Looking for advice on unlocking the frequency range on my TYT TH-7800. Bought it from US distributor so it's properly locked down to 2m and 70cm bands, but would like to monitor GMRS and NOAA channels. This was a software lock that had been added to comply with the FCC. Has anyone successfully opened up the frequency range on this model? Programming software hasn't worked for me so far.

These instructions, and the TH-7800 programming software from grapevineamateurradio.com are what worked for me. For some reason the software I got from TYT and from MTC would not recognize my radio. Give that a try - sometimes third-party software works better than the official versions.

Google "MARS CAP MOD" - nearly any radio can be opened up like that, a lot of the "Big three" use a part on the board that has to be snipped out or a wire cut and others only require software changes. Most TYTs can be opened without hardware mods.

I helped install a BTech UV25X2 recently - open as a barn door, either they're still working though old stock or they don't care. Depends on where your radio comes from and when it was manufactured. Sometimes you get lucky with older firmware.