WRUU653

I’m a proponent of starting with an inexpensive HT and get acquainted with the hobby. Lots of radios with different purposes to spend your money on out there. Take your time getting to know what interest you. Congratulations @GMRSJohn and @RevEric on passing your exams and getting your amateur radio license. 73’s

I suspect they said Chirp but this was a reference to the radios program software in general. It certainly seems Chirp isn’t moving forward for this radio for whatever reasons, though I’m sure it would be welcomed as the radio is so popular in its various forms.

It certainly does sound like the antenna may be your problem. Of course it could be the cable to the antenna as well. Do you have a meter to check SWR. I was under the impression Chirp was not available for the DB20.?

Process of elimination, are you able to test just the HT with another to verify at least it’s working properly? You said programmed and manual… Can you show us a screen shot of what’s programmed? What antenna are you using?

What channel are you using in your test? Can you receive in simplex with no tones?

How close is your HT? If to close they can desence each other. Try putting some distance between the two radios, 50’ or so.

I’m fairly certain @OffRoaderX was having a go at “some people” and their constant negativity. I found the Nagoya 771G to be a good improvement. I keep it handy if I need that little bit more but the length is a bit much for every day use. I’ve recently been using the Nagoya NA-320A tri band HT antenna (similar to the 771 in size) which has made it possible to reach a local 220 amateur radio repeater with the Wouxun KG-Q10H. Beware of the fakes out there.

That frequency will be on channel Rp21 with a tone number 22. I’m not much more help than that as I don’t have this radio.

This appears to be a fake. I went searching because yours looked nothing like mine.

I’m using the Comet SBB-5NMO and while not the shortest, at 38” it’s not far from your Midlands 32” height. I can’t tell if you have an extra 6” of room by your photo or not so this may or may not be a good fit for you. It’s pretty good across the bands you want it for too. I posted my results here.

It's a second Gen Toyota Tacoma A-Pillar Antenna Mount from Rugged Radios. They do have them for 3rd Gen as well as some other vehicles, just go to the top of their page and shop by vehicle.

I’m not familiar with the software. Are the lines in the TX tone column indicating it’s set the same as RX?

I found this too but it didn’t really fit the inexpensive requirements for OP but I thought this might be a great for a rental car situation or temporary mount to an off roading friend. They say no ground plane needed. https://www.seasucker.com/products/gmrs-antenna-mount?currency=USD&variant=40080004481086&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=4ae61d1a5c31&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC7X2zOxfIBWxHhe06B0vbfRtVzyu&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiZH4p73UiQMVWSNECB1tVR1iEAQYAyABEgLMP_D_BwE

Some of the creative ideas here got me thinking about window mounts, of course you mentioned cost being a concern and you are using an HT. I found this, it utilizes your HT antenna and it is inexpensive… you may need some bnc connectors as well that can be found on Amazon for cheap. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennakit.php

I think @BoxCar did that, I could be wrong.

First thing I did when I saw it. Thanks for posting

My intention was to be helpful. Perhaps point out that in my opinion I don’t see a problem. I’m sorry if it came across as snarky. I was and am perplexed at the problem or perception of one. There truly are some here (I believe @gortex2 is one if I’m not mistaken) who have chosen to not list their repeaters and opt to use them for personal use. This seems like a true option for you. The popularity of GMRS is without a doubt the reason for increasing interest for permission requests. It seems obvious if that doesn’t interest you that you could either pass it and its responsibilities to someone else or make it private. I included an example of a listing that shares the frequency for what I have to believe is for coordination purposes and access requests disabled. I don’t know what else can be said. I wish you luck with your decision. It is after all yours to make. Or not make. That’s cool too. I’ve no skin in this.

I would try both but the pizza pan in a window should work fine. While a cookie sheet will also work I wouldn’t use it unless you have a second one because homemade cookies are really more important… I think.

I have this radio. It’s a really good radio. Ignore ass hats who only have negative non constructive things to say. Most of us do. I personally use Chirp to program mine so I’m not much help with the channel wizard. I know there are those that love it and hopefully they will chime in.

When PG&E first started putting in “smart meters” they had a frequency that was tripping early GFCI breakers (Zinsco to be exact). Some homes had to be fitted with newer GFCI outlets to replace these breakers. My understanding is they later changed their operating frequency. There were RF issues with early arc fault breakers as well which the breaker manufacturers addressed in second generation arc fault breakers. While some GFCI outlets have been installed in non grounded homes it is not and does not provide grounding but rather for ground fault protection, nor should it be used as such. The GFCI looks for a difference of current between the hot and neutral and trips if it becomes too much (I believe around 3 milliamperes). I have seen surge suppression plug strips catch fire when they were hit with a surge but had no ground to suppress to. Energy has to go somewhere. So just a note of caution there. I would not plug a surge suppression into a non grounded circuit.

I like scotch 103c self fusing rubber tape, a layer of scotchkote (I believe this is what @WRKW566 is talking about) and scotch +33. If you plan to remove it someday then a layer of glass cloth tape or even some cheep electrical tape would be helpful first because you will have to cut through the rest to get it off. Rubber gloves are a must when handling the scotchkote, it will stick to your skin. It’s not easy to remove. This is absolutely waterproof. That said there may be a better less permanent solution but I haven’t tried one.

For reasons mentioned by @SteveShannon the Yagi may not be your best choice for this situation. I think the ano-50g needs a ground plane, if you don’t have one you may want to try a different antenna. It sounds like you are set up for a base station.

@OffRoaderX you be fast sir

What rule is that? Rhetorical question. There is no rule you can't use inverted for GMRS.