WRQC527

There's several reasons that you may not be hearing any response from the repeater. For instance, my amateur radio repeaters are at almost 6,000 feet and have a reach of probably 100 miles. But they're 80 watts. Your handheld is 5 watts and at ground level where there are more obstructions, so it may be that your signal is just not strong enough for the repeater to hear. If you are transmitting from in your house or car, your signal can't reach the repeater. Go outside where you have fewer obstructions between you and the repeater. You also may have the CTCSS tones set wrong. I would recommend that you only use a CTCSS tone on transmit, and turn off the receive CTCSS if you are using it. Also make sure your power is set to high. It's also possible that no one is using the repeater. GMRS repeaters are generally not social clubs, so often times there is just no one on them. When you press and release the PTT on your radio, do you hear anything back from the repeater? Like a courtesy tone or any sort of "noise" (squelch tail) from the repeater that drops after a second? One other thing, when you say you are not hearing anything, is it just because you are listening and not saying your call sign and not announcing your presence on the repeater? Just listening may result in never hearing anything. You need to let people know you're there. Ask for a signal report. Just something simple like "This is WSBV888. Can I get a signal report?" Good luck. Let us know how you do.

GMRS is just one form of radio communications. The intent, if you will, of GMRS is short-range communication. Repeaters vastly extend that range. That makes GMRS very valuable for SHTF communications. Lots of us here are licensed for amateur radio and GMRS, and as is often said here, having multiple ways to communicate increases your likelihood of successful communications. If linked repeaters are important to you, an amateur radio license would be a definite advantage.

This is one of the great debates on this site and others. The GMRS Part 95 rules seem to say linking repeaters is forbidden. Lots of folks here and on other sites interpret the rules differently and believe it is permissible. I have my own opinions on linking GMRS repeaters, but alas they are just my opinions. Amateur radio does allow linked repeaters, and in fact there are many.

Apparently there is confusion afoot, mayhaps since there is no distinguishing difference in the model number. It's just an H8. Baofeng, for example, has the UV-5R and the UV-5G. From Tidradio's website, they don't seem to have a lot of depth in their numbering system:

Are you talking about F connectors for cable TV? I've installed many connectors for RF, both crimp and solder styles, using both PL-259 and BNC connectors, and to me the most important things are making sure before you install the coax that there is continuity from one end to the other on both the ground (shield) and the center conductor, and that there is no short between the conductor and the shield.

I couldn't resist. Full disclosure, I don't know the first thing about metallurgy, except that ain't no magnet gonna stick to no aluminium, and this is a shameless copy and paste that is coincidentally ten paragraphs. Aluminum and steel are metallic substances. Aluminum is a commonly found metallic element in earth’s crust, while steel is essentially an alloy of carbon, iron, and other elements. These two materials have somewhat similar applications, but aluminum metal is comparatively softer than steel. Aluminum is a chemical element having the atomic number 13 and the chemical symbol Al. Usually, this chemical element appears as a silvery-white, soft metal. Aluminum metal is nonmagnetic and highly ductile. It is abundant on earth (8% of earth’s crust). This metal is highly chemically reactive. Therefore, it is difficult to find native specimens of aluminum. This metal has a low density. It is lightweight and is able to resist corrosion via forming an oxide layer on its surface. The electron configuration of the aluminum element is [Ne]3s13p1. It has a standard atomic weight of 26.98. Aluminum occurs in the solid state at room temperature and pressure conditions. Its melting point is 660.32 degrees Celsius, and its boiling point is 2470 degrees Celsius. The most common oxidation state of aluminum metal is +3. There are different alloys of aluminum that are very helpful in different industries. Commonly used alloying chemical elements for aluminum include copper, magnesium, zinc, silicon, and tin. Aluminum alloys can come in two types as casting alloys and wrought alloys. Both these groups can be divided into two different categories as heat-treatable aluminum and non-heat-treatable aluminum alloys. The most commonly used form among them is the wrought alloy. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon along with some other chemical elements. The carbon content in this alloy ranges up to 2% by weight. The most important properties of steel include high tensile strength and low cost. This is the most common material for building infrastructures. In addition, it is important for the production of tools for construction as well. The crystal structure of pure iron has very little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another. Hence, pure iron is very ductile. But steel has carbon and some other components that can act as hardening agents. Thus, the ductility of steel is lower than that of pure iron. The crystal structure of pure iron has dislocations that can move, making the iron ductile, but in steel, components such as carbon can prevent the movement of these dislocations via entering into the crystal structure of iron. We can find four types of steel; carbon steel, which contains iron and carbon, alloy steel, consisting of iron, carbon, and manganese, stainless steel, which contains iron, carbon, and chromium and tool steel, containing iron and trace amounts of tungsten and molybdenum. Furthermore, steel can undergo corrosion upon exposure to air and moisture, except stainless steel. Stainless steel has chromium, which makes it corrosion resistant by forming a chromium oxide layer on the steel surface when it is exposed to normal air. Aluminum and steel are important metallic compounds having a wide range of uses in different industries. Aluminum is a metallic element having the atomic number 13 and the chemical symbol Al. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon along with some other chemical elements. The key difference between aluminum and steel is that aluminum is less hard than steel. Aluminum and steel are metallic substances. The key difference between aluminum and steel is that aluminum is less hard than steel. This is mainly because the hardness of steel is enhanced by adding different chemical elements, and steel can be modified into different forms according to the purpose of its use.

I posted this before as a warning about using non-FCC-type-accepted radios on GMRS, but it seems like it's worth a re-post. This screen grab from an FCC training film illustrates just how serious the FCC is about enforcing type-acceptance regulations. I know. Scary.

There is an "ignore user" feature on this site. I would suggest putting him on it. Nothing you have posted violates any written or unwritten rules. Some people just want to be king for a day.

I'm just throwing this out there. Does the threaded end look like the brass threaded end of this adapter? Because the picture you provided doesn't show us.

PL means Private Line. It's the same as a CTCSS tone. Motorola patented the Private Line term.

If you're talking about legally like hands free laws, then you would need to check your local laws to see if a radio needs to be hard-mounted with a microphone. If you're talking about power-wise, I often use an HT with a mag mount and that 5 watts does fine with my local repeaters that are 5,000 feet up and 15-20 miles away.

It's a good thing the FCC gave us the Part 95 regulations and definitions right on their website in plain English, because if we had to rely on MyGMRS interpreters like this guy to explain the rules, we would all be getting fines.

That won't work. You need to be outside the car or use an outside antenna connected to the radio. RF can barely get out of the car. You lose most of your transmit power.

I need to ask. Were you using the HT in the car without any kind of outside antenna? Because that RF energy gets trapped inside the car.

I'll bet you hold the record for being on the most MyGMRS ignored user lists.

It often makes me wonder why base stations are even a thing in GMRS, because it says right there in the acronym, General Mobile Radio Service. No one even makes GMRS base stations. You can buy CB base stations, FRS base stations, and amateur radio base stations, but no GMRS base stations. You need to roll your own with an HT or a mobile connected to a power supply. It's also odd that if I'm talking simplex from my house to a mobile or HT, I'm a base station, but if I'm talking to those same people through a repeater, I'm a control station. The FCC is weird.

It depends on where you intend to spend most of your time transmitting. That's the whole reason to buy a transceiver, otherwise a scanner like my Uniden BC75XLT would work for you. The FT-65 does more in terms of transmitting, being that it's dual band. If you ever want to do amateur radio, you would be ready. It also does more receiving, but no FM broadcast. One thing that may be a factor is that the FT-65 antenna, and in fact the whole radio, is designed to transmit on amateur VHF and UHF. Transmitting out-of-band on GMRS and MURS may reduce the power output. I know it happens with my FT-70. Oddly, it doesn't happen with my Baofeng UV-5R. That thing transmits full power on both amateur and GMRS. If you're only going to use GMRS. go with the KG-905G. That way you're more likely to get the most power output and GMRS functionality. If you think you'll use both GMRS and amateur, get the Yaesu so you can be an outlaw and use one radio for both, but be ready to possibly accept lower GMRS transmit power.

You should have an FCC Registration Number (FRN). Using this number, enter it in to the FRN field on this FCC GMRS License Search tool and click on search. If you have gone through the entire process of applying for the license, once the system issues your call sign, it will appear. The system updates each day overnight, so you can check it daily until you see your call sign. https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchGmrs.jsp

Frankly, I think it would be a pretty expensive roll of the dice. Like you said, there is very little I could find about this radio, other than Amazon reviews and an Ebay presence. There are FCC reports for it, but they don't tell you if it can be unlocked. I don't see it listed on CHIRP, but apparently there is software available from the manufacturer. It looks nice, but it apparently does one thing, FM 70 cm amateur. You can always buy it on Amazon, test it and post your findings, and return it if you don't like it.

Have you considered the Yaesu FT-4XR? It can be opened up for additional frequencies, but you don't get the air band. Like the FT-65, it also appears to be CHIRP-compatible (at least it shows on the CHIRP drop-down menu), and it's (at the time of this post) on sale for $80 at Ham Radio Outlet. If I didn't have a fleet of HTs already, I would get one. Also, at HRO, the FT-65 is on sale for $110. Neither one is the ten-watt powerhouse you're looking for, but they're solid versatile radios.

It depends. In the parallel universe of amateur radio. the axiom is to use only enough power to make the contact. The same should hold true for GMRS. If you're operating at 50 watts when you could do it on 5 watts, then yes, you are not only wasting power, but you are also putting excessive RF energy into the ether where it does no one any good. But if you're on your side in a Jeep with your antenna pointing toward the dirt and the closest help is 30 miles away and only reachable with 50 watts, then by all means crank it up. Like the axiom says, use (just) enough power to make the contact. Also, running any radio at its full rated power generates more heat, which ain't good for electronics. And some car electrical systems can't keep up with 50 watts anyway. I had a mobile Icom VHF/HF radio that would shut off if I transmitted on 50 watts. So there is that. But like a wise man said a minute ago, you can cut the power if you have it but you can't increase it if you don't have it. I think that's what he said.

I've heard it said (on the Miklor site) and had it happen personally on my Baofengs, that if the plug isn't inserted all the way, CHIRP won't read the radio. And sometimes you even need to trim some off the plug to make it fit. It doesn't take much to keep those pins from making contact. Just a thought.

I may be wrong, but mayhaps it goes back to how the FCC defines a base station, which is that it's a station at a fixed location that communicates directly with mobile stations and other base stations. No mention of repeaters.

In theory, and if my math is correct, if you wanted to throw a 36 inch Harbor Freight pipe wrench in the gears, you could run an offset of as much as 5.175 Mhz, as long as the repeater is receiving and transmitting on authorized main channels, and be within the rules. The only restriction I see is that a repeater can't invert the offset (transmitting on the 467 frequencies and receiving on the 462 frequencies.) I'm no expert on how many type-accepted GMRS radios let you alter the repeater offsets, but that would be the wrench.

And here I thought MyGMRS forums were pits of snarkiness. Personally, the way I read the rules, it looks like linking GMRS repeaters is prohibited, but the way the rules are written generates debate. And the answers from the FCC only fuel the debate. I would never come right out and say it publicly, but I think linking GMRS repeaters is stupid and it ties up valuable bandwidth. But I'm not in charge.