UncleYoda

Duplex off means transmit is still allowed on the receiving frequency, which could still get him in trouble. EDIT: I am not sure; "off" may be different than blank, if you trust that but I can't test right now. EDIT2: I checked one radio with "off" and the TX indicator lights do come on, but that's as far as I would go. AFAIK, Chirp's special settings included, the "major PITA" way is the only way because regular UV5Rs do not support separate frequency ranges for TX and RX. There are UV-5R-ish models like the GT-5R that only transmit on HAM while allowing you to put in non-HAM frequencies for receive only. p.s. I looked and I don't see a setting for VFO TX. There is one for VHF and one for UHF, but it isn't clear if that just applies to VFO or channels as well.

The "don't listen to them" idea ignores that they are tying up one of the frequencies that is also used for high power simplex. Also, I cannot block by tone on any of my GMRS radios. Even my dual band HTs don't have that.

There's a nationwide linked repeater near me. And I hear the same thing. I see no real benefit to wide area linking. Local area or statewide linking is the most I'd want. But really standalone is probably the best so we can choose which repeaters we talk on.

This image may give an idea of how to enter the tones. The ones with TSQL set have both transmit and receive tones. DTCS includes TX and RX with the same tone. You would only have a value in RX DTCS if the tones are different (that would be Cross mode).

It wasn't high enough, not even close, to cover a large area. And yes I saw it, and 2 fighter jets that approached it.

I tested an ammo box using radios (2m HT with rubber duck antenna) and it still RXed. I figured it was because of the rubber gasket. Old gutted microwave worked though.

I just went through a troubleshooting comparison of the cable I received with the DB20-G (with knock-off chip) and someone who has the Wouxun cable. The pins are not wired the same, so IMO it's not safe to try as well as not likely to work. I have been unable to find a good alternative cable.

I don't think you understand; do you even have this radio? Channels 31-38 cannot be selected for adding from the radio. 39 can but it is only for simplex because the repeater functions are disabled. 40 and above are receive only. Anyway, I got the software to run! But now the cable isn't recognized. The manual's instructions for installing the driver are nonsense. And as far as I can tell, the driver is not included with the software. So now I have to go search for the driver. Just a big mess. (If I find the driver, I hope installing it doesn't mess up my other programming cables that are working for other radios.)

You're still stating both of those wrong. Putting up a tower is subject to the height restrictions. And the ERP applies to the 462 MHz interstitial frequencies at 5.0 W too.

Base station, which is well understood by HAMs, is setup at a fixed location (typically antenna on pole, tower or tree). Fixed station is some mysterious type (not used in HAM) named but not properly defined in the GMRS regs (definition given is not valid) that no one can explain including FCC.

Browse or Use their Custom Cable builder: https://mpddigital.us/ Or this: https://thewireman.com/product/cq-rg8-low-loss-4xl-lmr400-equivalent/ (The Wire Man sells at a lot of hamfests (not sure about all parts of the US).

Nope, that's just the standard way to add channels. Can't select 31-38.

Yea, but I guess you missed the whole point. That's just the standard procedure for adding channels, which I can do and have done. It doesn't work for 31-38, the channels that allow transmit to repeaters, because they can't be selected - the selector jumps from 14 to 39. Radioddity support said I shouldn't have been able to enter a channel for 39 either but I can, so that's one of the nine. And that proves there's no good reason to block the others.

Bad news (in my case anyway). They say software is required to add entries in those 9 extra channels. That should have been stated in the product description so we would know before we purchase.

No. I don't have a digital camera. i did take a photo with the phone but the browser I choose to use is being blocked from interacting with threads here (trying to force me to use Chrome or some other app I don't have). If you don't trust me then ignore. But what it shows is black screen with white text that says: MODE: GMRS V2.34 I even waited longer this time to see if it went to another screen, but no.

Holding the V/M button down during power on only gives me the firmware version, not a frequency selection list. Maybe they disabled it in newer firmware (mine is 2.34).

I have a DB-20G with firmware 2.34 in factory GMRS mode but cannot add channels 31-38 at all, not even for RX. 39 does work for TX and RX, but that is only one not the extra 9 advertised. Should I ask Radioddity what's wrong? [edit: I did send them a message] p.s. 31-39 would be 9, not 31-40 and indeed 40 does not TX on mine.

The software issue I have is probably something specific to my machine, so not worth troubleshooting here. I just wanted to know what I'd be missing. The V/M key tip does help some.

The Radioddity software will not work on my Windows 10 machine. Would I be missing out on any important settings without programming software? And is there a way to switch it over to Ham frequencies without using the software? UPDATE: the software is working

Some way to tell what information was updated. I see some that were updated x days ago but they look the same.

For saving the appropriate power level when adding a channel.

Not a mistake. Repeater owner has insisted he thinks they all should be open. He decided after initial testing to not list tones anymore. My point is the database shouldn't allow Open and Unlisted; that's what Permission Required is for. (In this case, owner has also disabled access requests, but that may not be permanent.) There is a "No Tone" choice so Unlisted is clearly different. (Again, in this case, I know there will be tones.)

What if the tones are unlisted but the repeater is listed as Open? Is that really open? Seems like it should say Permission Required or Members Only (Free).

On a GMRS system with a duplex repeater and some local simplex repeaters/nodes, what is meant by a receiver node? Input only, to the repeater? Or repeating the repeater output? Or something else? I'm not even sure what distinguishes a node from a repeater unless node means just internet access without repeater output locally.

Would be nice if you added a searchable database field for COUNTY (i.e, state and county search) to the repeater listing.