Radioddity GM-30 Review - My New Favorite GMRS Handheld Radio?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
- Radioddity offered to send me their new GM-30 handheld GMRS radio to test, and I ended up liking it so much, I've purchased 2 more out-of-pocket to date. Follow along in this video where I review and share my thoughts on this affordable but feature-rich GMRS handheld radio.
Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:38 - What's in the Box
4:10 - Features
9:05 - Performance
9:48 - Range Test
14:51 - Power Test
17:11 - RF Field Strength Test
20:15 - Battery Life Test
21:24 - Areas for Improvement
24:18 - Final Thoughts
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One of the best reviewers I have ever seen/heard. Information dense (no extraneous verbiage, clear, concise) and well metered voice and expressions. This was also one of the best reviews I have seen in a long while. Video images are super clear, well lit, compelling background, and audio is perfect. Great use of graphics, B-roll, and Hero shots. Man, you covered every question I had, and all the ones I did not know to ask. I can see why Radioddity wanted you to do a review.
wow, thanks for the glowing praise. I'll do my best to keep it up. I appreciate you taking time from your day to share kind words of encouragement.
@@TomtheDilettante Great Review, I will be receiving my GM-30 Radio by Radioddity tomorrow and I will be reviewing it on my channel here on TH-cam!
Just found your channel... Lots of valuable info here ! Your Relative Field Strength Test is Fantastic & rarely seen on other Y tube channels.....Thx for video....
Although the GM 30 is not water resistant we dropped one of ours in a stream when gold panning. It fully submerged in about 8 inches of water. We pulled it out within about 20 or 30 seconds. The display characters were almost all gone and distorted. I turned it off blew and shook out as much water as possible and removed the battery. There was fog/moisture on the screen. Let it sit and dry out for about a week. Plugged the battery in and it worked like it had before. I am pretty impressed with this radio.
Wow! That's quite the endorsement! Thanks for sharing! But the bigger question is "did you pan up any gold?" LOL
@@TomtheDilettante You're welcome, and yes we did pan up some gold 😁
Thanks for taking the time to put this great review on here.
Good review. The comparison test was very informative.
Very thorough review... thank you so much! Great feedback suggestions as well!
I'm relatively new to this arena and thought the presentation was great! You provided a great unbiased review.
This is the most hands down informal video I have ever seen on a gmrs radio. very well done. I too also have this radio and really like it.
Exceptional review!!! Very thorough!! In fact, I'm now subscribed to your channel and will view your other episodes. Thank you! Thank you!!
I just subscribed. First time I found this video I didn't want to sit through a long review. Then I watched it - impressed! Thanks
Hello from East TN. WOW! Love the review format you have!
Clear and concise! Well done sir! Hope your doing well.
Wow! Very specified description. Thx a lot for your detailled tests!
Best greetings from Germany
Greetings back at ya, and thanks for watching :)
A very high level of knowledge and detail. Thank you.
Thanks for an excellent and thorough review. I look forward to more such in the future!
Thank you! More to come for sure. I tend to over-think reviews so I need to get better and making them quicker :)
Tom I liked the approach and methods you utilized to produce this review which were spot on.
I also appreciated your honest coverage of the pros vs cons of this model which will hopefully lead to even better features going forward, while setting realistic expectations for current users.
excellent review, just ordered 2
This video so unbelievably well done 👍
Your review is far more superior than some of the other ones i have seen. Glad i clicked on it. Was not looking at Radioddity but i want to buy one now. Thank you
As I said. I did get a pair of these and my friends also got a few after watching this review.
Have not tested the range yet. But I like the ease of use, usb charging, quality of build and easy frequency switch
Compelling review! I’ve also enjoyed this radio quite a bit. Thank you for including the Field Strength test. This is something I’d like to see more, or even do more myself. Thanks for making such a quality video. 73
Thanks for watching and the kind words!
Outstanding work, brother. Great channel. Great vibe. Love the diversity of content. I'm familiar with military comms and equip., but less so on the civilian side. I used your affiliate code to purchase the two-pack + programming cable. Just what I was looking for to add this capability. Appreciate ya.
Amazing video! You're definitely a pro. Out of all the videos I've watched on this radio yours was my absolute favorite. It's a beautiful day here in Michigan. The weather outside is absolutely perfect. It's a Saturday and I've been busy all week and have the day off today. And I sat inside the house, on my chair, and watched your video.... That proves it's a great video! Thanks so much.
At last a worthwhile review nice job. I like the comparison to the ham radio's.
By fully charging the battery upon first taking it out of the box. Before even turning the radio on for the first time, give it a good hot overnight charge. This creates an initial memory that will extend it a few hours.
Very good and extremely thorough review Tom. Thank you.. I'll be picking the two radio package up off of your link. Best.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words. To this day I have no regrets with these radios and have purchased 3 more out of pocket. Still my favorite GMRS handheld. I hope you enjoy them as well!
"Just the facts ma'am" - Sgt. Joe Friday. Very good review!! Learning about GMRS and FRS and discovered your channel.
And "Project Farm"!!
Excellent review! You've covered it all.
Thank you kindly!
i just got my GMRS Lisc. (10/26/2022) and have been in the market for my first HH. Thanks for this info and its both helpful and educational for a beginner like me.
Thank you! Appreciate your attention to detail.
My btech v1 will not reach my step father at 26.5 miles but my kg-935g does quite well with some static. When I swapped the btech antennae to a nagoya 771g I was able to reach him although static and cracking. Excellent review! BTW, I've bought a GM-30 now as a result of your video.
Excellent review. Thank you!
I love you're using the ftm-400 and ft3dr to determine distance. I love both of those radios (requires a ham license). Great video!
Yup. two of my favorite radios. Picked up an FT5D recently to check out. And good to call out the licensing requirement. I'm N9JDI :) 73 and thanks for watching!
Thank you, this is my favorite review yet, been looking to buy a couple gmrs radios for the family and also love scanning the airways. This is exactly what I was looking for in a starter GMRS radio. We’ll try to keep them dry. I used your code and bought the two pack with cable.
Also will work on being a decent human being.
As usual, excellent non-biased review. Some of the "regular" reviewer (ahem, promoters) of certain radio brands could take a lesson on side by side, real world testing and results. I would've also been interested is seeing if handsets from same brand and model perform consistently.
Thanks Chris! Another viewer suggested testing consistency between units of the same make and model. Wish I had thought of it, as that's a great suggestion! I'll be sure to do that next time if I have two :) Thanks for your continued support!
Great review Sir, Thanks!
Great thorough review. I loved the test in Shawnee (that was the moment I subscribed). It's one of my favorite places growing up. I also appreciate knowing the Baofeng USB cable is compatible for programming. I have a few around.
Thanks Tom new subscriber just got my GMRS so this video helped me choose my radio .
awesome! I have 2 myself and have purchased 3 for gifts as others. Still a good bang for the buck IMO. Thanks for watching and the sub :)
Setting to WFM can greatly improve audio. My GM30 radios have not arrived yet, but often they come with NFM chosen.
Great review!
Great review, I have the Radioddity DB20 in both of the Jeeps but this is the handheld that we use. We are from southern IL and get a lot of use out of them in the SNF. (I see you were at the Outpost for this video). Keep up the great videos.
Thanks for watching! I have a DB20 still in the box I need to review and test out. I'm thinking of putting it my GX470, but depends on how I like it. These little GM-30s though I'm very happy with so far. I own two now and have bought 3 others to give away as gifts. SNF was nice...that was my first time there. Looking forward to going back someday.
Great review! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
The fact that you had to explain your comm etiquette in detail speaks volumes about a certain segment of the amateur radio world…
Great video!
Thanks for watching and the kind words! You sound like someone who also knows all too well how the notion of being a professional and courteous operator is sadly lost on some :P. Ah well. Ductus Exemplo...lead by example. Right? :)
Just bought a pair of the Baofeng GM 15 pro which is exactly the same as the Raddiodity GM 30. This was the best and only really good review of this radio, thank you!
I bought one a few months ago and really like it, it works great for me.oh I bought one of there t shirts. Great video
you did on the radio
Excellent reviews, I hope the makers of this nice radio take serious your constructive criticisms and reviews, I get the impression the makers of radioddity do that regularly,
Thanks Tom.
Great video as always
Very helpful. Thank you.
Outstanding review!
Thank you. And thanks for watching
Tom, I can't wait for you to try and program this radio using Radioddity's own cable. Of the 10 other TH-cam reviewers, only one was able to get the CPS to work. And even he said "good luck" and did not say how he got it to work. Otherwise this is a great radio. We want to use the 4 radios for our emergency services team, so getting the cable to work allows us to program all 4 radios the same. Using windows 10, latest software download and trying to follow the instructions the software will not show up as a com port. Used an XP and a com port appeared, but the s/w could not read from the radio. Unacceptable. Company emails (very responsive) say "just manually program". Great video and you are a pro communicator.
Great video! Good radio voice and nice shop
A camping buddy gave me a new GM30 for Christmas, thanks for the review. I have a pair of the Midlands, so its nice to know how much better this will work. In addition, I have a roof mounted antenna that I can attach, so that is d-luxe IMO for reaching repeaters. I am a total noob to all radio stuff except for what I learned on Smokey and the Bandit, so Ive got some learning to do. Thx, Merry Christmas all and HNY2024
glad he was honest in range test
Great job. Thanks.
Great review!!!! Semper Fi!!!
You're one of the better reviewers. Smooth
Great review.
Great review Tom. I’m a Ham Radio license holder. I’ve been thinking of adding hand heads to my family’s big out bags. Since I have to buy multiple units & backup batteries this is a good option. Yes I’d like to kit everyone with Yaesus but I don’t have that kind of money.
Thanks for watching. And yeah, how cool would it be to just have a dozen FT-3DR's on hand to dole out as needed? LOL. Maybe someday :)
Most family members would avoid them like the plague due to complexity. GMRS radios are the right answer. Did the same for my family.
@@jaybarr3307 Agreed. I personally don't understand why hams (of which I'm one) bash on GMRS and such. To me, amateur radio encompasses all things radio (licensed and unlicensed) and people looking to make use of it for their specific needs have my full support. GMRS is simple, easy to use, has very few barriers to entry, and gets the job done. And like you said, for a typical family, it's a great solution. Thanks for chiming in and have a good one!
Best review! 👏 good job.
Fantastic video, and great edits! I especially thought your volunteer was awesome :p JK, but I did really like that segment, as well as the montage reels, lol! Keep up the awesome dude!
Thanks dude! As for the montage reels, I was constantly back and forth on whether I should keep them. But inevitably I decided "ya know what? that shit's fun for me so I'll keep it so the content keeps what I consider a personal touch." I'm a dork, and I'm okay with that LOL. And thanks again for the help in testing the radios!!
@@TomtheDilettante I thought it played well :)
Great video!
I have a video idea for you with the Radioddity GM30. I have three of them for family road-trips and I just purchased a Nagoya 72G mag mount antenna. I can’t find any videos comparing the range of the stock GM30 antenna and a mobile antenna. Conducting this test would make for a great video. Also, this is the best GM30 video on TH-cam. Great job!
Wonderful video, thank you for creating this. Just an after thought. You compared the test radio to the Midland, and also two HAM radios. It might have been fun to also compare both the sent radio, and the purchased radio to test consistency between the two Radioddity GM-30 radios. Perhaps if you end up reviewing another radio of which you have two, you could also compare between them.
Thanks for watching and for your feedback. At first, I admit I was confused since I had tested TX / RX using a pair of GM-30's, but if I understand you correctly, you're suggesting testing things like TX power, SWR and field strength for consistency between two radios of the same make and model. Is that correct? If so, great suggestion! I regret not thinking to do that myself! :) I'll certainly keep that in mind and do that next time I'm testing anything where I have more than one. Good stuff! Thanks again!
For sure as I am always suspicious of a sent sample being possibly optimized when they know the recipient will be presenting a performance review to a wide audience.
Thanks for the video. Great job. I hope you will do a test on a 20 watt mobile GMRS radio, to see it's range.
Will do. Got a 20w mobile DB20-G from Radioddity in hand and need to do a review on it still. What I expect is clearer audio at similar distances to hand-helds due to the higher power. Maybe a little more distance. Regardless of power, GMRS is still line-of-sight (when not using repeaters) so we shall see. Having a good antenna will be another factor. Just ordered Midland's 6db gain whip to use for mobile testing and I'm looking forward to putting that on an analyzer to see how well it performs. Anyway, sorry for rambling. Got lots of great stuff to make content on...just too little time to do it :) THanks for watching and I"ll try to keep em coming!
@@TomtheDilettante Thank you. I appreciate your good work, and look forward to more videos. I am also a ham radio operator, but had to get into GMRS because my housemate doesn't want to study for the ham license test.
Great review. Perfect pace and content that matters. I have these radios and LOVE them. The best feature, besides performance, is USB C charging. I HATE the charging docks for all the other radios I have, they are a PAIN.
I like the docks for some scenarios but would prefer to have the dock and radio both have the usb-c inputs so you can use whichever is best at the time.
@@emblems4life726
Great point.
Does the battery have to be in the radio to be charged?
@@reidtillery2856
No.
Nice work Tom! I don't recall if you went over the ability to do CTCSS/DCS and split tones on the radio (for repeater use), but I believe it has both. I'd love to have you review the radio conversion I designed, the Wouxun KG-UV9G PRO sometime (or the upcoming new KG-916 single band), should you be interested. :)
Your voice is absolutely excellent for doing videos like this. Have you ever done any voice over work or commercials?
Excellent review! I currently have a pair of those Midlands but am interested in adding the ability to connect with repeaters. The GM-30 seems like it will work nicely. I also especially like the ability to swap antennas, so if I was rollin and strollin on the byways and highways I could use it for that was well, and probably extend the range just by having a roof mounted antenna.
On my most recent trip, we used our Midlands. I set them on low power just to extend battery life as much as possible. We didn’t do much chit chatting but they lasted for us for 11 hours.
I’d definitely like to add at least 1 GM-30 right off the bat though
THANK YOU for your testing, talking, I debating CB or GRMS system communication was paramount. I have had cb in my youth with ham and FM monitoring I would be able to get info. We bought 2
Great review, thank you!! Wish I’d seen it before ordering 2 today, I’d have thrown a cable in. Oh well…
Per another commenter the Radioddity cable is very problematic. You likely would do better with something else. Ham Radio Crash Course recommended a cable which I purchased called the Mirkit FTDI USB Programming Cable Model 5 (59” extended length) which I used to program my Baofeng, plus it has many adapters to use with many other Radios.
Or
You can just use a Baofeng Cable which also appears to be compatible.
Straight stuff, no bull, very complete, just like "Todd" of "Project Farm".
So I subbed.
this is great Tom, watching here from Niagara Falls Ny . This is W2YM
Appreciated the review. I have the TIDRadio TD-H5 which seems eerily similar to the GM30 :p. The question I have is the antenna upgrade you showed in the review - what is/are the antennas you might recommend for the 5 W GMRS HT's?
Also, cheap aside - recommended your channel to my daughter as she just bought a Subi Forester Wilderness Edition. There are a lot of your upgrades and vids that I think she can learn from as she starts overloading / car camping in her Subi. Thanks.
Tom, if you want a charger base then buy one for the TYT TH-UV88. They use the same shell for the radio and the batteries are interchangeable between the two. I have one of each of these radios so know by experience.
well done review
Thank you!
Tom. I just bought my fcc license and am now researching radios. I can afford anything and my desired capabilities are police scanning, fire scanning, GMRS, higher power than average, ease in programming, and some special capabilities. Those are frequency hopping, spread spectrum, and reliability. Right now I am looking at kg-905ght and kg-uv9g in addition to this review on the gm-30. Please respond with your considerations for the top two. Thank you. Robert P.
Can you do a review on the yaesu FT 65 R cause let say you know your stuff you do a really good job on showing us all about Radios. Good job an congratulations
Like another commenter, I just purchased my license and this video came up. Tell me TH-cam isn't spying haha. This time, it's actually useful. Great video without the BS. Thank you.
Oh for sure. I think all our tech is spying on us. Not in a "guy behind the curtain eavesdropping" kind of way, but a Skynet AI kind of way LOL! Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and have a good one!
Just discovered your channel- love your style. Just bought a GM-30 to play with, your review was helpful. I have many scanners, the Baofung stuff, and I’m a ham (KI2K) so lots of radio experience. One thing on this GM-30 is making me feel like a child. When in channel mode, and you’re scanning, if it hits an active channel how do you pause the scan so it stays on the active channel? If you can… Yes I know it’s not a scanner. NEVER MIND- Menu Option 19, FTW!
LOL! Gotta love the stream of conscious problem solving :). Thanks for watching and glad you found it helpful!
What was the odds of you posting this video at this time . Just last night I found that they now have a new GMRS repeater in my area. So I am now looking into getting my license and a legal use radio (I also have the Baofeng UV-5R5) . Thanks for the review , I’m putting this one on my list to consider 😃👍
License price is due to drop soon if that matters
loved your field strength test. How about a link for that.
By the way, I concur that this is a great little radio for the price. Love the fact that there are 24 DIG channels you can program in so that you can program in several repeaters that use the same frequency pairs but different tones for each repeater. I have several GMRS repeaters programmed that way as well as ham and Public Safety frequencies. It will hold a total of 250 channels. Quite a lot compared to other handhelds. Thanks for the well balanced report.
Great video, Tom. How did you change the transmit power level?
Very pleased with my pair. On simplex. I got 2 miles in dennisport on cape cod from west dennis beach to a family member inside the motel. Very clear for the most part.
I was also able to hit a repeater on the mainland over 30 miles away. Granted I was on a hill, no one on the repeater, but I got the tailback.
Good radios for the money.
Giving some thought on the nagoya antenna
😀
Wow, 30 miles!? Nice. Glad you're happy with your set. I remain very happy with this radio to this day and still recommend them to folks interested in a good versatile GMRS handheld.
@@TomtheDilettante it did help that some of the 30 miles was over Cape cod bay.
@Mister No Name static atthecend
Great video. Where did you get the mount for using it in the car for a mobile unit?
Thanks for the skip ahead points!
You bet! I TRY to model my videos based on what I'd want to see :) And I know I'm not always interested in everything so "chaptering" just seems like a polite thing to do LOL
Light seems useful, a big point of the radio could be in emergencies, and once you've directed someone to your general area the strobe would be helpful to get their attention.
The two pack from Amazon comes with a programming cable... And my new ones came with a battery with external electrodes. Should be able to use a cradle if they make one.
Two pack of these on Amazon right now for about $45 with the programming cable.
Hey Tom I'm going to review your video again to make sure I want this radio if it's worthwhile having this radio kicks butt more than the Midland GTX I have two of them I want something more powerful
So I'm looking for a pair of GMRS hand helds, my old GMRS handsets are dead and gone. This Radioddity GM-30 looks very interesting. I'm also considering the Baofeng BF-F8HP - I could program them to the GMRS/FRS "channels" as memory presets. Intended use is between vehicles (ie. CB-ish), or more probably hiking in case parties get separated. It looks like the pair of GM-30s & cable for $70, or a pair of Baofengs & cable for about $150. For the extra $ the Baofengs would be higher power, and I could use them for other things (ham - I'm licensed both GMRS & ham). Wondering if anyone has any thoughts or advice. Thanks!
Excellent review, comprehensive except for one thing. How does the Radioddity GM-30 work out as a "base radio" ( fixed location with antenna higher up in the clear of surrounding trees and surrounding houses) with the antenna at say - 20' using RG-8X coaxial cable? I have my own tests, but I am interested in hearing yours. DE W4FJF.
Good question. I’ve been meaning to test out various GMRS HTs and mobile units as a base station. One thing that comes to mind regarding your question though is the RG8X. Unless I’m mistaken, RG8X would be very lossy in UHF. I use LMR400 for my VHF / UHF base station and it’s performed very well. Then again, it better! That stuff gets $$$. :)
This is my first non bubble pack GMRS. I'm not used to having both 'transmit' & 'receive' squelch codes. 1. If you want to pair with standard bubble pack radios, do you have to set both transmit & receive to the same squelch code or do you only need one of them set? 2. Is the method the same when pairing to another GM-30?
yep you got it set both rx and tx to the same I know Im late but yeah just throwing it out there.
This was great. Any chance there is a water resistant option that you’d recommend as an alternative to this?
Great review! I’m new to the whole scanner thing and recently purchased a baofang uv5r without research. It does the job alright but figured out it can’t run certain frequencies such as any frequency that’s xx.xxxxx and not xxx.xxxxx, my question is if this radio can run a frequency as such? For example I want to run 46.26 but the baofang simply won’t let me input such frequency. Thanks for the help in advance
Thanks for tuning in. The UV5R is a VHF / UHF radio which means it, like most radios, are designed to receive and process specific portions of the radio spectrum. In the US, this usually means they're designed to work on the 2 meter ham band (VHF) of 144 - 148 MHz and the 70 centimeter ham band (UHF) of 420 - 450 MHz. 46.26MHz is somewhere beneath the 6m ham band and would not be a frequency the UV5R can tune to. I'm unsure what radio would work on this frequency as it's outside of amateur radio bands. An SDR (Software Defined Radio) would let you listen, but transmitting on this frequency in the US to my knowledge would not be legal unless specifically approved to do so. This seems like it would fall in the range of a dedicated Fire and/or EMS frequency for local use assigned by the FCC. Hope that helps a bit.
@@TomtheDilettante That helped a lot, thank you
Nice stuff
Definitely interesting videos between vehicle mods and ham radio really enjoy them im a fellow ham as well what frequency are you on hf
Thanks very much! I haven't been TX'ing on HF much lately aside from answering the occasional CQ. I'm mostly on 20 and 40m but haven't made the time to tune around much lately. I would actually like to try POTA sometime soon. Wonder if it would be cheating to let the TH-cam community know when and where to spot me LOL. How about yourself? Do you have a corner of HF you like to hang out on?
@@TomtheDilettante im usually on 10m my antenna does 3 frequencies i think i can do 20m but unfortunately i have to trim a tree before i can rotate my antenna im 3 hours south of you
Good review. Please correct me if I am wrong but aren’t your Motorola radios considered FRS? Both FRS and GMRS share the same frequencies but the FRS have less wattage and a non-removable antenna. Also, you do not need a license to transmit on FRS radios. You can find charts online showing all of the FRS/GMRS frequencies and the maximum power outputs. Another note ie FRS radios are strictly narrow band whereas some, but not all, GMRS channels can be wide band.
Tom your videos on radios great, Thanks.
I was going to go to Amazon after watching this,
then you said Radioddity GM-30 wasn't waterproof.
That was a deal breaker for me.
Yeah, I hear ya. I recently ordered a new GMRS radio on the market (the Baofeng UV-9G) that is marketed as waterproof to test out. I got the pre-sale and I'm hoping to have it within the next couple weeks, at which point I'll do a review as well.
@@TomtheDilettante Cool I'm looking forward to it. Thanks.
I have the baofeng uv9g and I actually like the gm 30 better even though it's not water proof ! Much easier to use than the uv9g when it comes to the controls !
@@revjohnhusband8644 Thanks for the tip, but I really want a water proof radio.
@@t3ck3r cool but don't plan on changing the antenna on the uv9g because of a problem with the molded lip around the antenna base and it doesn't allow you to get a replacement antenna on the radio without modification of the radio or the antenna base.
Great review, Tom, thanks! I’m interested in this radio so I can receive NOAA weather reports at an off-grid cabin in the Adirondacks (I use other Radioddity UHF units for handheld communications). Do you think the GM-30 would fit the bill? The price is certainly right! Thanks…
Thanks for watching! I had no problem picking up NOAA signals. If that's your main purpose, I think this radio would be a good option because of the removable antenna. If for some reason the stock rubber-duck antenna doesn't pick up NOAA, then you can always run a different antenna.
@@TomtheDilettante Perfect! Thanks for the quick reply.
Most of the rubber duck stock antennas aren't that great. Many of them are only a dummy load. So far Nagoya is my favorite, but be careful about knockoffs that can do damage to the transmitter.
Any idea what the "Hopping RX" in the radio menu or the "Freq Hopping Code" in the CPS are?
Probably disabled in US as it is illegal i believe however it is legal in other countries.
What size hex did you use to take the srew out of the antenna so you can swap it ?
Anything about the "Frequency Hopping" that shows in the manual?
The GM-30 does not actually hop frequencies, instead it secretly assigns a CTCSS/DCS tone but won’t display it in the settings. This is a neat idea, but I definitely can see several flaws with it. First, if the radio is just programmed to secretly use 88.5 as it’s CTCSS tone, then someone else simply needs another GM-30 and can perform a CTCSS scan to find out what the secret PL tone is, breaking the “encryption”. A more intelligent way to approach it would be to have the radio emit sub-audible frequencies to tell the other radio what PL tone to use. However, this again is easily broken by another GM-30. It’s a unique idea and I’m glad that they are trying new things, but as far as practicality I’m not too sold (especially anyone with the frequency can simply monitor the frequency and hear all chatter regardless of PL tones). As a side note, it’s actually a good thing it doesn’t hop frequencies. Since GMRS radios have a very limited list of TX frequencies, you wouldn’t get too far, and it wouldn’t be that secure. Not to mention it would be generally poor radio etiquette since you would more than likely end up transmitting over other stations as you’re hopping around. So as far as creating the idea of it, it’s pretty neat. But to reiterate, I’m not too sure how practical it will be. As a side note, Radioddity is adding the ability to change the text on the boot-up screen as well as allowing you to choose which mode (VFO / channel) that you want the radio to boot into. I’m not sure when it will be available but it is coming soon!