MarkInTampa

FYI - Found this posted in another forum:
 

I've heard a bunch on FRS and simplex GMRS. A bunch of it has already been listed here... School pickup lines, traffic flagmen, 5 year old kids screaming and holding the call button for minutes on end, tree services, crane operators, the nursery next door to me, etc but these are the ones that stand out so far....
Guy called out to his wife while on the stool - "Next commercial break can you bring me some TP? I'm waiting".
A local Gym was using FRS for a bit - until somebody started messing with them. Every time they transmitted, somebody else keyed up with a recording of Cheech and Chong's "Dave's not here" skit
Last night was a winner though - a man and woman talking on FRS that thought FRS was wonderful. It couldn't be traced like their cell phone and the guy with the ankle monitor was far enough away as not to violate the terms of the personal protection order and still be able to communicate.

I've heard a bunch on FRS and simplex GMRS. A bunch of it has already been listed here... School pickup lines, traffic flagmen, 5 year old kids screaming and holding the call button for minutes on end, tree services, crane operators, the nursery next door to me, etc but these are the ones that stand out so far....
Guy called out to his wife while on the stool - "Next commercial break can you bring me some TP? I'm waiting".
A local Gym was using FRS for a bit - until somebody started messing with them. Every time they transmitted, somebody else keyed up with a recording of Cheech and Chong's "Dave's not here" skit
Last night was a winner though - a man and woman talking on FRS that thought FRS was wonderful. It couldn't be traced like their cell phone and the guy with the ankle monitor was far enough away as not to violate the terms of the personal protection order and still be able to communicate.

I've heard a bunch on FRS and simplex GMRS. A bunch of it has already been listed here... School pickup lines, traffic flagmen, 5 year old kids screaming and holding the call button for minutes on end, tree services, crane operators, the nursery next door to me, etc but these are the ones that stand out so far....
Guy called out to his wife while on the stool - "Next commercial break can you bring me some TP? I'm waiting".
A local Gym was using FRS for a bit - until somebody started messing with them. Every time they transmitted, somebody else keyed up with a recording of Cheech and Chong's "Dave's not here" skit
Last night was a winner though - a man and woman talking on FRS that thought FRS was wonderful. It couldn't be traced like their cell phone and the guy with the ankle monitor was far enough away as not to violate the terms of the personal protection order and still be able to communicate.

If you are reading those frequencies from the radio - they are in the radio. The LCD panel DOES NOT show the frequency the repeater is on (just the channel number) and without the software there really is no way to know what frequency the channel number is programmed for.
The software appears to be working fine by looking at your screenshot. If it wasn't communicating with the radio, the "Band", "Serial No" and "FW Version" would not be populated correctly but yours are. The repeater has 16 channels - however once programmed the channel buttons on the repeater will only allow you to choose a channel that has been programmed. If you have 3 channels programmed and enabled, you will only have 3 channels on the radio, not 16.
My guess is that the repeater itself isn't working correctly. The last guy I helped with a VXR-7000 in this forum could program the repeater fine but it didn't appear to transmit. When he sent me a screen shot of the back of the radio I saw the problem instantly. Somebody tried jamming a SO-239 connector into the Type-N connector on the radio and the center pin of the connector on the radio was destroyed. 
One other thing that just came to mind - does your repeater have the built in duplexer option? If it does and it's not tuned correctly for GMRS, it isn't going to receive anything. Try pulling the duplexer and see if it receives then.
Don't go by the software option to see if the duplexer is installed as it means nothing to the repeater - It's basically a optional note field for a tech. You can usually check if it has the internal duplexer by looking for it through the vent holes, remove the cover, if you only have one antenna connection on the back of the radio or if one of the antenna connections is capped off.

Are you able to read data from the radio? (rule out something like the wrong com port or bad com port drivers) If so, a few things to keep in mind on the VXR-7000
1st) If you can read the radio and it shows Rx Freq in the 150-170MHz range, you have the VHF version and not the UHF version of the repeater and won't work on GMRS.
2nd) Modify the program startup for dealer mode by adding a -d to the end of the program to enable dealer mode (ie "C:\Vertex Standard\CE27 for Windows\CE27Win.exe" -d"). This will allow you to change the CW-ID of the repeater if you are going to use it.
3rd) Most GMRS repeaters run in wide band. Due to FCC narrow band mandates after 2003 the software forces you into narrowband (you will get a warning when starting the software). Change the clock on the PC to 2002 (make sure to disable clock auto set) and you can enable wideband.
Below is a screen shot of one I picked up awhile back and donated. I setup the first 14 channels for every option I though he might need (Channel 1 CTCSS 77, Wideband, Hi Power - Channel 2 same but low power, Channel 3 narrow band, etc). Channel 15 and 16 are on the next channel up and down for testing. Then printed out the config and taped it to the top of the repeater.
 

It's actually a 2" or 2.5" (can't remember) aluminum 35ft sectional flag pole. I thought by clamping it to the side of the house it should be able to handle the wind load of the antenna without much of a issue without guy wires. The mast is located directly behind my radio and during high winds I could hear it creaking a bit and it swayed a bit more that I wanted. It was really bad when I had the GP-9 on it. I guyed it with some outdoor rated paracord from DX Engineering and it's been great since then. It's pretty easy to put up or take down (one man job), just loosen the clamp on the house and remove/add sections.
 

It's actually a 2" or 2.5" (can't remember) aluminum 35ft sectional flag pole. I thought by clamping it to the side of the house it should be able to handle the wind load of the antenna without much of a issue without guy wires. The mast is located directly behind my radio and during high winds I could hear it creaking a bit and it swayed a bit more that I wanted. It was really bad when I had the GP-9 on it. I guyed it with some outdoor rated paracord from DX Engineering and it's been great since then. It's pretty easy to put up or take down (one man job), just loosen the clamp on the house and remove/add sections.
 

All my measurements above were done with 50ft of LMR400 cable and the antenna up 30ft for what it's worth.
 

Here's a sweep I just did on the GP-6NC per your request...
 

Here's a sweep I just did on the GP-6NC per your request...
 

The GP-6NC is tuned about as good as it gets for GMRS. SWR of 1.02 at 462.5MHz and 1.05 at 467.5MHz. Also usable across most of the 70cm band. I've also got a GP-9NC but was disappointed with it. It worked a bit better in the VHF bands but a bit worse on UHF. Don't know if its my terrain, height of antenna (30ft), big oak tree near the antenna or what so put the GP-6NC back as UHF is a bit more important to me than VHF.
Here's a sweep of the GP-6NC from 430MHz to 470MHz:
 

The GP-6NC is tuned about as good as it gets for GMRS. SWR of 1.02 at 462.5MHz and 1.05 at 467.5MHz. Also usable across most of the 70cm band. I've also got a GP-9NC but was disappointed with it. It worked a bit better in the VHF bands but a bit worse on UHF. Don't know if its my terrain, height of antenna (30ft), big oak tree near the antenna or what so put the GP-6NC back as UHF is a bit more important to me than VHF.
Here's a sweep of the GP-6NC from 430MHz to 470MHz:
 

Here's a sweep I just did on the GP-6NC per your request...
 

Here's a quick rundown of repeaters I know of in the area. Is there something on 650 in your area? Pasco has a repeater node on that frequency but it's a really low powered station.
550 maybe? - Clearwater is on that frequency, not sure if you are far enough away though
575 forget it! - Tampa 575 will stomp it
600 maybe? Tampa 600 is on it, but not quite as powerful as the 575 and 675 repeaters are but still pretty strong
625 nope - Spring Hill and is somewhat local to you
650 probably you best choice. There is a monster repeater in Sarasota on this frequency but you are more than far enough away. There might be something else on this near you, I'm 35 miles south and don't know what is around you for sure
675 nope - The new Tampa Bayshore repeater is another monster repeater in the area
700 most likely nope - nothing GMRS is on here but there is an illegal encrypted DMR repeater running on this frequency that has drove anybody trying to do a GMRS repeater away to another frequency
725 maybe? - but you said something is causing interference on this frequency
Most of these repeaters except Sarasota sit right between me and you. I can even tell you the height of the antenna and what they are using for a repeater for the most part if you want to know.

If you haven't played around with it yet, I've been kinda addicted to the websdr.org website. Listen to all sorts of HF, VHF and UHF in real time from receivers all around the world over the web. It's a bit of a learning curve but it's fun.
So I picked up a USB SDR dongle for around $50 a few days ago and hooked it up to my spare GMRS antenna. The antenna doesn't do HF at all but does seem to work ok on the VHF and UHF bands for the most part. It has also been a bit of a learning curve but getting I'm getting there, it's only been a few days. It takes a bit to figure out what kind of signals you are looking at on the waterfall. At the moment I'm just looking for normal FM repeaters but with software plugins you can decode DMR, Packet and all sorts of other signal types. I can also have it set to record audio only when the squelch is broke. Cool for recording your local GMRS repeater 24hrs a day if you want.
Anybody else play with SDR?
 

I found this calculator searching around the internet.  The only thing is minimum baseline is LMR-400 cable.  I was hoping it would go down to RG58 so you could make comparisons.
https://www.antennas.ca/calc_ERP.htm
 
My little system with 6.4 watts out, 50' LMR400 to an antenna with 7.2dBi of gain radiates and ERP of 24.5 watts.

I don't have good luck with GMRS repeaters north of Tampa for the most part due to the terrain between me (in Brandon area) and to the north. I can hit the Spring Hill 625 machine (37 miles north) but it hits me noisy around S-2. The Cortez (Bradenton, around 39 miles south) on the same frequency but different tone hits me around S-5 and I've never heard interference between the two and can operate both since they are on different tones. The 725 machines not so much since they are on the same tone. It seems like folks around here really like using 141.3 tone if its a open public repeater and I get that - it's just kinda overused and prone to interference of other repeaters. That's the main reason I'd suggest something other than 141.3 or DCS 546.
Bartow has a really strong machine and covers most of Polk county. It doesn't make it much past Brandon unless your on a rooftop in downtown Tampa (I've heard it!). You are far enough away that I don't think it would be a issue. Funny story on 725 - A few months ago there was a decent band opening, nobody was using the Seminole or Bartow repeaters and I was getting Perry full scale 165 miles away and checked into their net. Of course I heard at least 3 repeaters on the same frequency and tone I was keying up at the same time so I kept it short.

I'm around 35 miles south of you - far enough to not get quite the same GMRS traffic as you but close enough to have a feel for the area. 725 would but a decent channel for your area but make sure you are NOT using 141.3 as a tone. I sit between two of the area 725 repeaters, the Bartow repeater - Polk Co's strongest repeater up 400ft around 35 miles east of me (and 60 miles south of you) and the Seminole repeater up around 60ft last I heard around 35 miles west of me (the one 45 miles south of you, since the antenna isn't up very high it's probably why you can't hit it). The two repeaters are 60 miles from each other and both run 141.3 as a tone. Normally the two repeaters don't interfere with each other unless someone like me forgets to turn off high power that sits between the two and key both up at the same time. Bartow hits me full scale, Seminole is just above the noise floor (height is might!) so if I run low power I "usually" don't key the Seminole repeater and cause interference. The same can be said of Bartow, if somebody in Manatee Co is using the Seminole repeater they also key the Bartow repeater with noise and everybody get upset on that repeater thinking somebody is causing intentional interference. This happens a few times a month and usually with just a handful of users that sit in-between the two repeaters. If there is a decent band opening, the Perry 725 repeater (also on the same tone and up 400ft) can also be added to the mix and is a really strong repeater. If the repeaters were on a different tones it probably would not be a issue. Also, the Tampa 575 repeater (the strongest repeater in the Tampa area) has an alternate input of 467.725 with a DCS tone but I don't think that will give you any problems as long as you are not using a DCS tone of 546.

Check out the Polk Co (Bartow repeater) net on Tuesday's at 7:00pm. It started a few months ago and there are usually 30-40 folks that check in a week.
 

Check out the Polk Co (Bartow repeater) net on Tuesday's at 7:00pm. It started a few months ago and there are usually 30-40 folks that check in a week.
 

If you haven't played around with it yet, I've been kinda addicted to the websdr.org website. Listen to all sorts of HF, VHF and UHF in real time from receivers all around the world over the web. It's a bit of a learning curve but it's fun.
So I picked up a USB SDR dongle for around $50 a few days ago and hooked it up to my spare GMRS antenna. The antenna doesn't do HF at all but does seem to work ok on the VHF and UHF bands for the most part. It has also been a bit of a learning curve but getting I'm getting there, it's only been a few days. It takes a bit to figure out what kind of signals you are looking at on the waterfall. At the moment I'm just looking for normal FM repeaters but with software plugins you can decode DMR, Packet and all sorts of other signal types. I can also have it set to record audio only when the squelch is broke. Cool for recording your local GMRS repeater 24hrs a day if you want.
Anybody else play with SDR?
 

My Comet GP-6NC was labeled that way. The package said GP-6 witch a NC sticker added to the end of it. The standard (2m/70cm ham) GP-6 has SO-239 connectors and the GMRS/MURS version has a type-N connector.

If the drivers for the communication cable isn't working in Windows, it isn't going to work in Chirp. 

This article should help on installing the driver...
https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2021/06/how-to-install-the-wouxun-programming-cable-and-driver.html