GMRS Anonymous Meeting

[WSEH456]

I will start the meeting....

My name is Brent and I have a GMRS problem.  I received my FCC license on 08/21/24 and it's 09/25/24, during this time I have purchased or obtained:

(2) Baofeng UV-5G Plus Radios (the start to the addiction)

(2) Baofeng UV-5RM Radios

(2) Antennas - UT-72G and Comet 2X4SRNMO

(1) Surecom SWR Meter

Countless coax and radio connectors

(1) Potluck / Meet & Greet at the KRUM 575 Repeater Tower

(1) Midland MXT400 (given to me by an awesome fellow GMRS buddy)

I have had frustrations, accomplishments, made new friends, new knowledge and simply put a lot of fun! 

[SteveShannon]

My name is Steve.  After buying 

2 Motorola Talkabout GMRS/FRS combination radios,

2 Midland combination GMRS/FRS radios, and

1 Garmin Rino, 

I finally surrendered my soul to the addiction.  

Now I am a ham radio operator (AI7KS).

[WRXP381]

I may not even be able to count them.  A mobile in every truck and side by side so 9 20-40w mobiles  with a combination if uv72’s and mxt26 antennas

20plus handhelds from boofwang uv9’s to Motorolas.  4 base stations at the house from 20w to 50w Motorolas.  4 antennas on the house 2 712efc , 1 6nc and 1 9nc.  The radios get used from before sun up to late evening 7 days a week.  Plus they just did extra hours during the 2 big fires close by. 

[GreggInFL]

This is hilarious.

You win, dude.  You have purchased more stuff in one month than I have in a year -- and that's my fault.

[WRKC935]

Ahhh, you youngin's are just getting your toes wet. 

Since this is about GMRS, I will leave the number of VHF radios I have out of it.

XPR6550 - I know of 18 that are in 6 bank chargers.  There are more floating around, those are the ones I am sure of.

XPR4550 - Again, I have 6 for sure that I can point out. Probably 10 to 12 total.

I sold off most all of the CDM's I had.  But there was once 20 plus of them before a trip to Hamfest sent them away.  I kept 6 of them for console radios and for repeater setups in the CDR repeater units.

Couple XTS5000 portables

6 XTL5000 mid power mobiles

one XTL5000 high power mobile

One XTS3000 portable

One APX 7000 portable (has VHF too)

One Harris xg-100P (tri-band with VHF and 800)

ONE APX8500 (popped final in the UHF section, needs fixed. Will get around to that.

three MTR2000 repeaters

two MTR3000 repeaters

two Quantar repeaters

three or four (can't remember how many got sold) XPR8400/8300 repeaters

I did buy some CCR Quansheng portable because it's suppose to cover from 18Mhz to 1.3 Ghz.  Firmware updated it and then lost interest in it.  It's sitting here too.

Don't know what else.  Probably a few Kenwood mobiles. 

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

Thems is all rookie numbers.

[TrikeRadio]

My name is Glenn and I have a GMRS problem.

Back in 2012 I innocently bought a pair of cheap Midland GXT1050 walkie-talkies, lying to myself that they were only for practical purposes. I knew deep down I desired to tinker with radios as I did when I was a child playing with CB. 

Reading the manuals and searching the internet I learned that there were things in GMRS called "Repeaters."  I quickly returned these repeater-incapable radios and bought a slightly less inferior set of MOTOROLA MR356R, which also came in a dirty bubble pack. I applied for and received my first GMRS FCC license in February of 2012.  I freely admit I used them for some time, I even "checked in" to a few "nets"... but eventually I weened myself from my addiction. I let me license expire on 02/28/2017. I thought I was free. I thought I had escaped.

I was wrong.

Years later in 2024 I heard that the dealer of GMRS callsigns had lowered the cost to a mere $35. "Go ahead, everybody's doing it. You can handle it," I thought.

I returned to the dark ally where my FRN was still waiting for me, I navigated the dank smoke filled corridors of the FCC website and claimed a new GMRS callsign that would last me ten years, and would drag my entire immediate family back into the authorized, but despised world of GMRS. I bought a set of Tidradio TD-H3 HTs because of a shady street dealer who recommended them on youtube. I was excited, I was thrilled. I knew I could take it slow and control myself.

"They are just tiny radios", I said, "I can handle it this time."

Soon I was checking in on a local GMRS NET as a "guest", but I wanted more. I signed up and payed money to a group who owned the repeater. I got a group member ID. I could now call the repeater whenever I wanted! But I was calm. I had this under control. I was using the radios for practical purposes, communicating with friends whom I cycled with in a group on weekends. It helped I maintain group safety, I kept saying to myself.

Then it started. I did not want to go overboard and buy a mobile unit, but maybe I could get a mag mount antenna for my car and use my little HT with a hand mic to just "Try it out" first. Then I bought a few other removable antennas for my HTs to see which worked better when cycling. I bought different hand mics and even a boom mic headset to see if that worked better while cycling.

I have caught myself watching video reviews of Mobile Units and checking prices. I have looked up repeaters along the route I drive to where other family lives. I have even contemplated paying more money to another repeater club which has more activity on it than the one I currently have access to!

I don't know where all this is leading. But here I am.

I am a GMRS user. There,  I said it.

 

[nokones]

My addiction started in the very early 70s and it wasn't with a CB radio, it was with RCA and Motorola radios and I was a user. Then I got into CB radios in the mid 70s because my Van Club thought it was a good idea to communicate among our selves during the Van runs.

My career evolved with the use of two-way radio communications in more ways than I ever could imagine for over 36 years. I saw the technology of radios from the days of "Tubes" to what we see today, well at least up to almost 20 years ago, when I retired from Government Services as a Middle Manager.

During my career, I was involved in several radio communications task forces with local and federal agencies. I was also lead in numerous special events (political conventions, Olympics, world cup soccer, world series, super bowls, etc.) and emergency incidents (earthquakes, floods, fires, riots) as part of my responsibilities. When I was not planning for special events and emergency incidents, I was planning and managing numerous communications projects such as developing new communications centers and designing/implementing new simulcast systems and correcting/eliminating radio system deficiencies, and designing radio system and equipment solutions to problems.

In the early 90s, I bought my first real radio, a Motorola HT1000. I programmed the radio with GMRS simplex channels and I used them as part of my Motorsports car racing activities throughout the country. Subsequently, I obtained a GMRS Station Authorization, KAG0097. In 2008, I moved and didn't realized that I let my GMRS license expire by a couple months so when I tried to renew my license, I was issued WQJT335.

In the mid-90s, my radio equipment started to grow at that point with the purchase of MT2000 radios. Also, I obtained a Business Radio Service License, WPMQ975, with several Part 90 frequencies. A few months ago, I applied for an additional Business Radio Service License and was granted WSEC911.

There were virtually no GMRS repeaters in the early days.

As of today, my list of radio equipment has grown to a super addiction. In the interest of time, I am not going to list all the tools and support equipment, spare parts & components, I have obtained that helps occupies my time these days and keeps me from being bored when I am not out stirring up the dust off-roading, car racing, or involved with my several radio and car club activities.

My equipment list:

1-Motorola HT1000

5-Motorola MT2000 (2-A7 3-A4)

1-Motorola MTS2000 (Model II)

4-Motorola Astro Sabers (1-Type I, 1-Type II, and 2-Type IIIs)

4-Motorola XTS1500 (3-Type II UHF, 1-Type II VHF

1-Motorola XTS2500 (Type II)

3-Motorola XTS3000 (Type II)

7-Motorola XTS5000 (6-Type II UHF, 1-Type II VHF)

3-Motorola XTS5000 (Type III FPP)

4-Motorola XTS5000 (2-Type III UHF, 2-Type III VHF)

3-Midland LXT FRS

1-Motorola DTR700 900 MHz (FHSS)

1-Motorola MCS2000

4-Motorola XTL2500 840 channel (3-UHF, 1-VHF)

2-Motorola XTL5000 Dash Mount (Base Units)

2-Motorola XTL5000 Remote Mount

2-Motorola XTL5000 High Powered Remotes (1-Dually Diesel P/U, 1-Jeep Wrangler Rubi)

2-Kenwood TK880-1 (1-Temp. Porsche, 1-Loaner Radio)

1-Midland MXT500 (Loaner Radio)

1-Wouxun KG1000G Plus (Loaner Radio)

1-Vertex-Standard EVX-R70-G-7 (Repeater Station) (Same as Motorola XPR8400)

1-Cobra 25 LTD Classic AM/FM CB Radio (Jeep)

1-Cobra 29 LTD Classic Nightwatch AM/FM CB Radio (Dually Diesel)

1-Cobra 19 DX III CB Radio (Spare)

1-Cobra 19 DX IV CB Radio (Spare)

I do feel like a fix coming on in the near future. I just downloaded the Mototrbo CPS and acquired the Programming Cable for the XPR mobiles and portables and will be diving into the DMR stuff with them soon.

I would like to acquire an APX mobile (VHF/UHF) in the future but I'm not sure about the portables yet. I have an extreme high investment in the audio accessories for the JEDI & the Astro 25 Digital (XTS) series radios such as my race car comm interface, headsets, speaker mics, adapter cables, earpieces, etc. and the APX series radios are not compatible with those accessories.

 

[nokones]

PS:

My addiction problem is not an addiction problem. It is an addiction that I enjoy and I am glad that I have this addiction and it has been a load of fun and I highly recommend and welcome it for anyone who wants to indulge.

I'm sure our beloved Queen has a term that he can coin for this addiction.

[dosw]

Ok, since I got into GMRS I've added to my pre-existing collection that included a scanner, a couple of Marine VHF radios, a shortwave radio, and FRS radios, the following:

• Radios: UV-5G (2), UV-5G Plus (1), AR-5RM (1), MXT-275 (1), RA-87 (1), GTX1000 (2).
• Antennas: MXTA25, MXTA13, MXTA26, HYS SDN-1T, Laird TE B4505CN, Comet CA2X4SR (2). Nagoya NA771G, NA771 dual band, NA701G, ABREE dual band, Tram Marine VHF 5.1dB whip.
• Ground plane kits: Nagoya GP01 (2)
• Test equipment: Surecom SW102, NanoVNA, TinySA, 50w dummy load, 40dB, 20dB, and 10dB attenuators, and a whole bunch of various adapters and patch cables.
• SDR: RTL-SDRv4 (4), Raspberry Pi (2)
• Software: Chirp, SDR++, SDRAngel, TrunkSDR, nanovna-saver.
• Cables: LMR400, RG8X, RG58A/U, various lengths, plus various short length connectors. UHF/VHF diplexer (to use radios on two different bands on the same antenna).
• Mounts: NMO through-deck mounts, GP mounts, Midland magnetic mount, Midland hood mount. Multiple MXT275 brackets.

Upcoming:

• Another Comet CA2X4SR and another diplexer to share a dual-band antenna.
• A mobile 2m/70cm dual band radio.
• A 2m/70cm Yagi antenna because I want to experiment with listening to / working through the ISS repeater, downloading NOAA imagery (using the SDR), and so on.
• Prep for General.

[WSEH456]

20 hours ago, GreggInFL said:

This is hilarious.

You win, dude.  You have purchased more stuff in one month than I have in a year -- and that's my fault.

Hey Gregg.

Best of luck with the hurricane.  Stay safe.

Brent

[GreggInFL]

^Thanks Brent!  Much appreciated.  I've handed out some HTs in case everything goes down, though we are more central so we're not expecting much.

[RayDiddio]

You are all insane, but in a good way.

I got GMRS licensed in July of this (2024) year and then two weeks later I went and got my technician ham ticket and exactly, to the day, a month later I got my general.

But... the first 2 radios I grabbed for GMRS would be the TIDRadio TD-H3 - one is kept on GMRS, the other is fully unlocked with the nicosure mod allowing it to have an S meter, waterfall, etc. - it even transmits on 2m, 70cm and 1.25m now which is where I wanted it to be. It does okay, but it *is* a little "spurious."

Once I had the ham ticket, I grabbed the AnyTone D878UVII Plus because I am interested in DMR (and I use it regularly) and I really love this radio so far. I mostly us RT Systems programmer for it, but that software does not read/handle DMR contacts outside of importing them from a server somewhere and rather than deal with that, I just generate the contacts on RadioID and import them using CPS.

I've built a Slim J, which I use now on the 878, I have 9 "rubber ducky" antennas such as Smiley, Signal Stuff (I like this antenna, it's been performing well) and Nagoya for the GMRS radios. I have more purchases to go, but I plan them out, research them ad nauseam and I take my sweet time deciding so it takes me longer to acquire the gear. Right now I have an intense interest in antenna building and am about to place a foil tape slot antenna on my window here in the apartment. GMRS repeater activity is pretty dead in my area with the exception of some rare contacts on simplex, GMRS is not good in my particular spot.

heh.... got away there.

So I do not have a lot of radios overall unless you can consider my Uniden SDS100, but that is a scanner. Currently trying to decide on the next GMRS HT that I want and with so many choices, this will take me a bit. I have been looking at the UV-5x radios as my next purchase, but we will see. Also, despite not having a lot of GMRS contact in my area, I am still into it. It will come in handy during the fall and winter for me.