CHIRP

That the way the radio works when it is in GMRS mode. You have to switch it to one of the other modes if you want to program non-GMRS frequencies into it.

I'm not talking about non-GMRS frequencies. Ch1-Ch30 are the standard channels and can't be changed, but Ch31-Ch52 are customizable GMRS channels and allow transmit. If I want to customize Ch31 to be the frequency of GMRS1, maybe with a tone and the name of a group that meets there, the radio allows it and Odmaster allows it. I've done it both ways (except you can't program in a name using the radio keypad). Chirp only allows RPT1-RPT8, including putting in the offset.
On Monday, June 24, 2024 at 05:26:54 PM PDT, Jim Unroe redmine@chirpmyradio.com wrote:

Dennis McMahon wrote in #note-2:

I'm not talking about non-GMRS frequencies. Ch1-Ch30 are the standard channels and can't be changed, but Ch31-Ch52 are customizable GMRS channels and allow transmit. If I want to customize Ch31 to be the frequency of GMRS1, maybe with a tone and the name of a group that meets there, the radio allows it and Odmaster allows it. I've done it both ways (except you can't program in a name using the radio keypad). Chirp only allows RPT1-RPT8, including putting in the offset.
On Monday, June 24, 2024 at 05:26:54 PM PDT, Jim Unroe redmine@chirpmyradio.com wrote:

Now I'm on the same wavelength. Perhaps you are right about the Gen1 vs Gen2 differences and CHIRP only supports Gen1 at this time.

Dennis McMahon wrote in #note-2:

I'm not talking about non-GMRS frequencies. Ch1-Ch30 are the standard channels and can't be changed, but Ch31-Ch52 are customizable GMRS channels and allow transmit. If I want to customize Ch31 to be the frequency of GMRS1, maybe with a tone and the name of a group that meets there, the radio allows it and Odmaster allows it. I've done it both ways (except you can't program in a name using the radio keypad). Chirp only allows RPT1-RPT8, including putting in the offset.

I just checked this on my TD-H3, and I would have to say that Chirp is matching the expected behavior of the GMRS mode, and I think the original CPS, which is that CH31-54 are reserved for GMRS repeaters only.

In GMRS mode, the radio does not really allow truly free keypad programming of those channels. It sort of does in that you can save anything to one of those memory slots, but then you can't change the offset direction nor offset amount. I think that should be considered a bug/oversight of the Mem Save menu option (and Odmaster?), as they may not have had space in the firmware to include the checks and/or display the warnings.

You might also note that, in GMRS mode, all channels after 54 are RX-only, and although Chirp will let you set an offset, the radio doesn't save it and will not allow you to change the offset with the keypad. So, even if you only want to use it for GMRS, but also want to to set CH31-54 to something other than GMRS repeaters and/or want more than 54 TX-enabled channels (for example, to include the preset "extended channels" in many Midland and Cobra GMRS radios), you should just use the radio in Normal mode and program it carefully using only GMRS frequencies and power levels.

Justin White wrote in #note-4:

I just checked this on my TD-H3, and I would have to say that Chirp is matching the expected behavior of the GMRS mode, and I think the original CPS, which is that CH31-54 are reserved for GMRS repeaters only.

In GMRS mode, the radio does not really allow truly free keypad programming of those channels. It sort of does in that you can save anything to one of those memory slots, but then you can't change the offset direction nor offset amount. I think that should be considered a bug/oversight of the Mem Save menu option (and Odmaster?), as they may not have had space in the firmware to include the checks and/or display the warnings.

First off, I can't speak on what the TD-H3 does or doesn't allow, Probably the same as the H8 but maybe not. "You can't change the offset direction nor offset amount" after saving a channel. That's true, it has to be set before saving the channel. You have to go into VFO mode and set everything up, including the offset direction and offset amount, and then save it to a memory. The only thing that can be changed afterwards is the tones.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, any GMRS frequency, repeater or not, is allowed in CH31-52. I've done it through the keypad and I've done it in ODMaster, but Chirp doesn't allow it.

Justin White wrote in #note-4:

I just checked this on my TD-H3, and I would have to say that Chirp is matching the expected behavior of the GMRS mode, and I think the original CPS, which is that CH31-54 are reserved for GMRS repeaters only.

In GMRS mode, the radio does not really allow truly free keypad programming of those channels. It sort of does in that you can save anything to one of those memory slots, but then you can't change the offset direction nor offset amount. I think that should be considered a bug/oversight of the Mem Save menu option (and Odmaster?), as they may not have had space in the firmware to include the checks and/or display the warnings.

First off, I can't speak on what the TD-H3 does or doesn't allow, Probably the same as the H8 but maybe not. I can only talk about the TD-H8. You say "You can't change the offset direction nor offset amount" after saving a channel. That's true, it has to be set before saving the channel. You have to go into VFO mode and set everything up, including the offset direction and offset amount, and then save it to a memory. The only thing that can be changed afterwards is the tones.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, any GMRS frequency, repeater or not, is allowed in CH31-52. I've done it through the keypad and I've done it in ODMaster, but Chirp doesn't allow it.

The limitations on this model came from TID themselves and I didn't second guess them or test their limitations.

Just curious, but why don't you put the radio into general mode and eliminate all the special requirements if you want to have them do things other than just GMRS? There are basically no restrictions on channel placement and use in CHIRP when the radio is in this mode...

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the quick reply.

The problem with unlocking the TD-H8-GMRS is that then the radio allows transmission on frequencies outside of the licensed GMRS band.

I've played with this mode a bit and I can't find an easy way to prevent inadvertent transmission on NOAA weather, public safety, ham frequencies, etc. As a long time licensed user this seems risky enough, but I'm particularly concerned about other members of my household who are new to radio and operate using our household's GMRS license. These other family members are less familiar with proper operation of the radio and the various band edges, etc. Seems like a bad idea for them to be running around with unlocked radios.

Can you please share the information that Tidradio shared so that I can compare their documentation against the actual operation of my H8-GMRS?
If there are significant differences maybe I can raise this issue with Tidradio.

Jeff, TIDRADIO submitted the original version of this driver. So no docs, just ... code that attempts to enforce the rules they think the radio does.

By the way, in unrestricted mode just set any channel to duplex=off that you want to be transmit-inhibited.

Cool, thanks I'll push this for tomorrow.

Thanks!!
On Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 08:42:28 PM PDT, Dan Smith redmine@chirpmyradio.com wrote:

This morning I tested the latest Chirp next 20250314.

Some frequencies are still not allowed in memory channels 31-54, for example 467.71250 is a valid GMRS frequency and the radio allows this via keypad memory programming but is not allowed in Chirp.

The error message is "Invalid edit: The frequency in channels 31-54 must be between462.55000-462.72500 in 0.025 increments."

There's a space missing before the first frequency, and I think the second frequency should be 467.71250.

I poked around in the source code briefly and I think the issue is that Chirp is validating the frequency against GMRS_FREQS = bandplan_na.GMRS_HIRPT and it should be bandplan_na.ALL_GMRS_FREQS.

I copy/pasted some GMRS frequencies last night with no problems, and the same just now with the latest Chirp next 20250314. However, as mentioned by Jeff, when I tried to enter in the GMRS14 frequency I got an error. The error I got when trying to enter 467.7125 was "Invalid edit: Channels in this range must be GMRS frequencies and either simplex or +5 MHz offset". I was able to enter in 462.5625, which is GMRS1.
To repeat, on GMRS14, pasting worked but editing didn't. ON GMRS1, both worked.
On Friday, March 14, 2025 at 09:49:31 AM PDT, Jeff Keyzer redmine@chirpmyradio.com wrote:

Okay, wow, this was a stumper. The problem is actually something deep in the bandplan stuff and not with this driver. Basically when you went to put that channel the UI was helping by deciding what duplex to use and for this frequency it was incorrectly choosing - (i.e. -5MHz, which is not valid).

Since it's in the core stuff I can't easily provide you a module to test, but it'll be fixed for the next build. Here are some ways to work around this for the time being:

1. Right-click, properties, set the channel the way it should be and save it
2. Put in a different (valid) frequency first, then change it to the right one
3. Create the channel in a CSV tab and copy/paste it in (or just use channel 14 in the TDH3 itself) then edit from there

Thanks for the patience and diligent testing!

Dan,

Thanks for the update - looks like there is no new build today but I'll keep checking.

Jeff

Yeah it will be next week (Friday) before the next one, so you can use the workarounds above until then.

Sounds good! Thanks for addressing this!

I just tested the latest chirp next-20250321.

I am now able to enter arbitrary GMRS channels into memory slots 31-54, so it looks like the frequency entry bug is fixed. Thank you!

If I enter an out of band frequency into one of these slots, the error message that is displayed is "Invalid edit: The frequency in channels 31-54 must be between 462.55000-462.72500 in 0.025 increments."

I think the second number should be 467.71250.

I submitted a PR for this. I'm mostly a hardware guy and new to github so forgive me for any mistakes.