You guys were so informative and helpful on my last post about the cheap cheap “GMRS” radios that my grandmother gave me. Now I’m back with another radio question, though not exactly GMRS related.

Does anybody actually use CB radios anymore? I dug my old radio out from the storage loft. It is even worth the trouble of getting it hooked up?

I work at a small ski shop and got the 5 watt for very cheap through a pro deal. I do a lot of backcountry skiing in the winter and typically use a hand mic for ease of use on my shoulder strap.

Was gonna buy the one from rocky talkie themselves but am not too stoked on the $65 price of it. Was curious if the brilliant minds of r/gmrs had any recommendations that are compatible with the radio and also maybe have a volume knob on the hand mic in addition to a push to talk.

A bit new to the gmrs world so thanks for any help you can give me.

I have been researching these radios but so many out there. I am leaning towards the Midland GXT1000VP4 and also the 50 watt MXT 575. What’s your thoughts on these radios?

My grandmother bought these “walkie talkies” for $1 at a garage sale. She gave them to me for my kids to play with. I immediately realized that they’re not toys and knew what they are. Now I’m going down the rabbit hole by getting my GMRS license and beginning to research further development into HAM.

I fully realize these are cheap, cheap radios and likely not repeater compatible, but will they be good enough for brand new beginners? Or will they likely only be good enough to use around our farm?

Hi, I’m new to all of this and wanted to get some help on if I’m allowed to use a certain repeater or not. My fiancée and I will be doing a ski trip for our honeymoon and cell service has always been iffy for me so I just bought two GMRS radios and want to set them up and found a repeater that is near Steamboat.

When it says “Use: Open” on this website for Sunshine Peak - N0PRG, does that mean anyone can use it? I’m not sure of how to determine what is available to me or not.

https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=08&ID=21104

Also, what’s the best bet to find a good flexible low gain antenna? I’ve read that low gain might be better for my application where I won’t always have direct line of sight with trees.

I bought us two Retevis Ailunce HA1G GMRS Radios.

Thanks!!

Just getting into GMRS and wondering if anyone is up to test repeaters and chit chat about gear around the Space coast and treasure coast. I'm in Palm bay but can probably shoot a signal up to Viera and all the way down to fort drum or fort pierce. Rest of my stuff for vehicle mounting is arriving on Monday, but super curious to see if anyone is in Palm Bay, Melbourne, Grant, Viera, Rockledge, West Melbourne, Sebastian, Fellsmere, Vero Beach, Merrit Island, Indian harbor beach, Indiatlantic and ecetera to talk to.

WSFB556

Hello everyone I have 2 kg-1000g set up as a repartee and I’ve been having an issue for about 3-4 months we’re at random times at the end of a transmission a long 3-5 second squelch like noise comes on. I don’t known no if it’s a setting or power supply or duplex, but any help is greatly appreciated thank you.

I'm getting my license next week, and I have my radio model picked out, but I find a lot of conflicting information scattered across the internet, so I have a couple of questions:

-Is there an established/accepted emergency channel?

-What would be the protocols/best practices for interacting with users on FRS radios?

Thanks!

Trying to use some 8W radios to communicate in a downtown area (with bunches of tall buildings) and I could use some advice on a repeater set up. Could we just get by with getting cheap-o duplex repeaters hooked up to two 8W radios and just having someone with a backpack and a repeater set up every block? Thanks!

Do you just ask building owners or your local governments nicely? Are there departments that take those requests?

Because I just ordered my fourth one in less than a week. Thankfully my wife considers this one of the cheaper hobby/obsessions I have had over the years.... No one tell her how expensive repeaters are, please.

ETA: The radios aren’t breaking, I just keep finding new models with features to play with lol

So I've been using a GM-15 Pro as a mobile unit with a signal stick on a mag mount. It works pretty well on the receiving end, but I'd like a little more power as I seem to be just outside of the range to hit the repeaters near me.

So I've been looking at the BTECH 20v2 and the Radioddity DB25-G. I like that I don't have to hardwire them in like I would with a 50w and the size of both is pretty much perfect. I just am not sure which to go with.

I'm also open to other suggestions, but I'd prefer to keep it under $150-$200.

I can’t use Chirp. So if this needs some sort of programming I can’t do it. But is it a GMRS that I can simply set to the GMRS frequency numbers and transmit? It’s the Anytone 778-UV2

Tried looking it up but got various descriptions for sellers. Thanks.

Does the GM-30 Plus charge with a USB-C to USB-C cable?

I currently own the first generation GM-30. And it will NOT charge with a C to C cable. It will ONLY charge with a USB-C to USB-A cable. It's a technical issue with the USB-C standard.

I'm trying to standardize all my equipment so that it will accept the same charging standard.

Does anyone know off hand? Or can anyone test?

Have not been able to find any multi-unit charging bases that explicitly support the Ailunce HA1G GMRS radio. Has anyone had any luck with a Retevis or other brand of gang charger? While looking at all the advertised units on the Retevis page, none seemed to support the charging contact pattern that the HA1G has.

Looking for one that can handle at least 6 units.

TIA!

Hello Everyone

I have been lurking several boards deciding about getting my GMRS and Technical licenses.  I have finally decided to take the plunge and get the GMRS first.

I think the Tidradio H3 GMRS or Ham version will be what I want but I would like to have some feedback from any willing to comment.

My Use Case:  Tx/Rx on GMRS & MURS; Rx VHF aviation; Program using a Mac book.

I include MURS because the driveway alert is on MURS so I want to Tx/Rx with the driveway alert basestation.

As my very first attempt at using a programmable radio, is the Tidradio H3 a good first radio?  If so should I get the H3 GMRS version or do I need the open version to have tx on MURS?

Any suggestions at all will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

I setup my AnyTone AT-778UV via chirp a few weeks ago and it worked great with a GSMR antenna.

I moved everything and set it up with a MAM/GMRS antenna and now I can hear or transmit on the repeaters. All GMRS channels work and a HAM 146.520

I swapped out antenna back ti GMSR and still nothing.

Any ideas? I re-programed it and nothing.

Does anyone have a functional setup with an RT97S repeater and the Pi Repeater 2x that would kindly share the proper pin out for the cable?

I am in over my head and need assistance with properly configuring a cable. I am not familiar with some of the abbreviations and/or descriptions on the pin out information for the devices. And of course, what I am finding does not conveniently identify the pins the same on each. The information is from 3rd party sources and sometimes conflicts with other posts. It has become painfully clear, I need a good working knowledge of what these "wires" do in order to know how to successfully match device to device.

I'm more than happy to learn if anyone wants to take the time to better educate me on the basics. I have limited radio knowledge when it comes to custom cables... I'm a trained network/telecommunications guy and work closely with our regional nonprofit healthcare coalitions. I have an opportunity to work with them on future upgrades on their existing repeater sites to potentially collocate some GMRS equipment for community use.

Unfortunately, I had a stroke a few years ago that has left some deficits that make working with small electronics and researching information challenging. I've reached a point where my offer to donate equipment may result in returns simply because I'm feeling this project has become beyond my physical means. My frustration level is reaching it's maximum but I'd rather not bail on a project of benefit to the community simply because I can't identify the proper pins for a cable. I've gotten this far... Ugh...

I reached out to ICS controllers that have been unresponsive until I requested a return on the device. No useful information was provided. This is beyond the scope of Retevis support. I hope someone in the community can provide some guidance and help me get this project over this little hump. I'm willing to purchase a cable and would have eagerly done so... but I was unable to find a cable online.

Basically, I can't see well... I can't handle small objects well with my left hand... But I have funds and some determination left to make this happen. Any appreciation is greatly appreciated!

Hey guys, brand new to GMRS and I know absolutely NOTHING about it. Pretty much have used enough to know how to pick channels for keeping and that’s it. Really want to explore the potential here and get everything out of my mobile radio as I can. On the road a lot and it gets lonely traveling, I’d love to find some convos I can pick up on and join in/learn from. Would you guys have any good advice to give a new guy to this hobby? Looking forward to learning about all of this!

-WSFI656

Does anyone know how to manually switch from high to low power on a Baofeng GM-15 Pro? I have RTFM and searched the internet to no avail.

I'm shopping for 2-3 budget GMRS radios that are waterproof. It'll be used on road trips between cars, and outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking. Mostly freshwater but occasionally salt water.

From what I've found, these two are really my only low cost options. Is one better than the other or are they about the same?

Thanks

So I recently purchased a UV-5R gmrs model and it’s been fine. I have been manually entering my local repeaters and saving them to their own channels and it works. It is preprogrammed and labeled with 22 gmrs channels with 8 labeled repeater channels.

Well my dad got a set of GM-15 Pros so I am helping him get them set up, when I discover that his radio allows him to set tones on the labeled repeater channels and save them, which is much simpler.

So I go to my UV-5R gmrs, to the same preprogrammed repeater channel, and I can not for the life of me get to to save the PL tones the way the GM-15 does. I have to go to VFO mode, set it all up, then save it, except now when I go back to channel mode, all of the labels are gone… it’s not a major issue but now I’m annoyed by it.

Any insight into this? Did I scramble my own brain and the solution is under my nose?

What is the + sign as shown in this picture. It only shows up on this screen?

Also is there a way to lock out transmission from a particular channel to monitor only so someone doesn’t accidentally transmit on it?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there, I am setting up my repeater this weekend and I want to ensure that I am being safe in terms of grounding the antenna. I’ve been reading up about setting up the antenna and have seen everywhere that it needs to be grounded but I can’t figure out what I need to do to ground it. The grounding rod is near the location - how do I need to go about connecting the two?

Is there a specific location on the antenna to connect to?
What wiring should I use?
Is there anything else I should very thoughtful about?

I know it seems silly but most guides / YouTube videos seem to gloss over this without much detail.

Thank you in advance - this group has been extremely helpful getting me up to speed. I’m excited to launch the first open repeater for Middle Ga!

I got my radios a couple nights ago, I registered with the fcc last night and got a FRN, but what is the next step? I haven't seen an option to get a license.... I'll keep looking around, but so far I'm at a loss. Thank you for any assistance!!

Good morning!

I am a licensed ham, but do not have a GRMS license. I'm 99% sure the answer to my question is yes, I need a GRMS license, but I'd like some confirmation please!

Local friend sold me his Midland MXT275. I would like to install this on my camper to communicate with my son through a couple of FRS handheld radios as he's outside playing and I'm inside. Since I'd be using the MXT on FRS frequencies, but using it at 15 watts, this necessitates me having a GRMS license, correct?

I eventually will likely get a set of GMRS handheld radios, but for now the handhelds I have were free.

Thank you in advance!

I'm wondering is anyone can provide me some insight on this. I live in Louisiana and when hurricanes come, it isn't unusual to loose phones for a few days at a time. I've been looking at setting up a repeater that might at least give me some communications throughout my area. The question I have is: How well can GMRS antennas hold up to those winds?

I don't have a house that easily facilitates taking down and putting back up the antenna.

Any thoughts or experience would be helpful.

Thanks for all the help. Mine went live today. Now I just need to wait a couple of days so I can get an account over at myGPMS.com and start studying the rules and regs more in depth.

What are folks thoughts on the Midland mxt 115?