Overwhelmed Newbie

[WROY773]

Happy Monday - I'm not much for drama but you all are somewhat entertaining. 

I just got an MXT575 and can speak to the easy of setting parameters but there is no software I'm aware of - as an example, the REPEATER function is boolean - it's either on or off.  I'm in Northern Virginia and have been able to set REPEATER to "on" and can hear repeater tones, and an occasional conversation, but have yet to have anyone answer when I toss out my call sign and ask for a comm check.  It would be nice, as someone mentioned, to have the ability to test which I don't think I have at the moment....

All that said, I really didn't want the complication of HAM nor the noise/chatter of CB.  I'll keep at it, but am open to suggestions. 

 

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, WROY773 said:

Happy Monday - I'm not much for drama but you all are somewhat entertaining. 

I just got an MXT575 and can speak to the easy of setting parameters but there is no software I'm aware of - as an example, the REPEATER function is boolean - it's either on or off.  I'm in Northern Virginia and have been able to set REPEATER to "on" and can hear repeater tones, and an occasional conversation, but have yet to have anyone answer when I toss out my call sign and ask for a comm check.  It would be nice, as someone mentioned, to have the ability to test which I don't think I have at the moment....

All that said, I really didn't want the complication of HAM nor the noise/chatter of CB.  I'll keep at it, but am open to suggestions. 

 

 

I am just south of you in Woodbridge.  A friend of mine has 5 unlisted repeaters in Seven Corners, Gaithersburg, DC and Haymarket/Gainsville.  They are all pretty quiet.  One is used by a local CERT team and even that one is pretty quiet. 

 

The one my friends and I use is the one in the Haymarket/Gainsville area.  If you PM me, we can put some time aside and test on one we can both reach.  Also, I can give you the details on the Haymarket/Gainsville machine and you can see if you can reach it.  He just doesn't what the info on any websites.

[WROY773]

@marcspaz - Cool - validation would be nice - at least I won't wonder if I'm bright enough to follow @OffRoaderX very simple instructions.  Sigh. 

Thank you

 

 

[Screech]

On 5/23/2022 at 8:02 PM, WROY773 said:

Happy Monday - I'm not much for drama but you all are somewhat entertaining. 

I just got an MXT575 and can speak to the easy of setting parameters but there is no software I'm aware of - as an example, the REPEATER function is boolean - it's either on or off.  I'm in Northern Virginia and have been able to set REPEATER to "on" and can hear repeater tones, and an occasional conversation, but have yet to have anyone answer when I toss out my call sign and ask for a comm check.  It would be nice, as someone mentioned, to have the ability to test which I don't think I have at the moment....

All that said, I really didn't want the complication of HAM nor the noise/chatter of CB.  I'll keep at it, but am open to suggestions. 

 

Hello,

Glad to be of entertainment, I guess. Anyway, you mentioned that you enabled the repeater feature of the radio. Did you go to the repeater channel? If the same as the 275 (I've not read the manual for that radio, but the interface at a glance looks very similar): After you set rP to oN you will then find 15rp-22rp channel after channel 22. You must be on one of the repeater channels, displays the "RP" next to the channel number, to get the +5Mhz offset to talk into the repeater. You will likely need to also set the proper input squelch control for that repeater in the tC setting.

If you don't know what repeater you are hearing the tones from you can get an app on your phone that can translate the morse code for you, then you can look up the callsign on the map and see if you can determine which of their repeaters, if listed, you hear.

[BKLIPP]

Is there anyone out there that could simplify explaining to me how to put an offset number in and how to put in tones to repeaters?? I have been an avid cber for years and have never had any issues trying to get anything done with any of my cb radios. I have had my Btech 50x1 for a year now. i have yet to find anyone that can help me to where I can actually talk on my radio. I hear people even on net checkins. I cant ket up and talk to anyone because I cant connect to the repeater. So far, I am not impressed. Iam almost ready to get rid of this radio because its useless to me, and I cant find any help. I purchased a cable that the manual said to download chirp. This did not work and it was the exact cable the manual said to buy. I give up. Is there anyone that can help??? I live in Concord, NC

[WRPG745]

24 minutes ago, BKLIPP said:

Is there anyone out there that could simplify explaining to me how to put an offset number in and how to put in tones to repeaters?? I have been an avid cber for years and have never had any issues trying to get anything done with any of my cb radios. I have had my Btech 50x1 for a year now. i have yet to find anyone that can help me to where I can actually talk on my radio. I hear people even on net checkins. I cant ket up and talk to anyone because I cant connect to the repeater. So far, I am not impressed. Iam almost ready to get rid of this radio because its useless to me, and I cant find any help. I purchased a cable that the manual said to download chirp. This did not work and it was the exact cable the manual said to buy. I give up. Is there anyone that can help??? I live in Concord, NC

Hi BKLIPP,

I am sure one of the actual experts will chime in on this soon. You might consider creating your own thread about "Btech 50x1"  to get better responses.

I use a BTech UV5X3 handheld and my manual has pretty good instructions for editing tones manually, yours is probably similar. one thing to do is press "menu" after each and every action as confirmation (this got me tripped up for a while).

CHIRP should be easier because your can edit a spreadsheet vs navigating menus. Where you able to connect to and clone your radio in CHIRP?

Perhaps that was a USB driver issue? Once you connect and clone, you'll just need the correct input/output tones for the repeater.

Good Luck!

[WRPG745]

https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_CHIRP.php

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by WRPG745
wrong software reference on original reply

[wayoverthere]

On 5/27/2022 at 7:14 AM, BKLIPP said:

Is there anyone out there that could simplify explaining to me how to put an offset number in and how to put in tones to repeaters?? I have been an avid cber for years and have never had any issues trying to get anything done with any of my cb radios. I have had my Btech 50x1 for a year now. i have yet to find anyone that can help me to where I can actually talk on my radio. I hear people even on net checkins. I cant ket up and talk to anyone because I cant connect to the repeater. So far, I am not impressed. Iam almost ready to get rid of this radio because its useless to me, and I cant find any help. I purchased a cable that the manual said to download chirp. This did not work and it was the exact cable the manual said to buy. I give up. Is there anyone that can help??? I live in Concord, NC

The 50x1 should have the 30 base channels (22 simplex +8 repeater) programmed already, with the repeater channels already being programmed with the appropriate offsets.  Computer programming is good if you want to add some extra receive channels, but not really necessary for basic use.

The main 2 steps you need for repeater access is making sure you're on the appropriate repeater channel for the frequency of the repeater, hit the menu key (either on the mic or on the radio), scroll to "t-ctcss" or "t-dcs" as appropriate, hit the menu button, and scroll to the correct tone. Hit menu again to confirm, then hit exit to get out of the menu.

That should be all that's needed, assuming the repeater info is accurate, it's online, and within range. Sometimes the range they talk out isn't the same as what they can hear you trying to get in.

[BKLIPP]

Thank you very much. I will try this. Thanks for replying.