Did I fry my radio

[WRTS503]

I bought the two pack tidradio h-3 on Amazon along with the midland ghost antenna on a mag mount for usin in my truck. The radio I had hooked up to it in the truck will not hit the repeaters anymore, while the other, exact same radio, with its normal antenna will hit the same repeater. Did I fry the radio connected to the ghost antenna or something? I can still hear the repeaters and talk on simplex frequencies, it just won’t him repeaters. 

[OffRoaderX]

IF you 'fried' your radio, it was not because it was connected to a Ghost antenna, unless that antenna or your wiring is defective/shorted.

My guess is you've messed up a setting, which is statistically far, FAR more likely than any damage to the radio.

[OffRoaderX]

Contact their support and see what they say - if they give you the run-around, or dont help, just send it back and tell them to send you one that works or give you back your money.  Amazon makes this VERY easy to do.

[WRTS503]

  On 4/3/2025 at 4:32 AM, OffRoaderX said:

IF you 'fried' your radio, it was not because it was connected to a Ghost antenna, unless that antenna or your wiring is defective/shorted.

My guess is you've messed up a setting, which is statistically far, FAR more likely than any damage to the radio.

Expand  

Iv gone through the settings on both radios and everything is identical. One hits the repeater and one doesn’t. The radio I had in my tuck will receive but will not transmit. Again, all the settings, frequencies and tones are identical on the two radios. I do not have an swr meter to test. There’s no way to tune a ghost antenna anyway. 

[TrikeRadio]

  On 4/3/2025 at 4:55 AM, WRTS503 said:

Iv gone through the settings on both radios and everything is identical. One hits the repeater and one doesn’t. The radio I had in my tuck will receive but will not transmit. Again, all the settings, frequencies and tones are identical on the two radios. I do not have an swr meter to test. There’s no way to tune a ghost antenna anyway. 

Expand  

Did you by chance charge it on the cradle or via the direct battery plug with the battery still attached to the radio while charging?

[WRTS503]

  On 4/3/2025 at 6:19 AM, TrikeRadio said:

Did you by chance charge it on the cradle or via the direct battery plug with the battery still attached to the radio while charging?

Expand  

I did charge it via the battery plug with the battery still attached. But Iv done that with the other h-3, as well as the h-5 I have and both work fine. 

[TrikeRadio]

  On 4/3/2025 at 6:36 AM, WRTS503 said:

I did charge it via the battery plug with the battery still attached. But Iv done that with the other h-3, as well as the h-5 I have and both work fine. 

Expand  

Ok, my not mean anything but I have seen some people who are trying to figure out what has cause some TD-H3s to fail and one theory is that when the battery is fully charged it might start outputting high voltage before the charger cable is unplugged. They are thinking that surge might be affecting the radio if it is attached at the time.

[CaptainSarcastic]

Is there a way to factory reset those and then reload your channels? Seems silly, but I've had similar things happen and a factory reset is what needed to happen in order to bring the radio back to life.

[WRUU653]

I also was going to ask if you did a factory reset, that and have you tried swapping the antenna back?

[TDM827]

Plenty of threads here about a budget radio not working out of the box, or quickly failing. My impression is it kind of goes with the territory in sub $40 value models.

As others noted, if you have everything set correct I would just send it back for a replacement and not waste anymore time with it.

[WRTS503]

  On 4/3/2025 at 1:22 PM, Socalgmrs said:

Can they talk to each other (simplex) 100yards away with stock antennas? 200yards? 1/4 mile?   Did you put the stock antenna back on it and see if it works like the other one?  If they work simplex they work for the repeater. The h3 seams to be one of the worst radios made and the ghost salt shaker isn’t much better.  Also  where is the antenna mounted?  As high as possible in the center of the roof? Or down on a fender with the cab obstructing  it?    

Expand  

I can talk to eachother via simplex and I can listen to the repeater, it just won’t transmit to the repeater. Iv tried the original antenna that came with it and also did the factory reset multiple times. Iv contacted tidradio and will try to return it. This is a new hobby, notaribicon had positive things to say about this radio as well as the ghost antenna, not sure why all the hate towards them lol. Defects happen, not the end of the world. Appreciate all the feedback!

[WRTS503]

  On 4/3/2025 at 1:22 PM, Socalgmrs said:

Can they talk to each other (simplex) 100yards away with stock antennas? 200yards? 1/4 mile?   Did you put the stock antenna back on it and see if it works like the other one?  If they work simplex they work for the repeater. The h3 seams to be one of the worst radios made and the ghost salt shaker isn’t much better.  Also  where is the antenna mounted?  As high as possible in the center of the roof? Or down on a fender with the cab obstructing  it?    

Expand  

And the antenna is mounted on the roof of the vehicle toward the center but not dead center. 

[OffRoaderX]

  On 4/3/2025 at 9:14 PM, WRTS503 said:

the antenna is mounted on the roof of the vehicle toward the center but not dead center

Expand  

That doesn't matter.  as long as you have 2-inches or so of metal on all sides around the bottom, and no metal is blocking the signal (ie; like if was mounted in the bed of a truck), you're fine.

[TerriKennedy]

  On 4/3/2025 at 1:22 PM, Socalgmrs said:

Can they talk to each other (simplex) 100yards away with stock antennas? 200yards? 1/4 mile?

Expand  

That is the important part. I changed the Tx power calibrations on my radio by accident using the factory debug software (sorry, I can't share, please don't ask). A Surecom SW-102 hooked directly up to the radio didn't register any power or even the frequency I was "transmitting" on. However, another radio next to it could hear it and we could carry on a conversation in the same room, but not at any greater distance.

If the OP can talk to the other radio at 1/4 mile in simplex, then I'd look to see that the Tx / Rx (if used) tones for accessing the repeater didn't get clobbered somehow. 

[HT600]

WRUU653 mentioned factory reset.  Did you save the original programing file from the manufacturer? 

Or, read  the working radio, save that file and clone the troublesome radio with that file.

[LeoG]

  On 4/3/2025 at 1:22 PM, Socalgmrs said:

Can they talk to each other (simplex) 100yards away with stock antennas? 200yards? 1/4 mile?   Did you put the stock antenna back on it and see if it works like the other one?  If they work simplex they work for the repeater. The h3 seams to be one of the worst radios made and the ghost salt shaker isn’t much better.  Also  where is the antenna mounted?  As high as possible in the center of the roof? Or down on a fender with the cab obstructing  it?    

Expand  

Why are you here?  You don't seem to like any radios anyone has, only have negative things to say.  Do you come here to bish at people because your life is so sad?

[OffRoaderX]

  8 hours ago, LeoG said:

Why are you here?  You don't seem to like any radios anyone has, only have negative things to say.  Do you come here to bish at people because your life is so sad?

Expand  

It's the only way he can get attention.. He clearly has no friends and i'm sure his family all ignores him, and he obviously never had any genuine respect at his job.  But here, he has figured out how to get people to notice him.

It is horribly sad, but, he's retarded, soo.....

[WRYZ926]

  8 hours ago, LeoG said:

Why are you here?  You don't seem to like any radios anyone has, only have negative things to say.  Do you come here to bish at people because your life is so sad?

Expand  

 

  8 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

It's the only way he can get attention.. He clearly has no friends and i'm sure his family all ignores him, and he obviously never had any genuine respect at his job.  But here, he has figured out how to get people to notice him.

It is horribly sad, but, he's retarded, soo.....

Expand  

He is that weird cousin that everyone shuns at all family reunions. I'm seriously thinking he was dropped on his head too many times as a baby. And if that isn't the case then when brains were being passed out, he thought they were passing out trains and said no thanks he would take the bus.

And he is the poster child for the type of people that would most definitely get multiple blanket parties in the military.

[OffRoaderX]

  8 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

He is that weird cousin that everyone shuns at all family reunions.

Expand  

I bet his family calls him "Gail the Snail" ...

[WRUU653]

  8 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

He is that weird cousin that everyone shuns at all family reunions

Expand  

Oh yeah, okay. Yeah, you know… he shouldn’t drink.

[jsneezy]

  8 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

And he is the poster child for the type of people that would most definitely get multiple blanket parties in the military.

Expand  

We had a few PFCs that went 5150 or 86 because of repeated blanket parties. The worst offenders would receive 3 or 4 parties in one night, depending on who was on fire watch, and how bad the offender was. 

[WSHH887]

I'm pretty new here and probably shouldn't write this. But I've been around online information sharing sine before the WWW. Back when online literally meant on the telephone line to one other computer. Back before bulletin boards. So I have learned a bit about the folks that haunt the anonymous electronic world.  But here goes. 
 

This guy is what is colloquially called a troll. The folks make outrageous statements, often pure fantasy, in order to incite responses. They feed off of the responses. It doesn't matter whether it a good or bad response. As long as they can stir the pot the will. 
 

The ways you kill a troll are simple. First they can be banned by the forum owner. Unfortunately they sometimes pop back up under a new "identity".

The second way is to stave the troll. Again, two methods. Best is to put him on your ignore list. You won't see his comments unless someone else quotes him. The other method is to never respond to his comments. 

It took a bit for me to convince myself this guy was a troll. I'm ignoring him. If he irritates do the same. 
 

 

[Socalgmrs]

Can they talk to each other (simplex) 100yards away with stock antennas? 200yards? 1/4 mile?   Did you put the stock antenna back on it and see if it works like the other one?  If they work simplex they work for the repeater. The h3 seams to be one of the worst radios made and the ghost salt shaker isn’t much better.  Also  where is the antenna mounted?  As high as possible in the center of the roof? Or down on a fender with the cab obstructing  it?