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I'm sure that's the right approach for some entry-level users, but it absolutely wouldn't work for me. I have a lot of repeaters programmed into my GMRS radio. Basically, all the ones in Oklahoma and many from neighboring states.

Yup. The price is very reasonable too.

@Lscott that looks great especially considering your antenna is mounted to the rack. I have my Comet 2x4SR on a mag mount that is on the expanded metal luggage rack on my SxS. The highest SWR across 2m, 70cm, and GMRS is 1.8 at 467.600 MHz. The 2x4SR is hard to beat.

Well I got around to doing an SWR scan of both the Comet CA-2x4SR and the Diamond NR240CA wide-band antennas the past few days. Both were tested on the UHF type roof rack mount I have on my Mazda. Both antennas are 5/8 wave design, thus they need a decent ground plane to work. I expected crummy results. However I'm absolutely shocked how well they matched up on the VHF and UHF bands!!! I guess there is enough "ground plane" under the mount, plus whatever capacitive coupling between the mounting strap and roof rack rail for a better coupling to the rack rail. The installation looks like this photo, but I have a different antenna on the mount at the time. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/471-mobile-mount-with-antenna-rear-view/?context=new The attached photos show the match on the VHF and UHF bands. The results are very similar. Not uprising since both designs look about the same except the center loading coil. subjectively I think the Diamond antenna match is a bit better.

he discusses a little on connecting the two radios to the RICK,,,, as far as programing the CW can you find anything on a Google search, along with the other aspects you are looking for? Repeaterbuilder.com might be the best resource for your questions and help.. Those guys are eager to help anyone. .. I once had a repeater made with two Maxon Mobil Radios (similar to two Motorolas). I used an ICS controller with OpenRepeater software, open source. I had to access the pinouts from both radios to make a custom pig-tail cable to communicate with the controller and radio. That setup cost less than $200, worked very well. Was able to program CW or voice on any interval i needed and also had a busy option..

Sounds like a super clean install, also would like to see it! Check the attachments in your original post @dosw - it looks like you've attached files of some sort, but not photos so they are not showing up inline as pictures.

There are several sources. Setcom, PVP Communications. Planet Headset, Klein Electronics, Racing Electronics, Racing Radios, and Rugged Radios that specializes in various audio systems that may meet your application.

I don’t remember what company we used but ours attach to the inside of the helmet on both ears and have a mic that attaches to the front face guard. Has a wireless ptt button on the bars takes a little watch battery lasts about a year total Cost was like $30. They have so far lasted 5 years of every day hard use. Friends have rugged. They last them about 6 months of every other weekend riding.

I think the biggest difference between CB licensing and GMRS licensing is that CB Licenses were on paper and the reply was on paper and had to be stored in filing cabinet$ and someone had to be paid to handle all that paper and deposit the check and follow-up on bounced checks and returned mail, etc. My GMRS license was filed digitally, paid for digitally, and sent to me digitally. All on a Sunday (i.e. no human beings involved). Bits on a server are so cheap (not zero, but really cheap) that as long as people are willing to pay for a GMRS license, they'll take the money.

Put that baby on a mag mount and fire away on the roof top.... have mag mounts eith the knock off cheapo ghosts on both my vehicles, work absolutely great, my daily has the anytone 778uvII, and the fun truck has just a boofwang ar-5rm with a speaker mic and the mag mount antenna.... both get the job done good enough for me, granted the 25w 778uv does get out better thru the foliage this time of year than the fun truck....

I don’t have any experience with Rugged Radios Headsets other than I did a radio check for a guy testing one out on his motorcycle and on my end it sounded pretty good. They have wired and bluetooth. There might be cheaper options out there. Good luck.

Hi I’m interested in using my FRS radio stuffed in a backpack with a helmet speaker(not an inside the ear type). I would need a PTT button on a cord as I don’t want to mess with VOX. Is there any units that are better than others? Typical kenwood type connector. Thanks. Was hoping maybe a few of you have personal experience using such setups as I don’t want the phone/Bluetooth ones that seem popular. I’d like to stick with frs radios.

I'd like to see it, but i don't trust your files to not have a virus.

Except it doesn’t say that. You added it. It says operating under the individual license AND properly identified in accordance with this section. You’ll notice there is a comma after “AND”. It’s not a separate rule the two statements are combined.

I did contact them. they responded that I may need a breakout box and they did provide a pin out for it. I may have to go that route.

There is not a lot of technical information. Like how do you connect the two together, how to add the CW call to the device, how to change it from simplex to duplex. There is more information for the disconnect than station ID

It does not.

So basically you paid to have a radio installed in your truck…..and your happy. cliff notes version. The rest I’m going to leave alone. It’s too easy.

I think what we need are two lawyers on the forum. They can both read the rules then explain them in layman's terms. After which they can spend eternity arguing whose interpretation is correct (yea, two lawyers can't ever agree on what laws mean, how can we mere mortals).

E-1 pay in 74 was 397 per. ETS'd as an SP4 at the 505 per month. For those that care, my MOS was 98G2LAEK3/05H2LAEK3. But was also put on Temp as a 95B when I was guarding the SCIF as there weren't enough MP's with clearances to do the gig.

As I've posted previously, I have a Wouxun KG-UV980P, which is physically identical to the KG-1000G but with different configuration (one is ham, the other is GMRS). This post also covers installation of a KG-1000G Plus, since its hardware is substantially similar. I've been using the KG-UV980P for a couple weeks loosely installed (wires connected but nothing routed or bracketed in) to test it out. I started down the path of installing it myself, but in the end decided to go with a professional installation since the interior of my truck is too clean for amateurish work, which I would certainly achieve. My vehicle is a 2014 F150 Lariat Super Crew 6.2L v8 6.5' bed. The center console is pretty packed, but there was one area near the bottom that seemed like a possible fit for the radio's faceplate. A nice feature of the KG-UV980P, KG-UV950P, KG-1000G, and KG-1000G Plus is that they have a detachable, remote faceplate. You can install the face plate on the radio, or remotely, where it must be fed with a wire that looks like (but isn't) a Cat-6 cable. This allows for cleaner installation options. Here's a big thanks to Innovative Audio in Sandy, UT, who performed the installation better than I had asked for. It wasn't cheap, but they did great work. The equipment: KG-UV980P. Diamond stainless antenna mount for 2009-2014 F150. Diamond low profile NMO connector with integrated cable. Laird TE B4505CN antenna (no ground plane required). This is a 5dBi gain antenna designed to work in no-ground-plane or poor-ground-plane applications. And some custom brackets that Innovative came up with. I also have a dual-band UHF/VHF no-ground-plane antenna that I swap in for 2m/70cm use (Diamond NR770HBNMO). Pictures attached. You'll see the faceplate mounted at the base of the center console. The base unit is mounted behind the glove box amid a rat's nest of other stuff. I have no idea how they got it in there. In one picture you can almost see the PL259 connector. I asked them to leave the data cable attached, which they did, and it is routed into the glove box. The antenna cable and power cable are routed nicely through the firewall together. And Anderson connectors are found inline between the battery and the radio's power cable so that I can disconnect it easily. The mic is mounted adjacent to the face plate. Despite the radio being installed behind the glove box, I can still hear its speakers very well. But additionally, this radio's mic has a built-in speaker. I have both set to work simultaneously, and the sound quality is just fine. Pictures below.... 1cI1Cuc82OIORIht0KruyUfotMt1kqC1I 1cLFpEks6_8DufPIbSFfuGwKOO11HDnoX 1caXVXEhv35By5zxZhs2UqwlHCUbx9_dK 1cadyxIWJrQNf8rf3bExVYhzRID5-1NyG 1cbh71eF_FLX1_D4v4IcoMmvyvufTHAJb 1cgTii_W1wld9AT7flXwwz7DYh5Vdmluw 1cGr3mvQB-ZRAhteXc_-nAsVcs0fZzIud 1cHj38upff9q-yR4LPVuWSEoLViG8STiv 1d-wlBEY01CxzogRPtfn0XIZ2bs5ld8FQ 1d5SM3-n9paG2-63xu0Drj7gh7UCxwWA7 1d-JS6oOMGi5bFvcuDi1bns29dcuCeqgy

My personal preference is to use the official factory software where possible. That's really important for commercial radios. CHIRP is nice, but for every radio it supports the developers have to reverse engineer the code plug layout and communications protocol with the radio. When it works, great. The one issue with Chirp is it may not always give you access to all of the radio's features. For that the only choice is the factory software.

You can always change it later. Once you drill a hole, well that's not going away if you change your mind. I had a buddy who messed up his measurement when he drilled a hole for his NMO mount in the roof of his old van. It got into one of the support beams on the underside. He ended up putting a plug in the hole he couldn't use and drilled a new hole over a bit. We kidded him for a while asking to see the Band-Aid on his Boo-Boo. Oh, if you do end up at some point drilling a hole. Be absolutely sure you use the right hole saw. The wrong one will really mess up the roof.

DMR is defiantly a different game, which I have never used RT or Chirp to do since my Hytera CPM does it well. Right now the only DMR radios i have is Hytera and mostly because i like their overall package and ease of using their CPM. Not to mention some very good deals i've gotten on Ebay....

Chirp does remarkably well for being non-commercial software. If it was available for all of my radios I might never have switched to RT Systems. And I will not say that RT Systems has worked perfectly. I’ve run across a few problems with RT Systems when programming DMR code plugs, which admittedly is an order of magnitude more complicated than typical analog radios. But their DMR calculator makes it much easier and when I have had a problem I have been very impressed by RT Systems willingness to thoroughly discuss and understand every issue that I have reported. Having RT Systems available for my db20g radios really made the difference for me though. I really like this radio and Chirp isn’t available for this radio.