WRQC527

Is it just me or does this entire thread remind anyone else of the final scene from the movie "Burn After Reading"?

I think you should work "moral turpitude" back in somehow, because after reading his comments, it is rather fitting.

I have to admit, I had to look that one up because I had no idea what moral turpitude was, but now that I know I don't want anyone saying I had it when they do my obituary.

Actually, I said dang hard instead of impossible so as to leave myself an out because I know some fool will spend the rest of today, all day tomorrow, and probably well into the weekend trying to find some American-made radio just to prove me wrong, and he probably would find some obscure used radio like a BK on Ebay that someone hacked. You know who those people are, you rail on them all the time.

I find it mildly amusing that the Patriot Radio Frequency link shows a big-ole American flag, the American eagle, an excerpt from the United States Constitution, and a Chinese radio. I get that it's dang hard to find radios made right here in good-ole 'Murica, but it seems a little ironic.

There's a little-known FCC regulation concerning a kosher license. It's so little-known, in fact, that no one knows about it.

Can you post a screen shot from Chirp of your settings?

Anyone with $35 for a license and maybe $150 for a good handheld (or halfway-decent mobile radio and antenna) gets all the functionality of analog amateur radio UHF equipment (radios, repeaters, etc) without the drama of testing. It stands to reason that GMRS is growing fast. Hard licensing numbers are tough to come by, but it does appear that GMRS is getting more popular, especially after the FCC cut the price of admission in half.

See folks? We didn't need 4 days, 83 replies, and bunches of hostility to communicate that, the mostest simplestest of answers.

So... 4 days and 83 replies later, are Midland radios good?

I build all my antennas for HF and VHF. Pretty darn good ones actually.

True. I use my HTs when I'm hiking, usually attached to the front of the shoulder strap on my backpack, with a speaker microphone. I suspect that the speaker mic cord "sort of" acts as a counterpoise, but when I set my HT on my desk with a speaker mic attached, the reception actually gets worse. Antenna theory is voodoo science if you ask me.

Consider this, if you will. HTs have been around for quite a while. I have both a Yaesu 2-meter handheld and a handheld Icom airband transceiver from the mid-1980s, and I have a variety of much newer HTs. In all that time, I have never seen a factory-supplied counterpoise, or a factory-designed way to install one. The manufacturers of HTs, who have all manner of RF and electronics experts designing these radios, have not seen fit to either provide or even recommend counterpoises. Because they've designed these radios to operate adequately in the hand of an operator, or with an external antenna.

Believe it or not, there are people here who will tell you that you can use cable TV coax for GMRS. I've never tried it, and I'm not so sure about 30-year-old coax, but hey, what's the worst that coud happen?

To be honest, I posted the image under "general discussion" because it wasn't specifically GMRS-related, but it had, among other things, radio content. I knew it would wander all over the forum map.

Could be his wife, now that she's seen what buying radios does to the bank account.

Nice. I was able to do the same thing in my Sienna with my FTM-7250 with the useless cubby.

You don't need your own linked repeater, all you need is permission to use an existing linked repeater. That is, unless you have money to burn and you want your own repeater. I used Zello once, mostly because I don't want to use it twice. Not a fan. Linked GMRS repeaters are a hot-button issue across the GMRS universe. Some people like them, some don't, some say they're allowed, some say they're not, some people who had them disconnected them to avoid potential trouble with the FCC (should the FCC ever crack down, which is unlikely). It depends on what you think GMRS is for and how you interpret Part 95 rules. Endless arguments are raging to this day. I would say that if you're this interested in linked repeaters, get your amateur radio technician license and play with linked repeaters to your heart's content. Amateurs have it figured out. I have some pretty strong opinions about linked GMRS repeaters.

Don't worry, Ray. This is just some local yokel playing dress-up. He just got back from the Army-Navy store.

Probably because after blowing all their $$$ on guns, ammo, and preserved food, they only have $20 left for a radio.

Maybe you will too, maybe not. I was casually researching how many guns were sold by state, and this image of a fully-equipped member of the Delaware Militia, including a Baofeng with a high-capacity antenna, showed up under their statistics.

I'm going to throw out some ideas, but by no means are these anything scientific, and they may be obvious. Channels shouldn't nave an impact. It's about frequency. First, is your UV-5R "unlocked"? I know you said you can transmit on GMRS simplex, but check it anyway. Second, did your copy and paste carry over with the repeater offsets? Check that. Third, did your copy and paste carry over CTCSS tones? Check that. You may need to manually enter each channel rather than pasting from the GM-5RH. Also check the transmit frequency ranges on your radio. Mayhaps they are not set correctly. If you can insert a screen shot of your UV-5R settings, maybe we can take a look. These are all things to check. I'm sure others will pontificate further with additional ideas.

Maybe this is interesting, maybe not, but I did find a reference to the Polmar DB-50 from 2013. So many of these radios are rebadged, slightly redesigned, "re-frequencied", if you will, re-certified for different services, marketed for export-only, that it's hard to keep track. https://hamgear.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/incoming-polmar-db-50/

This. They're all over Ebay and Amazon. SMA Female to SO-239 adapter. Also, you don't need anyone's approval to test your HT.