GMRS Radio Question?

[3TV]

I have a Midland MTX 500 GMRS radio in my Jeep. It receives on all channels but only transmits on channels 1-7 and on channels 15-22. I read through the little booklet they give you with the radio, including the troubleshooting section, and it doesn't mention anything about this. I called Midland customer service and the lady I spoke with didn't seem to know much about the radio, but she had a supervisor that she consulted. She then said that channels 8-14 are FRS channels and are "listen only" channels. Apparantely there was an update on the MTX 500 and other GMRS radios last November, and since mine is the new model, "that is just the way it is, and I can't change it."

But my cheap little handheld GMRS radio that cost something like $10 will transmit on all channels just fine.

Anyone know anything about this? How can I get my Midland radio to transmit on all channels?

I also bought a different brand GMRS radio for my wife's Gladiator at the same time. It is the same way, it only transmits on channels 1-7 and 15-22, but it can receive on all 22 channels.

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[autotragic]

I have a Midland MTX 500 GMRS radio in my Jeep. It receives on all channels but only transmits on channels 1-7 and on channels 15-22. I read through the little booklet they give you with the radio, including the troubleshooting section, and it doesn't mention anything about this. I called Midland customer service and the lady I smoke with didn't seem to know much about the radio, but she had a supervisor that she consulted. She then said that channels 8-14 are FSS channels and are "listen only" channels. Apparantely there was an update on the MTX 500 and other GMRS radios last November, and since mine is the new model, "that is just the way it is, and I can't change it."

But my cheap little handheld GMRS radio that cost something like $10 will transmit on all channels just fine.

Anyone know anything about this? How can I get my Midland radio to transmit on all channels?

I also bought a different brand GMRS radio for my wife's Gladiator at the same time. It is the same way, it only transmits on channels 1-7 and 15-22, but it can receive on all 22 channels.

It's because the FRS channels have a lower wattage transmit restriction.

Your radio exceeds that so legally it cannot transmit on those channels.

And that's why your handheld can.

 

[Terrymo]

I think channels 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts of power

Edit: @autotragic beat me to it

 

[Mark75H]

FRS also has an antenna restriction. The antenna may not be removable from the radio. (Stops you from using a higher gain taller mounted antenna. FRS is intended for limited range use.)

 

[3TV]

Awesome guys. Thanks for the great explanations. I guess all is well with my radios, LOL.

 

[bd100]

Yea, your 500 does 50W ("high") or 5W power ("low"), but has no setting for 0.5W, so it is not allowed to transmit on the "low power" channels. Those 0.5W channels are at frequencies which are inserted between the others, so they have to "live small" with narrow bandwidth and low power so that they don't bleed over to the regular higher-power frequencies nearby.

This does mean that if you want to interact with the handheld folks then you have to be sure they are using frequencies 1-7 or 15+ so you can talk with them. Note that their handhelds also use higher power (usually 2W) on 1-7 and 15+, and lower power on 8-14 (0.5W). Also, 15+ might have repeater traffic which can totally swamp your own signals if they are close. So 1-7 is best for trail use.

 

[shooting4625]

Another thing to check periodically is your power output, when I installed my mxt 575 it was pushing out 46 watts, two years later it is down to 34 watts, called midland they said that is normal…….. I said so every couple of years I have to buy a new radio, they basically agreed, real shame as I like there products

 

[VKSheridan]

Another thing to check periodically is your power output, when I installed my mxt 575 it was pushing out 46 watts, two years later it is down to 34 watts, called midland they said that is normal…….. I said so every couple of years I have to buy a new radio, they basically agreed, real shame as I like there products

Do what? If we were talking about a bungee cord losing tension, I’d be more inclined to agree but solid state components “losing” power sounds like the Midland guy hit his head hard somewhere. Makes no sense even if the circuit board were covered in dried up Pepsi……

 

[Nokones]

The low power output also could be the result of reflected RF power coming back into the radio because the antenna could be deteriorating at the connection or the cable could be faulting, thus cable loss. What is your VSWR reading? How much of reflected RF power do you have.

Also, make sure that your antenna mount has a chassis grounding connection and that you are not getting the antenna grounding through the coax connection.

 

[Nokones]

You listed your location in Southwestern USA. If you're in the Phoenix Area and you don't have the ability to check your antenna tune, etc., and you don't mind driving to Sun City West, I can check that out for you.

 

[Mark75H]

Do what? If we were talking about a bungee cord losing tension, I’d be more inclined to agree but solid state components “losing” power sounds like the Midland guy hit his head hard somewhere. Makes no sense even if the circuit board were covered in dried up Pepsi……

It's usually not the solid state parts causing the problem ... usually a function of capacitors loosing value. This is COMMON in RF equipment, so common there are cap replacement kits for many old radios to bring them back into spec.

Color me shocked that Midland is using caps so cheap that they fade out so quickly.

 

[Bobsled]

All Gmrs questions have been answered on YouTube

notarubicon channel

 

[VKSheridan]

It's usually not the solid state parts causing the problem ... usually a function of capacitors loosing value. This is COMMON in RF equipment, so common there are cap replacement kits for many old radios to bring them back into spec.

Color me shocked that Midland is using caps so cheap that they fade out so quickly.

I hear ya. Coax deterioration causing “signal bleed” would have been my first hunch. Motorola used to be THE name in quality, sad to see them start looking like a cheap knockoff. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Mark75H]

Midland, not Motorola

 

[VKSheridan]

Midland, not Motorola

Yeah, I was thinking Midland while typing Motorola or the other way around. Speaking of aged coax….LOL

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