On Thu, Jan 8, 2026 at 11:03 AM from1.chirpr--- via Users <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello there, > I purchased a bunch of H-777H radios in early 2026. They are 16 channel and > CHIRP compatible. However, they come with non-standard frequencies on > channels 8-14, which are supposed to be on 467, 0.5W range per FCC. Instead, > they use 462 range, so not exactly friendly with the newer 22-channel family > radios with correct FCC spec. I guess the manufacturer wanted to keep them > compatible with older Retevis 16-channel radios. > > Unfortunately, CHIRP refuses to reprogram those factory channels. I read > somewhere that CHIRP inherently locks out the users from re-programming FRS > radio channels, but in this case it's doing more damage than good. The H-777H > frequency range is 462-476MHz so it would be safe to allow users to reprogram > frequencies back to standard FCC. This may or may not affect other H-777 > series, I don't know. > > When I contacted their Customer Support, they told me that I could easily > change the frequencies with their own Windows app, except I'm on Linux and > it's hard for me to do that. > Should I report this as an Issue and hope that the Devs will unlock frequency > edits on this model? Thanks!
FRS has 22 channels assigned to the service. Your radios only have 16 channels. It is common for the Chinese manufacturers to skip the 7 channels (8-14) that are required to only be 1/2 watt and duplicate channel 7 into channel 16 to fully populate the 16 channels with frequencies that can be either set to the High or Low TX power level. A "true" FRS radio has the channel frequency fixed in firmware and can't be changed. But in many cases the Chinese radio manufacturers use full band capable radios and set up their programming software to only allow FRS compatible programming such that their radio masquerades as a true FRS radio. Apparently the FCC is easy to fool! When I discover that a full band radio is only pretending to be an FRS, GMRS, PMR, Freenet certified radio, I usually allow CHIRP to program the radio as the full band radio that it actually is. It is only when the radio has firmware locked frequencies that I limit CHIRP (to match the radio's capability). Otherwise the user would change the frequency and then file a ticket when their radio won't transmit after changing the permanently assigned frequency to something else. I would assume that the H777H_FRS and H777H_PMR models have firmware locked frequencies. If you think that your radios are full band radios masquerading as and FRS radio, then open a ticket. We can confirm that this is the case and update CHIRP accordingly. Jim KC9HI _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/postorius/lists/users.lists.chirpmyradio.com To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] To report this email as off-topic, please email [email protected] List archives: https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/
