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I picked up a Wouxun KG-UV980P, like new in box, on ebay, and thought I'd give some of my impressions now that I've used it a few days. The KG-UV980P is a quad band amateur radio, featuring 10m, 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands. It will also receive in the CB range, airband, and with proper CHIRP configuration, MURS, Marine VHF, and GMRS. The KG-UV980P is the amateur radio version of the well known (in these circles) of the KG-1000G GMRS radio. The KG-UV980P will transmit with 10w in the 10m and 6m bands. And it is advertised as 50w in the 2m band VHF band, and 40w in the 70cm UHF band. In testing with a dummy load, my unit comes in at a little over 10w in the 10m and 6m bands, about 46w in the 2m VHF band, and around 43-45w in the 70cm UHF band. So its marketing may be slightly overstating the VHF power, and understating the UHF power. However, it doesn't matter. For practical purposes, it's an ample mobile and base station radio in the UHF and 2m VHF bands. First obvious question: Will it work for me, a person reading posts on a GMRS website? And the answer is that through some simple configuration adjustments of the band ranges in CHIRP, yes, this will work for you. You might also ask if it will work for those people who prefer more of a Smokey and the Bandit radio band, the answer is also yes, with a caveat. And some might ask if it will work for them on a band that has five VHF channels numbered 1-3,Green,Blue. The answer is somewhat, with a caveat. The caveats: The smokey and the bandit band is going to require that you set the radio to AM, and the power to L or M. But at "M" you're putting out about 2.6w in the 11m bnd, whereas this band has a 4w maximum for AM and FM transmission. But at "H" power, you're way over the limit, at 10w, so don't do that. In other words, if you're buying this for the Superbowl band, it's not ideal but will work fine. As for the 5-channel VHF band starting with the letter M, there is no power setting that brings you down to compliance, as the lowest setting is a little over 5w in the 144+ VHF band, and the M band is limited to 2w. So if you're buying this for the M band you're making a mistake; it cannot meet the technical limitations required for that band. The final caveat is this radio is an amateur radio, not type approved for bands that require type approved equipment. About our on-topic band: Low power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 1-7 -- narrow band or wide. Medium and High power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 15-22 and the repeater inputs -- narrow band or wide. The radio's lowest power setting in UHF is about 5w, and it's a mobile radio, so, like all mobile radios, it will not meet the restrictions for channels 8-14, which must transmit below a half watt. The radio: it's two in one. This radio has two radios inside. It has two volume knobs. Its display has a left side and a right side, each of which corresponds to one of the radios. It literally can play both sides at the same time. It can function as a full-duplex repeater, and as a full-duplex cross-band repeater. It can receive and transmit at the same time, in repeater mode. Some radios have a left and right side, but only one radio on the inside. Those radios achieve this trick by rapidly shifting the one internal radio to listen on the channel set on the left, and then on the channel set on the right. This is how the RA87 works. This is how the UV-5G or UV-5G Plus work. But the Wouxun KG-UV980P doesn't need such a trick; it has two transceivers in it. This is a really nice feature for some people. The mic: It's well balanced, and weighted. My RA87 mic feels like it's mostly air -- like a hollow chocolate bunny. The KG-UV980P mic feels like a MaBell desk phone from the 80s. It feels nice. Its keypad works well, and has all the features you would want on it (better so than the faceplate even). There is a speaker in the mic handset, and there are two speakers on the base unit. There is a volume control on the mic, a monitor button, menu button, band selection, direct frequency input, and a lot more. It's a good mic, and from what people who have heard my voice over this radio say, it sounds awesome. The speakers: With a speaker in the mic, and two speakers on the base unit, it sounds good and offers nice options for listening. There are also two external speaker outputs. Remember, it has two radios in it. And this is why. I've used the radio indoors, and in my super quiet 2014 F150. In those environments, the speakers are plenty loud. I have not tried it out in my old Bronco with a 5.8L v8, 3" exhaust, every rattle known to man, and a thin shell of a roof. I suspect that just like my RA87, which is mounted in the Bronco, its speaker will be almost adequate unless I'm at highway speeds. However, the fact that it has a mic speaker may help in noisy environments. The faceplate: The radio's faceplate is removable, and can be mounted separately from the base unit. It comes with a short connector for mounting the face plate on the base unit, and it comes with a long connecting cord, as well as a dash mount to allow the faceplate to be located a few feet away from the base unit. CHIRP: This unit can be programmed with Wouxun's kooky Windows software, or it can be programmed very easily from CHIRP. You will need to purchase a data cable, as it doesn't come with one. The cable is not expensive. With CHIRP you can program its 999 channels, set the band limits, set many other options, and even allocate channels to ten different scan groups, of user-defined size. This allows you to set it to scan only 2m repeaters, or only GMRS, or whatever other scan groups you can imagine that fall within its band capabilities. On my Linux laptop, the cable required no additional drivers; just download and install CHIRP, which I already had, plug in the cable, download the code plug from the radio, modify it, and upload it back to the radio. Modes: The "left side" radio supports AM and FM. The "right side" is FM only. Despite supporting 10m, it doesn't have SSB. It also doesn't have any digital modes. Transmit bands: 10m(&11m), 6m, 2m(+...), 70cm(65cm). Receive bands: 11m, 10m, 6m, VHF from 144-179, UHF from 420-470, plus airband (123), and 33cm. Heat: I don't talk nearly as much as I type, so I haven't really gotten it hot. It has a fan, and the fan can be set to always on, on while keyed up, or on when it reaches a certain temperature or is keyed up. Heat dissipation doesn't seem to be a problem. I keyed it up for 90 seconds into a 50w dummy load at high power, and it got warm enough to feel the warmth, but not hot. Nevertheless, dash-mounting the radio and then rag chewing in southern Arizona may not be a great plan. If you're going to dash mount it, dash mount the faceplate, and put the base unit somewhere shady in the vehicle, with sufficient ventilation. Programming: The menu is not too difficult to understand, but it's sure easier using CHIRP to get the radio configured, and then to just rely on the menu system for a little tweaking here and there. That goes for programming channels, too. Just do it in CHIRP, upload, done. Overall quality impressions: The radio is hefty, solid, has nice sound, close-enough power, good venting, great features, and great mounting options. Antenna choices: The closest I have to an antenna that will cover this radio's capabilities is a Comet CA2X4SR-NMO. I don't have a General class license, so I don't spend time in the 10m band. And nobody uses 6m in my area, from what I can tell. The CA2X4SR-NMO covers the 2m, 70cm, and closely adjacent bands nicely, so that's what I use. Odds and ends: Independently configurable Tx and Rx tones, compander, over-temp detection, high/low power input detection, scan groups, CTCSS and DCS scanning/detection, and very important to some, a roger beep. Very important to others, the roger beep can be disabled. DTMF, call groups, lots of features you'll never use. Should you consider this radio? Well, it depends. It's not cheap, at about $380-$400. There are far cheaper ham radios out there, and far cheaper GMRS radios. You might even find less expensive quad-band radios. But the build quality and sound quality are pretty darn good. If you are only GMRS licensed, get the KG-1000G Plus. It's the same radio but type approved for, and configured for GMRS. You'll be very happy with that radio. If you're a CB person, no, get a proper CB because it will have the appropriate power levels available, and will be type approved. If you're a MURS person, no, get the KG-1000M radio (which is serious overkill -- so really get an inexpensive MURS radio). If you're an amateur who operates in the SSB portions of the 10m band, get a proper HF radio so you can also enjoy 12m, 15m, 17m, 20m, and 40m. But if you're like me -- rather addicted to nice equipment, enjoying both amateur and GMRS, needing flexible installation options, and appreciating the features this radio offers, it's a pretty decent choice.

Community Note / Readers Added Context: To identify someone based on their callsign takes 10 seconds and can be done by anyone in the world with access to the internet. To identify someone based on their license plate number in most states takes a lot of work/knowing the right people/filling out the right forms/paying a lot of monies, IF it is even legal to do so in your state.

Going back to the original post. While it's true that using you call sign does in fact identify you, so do your license plates. And while I don't believe that most conversations are going to open you up to a situation that could be either dangerous or result in being robbed while you aren't home, a bit of operational security is always a good idea. Things like not discussing a vacation trip you are PLANNING to take with others prior to your departure and return. I would never tell anyone over the air that I was going on vacation for any amount of time, unless I am planning on staying home. I don't discuss any departure or arrival times for even going to work. Not that I don't trust the people I talk to on the radio, but I am NOT just talking to them. Anyone with a radio or scanner can hear what's being said, and can act on that information. I do have a tendency to discuss the security camera's at the house, and the fact that there are multiple DVR's and I get alerts on my phone when a camera is tripped due to motion. I don't discuss actual camera locations, overlaps of coverage or weaknesses. Any discussions are typically about adding additional camera's. Which is a deterrent alone. But 'opsec' which is operational security said in a real cool way, is really nothing more than sitting and considering what you can and can't say / advertise about your day to day life. And the dumb stuff like getting the mail and newspaper delivery stopped when out of town falls into that opsec stuff. And it's a good idea to have that conversation with your wife and kids. We can't block anyone and everyone from knowing our vacations and travel plans. The work place makes it really hard to keep all that quiet. The bosses will want to know what's happening, and while you can avoid saying much, saying too little can be detrimental as well. And telling them outright that you aren't going to discuss your travel plans will only put them on edge. Mostly because it's not 'normal' to not brag about taking a cruise or going to Disney or similar far away attraction. But don't concern yourself with the idea that criminals are sitting around a GMRS radio waiting on someone to announce they are going away on vacation to go rob their house.

I Called buytwowayradios.com about a few revision ideas, and they said a software or firmware update wasn't likely.

He's been a Jerk for so long, with his smarmy know-it-all attitude and poor advice for new operators, that it was about time he got his ass chewed !

Ok, that's what I thought. I misunderstood. Thank you.

No, if you program your radio with TSQL, you won’t hear anyone else unless they are transmitting using the RX tone or code you have programmed. Anyone listening using Tone will hear your transmissions. Squelch mode only affects your own radio reception.

Interesting. I did not know that. So if I program my HT's with T-sql, anyone on that frequency must have that same t-sql set or they won't hear us?

That makes sense. If three radials can provide a ground plane, expanded metal should work as well or better.

My radials are on the way from Comet. I hung it from a tree and ran a few tests using my improvised "mystery metal" radials. I think I'm going to like this antenna. I had a lot of work to do to get my deck ready to support the mast, but I think I have it ready now. I can raise the antenna as soon as the radials get here. Well, when I also have someone to help me. I can raise it with a rope using a tree branch as a pully, but I need someone to guide it and secure the clamps while I hold it up.

Depending on the alloy stainless steel can be highly magnetic or not. After being burnt, literally, by Chinese stainless steel that wasn't what it said it was my first quick check was a magnet. The alloy we used in chemical piping should not have been magnetic. After that incident, the piping came from an ISO manufacturer, I specified US or European manufacturer only. All Chinese metal is mystery metal as far as I'm concerned.

Karl, Although it was the voltage regulator that failed that’s probably just a symptom of a high current problem with the boards which draw from power from it. Repairing or replacing the power supply will be repetitively frustrating unless you find and fix the actual problem. I would recommend sending the repeater to Retevis after contacting them using the email address Gil provided above. Best wishes! Please let us know what you find.

Wow I’m sure he didn't think of contacting them first. Der

Might want to come to the conclusion that it’s a cheap throw away unit that is not ment for every day use. It will probably cost more to repair then to replace. If you’re using it that much you may want to invest in a better unit. Motorola repeaters can be had for less then the 97 and have a continuous use ability.

Have you tried contacting Retevis? They say they offer lifetime support. Here’s the email address for support. info@retevis.com

My Retevis RT97S repeater had been on-line continuously for just over 2 years serving my neighborhood when it failed. My inspection revealed that the voltage regulator chip on the PC board CD-900DYB was burned. I determined that the power supply was in good working order so I ordered and received a replacement PC board. I installed this new PC board and on power up, it to blew the voltage regulator chip in about 2 seconds. At this point I am looking for professional service on this unit that is just out of the warrantee period. So far in my search on the Internet, I am not finding any servicing provider. If I am unable to find service on this repeater, I will never purchase another Retevis repeater and this one will be sent to the scrap pile, reluctantly! Karl, in Warren, Michigan, USA

RT Systems is SO easy to use, a Caveman can do it !

I Failed as soon as I saw it !

I'm testing my will power. Timing how long I can go without laughing at @PRadio's Midland page . Well crap, that didn't last long.

I used my 220 radio twice today

Thanks all from South Louisiana Jeff

What? Rt systems and chirp are the most simple easy to use programming softwares out there. It’s just no one wants to learn. They are so easy my 10 year old grand kids use them all the time. It’s like saying driving a stick is hard but millions of people every day do it with no problem. Geesh some people are so lazy.

The RT Systems CPS is another "Less Than Simple" programming software application just as that "Less Than Simple" programming software application called Chirp. With Kenwood proprietary CPS, at least there are only two tone/code settings, one for receive (decode) and one transmit (encode) in the CPS. With Motorola, you have to tell it CSQ for no tone/code, PL, or DPL and then select the appropriate tone/code for receive (Decode); and and I believe it is None, PL, or DPL and then select the appropriate tone/DPL for transmit (Encode).

Turn it into Wouxun support. Maybe it’s unintentional and they’ll fix it in a firmware update.

IF you turn your volume all the way down, then make your area change you won't hear the beep, but otherwise it's engineered to be what it is. Using an earpiece during hunting or Stealth activity is a just a suggestion.