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I spend time on NWI and on GMRS-Chat. Both have nets every Sunday. GMRS-Chat does not go over repeaters and accepts unlicensed users. Despite that, we still observe regular radio practices. The thinking is that it gives interested people practice before getting their GMRS license. GMRS-Repeaters does link to repeaters, as does NWI, so users do have to be licensed.

Seems that the CCR companies did a lot of Kenwood copying haha. The Btech UV series radios use a very Kenwood handmic for instance.

Either one will be a great radio for you, and either will KILL a Midland micro-mobile. I think the 880 series is a few years newer than the 860 series. The 880 series had a better alpha-numeric display also. You really can't go wrong with either Kenwood option. Another difference between my 862s and my 880-885s... the 862s have a 6-pin mic connector and use the 6-pin programming cable. The 880 and 885s I have use an 8-pin mic and programming cable. -- Dirty Little Secret 1 -- The 880-885 Kenwoods use the same programming cable as the popular CCR called the VV-898. -- Dirty Little Secret 2 -- You can use the 6-pin Kenwood programming cable with the 880 and 885. Just center it up and plug it right in to the 8-pin socket. The middle pins are the same on the 6 and 8 pin plugs, and the outside 2 pins on the 880-885 are not used for programming.

When I first entered the DMR portion of ham radio, I got a good deal on a really well cared for XPR7550 (UHF). I had a custom leather holster made for it, along with the D-Ring for my belt. While it looks nice it is quite heavy, at least compared with my current favorite the AT-878 which weighs just over half as much, is about half the size, and has three times the features as the XPR7550. The first time I carried to Dayton for the Hamvention, I found to my dismay that while I had packed a half-dozen HTs along on the trip (why I have no idea!), I had forgotten the charger for the XPR7550! Fortunately, one of my DMR friends had an Impress charger and hand mic at his booth, so I bought both and all was well again. Now I find myself not even having turned on the XPR7550 for nearly two years. I have the software and programming cable, two chargers, two batteries, the leather holster and speaker mic and need to find a good home for this package. I do keep the batteries rotated and freshly charged though. Now I've found that the battery on my GD-77 has gone bad. It won't hold a charge at all. Thirty seconds fresh off the charger and the radio loses power. I'm not sure about replacing the battery. I may just toss the radio in the trash. I need to sell my MD-2017 and Ailunce HD-1 if possible. I just don't need that many HTs cluttering up the house. It's too bad the AT-578 doesn't have a separation kit, as I'd really like that in my mobile. Running it in 220/440 DMR crossband would be nice. At least then I'd get some use out of my 220 HT that otherwise just sits around feeling lonely. I'm blessed with having a very wide-area 220 repeater here in NW Indiana, but no one else either uses it or has a radio...

Something like that, basically the ribbon plugs onto something like that, and then the cable extends to the faceplate... The XPR radios do it like that.

Oh! Good to know. I don't have or use a 'smart phone' at all anyway, so... ...I'd only get to use the PC App. Since my TK-880H 1 radio is on a shelf by my right knee, that would just be silly.

Funny thing about this whole deal - I know nobody who uses GMRS and my 'group' will consist of family members to whom I hand a HT for trail riding, fishing, hunting, etc. But GMRS could also be handy to monitor others out there, especially hunting, if/when stuff happens, and where there's lots of wide open high desert, and line-of-sight can be 30++ miles. Montana, where we summer, is a whole different beast, with narrow trails and lots of timber. I'm leaning toward the 863...

Ideally one would hope that eventually Anytone will add the necessary parts to multiplex at the chassis end and demultiplex at the control head end, and ditch the ribbon cable entirely, replacing it with a bog-standard CAT5 or CAT6 cable. This is how my TYT7800, CS800D, and FT-857 radio's remote system works.

Excellent! Thanks so much.

The keypads are interchangeable. Also, they are readily available as replacement parts. The 880 V1 will program just fine from the same Windows program that works on the V2. You will just get a notification that any V2 only functions will not load into the radio. I have both V1s and 2s and use the same cable, software and data file for both. Download the service manual, too. It goes into a lot more detail on programming. Yes, I would recommend getting 1-7 and 15-22 programmed. I would ask for 1-7 as low power, narrow bandwidth, simplex. I use 67 Hz PL TX and RX. This is to make it compatible with the widest range of handheld radios, including cheap, old FRS-only radios. 15-22 I would program as repeater pairs, high power, wide bandwidth, 141.3 Hz PL TX and RX. That gives you the best chance of being able to get into a repeater if you need to. I would have the buttons programmed as follows: left up/dn = volume. Right up/dn = channel. MON = CSQ toggle. A = TA. B = Scan D/A C and D = group up/dn and SCN = scan. I would in fact probably put 1-7 in one group, 15-22 in a different group. So, here's how that works: Unless your group has the PL tones set the same as yours, keep it set to monitor (MON will appear in the display). That allows you to hear all traffic on the channel, regardless of tone or lack thereof. Keep TA set to on (TA in display). That makes all channels simplex, whether they are set as repeater pairs or simplex. I would have the scan set to "multi" so it will scan all programmed frequencies as opposed to just the group/bank you are on. If there is something on a channel that is a nuisance, just press the B button while it is on that channel to lock it out from scan. That function will reset when you cycle the power. TK-880 can be programmed from the front panel, but first you have to remove a zero ohm resistor and enable that function in software. By default, that function is not available.

used-radios.com tells me the 863 is a newer radio than the 880, that "the buttons will last longer" and it has a few more options/features.. maybe features I might not need. 880 V1.0 is DOS programming only. 880 Firmware V2.0 is Windows. 863 is Windows only. 880 programs from display (youtube) - 863 does not. Probably a non-issue if the Windows programming is EZ. Should I just get the standard GMRS 1 - 7 and 15 - 22 pre-programmed? Any other whistles I should ask for? I'll get the cable and software just to have.. I do like to tinker with my toys. Anyone have a link to both (I know, SEARCH). I have found the Owner's Manuals online so no one will have to tell me to RTFOM! Maybe. Thanks folks!

Are you suggesting a 20 pin connector? Or, do you really mean creating your own parallel interface? If you mean the latter, well I would be fairly sure that what you suggest cannot be done easily. On the other hand, if you just want connectors on the radio and control head, that should be pretty simple. I'd use two short ribbon cables at the body and head. One end connected to the respective unit, and the other terminated in a standard 20-pin female ribbon connector. Then just make a ribbon cable of the length you want and terminate it with a 20-pin male connector at each end. http://www.pacificcable.com/photos/IDE20.jpghttp://www.pacificcable.com/photos/IDH20.jpg

Got to try the radio on Madison 700 just now. On just 1 watt, good reports so far. Love the fact that Low is 1 watt, mid is 10W, high is 25W and Turbo is 50W... the 1 W option is great. I can also use the 10dB attenuator and bring it down even further if need be... so far no issues with the radio... Ideally you'd want to convert the ribbon cable to a parallel port, or something, similar to how the Motorola XPR mobiles work... not sure if that can be easily done. Certainly a relocation kit would work wonders for my application on a velomobile where space is at a premium... G.

ribbon cables can be purchased fairly cheap at different lengths even shielded or use aluminum tape for the shielding , would be a good project to give a try without harming the unit

both are good radios couldn't go wrong with either one

You're right about 25 watts being sufficient. The primary differences between 25 and 50 watts is that the latter will suck your battery dry twice as fast, the radio will get hotter, and the RF burn if you touch the antenna while it is transmitting will be worse. My understanding is that the TK-863G has more/newer trunking functions than the TK-880. You won't be using those functions anyway, so either will work fine.

Well, depending on how daring and capable with tools you are, you might want to just open the radio up and see what exactly connects the front section to the rest of the radio. It could be just a simple ribbon cable, or it could be a myriad of wires. If it is a ribbon cable or similar you might be in luck. Of course, you would still have to rig up some cover for the back part of the radio and something to cover the back of the face plate portion. if you do open the radio, please post pictures of the inside. Good luck.

Very true, but the OP was posted in the Amateur Radio (Ham) section of the forums.

A 32" antenna is 1/2 wave on 175 MHz or 1/4 wave at the bottom of the FM broadcast band, or about 87 MHz. Neither of those will work on 462 MHz GMRS. Wavelength affects whether or not the antenna will work at all on a given frequency. Antenna length is related to wavelength. Don't worry about gain, especially for offroading. Gain isn't free. To get gain in one direction, you have to give up signal strength in other directions. It's best to just use a 1/4 wave or 1/2 wave antenna. And I would (and usually do) just use a 1/4 wave because it is small (6 inches), works well and is naturally self resonant and therefore dirt simple. Offroad, simple is better. The power limit for a GMRS (not FRS) radio is power to the antenna, not ERP. So even if you do have some gain, even if you brought along a portable high-gain Yagi beam (single-directional) antenna just to see how far you can reach from a mountaintop, you can still legally feed it the full 50 watts.

I can help you out there, if you're interested. I have a Motorola M1225 already programmed with GMRS channels that I would be willing to sell. It's in great condition. I'll even throw in the programming cable. Nothing wrong with it; I'm just not using it because I have enough Kenwoods to cover all my GMRS needs.