future! ? Sounds like it worked out. I might have just taken it the wrong direction.