WRUU653

Thanks for including page and sitation number... I'd be reading all day lol. Nice find. I guess the repeater might want to consider some tones for the radios RX.

@WSFL333 very cool, thanks for sharing. I was wondering if you happened to test the SWR on 2 meter and what results you might have had. I do realize that might have changed as you tuned the antenna in for GMRS but I was curious about that antenna.

And you as well. Welcome

Welcome @Billz to the forum. I’m basically going to parrot what @SteveShannon has said and recommends. @marcspaz’s video is an excellent place to start. Also I think you will find starting with GMRS was a good choice. You will learn about the basics that will help you understand things better if you decide to get your amateur license. If you do decide to do that the HamStudy app that Steve also recommended is a great tool. I think you’ll find you are not alone with the starting at a later age. I resemble that statement and did it the same way. As mentioned there are some that haven’t figured out the reason for an on line forum is to ask questions and exchange ideas. They will be easy to spot and ignore. So yeah, I haven’t really added anything other than to support what Steve has already said. I may think of something else once I have had my coffee ️

I would take a look at the Icom V10MR , it’s a Murs radio so it should be good for building job sites. It’s built like a tank. Not to much use on the channels. Check out their stress test marketing video, they beat it up pretty good. The cost is high but less than the Rocky Talkie GMRS although more than their FRS version. It’s license free, professional grade, military spec, waterproof and dust proof. Best of all no buttons and no screen, just knobs.

Been there, done that, razzed someone for it and been razzed as well

Steve didn’t just get close, he got exact. The rules are no more or less than what they say. And it doesn’t say you have got to go outside your shack to talk on GMRS, it just doesn’t. A station is anyone with a radio, not a building. Your handheld radio is a transmitter. As long as you are licensed for a service you are free to use it and that is regardless of whether you are licensed for another service. A person can have a license to drive their car and one for a motorcycle, they can use both. The FCC has definitions for everything and it’s those definitions that count. Don’t read more than what they say into the rules.

There’s a few old threads you can look up here but basically fixed stations only communicate with other fixed stations and may not exceed 15 watts. An example might be a SCADA system. FIXED STATION: A station at a fixed location that communicates directly with other fixed stations only.

Says the guy who claims you can’t use inverted tones.

Another fan of the Midland MXTA26 here. Mine is mounted similar to this one and yes it works. Check out the second review by Ham Radio Dude. Rear tire options out there as well.

Here’s a video review from HRCC on the TYT (I like Josh’s videos). My first ham radio was a Baofeng GT-3WP. Cheap, waterproof, good for hiking and it works. I have the bug and my purchases continue to grow but I don’t regret my first cheap radio.

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