Search the Community

The more I learn about the FCC's General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), the more I am fascinated by RF in general. It touches everyone's lives every second of every day, yet few people pay much attention. How cool is it that after 42 years and 14 billion miles away, the 22-Watt radio on Voyager 1 is still sending data back to earth every day (how important is that antenna?). So why aren't more people interested in GMRS or RF in general? There's no test to get a license like amateur (ham) radio. It's $70 for a 10-year license, and is really easy to get started. So here are some theories. People don't know: GMRS exists Why GMRS exists Why they'd want to use GMRS How to envision themselves participating in GMRS What it takes to get started with GMRS What it takes to continue and improve with GMRS Technical information they should know about GMRS Etiquette when transmitting (TX) on GMRS What a GMRS "Net" is and why Most people within the GMRS community are helpful once you're in, but the community is very inviting in a go-figure-it-out-yourself way, and no one has assembled everything you need to know about GMRS all in one place. We GMRS people are putting the onus on outsiders to sift through thousands of painfully esoteric webpages with a winnowing fork, separating useful info from useless, poorly written, or incomplete info. When I first heard about GMRS on a 4x4 trip, I arrived home and Googled around and settled on a Midland MXT-275 because it seemed perfect for mounting on my truck dashboard. At the time, I had no idea that Midland doesn't manufacture a GMRS radio capable of operating on split-tone repeaters (Dear Midland, I know you're reading this: why do you squander so much potential?). Edit 6/28/2021: Midland heard our cry! They just updated the MXT-275 to include split-tone programming on repeater channels. So for example, now this radio is able to reach a repeater that receives (RX) incoming transmissions on 467.550 with a PL tone of 103.5 and repeats the transmission (TX) at 462.550 with a PL tone of 88.5. I didn't even know what "split tone" was or even what "tone" meant, or carrier or squelch or hundreds of other little things you all take for granted. Since then, I realized that if the big, bad manufacturers like Midland, Kenwood, Motorola, and iCom can't even invite the public to learn more and provide useful content for each stage of the customer journey—Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, and Loyalty—the 2-way radio industry has much deeper problems and aren't there to help guys like me. As we get involved deeper into GMRS, there's little-to-no hand-holding going on at each level of knowledge. I ending up relying on the Ham community here and there and a guy who is basically a saint at a little radio shop in Phoenix, Arizona (hope Tim over at Procomm and the others at the nonprofit AZGMRS.org don't mind me giving them a shout-out). Edit 4/14/2020: By the way, AZGMRS made this awesome list of FCC-approved GMRS radios that they recommend. If you live anywhere near Arizona and are reading this, now would be a great time to become a member. Their repeater network covers some 100 miles around Phoenix with more and more repeaters joining the network (check out their sweet coverage map). But it's still frustrating. I wish a GMRS expert—presumably a manufacturer—would just come out and say exactly what a total newbie needs at each stage of their involvement or level of need. Two-way radio manufacturers should stop wasting time trying to sell, and start marketing and branding, which means educating the public about the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, Why [+how, +how much]) without trying to sell to them. Most new users don't know what they need because they don't know what's possible. For example, I wish I knew that manufacturers don't typically include the best antenna on their radios right out of the box. It took me over a year to realize that the best bang for the buck for a portable base antenna to include in my go bag is N9TAX's Slimjim and that Smiley Antenna makes the best bang for the buck antennas for hand-held radios (which by the way, everyone just assumes newbies are supposed to know that hand-held walkie-talkie radios are called "HT" for "Handy-talkie" and what a "QSO" is). How would a newbie know that the cheap Nagoya 771 "upgrade" antenna for Baofengs that everyone talks about actually isn't the best bang for the buck for the GMRS frequency band of 462–467? How would a newbie know that antennas work best when tuned exactly to what they call a "center" frequency that accommodates 5 Megahertz in each direction (+5 and -5 Megahertz) at the expense of hearing other frequencies? I learned the hard way that in order to properly install an NMO antenna mount on the roof of my truck, I would need a drill bit specifically made for drilling NMO antenna mount holes, and that yes, it is worth the money to do it right the first time. I'm still in the middle of learning how a "quarter-wave" or "5/8 wave" antenna works, the difference between dB gain vs. dBi gain, mic gain, antenna gain, because again, everyone seems to just assume I already know what all this means. I still don't understand what antenna "tuning" means and why you have to "cut" an antenna to "tune" it. Can I make my own antenna right now in a pinch with a copper wire in my garage? Ok, show me! How do I measure it or test it? What is SWR? Can I measure it myself? What do I need in order to measure it? Is one SWR meter better than another for my level as a newbie? Is there something I should learn to make it worth buying the better meter that opens up a whole new world of capability? Is it worth learning all that? This graphic did a great job beginning to explain what dBd gain means for those of us who know next to nothing about it, but now I need to go find out on my own and sift through a thousand webpages to find out if dBd is something new I need to know. Speaking of dB, I know that "dB" is a decibel, but is it the same as my stereo volume? Why do I see manufacturers saying that the microphone and cable have a dB rating? What is going on here? This is madness! We can Google things all day, but which info is true and correct and the most helpful? I think that the entire industry is sitting on a Gold Mine of consumers sitting at home for weeks on end who would love to buy GMRS equipment and communicate via GMRS to friends, family, neighbors, and other GMRS users. Whoever provides the most useful, relevant, and engaging content that stops making assumptions about what people know or don't know will win. STOP ASSUMING. START EDUCATING.

Hello, and happy new years. I own a Midland MXT275 and have been experiencing issues with the receiver. After a lot of searching over the last year I have found this problem to the extreme which I am experiencing is rarely seen but it does exist. For some radios, the picket fencing while moving at any speed renders the radio unintelligible for any channel including WX frequencies. I have changed my terrain, surroundings, speed, antenna, cables, vehicle, and did a side-by-side comparison with another midland handheld and did not have this problem. The radio may be defective but Midland has said they will not replace it as I had another defective one replaced as it would not Tx. Long story short, I cracked the radio open today and saw this interesting screw that looks like a potentiometer in the circuitry. I am not an electrical engineer, but have a primordial understanding of electronics however I lack the in-depth knowledge and tools to properly figure out what this thing does and if perhaps it contributes to my problem. This is a last resort attempt at salvaging this radio. Any insight is apreciated!

Hi all. I have installed my GMRS radio in my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Sport a couple of months ago, but I have not gotten around to setting it up to be used yet. I will need to have my radio working by July for the NJ Jeep Invasion, and I am not sure how to get everything working properly. To help you understand my set up, this is what I currently have: Midland MXT275 MicroMobile Two-Way Radio. It is attached to a Quadratec Quick-Disconnect Mount for a CB Radio (I believe it's the JK-CBMU), which I modified slightly for the GMRS radio. The mic is hanging from the Quadratec CB Radio Mounting Bracket #CBM-75WX11. Larsen Low-Profile Unity Gain Antenna #LP450NMO on a Midland MXTA12 Magnetic Mount, which is positioned center on the crossbar, and clears my soft top. I ran the cable of the magnetic base from the center of the crossbar to passenger side B-pillar, down the B-pillar, and under the molding for the front passenger door toward the file firewall on the passenger side, where it cross over under the dash and back to the radio. This is similar to how Jeep ran the antenna for the SiriusXM antenna, as well as the GPS antenna if equipped. Since I no longer use SiriusXM, I remove the SiriusXM antenna at the same time I was running the antenna cable for the GMRS radio. It is my understanding, similar to setting up a CB or other communications radio, that you need to tune or trim the antenna for proper operation and to avoid any damage to the radio. So my question is, how does one tune or trim the Larsen Low-Profile Unity Gain Antenna? I have searched for information when I have had spare time, but so far, no luck. I also heard that I should not use an SWR meter for a CB radio, so if someone could recommend a SWR meter for a GMRS set up, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hey guys, I just received my SWR meter and ran some tests to check my antennas and triple check a good mounting location etc. My 6db antenna and the little 2.4db antenna included in the MXT500 box are both good at 1.00 to 1.01 across all frequencies. Now my midland ghost antenna, which I planned on being my primary antenna is showing 1.67 to sometimes 2.00 on some frequencies which is bad. Also noted the watts being higher. Is this a bad ghost antenna? pics included for reference. Thanks in advance.

Greetings, New GMRS license holder here. I belong to a number of jeep and offroading groups who are going more and more to GMRS radios along with CB. Toyed with the Baofeng UV-5R for trails until I read up on it. Decided to go legal with a proper radio. My choice is one of the Midland MXT275 MicroMobile. The radio is the easy part as I have a good location for the head unit. The question I have is the antenna location, I'd like to use one of the X-Clamps Mounted on the right rear Sport bar using the 3db Ghost antenna. Since the roof itself is fiberglass and I run with it on during the winter and with a soft top in the summer or top down I was wondering if this would be a good location and not cause a problem with reception over a longer distance.

Anyone know what the transmitter FM deviation is for "out of the box" MXT275 micro-mobile transceivers in "repeater" mode on channels 15-22? Is it the +/- 2.5 kHz (narrowband) FRS deviation, or a more typical +/- 5 kHz (wideband) GMRS deviation? I know the MXT400 transmitter FM deviation can be set via programming cable, but haven't seen any discussion on the MXT275. The MXT275 manual is silent on such matters.

As a General class Ham and licensed GMRS radio operator, I had the choice to make when getting my first radio, I required GMRS repeater pair access so for budget concerns i chose the Baofeng UV5RE dual band so called "cheap Chinese radio" I have used this radio and a 2nd UV5RE with an elderly neighbor who has no phone and is in poor health. to maintain contact and offer assistance when needed. this person has fallen shearing the sma-f to BNC quick connector twice now, has slept on the radio and submerged it in water several times. and all around abused the radio beyond anything i could do to it in normal use. and I must say for less than $50 this instrument is built like a brick S#!t house. the soft rubber keys have faded on the 2nd unit. mine are still like new. I occasionally use a pair of needle nose pliers to tighten the antenna jack on both radios and I expect mine to last years, his not so much. but we will see.