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I am new to GMRS, and recently purchased two BTECH GMRS-PRO handhelds and the BTEC GMRS-50V2 for my truck. My question is on CTCSS & DCS tones. I have a basic idea of their purpose, but I noticed that it appears the RT Systems programming software is adding tones to the CTCSS (67.0 Hz) and DCS (23) fields. I noticed that the tones are present in the RT Systems default program (Tone Mode = None) and these tones were added when I downloaded the programming from the radio (the radio was programmed with the BTECH CPS software and CTCSS/DCS were set to OFF). I am saying it "appears" because the Tone Mode field = None. Would it be correct to assume that as long Tone Mode = None that any entries in the CTCSS & DCS fields are ignored? Thanks Mike WRYP302

So I have these Tidradio TD-H5 radios. They're OK when there's only one party or group on simplex, but if there are multiple groups or repeaters then they aren't so great. As seems common in this generic-frame-locked-for-GMRS model, the manufacturer seems to have defined channels by simply configuring memory slots for the 22, then defined eight memory slots for the standard repeaters/shift with no tone, then defined three sets of eight for those same standard repeaters/shift with the ability to configure tone. The problem is that in order to preconfigure the use of tones for simplex for selective calling I would have to overwrite the memory slot for the stock/toneless channel I'm configuring, because the three sets of eight memory slots I referred to have frequency-shift baked in where I cannot change them. While I have the ability to go into the menu for a given memory slot 1-22 for channel 1-22 to change tx and rx tone, I do not expect that a young or old family member will readily be able to do this. Meaning if we're convoying and not using tone, but find that channel use is heavy enough that we need to switch so tone squelch avoids us having to listen to other groups, I can't just tell the rest of the group to switch from Channel-X to DIY-X using the up/down keys. What ideally I'd like are mobile and HTs that can be programmed for both selective calling on simplex (ie CTCSS and/or DCS tone/tone-squelch) and busy channel lockout, without having to overwrite the default 22 channel memory slots. I would like the keep memory slots for channels 1-22 without any other programming intact, plus be able to save frequencies for channels 1-22 in higher-number slots with tone and busy-lockout without having to have repeater shift enabled. Any suggestions for radios that can do this would be appreciated. Unfortunately my e-mails to Tidradio to seek assistance with this have gone unanswered, I expect to be returning the TD-H5s shortly while I still can.