Radioddity GM-30 (New GMRS)

[srbecker58]

You can listen to VHF, but you are only able to transmit (as far as I can tell so far) on the preprogrammed channels 1-30. You cannot even modify those channels from what I can tell. In the GM-30 software, all frequencies in channels 1-30 are greyed out and any channel beyond 30 the TX frequency is greyed out. When you program a frequency into 31+ it just beeps when you press the PTT button. They are pretty locked down from what i have found, but so far seem to be a great beginner radio with a very poorly designed software. Hopefully CHIRP makes up for that soon.

 

[lbpd16]

You can listen to VHF, but you are only able to transmit (as far as I can tell so far) on the preprogrammed channels 1-30. You cannot even modify those channels from what I can tell. In the GM-30 software, all frequencies in channels 1-30 are greyed out and any channel beyond 30 the TX frequency is greyed out. When you program a frequency into 31+ it just beeps when you press the PTT button. They are pretty locked down from what i have found, but so far seem to be a great beginner radio with a very poorly designed software. Hopefully CHIRP makes up for that soon.

is this a good pre programmed GMRS radio like the Icom IC-f21GM?

 

[srbecker58]

I am not familiar with the IC-f21GM, but yes, it is pre-programmed with all of the GMRS/FRS channels plus 8 repeater channels already input. I do like it now that I have figured out the problems with the software.

 

[srbecker58]

I will add that it is quite basic. From what I can tell, your pretty limited. If you have a lot of repeaters in your area, I would look at a better radio like the Wouxun 905g or something that allows you to save multiple repeaters on the same frequency with different tones.

 

[iMONITOR]

I am not familiar with the IC-f21GM, but yes, it is pre-programmed with all of the GMRS/FRS channels plus 8 repeater channels already input. I do like it now that I have figured out the problems with the software.

It appears the IC-F21GM is limited to only 1/2 watt on FRS channels. I believe the new FCC rules allow up to 2 watts on FRS.

 

[srbecker58]

Not sure if anyone else has run into these issues, but so far in the week I have owned these radios, I have encountered a few hiccups that I am sure can be fixed via firmware updates.

1. Cannot change the boot message
2. When reading from the radio in the software, it will not read the current general settings, so unless you manually change those each time you read, then you are essentially resetting your settings back to factory.
3. When I imput CTCSS tones for my repeaters, it ALSO populates the DCS tones which I am pretty sure makes those channels useless, but I am fairly new to radios still. When you clear out the DCS tones, it also clears the CTCSS tones. So as of right now, I dont think I am able to hit those repeaters...
4. Only can transmit on channels 1-30, regardless of frequency. Therefore I cannot program in any additional FRS/GMRS frequencies or any additional repeaters that may have the same frequency but different tones.

I hope this helps, but also looking to see if anyone has had any similar issues?

 

[lbpd16]

Sorry I’m a noob and not familiar with all the technical stuff. I’m looking for a gmrs that’s not a bubble pack and will be relatively easy to use.

 

[srbecker58]

Ibpd16, for the money and as far as I can tell, this would be a great radio for you then. It is already pre-programmed, easy to use, easy to get through the settings and make changes. It is really the software side that needs some work and if you are looking for a basic, open an go type radio that is better than bubble packs, this very well might be your best bet. Otherwise you are going to spend probably almost double on a better brand with similar features...

 

[bennh62]

Hi All- I joined the forum just for this thread!

I recently purchased. I am able to use their software with the Baofeng cable I already had BUT I am also unable to update the firmware, like another user had mentioned. Has anybody had success with updating the firmware or getting chirp working?

 

[bennh62]

Update! I was able to get the firmware to update:
Hold down the PTT and the LED button at the same time while you turn it on. The display will be blank! Then you can do the update firmware process and it works.

Note, after I updated the firmware I wasn't able to edit channels or the display screen text. I changed the display screen to show "voltage" and it basically broke the unit and put it into an always receiving mode. It was easy to fix by changing the voltage display back to "welcome message"

Looks like so updates may be needed to resolve those bugs. I'd love to see if anybody has success using a different radio profile in chirp. Would be great to edit the main channels used for transmitting.