WisCOMMsin

I just picked up a

$25 Radioddity GM-30 GMRS Radio Handheld 5W Long Range Two Way Radio for Adults, GMRS Repeater Capable, with NOAA Scanning & Receiving, Display SYNC, for Off Road Overlanding Family Use, 1 Pack

Radioddity GM-30 mostly because of the reviews and USB-C charging capabilities. Seems to work well in testing so far. Had otherwise considered the UV-9G, would have been on my short list of alternatives.

Most of the devices in this price range seem to be very close in feature sets and yeah as jstemp says at least you aren't out much if it doesn't work (heck you can probably resell on eBay/craigslist and recoup most of what you paid).

 

I have the Radioddity as well. I need to do more real world testing/use as so far I only used it on during the mall crawl event so far. Audio wasn't as good as my CB, but that's comparing apples to potatoes since I have a nice external antenna for the CB vs just the handheld inside the truck. It was nice not listening to some jagaroo in Tennessee pushing 1K+ watts on the channel.

 

Well since i either didnt get one or lost it i found a site that tells me

General Mobile Radio Service, temporary permit 2 letters, 7 digits , WT plus business or residence telephone number.

so my temporary should be WT*******.my phone number

 

Well, ordered the radio and applied for license. Application only took about 15 min.

Now I have a shittonne to learn!!!

 

Your transmit was nice and clear.

 

Twenty-six and a half hours later, I have a license. Sixteen hours after that, I have a radio!

 

Resurrecting the thread a bit here, but I just ordered a GMRS setup and applied for licensing today. Thought about adding CB as well but it seems like most people are moving away from that. Might still do it later on if I end up heading out with any groups that only use CB but trying to avoid buying and installing a bunch of unnecessary equipment if I can get by without it. I'll try to post an update here once I have everything installed and see how well my setup works.

@ajmogen you can add me to the GMRS list if you're still maintaining this. Thanks.

 

Nice! what did you get? Did you go with a handheld or in one to hard mount in the truck?

I think most of the peeps who show up at the outings are running GMRS now. I still have both should the need arise.

 

I went with a Retevis RA25 that I'll be hard-wiring in. I was very tempted by the Wouxun KG-1000G but I couldn't quite justify shelling out the extra cost right now (almost $400 compared with about $100 for the RA25). I have to compromise on antenna location because of my Prinsu rack so I ordered a 32" Laird ngp spring-base antenna that I'll have mounted on an NMO bracket attached to one of the cross bars (also got a low-profile Laird Phantom antenna to swap out as the situation warrants).

 

Quick update, actually got my FCC license and call sign already, only took a total of about 13 hours after applying. Doesn't do me much good yet, I ordered the radio directly from Retevis and their standard shipping was quoting 2-3 weeks. Couldn't beat the price though, on sale right now for only about $80. Initially bought it through Amazôn but canceled the order because it was at least $20 more from them.

 

Finally have the RA25 up and running in my truck, haven't tested further than a few miles yet but seems to be working well. Shipping from Retevis actually wasn't too bad either, only a week to get from China. Figured it would be a good idea to have a handheld too so I picked up a Baofeng UV-9G. Also since I'm pretty new to GMRS I've been binge-watching a bunch of Notarubicon's YouTube videos. While I admit it did take some time to get used to his style of delivery and humor, it's been really helpful.

 

You are a better man than I. I tried watching his videos but I just couldn't get into them.