Radioddity GM30-G, removing antenna

[WROA675]

Anyone out there had any luck removing the antenna on the GM30-G? I want to replace it with a more powerful one (going big  ) but can't find much info on how-to-do it. I saw on a radio reference forum someone did it, saying to remove the set screw, and I see the little hole in the base of the antenna, but not set screw.

[OffRoaderX]

there is a tiny torx/allen screw inside the hole.. just loosen it and you can then unscrew the antenna.  If you are certain there is no setscrew there, then you should be able to just unscrew the antenna.

Ive done it with both my GM-30 and my Tidradio TD-H5 which is basically the same thing.

[WROA675]

22 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

there is a tiny torx/allen screw inside the hole..

Thank you for that, good to know it does come off. attached is a picture of what I see and will my old eyes it's really hard to tell. Regardless, I don't have an all that small, so will have to go somewhere tomorrow and see if they can do it for me. Probably, buy a small allen set while I'm at it  

[MichaelLAX]

Once you loosen the screw enough to be able to twist off the antenna, you can keep the screw inside, so as to not lose it. Don't unscrew it all the way out.

[MichaelLAX]

I was chatting with Bill, KJ6EO, the operator of the 446.86 repeater In Santa Clarita (and Country Music FM-LP station 101.5), as he drove to your neighborhood to pickup some KFC!

I told him next time to try Zankou Chicken now that they have opened one in Valencia.

Best rotisserie chicken in LA and Lebanese style humus, babaganous, falafel and pita bread!

[WROA675]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

Ive done it with both my GM-30 and my Tidradio TD-H5 which is basically the same thing.

Would you mind verifying the type of connection (male/female) on the GM30-G radio? Trying to decide which one of these to get..

1) Nagoya NA-771 SMA-Male 15.6-Inch Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna

or

2) Radioddity RD-332 14.96in SMA-Male High Gain Antenna for VHF/UHF 136-174/400-470MHz Dual Band Handheld Radio

[MichaelLAX]

Be sure to get the “771G” model for GMRS:

Nagoya 771G

[WROA675]

31 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

Be sure to get the “771G” model for GMRS:

Thank you, I might have missed that and I'm at my quota for returning items for this month  I didn't see any 771G's on Amazon, so checking around I found the Nagoya 771G at buytwowayradios (good company?) for $18 or the Nagoya 771 Gain ( I did notice the difference) for $8 at wallyworld (I don't know much, but I'm not sure I trust it, I read something about "counterfeit" brands, plus shipping takes two weeks). Just thought that was an interesting contrast and I will not be buying the 771 Gain. I'm still on the fence though...why do I like the RD 332, well it's the same brand as my radio. It boost VHF/UHF 136-174/400-470MHz Dual Band , is that significant, I have no idea, but it sounds like I'd be able to scan those emergency channels, once I get the HT programmed and all the other cool stuff I'm missing out on right now.  Oh, still haven't gotten my antenna off yet and haven't received confirmation what type of connector the GM30 base has (male or female), but the first company has either option to choose from so I may not need any additional adaptor(s). 

[MichaelLAX]

23 minutes ago, Papatree said:

Thank you…

When a comment is underlined, it usually means it is a link you can click on:

Nagoya 771G

in this case it takes you to BuyTwoWayRadio

more later

[WyoJoe]

2 hours ago, Papatree said:

Would you mind verifying the type of connection (male/female) on the GM30-G radio?

The GM-30 has an SMA-F fitting on the radio, which requires an antenna with an SMA-M connection. The NA-771G from Buy Two Way Radios is available in both SMA configurations, plus BNC, and is specifically tuned for GMRS frequencies. Most Baofeng radios require antennas with the SMA-F connection, so if you order something different that doesn't specify the connector, it probably won't work on the GM-30.

There is also a shorter NA-701G antenna you can buy, but some reviewers have said it doesn't work much better than the stock antenna. I haven't tried it, so I can't comment on that aspect of it from my own experience. It has the advantage (as does the stock antenna) of being less intrusive than the 771G due to its shorter length.

If you're going to use the radio in a vehicle, I'd recommend a magnet-mount (or permanent mount) external antenna for better performance. Even a cheap, but properly tuned, mag mount will improve performance substantially over using a whip attached to the radio inside the vehicle.

[WROA675]

40 minutes ago, WyoJoe said:

If you're going to use the radio in a vehicle, I'd recommend a magnet-mount

Thank you WyoJoe. Sounds like I'm on the right track. The 771G is for my GM30 and I order the Bingfu Ham Radio Vehicle Car Mobile Radio Antenna Dual Band VHF UHF 136-174MHz 400-520MHz Magnetic Base PL259 Male Antenna (from Amazon) for my DB20-G in my rig. Both radios are from Radioddity.

[WyoJoe]

I have the Anytone AT-779UV as a mobile radio in my truck and another on my desk as a base station. It's the same radio as the DB20-G.

I have a few GM-30 HTs and Tidradio TD-H5 HTs. These models are essentially identical. I've put the 771G antennas on a couple of them, but because it's so long, I often prefer to grab a radio with the stock antenna for close by/local communication.

[DDinMCMI]

10 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

Once you loosen the screw enough to be able to twist off the antenna, you can keep the screw inside, so as to not lose it. Don't unscrew it all the way out.

I just set the screw aside in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping.  Makes it easier to change out antennas on the fly, as the screw really isn't necessary to hold the antenna in-place.

[MichaelLAX]

3 hours ago, DDinMCMI said:

I just set the screw aside in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping.  

My experience with "safe keeping" is that I can't find it when I need it! hahaha

So in this case, I just loosened the screw in my antenna and, if for example, I ever sell it or give it away, I know exactly where it is! 

[WyoJoe]

17 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

My experience with "safe keeping" is that I can't find it when I need it! hahaha

So in this case, I just loosened the screw in my antenna and, if for example, I ever sell it or give it away, I know exactly where it is! 

On mine, I just back the screw off a little bit, but leave it in the antenna. That way it's there already in case I ever choose to use it again.

[MichaelLAX]

I looked yesterday and now mine is gone! hahahaha

I guess I loosened it too much!

But the antenna still screws down all the way and is as tight as one without a screw, so no harm, no foul!

I ordered an adapter for my Diamond 77 (similar to Nagoya 771) so that it will work with the opposite SMA, instead of the two adapters I use now, which might damage the radio from too much force if I hit the antenna on something.

PS: Joe, have you seen the TYT TH-UV88? One is on the way to me with an extra high capacity battery

[MichaelLAX]

15 minutes ago, WyoJoe said:

Yes, I have one. It's essentially the same form factor as the GM-30, although quite a bit different on the firmware/software side...

 

Thanks for the battery tip.

Why did you buy a TYT since you already have the GM-30?

Every since Stockjock told me about the Pofung P15UV, which he received to review for Amazon, I have been so happy I purchased one for $28; primarily because it has the ability to scan CTCSS and DCS tones to aid in my repeater hunting.

I have been a bit frustrated in that the P15UV seems pretty well "locked" into only transmitting on GMRS and I really enjoy the full experience of transmitting on GMRS, 2 meters and 70 cm that my Anytone AT-779UV allows, but it is not an HT.

I went to drive up to Chatsworth Peak yesterday to do a little repeater hunting and brought my P15UV as well as a UV-5HP (for 2 meter and 70 cm transmissions) and of course the Anytone already in my car.

I went beyond the antenna farm up higher, off the paved road until I reached the top: it was a little challenging as my "Jeep" is really a low center of gravity 2 wheel drive Chevy Bolt EV! hahahaha

I did some scanning up there and after bringing up the Jet Propulsion Lab (CalTech) Repeater chart for SoCal, worked my way into a few repeaters and met some new friends! I know I can already hit the PVARC Ham repeater up there from my home shack, and hopefully today I will be able to hit the new ones too.

I tried to reach PapaTree simplex, but it was just not in the cards from there.

The reason I ordered the TYT is that I have learned it is easily "opened" so that it will transmit on GMRS, too!

It will be great to have that capability again on a solid 5 watt HT and for only $30, free shipping: Let Get Ready

[WyoJoe]

36 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

Thanks for the battery tip.

Why did you buy a TYT since you already have the GM-30?

I bought the UV88 for ham use (mostly monitoring), since I already had the GM-30 for GMRS use. I liked the idea of having interchangeable batteries, and I wanted the drop-in charger, too, since it's very easy to use to charge my radios and spare batteries. Initially, I wasn't sure if the batteries were interchangeable, or if the drop-in charger would work for the GM-30, so another part of the reason for buying the UV88 was to satisfy my curiosity about these things. That way I would know, and could share that information with others.

[MichaelLAX]

39 minutes ago, WyoJoe said:

I bought the UV88 for ham use (mostly monitoring)...

It just arrived!!!

I am charging up the battery and will program it tonight!

[DDinMCMI]

2 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

I looked yesterday and now mine is gone! hahahaha

I guess I loosened it too much!

But the antenna still screws down all the way and is as tight as one without a screw, so no harm, no foul!

 

That's what I figure.  I suppose I could have just loosened the screw and left it in.  I just don't want it to accidentally loosen enough to fall out of the antenna.  This way I know where the screw is as I put the Ziploc bag in the radio box.  Even if I lose it at some point, it doesn't matter as the rubber duck secures nicely without it.  I use the longer whip or mobile magnet-mount most of the time anyway.

Now if I can just find the belt clip.  As the saying goes, "it didn't walk out of the house....."

[MichaelLAX]

3 hours ago, WyoJoe said:

I bought the UV88 for ham use...

After having to use Windows to manually program my codeplugs for my Pofung P15UV the GREAT news is that this TYT TH-UV88 works with CHIRP!!

So, I just download the default settings from the TYT into CHIRP; save it as "original," save it again as today's date, make my settings changes and then copy and paste from my CHIRP default set of channels, save and UPLOAD and I am ready to hit the road SCANNING (F-1) all of my favorite simplex frequencies and repeaters on GMRS, 2 meters, 70 cms and MURS!

AND it comes with its own USB to K-1 programming cable.

[WyoJoe]

The scanning functionality is a little different, and I have to remember how it works on this radio compared to most of my others. I'm used to pressing and holding the "scan" button to start scanning, which works on most of my radios, but on the UV88, I have to remember to press the function key, then 1. It's not difficult to do, just different.

[WyoJoe]

8 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

PS: Joe, have you seen the TYT TH-UV88? One is on the way to me with an extra high capacity battery

Yes, I have one. It's essentially the same form factor as the GM-30, although quite a bit different on the firmware/software side.

It will work with the same accessories as the GM-30 with one caveat. The UV88 batteries won't latch onto the GM-30 unless modified slightly. There are two small "ribs" in the slot where the battery latch connects to the battery. These need to be removed to use it with the GM-30. I used a set of small clippers that I bought for cutting sprues on plastic models cut out these ribs. An Exacto knife would work well also.

The other thing that the UV88 has is a drop-in charger. The GM-30 doesn't come with one, but I believe the P15UV does. This one works with all of these radios. I was using a UV5R drop-in charger for the GM-30, and, with a little finesse, it worked okay, but the UV88 charger is much better.

The UV88 works reasonably well, but I haven't noticed much of a difference with it compared to other radios (CCRs) in the same price range as far as performance is concerned. I think the main advantages it has over other similarly priced radios is the ability to share batteries with the GM-30, and the general fit and feel of the radio, as in my case, it fits better in my hand than some of the others.