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I think you have the problem backwards. @cjvespa's friends have GMR2+ handhelds, chvespa has got a KG1000

Another thing I just noticed. 18-10 is actually a preset channel in the GMR2+. I hadn't seen this when I scrolled through the manual earlier: Of course, it doesn't say if that means 10 on their CTS chart (94.8), or 10 on their DCS chart (65...N, I assume because it doesn't say otherwise). So maybe it would be beneficial to program 1 of each in the KG1000 and see which one actually works with their gear.

OK guess I'll have to mount them up front hood area..darn. Or I could get a rack for the area in front on the roof and mount the antenias and my starlink. Or could that possibley cause a issue with the solar panels? Don't think it would bother the Starlink? Thanks for bearing with me on this..

Excellent. Good luck.

That could be a rather interesting install. The solar cells are basically diodes so I'm not really sure how that would affect any RF that would reflect off them, if at all. Then there is the issue about any RF getting into the charge controller, oops. The cells might tend to rectify the RF. The rectified waveform would be rich in harmonics so there is a remote chance the installation would be a rolling RF interference generator. I know some have tracked down very strange RF noise issues which were later found out to be caused by rusted metal junctions, again acting like a diode, on a tower generating the harmonics. Yes this can happen. In WWII GI's made "Fox Hole" crystal radios using a razor blade for the diode detector. The metal "cat whisker" on the blue coating, which is really an oxide of iron, formed the PN junction.

That's wrong. Below is one picture of a UV-21R and it's definitely not a UV-5R type battery. But the question was about a BFH6 anyway. (Also, be careful with model numbers; some that sound the same are different and vice-versa.) The new UV-28 Plus looks like it may be the same hardware as the UV-21R.

yes... Apparently a UV21 is an upgrade to the UV5 and this seller is saying that radio XTMTS out to 520... He is selling for $34.

I don't know how your wiring is done, but I have everything on T-connectors. I made a simple pigtail for a USB outlet and powered a pair of small computer speakers from that. The difference in sound quality between powered and non-powered speakers surprised me. Perhaps it's just because the speakers themselves are better and has nothing to do with the power, but I was impressed. Also, the powered speakers gave me a much greater range of volume than a non-powered speaker. My truck is a bit noisy and that helped.

18-10 could either be either 462.625 MHz/94.8 Hz or 462.625 MHz/D065N. That will depend on if the tone/code setting is either set for analog or digital. You would need to enter in the menu in order to determine the setting. Also, there is a menu procedure to toggle between the actual tone freq and DCS binary code, and the radio tone/code programming code settings. Don't expect this radio to work optimum from inside the vehicle with a range of no more than a quarter to half mile. For decent trail comm on GMRS freqs, it would be best to install something at least a Midland MXT500 or MXT575 with a Midland NMO mount MXTA25 (Phantom) or MXTA26 6 dB antenna.

I'm having a hard time following what's going on with the programming info there. The way I read it, it looks like you've got both CTC and DTC tones programmed in? Which seems odd? But maybe I'm misreading it. This is the tone chart for the GMR2-Plus I THINK your table there shows that you're running 88.5. Tone 10 on the RR chart is 94.8. So I'd start there. That said, I don't know why you'd get the "no you can't" tone on 18. I see Duplexer set to OFF on 8-14, which would disallow transmit, which is expected. But that's not the case on 18. I'd start by making sure your DCS tones are disabled / cleared out completely on 18. It wouldn't hurt to disable the Rx tone (you'll hear anything on 18), and input ONLY the Tx tone of 94.8 and see if it's still messing up. This'll be easier to test if you have another radio close by to play with as well

This is true. I dd not mention it since he was asking about batteries for a 20 watt radio. The current draw of a 20 watt radio won't exceed the battery output of a 10 amp hour battery. I would not recommend trying to transmit on a 50 watt radio on high power. You will be at or above the 10 amps of the battery as most 50 watt radios draw 12-14 amps on transmit at high power. Some will draw 8 or 10 amps but why push one's luck. I will recommend a 40 or 50 amp hour battery for a 50 watt radio if you want it to last very long. The more one transmits the quicker the battery will discharge. People that do Parks On The Air with QRP radios with 5-10 watts output power will run smaller batteries but those don't last very long even then.

Send me a email wrmz361@gmail.com

You fix your radio?

I have the GPK01, and really don't use it. First, you wouldn't drive with that thing. Its radials wouldn't stand up to highway speeds, or if they do, they would thrash wildly, destroying the finish of everything within their reach. Second, I had pretty limited success with it providing an adequate ground plane. With my Comet CA2X4SR-NMO it worked alright for UHF but was no use for 2m. With my others antennas it lowered SWR only a little. With my Laird TE B4505CN "no ground plane" antenna it seemed to make things a little worse. Third, it doesn't provide a good weather seal for NMO mount antennas unless they have minimal bases like the Comet. You're better off getting a no ground plane antenna such as the Laird TE B4505CN (for GMRS), or the Larson NMO-2/70 (for 2m, 70cm, and adequate GMRS), if you're ground plane challenged.

Does anyone know what the frequency setting for 18-10 on a GMR2-PLUS are? and how to get them on a KG-1000G? Some background. I am heavy involved with multiple 4x4 clubs. One of these clubs that I have started to wheel with most if not all of the members are running Rugged Radios GMR2-PLUS and they only use 18-10 as their main form of communications. I have been running the KG-1000G for 4 years now and do not want to switch away from it. So I figured I would poke around and see if I could find the setting for 18-10. Using this post, I have programmed the same 18-10. So my settings end up looking like this Location,Name,Frequency,Duplex,Offset,Tone,rToneFreq,cToneFreq,DtcsCode,DtcsPolarity,RxDtcsCode,CrossMode,Mode,TStep,Skip,Power,Comment,URCALL,RPT1CALL,RPT2CALL,DVCODE 1,GMRS-01,462.562500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 2,GMRS-02,462.587500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 3,GMRS-03,462.612500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 4,GMRS-04,462.637500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 5,GMRS-05,462.662500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 6,GMRS-06,462.687500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 7,GMRS-07,462.712500,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 8,GMRS-08,467.562500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 9,GMRS-09,467.587500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 10,GMRS-10,467.612500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 11,GMRS-11,467.637500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 12,GMRS-12,467.662500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 13,GMRS-13,467.687500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 14,GMRS-14,467.712500,off,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,NFM,5.00,,1.0W,,,,, 15,GMRS-15,462.550000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 16,GMRS-16,462.575000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 17,GMRS-17,462.600000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 18,GMRS-18,462.625000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 19,GMRS-19,462.650000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 20,GMRS-20,462.675000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 21,GMRS-21,462.700000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 22,GMRS-22,462.725000,,0.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,,50W,,,,, 23,RPT-15,462.550000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 24,RPT-16,462.575000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 25,RPT-17,462.600000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 26,RPT-18,462.625000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 27,RPT-19,462.650000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 28,RPT-20,462.675000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 29,RPT-21,462.700000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 30,RPT-22,462.725000,+,5.000000,,88.5,88.5,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, 32,18-10,462.625000,,0.000000,TSQL,94.8,94.8,023,NN,023,Tone->Tone,FM,5.00,S,50W,,,,, I am able to hear the traffic on this channel but I am not able to transmit myself. If I press the transmit key, the radio will beep at me and nothing is transmitted. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

There's really 2 factors to keep in mind when choosing batteries. Overall capacity, and current draw. @WRYZ926 mentioned the first, as this will play into how long you can run portable. It's been a bit since I checked the numbers (and don't have the radios handy to check), but i want to say it was around 4a on high power, which would would buy something around 2.5 hours of transmit time on a 10aH battery. realistically you're likely listening a lot less than transmitting, so the real world use will be longer. Second consideration, generally, is current draw. Less of an issue with these smaller radios, but we have to consider how much draw the battery can handle. the cheaper LiPo batteries i have refer to not drawing more current than their aH rating, which for mine would be a 10a draw on the smaller, and 20a on the larger (mine are Ecoworthy, and the 10aH is roughly the side of a standard red brick). Here is a quick example, and their table claims 5.2aH, and can handle a 15.6a draw, and if one isn't transmitting much should be able to last a couple hours at minimum.

I’ve also tried it on various Kenwood HT’s. Some you can “push” to operate way out of band, others not so much. For example I have a NX-320 450-520 band spilt radio. The PLL won’t lock below 443 when I tried out a sequence of test frequencies. It does seem, from my experience, the narrower the band spilt the better luck you have running farther outside the official range. If a radio is available, some come in various band spilts so be VERY careful, with the 400-470 band spilt that’s perfect for Ham and GMRS. This seems to be more frequently found with the FM/Digital mode radios. Those are the ones I watch out for on my favorite auction site. Of course you can’t use digital voice on GMRS, at least not yet so you’re stuck with FM, but perfectly legal on the Ham bands.

I have similarly thought about turning my Radioddity DB20-G into a porta-pac for easy transportability of a 20 watt rig! I currently use it with my Jackery Explorer 300, but there’s got to be a more convenient “portable” solution! Be sure to report back your results!

It all depends on how long you want to use the radio before having to recharge the battery. How much you transmit will also determine what size battery you will need. I would start out with a minimum of a 10 amp hour LifPo 4 battery. That will last you from 5-6 hours or longer depending on how much you transmit on 20 watts.

Awesome, thanks for the instructions, I have tried receiving and transmitting according to your diagram, and both of my radios are working! Now its just a matter of finding a working repeater, I will be traveling tomorrow and will go through a couple of repeaters to see if I can get in touch with one of them.

Okay, that's valid.

I have a question, I want to make my retevis mobile and add a battery to it. what is the smallest battery I can use? I have found these blue wrapped rechargeable batteries on amazon but which one do i choose?

Or just “force” it to use one of the other UHF band plans which are selectable in the software. It will complain when you go to program it, but it will allow you to do it anyway, and it will work. I’ve done this numerous times with various Kenwood VHF and UHF handheld and mobile radios without issue. 780’s / 880’s / 863G’s, etc, etc.

Oh! No wonder I can’t find it! You mistyped: Portillo’s!!!

Sorry I didn't get a notice of a reply. Yes I plan on 2ea Antenna's. GMRS will be used trails and desert exploring. I assume since the solar panels are mounted above the alumnum roof is the reason it will not work to provide a ground plane. So..Could I add this http://Nagoya GPK-01 to gain the ability to mount on the crossbars? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUV6p5nfK3c&t=191s Would the Nagoya also work for the 2m?