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I finished up my install of my XPR5550e GMRS radio and Uniden 980. The mic hang up clip is grounded so it stops scanning when i take it off the clip. This things great. I have CPS v16 so I can do my own programming. me and my dad have a XPR7750e too. so I have the radios set up so it will display who is transmitting. i can even send a signal to my dad so his radio rings until he answers and he can do the same. My brother has my XTS3000 so when ever they transmit it comes up with there name. I have a Laird BB4505CR 5db and a Laird CB27S antennas. there both black.

My Kenwood radios will talk and make contacts, but everyone says my mic gain is real low. is there a way to adjust microphone gain in the programming software. i have both the KPG-89D and the KPG-135 for my 8180H and 8360 Huk respectively. Second question is what do you set the narrow / wide column for GMRS?

also in the 8180 program edit-options-common page 1 there is a setting for mic sensitivity, normal or high. I generally set this to normal unless the operator has a small voice. not too sure on the 8360 but go through the edit options thoroughly.

Boxcar has a good suggestion. A few more points about MURS. You can use external antennas and the VHF signal seems to propagate further through trees etc. And finally you don't need a license to use MURS radios, but they must be FCC certified. GMRS radios everyone needs to have their own license unless they are a qualified family member of someone who is licensed. One thing I have noticed about operating FRS radios inside vehicles, the range is poor, around 1/2 mile is typical. If you use GMRS radios you REALLY need to use a roof mounted antenna, even with a handheld radio. Same point about MURS radios too.

you want to run Wide band for GMRS, narrow band for FRS. Setting this wrong could make your volume sound low so make sure that is set correctly first. If you still need to make adjustments I believe you'll need to do it in test mode and likely will need a way to read the signal coming out of the radio which means you may need to visit a shop.

You should be aware the Midland radios as far as I know are all narrow band FM. Look at page 4 "Type of Emission". https://fccid.io/MMAMXT400/Test-Report/Test-Report-3120260.html The "10K2FE3" is the FCC's technical definition for narrow band FM. For GMRS it typically should be "16K0FE3". Unless the handheld radios can be programmed for narrow band FM you might want to think about getting them. The issue with miss matched radio bandwidths has to do with the audio at least. A narrow band radio receiving a normal FM bandwidth signal will have a very loud audio, and may distort it. Going the other way a normal FM bandwidth radio receiving a narrow band FM signal will have low audio level. Trying to talk to more than one station with miss matched bandwidths everyone will be playing with the volume control and that gets old real quick. As a guide a doubling of power output may get you at most a theoretical range increase of around 40 percent. There are lots of other factors at the GMRS frequencies that will conspire to reduce this. Many have reported not seeing much of a change at all. You can use a radio from any manufacture to communicate with another manufacturer's as long as they are programed with the same frequencies, and tones if used, with the caveat above about the bandwidth.