UncleYoda

Unless they changed it since I got mine, the GT-5R is made and marketed as a HAM radio. It was made to only transmit on HAM frequencies. The UV-5G is essentially the same radio in a GMRS version.

There is, but it requires paid membership (more for family). 700 in Gilbert area of Lexington Co. and 650 in Columbia. The other, inactive ones listed for 550 and 575 might come back, hard to say.

Any update or is this kaput? Like most forum discussions, it seems to have died. I just checked and there are 3 different listings for 550 in Lexington Co., none of which are working (2 are stale, most recent is offline). I'm getting highway flagmen on 575 (I doubt they're using FRS radios because they are a few miles from me). [Do these flagmen always use 575 in other places too?] And the occasional activity from Crowders Mtn. 575 repeater is still there. The Lexington 575 repeater is offline too but anyway it was Permission Required with no response to requests. So I'm looking for a different home base frequency to routinely monitor. I had an idea that if those in the area would agree on a tone we could use the 600 that mostly sits idle. So IMO 141.3 would be best to start with (typical for open repeater or travel use). Without a repeater, my range will be short but we do have several local GMRSers in range if they want to use it. FWIW, I heard users from Central Time zone on 725 so it is still linked. I don't know about the 650 and 700 members-only repeaters but I'm not monitoring those anymore.

You are justified in asking, but no one here can give the official answer. The answer has to come from Brendan Carr or his employees. And it matters because fixed station is being used in a twisted interpretation way of using base stations for communicating through repeaters.

In my region (Southeast) that would be repeater input, with output on 444.3000. Maybe your region is backwards.

It isn't true simultaneous receive. It's Dual Watch (Timed? Dual Receive), which alternates checking the two displayed frequencies. It's good enough for normal people and $30 radios.

What type of antenna connection does the MU-5 have?

You haven't said what radio or which software! Company software for UV-5G: Edit > DTMF One example (for a different radio, ham version) using Chirp:

UV5R or similar model - have to use software (Chirp or manufacturer) to set the ID.

Ignore the scofflaws here (this forum is full of them) - you do not have to justify following the regs. (Why on earth anyone would trust a utuber joker is beyond me.) Knowing the radio is capable of more is worthwhile for emergencies, but you're right that it's best to not transmit on the extra frequencies normally.

Old UV-5Rs do scan for tone. Baofeng deliberately changed the firmware because some repeater owners complained that wasn't fair. My TYT TH-UV88 does too, menu SEEK 29 or 30.

You did say "open" though, and and the frequency range specified in the instructions includes both. Open is widely used to mean more than just locked to one service. (Don't worry about how busy I am - I'm watching the show in DC.)

Sorry, but you can't have both services on the radio at the same time if you want to follow the rules. There was some guy at FCC a few years ago who said even having the capability to transmit on both using VFO (like a typical open UV5R) violated the regs. I was surprised at that, but reprogrammed my radios, and bougght a GT-5R that was limited to ham. Never did find any final word on that.

"NOBODY CARES" is not correct. It's a secondary offense, like being pulled over for speeding and then getting a ticket for not wearing a seat belt. And me and lots of other hams (and I assume some GMRS licensees) do try to follow the rules even when we don't like them regardless of whether we expect to be warned/fined.

N9TAX does not recommend putting his roll-up ladder-line Slim-Jims inside of PVC pipe or even against anything. If you do it, do some before and after testing.

Not only that but having a radio that can transmit on ham and GMRS is non-compliant. That's why I was referring to switching modes. I wish they would change their stance on that when we have both licenses, but that ain't gonna happen.

I haven't switched my DB20-G out of GMRS mode yet, so I should only need to read from my radio if I get the RT software. But wouldn't the default (factory) channels automatically be restored when resetting back to GMRS mode? I know any extra channels I had added would be gone and having a backup of that would be the reason for using the software, whether it's the RT Systems or Radioddity program.

I'm assuming you didn't try it in GMRS mode. It seems like it would be most useful for people switching back and forth which requires reloading all the channels.

TYT TH-UV88 is a ham version of the same radio hardware-wise. TYT is an actual manufacturer unlike Radioddity.

On GMRS certified radios the channels [1-30] are already programmed. Channels 1-14 should have 4 digits after the decimal like 462.5625. These all end in 5 - they're 12.5KHz above and below the frequencies for channels 15-30. If you do a search you should be able to find a chart to help you visualize the relationship.

The tones with decimal something (xxx.x) are CTCSS. DCS codes are integers (no decimal).

I don't care what you call it. It's whether it's useful to me that matters. I've heard that echo-chamber criticism a lot on forums and social media. And that derogatory, judgemental label is meaningless to me.

What's left? Trip to the doctor? What you had for supper? Playing ham games? A boring check-in net?

I don't think anyone disagrees on that (we don't want CB crap). But should it include censorship? I think FCC regs should be it for open repeaters. Then private repeaters can control content. But with so few frequencies in GMRS, I'm not convinced there should be private use.

I actually tried the off switch or channel button/knob argument with one owner but he doesn't want the content on it, period. I've also used that with regular users and they are stuck with it because I won't back down unless it's the owner's rule. And it's not because I want to or expect to change anyone's political view - they can listen if they want to. It's for those of us who think alike and are concerned to be able to keep each other informed and discuss options.