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I agree with your comment about accepting responsibility for the consequences of our words [and actions] while keeping in mind the 1st amendment to the US Constitution applies specifically to the government: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Courts have held the term Congress to apply to government in general. However, private enterprises and citizens are not bound by this amendment. So, whatever freedom of expression we have on this forum is limited to that which the owners and operators allow us. Fortunately, on this forum we have been given a fairly broad latitude in this respect. However, along with that privilege of expression comes the responsibility to use it thoughtfully and not abuse it.

That comment added nothing to your post. And further, what is the point of bringing up your personal opinion about something that has nothing to do with GMRS radio to begin with. This forum tends to work a lot better when people stay on topic.

That antenna is a dual band amateur radio antenna. While it may work, it is not designed/optimized for GMRS frequencies. I would expect the SWR to be high, perhaps higher than your radio will safely tolerate. I personally would not use it without first verifying SWR is appropriate and modifying it to suite for GMRS. Modifying a dual band antenna is not for the faint of heart. Purchasing one designed for GMRS frequencies is what I recommend. I personally use the Midland MXTA-26A GMRS antenna and have zero complaints. Michael WHRS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Glad I could help. Much like I told another person to leave the "Americans think they are the world" comments out of their posts, I have to agree with Berkinet on his assestment. I think I speak for most people here when I say "nobody here has had a good time during this whole situation..." However, stating that something is over-hyped might not sit well with a random person who reads the post and has had a relative, or dear one die b/c of it. I am pretty certain the situation is not over-hyped for that person. Again, please forgive me if you feel I am trying to overstep on your 1st Amendment, I am not, and you're free to say whatever you want, however, always remember that whatever you say will always have consequences... and especially so in written form. (and I know that well) Cheers! G.

Here's another radio that i found on buy two way radios website. now were getting some choices in gmrs radios https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2020/11/wouxun-kg-1000g-mobile-gmrs-radio.html

Hello my name is Santos (WRJB937) and late one day (THU Dec 17) while talking with Darren (WRCU527) and he came up with Idea of a Christmas QSO for those that cannot be with family or want hang out with fellow GMRS users. Part of the idea is to set random groups thru out the nation so that we can communicate with people who we would not normally talk to. So the point of this post is to try to get people who might not have plans interested and getting monitoring for the Christmas QSO. Any feed back will be great. V/r M. Santos WRJB937 wrjb937@gmx.com Tucson, AZ (soon: Dubuque, IA)

Midland MTXA26 user here as well happy end user so far use it as a mobile and repeater/base antenna.

It is possible it would work but it is not tuned for GMRS. Antennas that are not tuned for the frequencies you transmit on present a higher SWR to the radio. The higher the SWR, the stronger the signal reflected back from the antenna to the radio. Some folks have reported for example that Midland GMRS radios can only handle a max SWR of 1.5:1 and anything more than that warranty is void. If that is true and you put an antenna on that exceeds that value you are living on borrowed time. Some radios can handle SWR upwards of 3:1. (Some high power expensive amateur rigs have built in automatic antenna tuners). High SWR support is great on one hand as it means the radio will survive and your investment is reasonably protected from a poorly tuned antenna. On the other hand, an unnecessarily high SWR number means you are wasting extra power in your cable, thus reducing your range. If you had a quality SWR meter and you have confirmed it was within a safe range for your radio, buy all means use it. If you do so without verifying, by all means put your radio in lowest power mode to prevent letting the magic smoke out. BTW, about a month ago I checked my personal Comet Dual Band Amateur antenna with an antenna analyzer for the exact same reason as you. While I do not recall the exact number, I concluded it was too high risk for my radio. So I carry two antenna in my car. I swap them as needed to suit the service I want to use. Regarding antenna recommendation. I shared that I personaly use the Midland MXTA-26A. I have no complaints with it. I would buy it again. Welcome to the world of radio. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

what a PITA I finally got them to send me the correct info... Please try these steps: Please connected the cable and opened the software program. The frequency page will appear or you may have to click on open. Make the changes on the page and save it. Do not click on “read from the radio”. Click on “write to radio.” A prompt comes up and asking for the old password and new password which needs to be ignored. There is no need to enter anything. Click “Start.” The program will transfer the frequency page to the radio. Here’s the important part- turn off the radio and turn it back on. The voice prompt will say “frequency mode.” You need to switch to “channel mode” by pressing and holding the “menu” button. That will take you to the main channels where other radio changes can be made.Please try. this did work for me..

I think your application is an appropriate use for a low power portable repeater. Yes you could use a standard mobile antenna on top of camper as that would definitely make it higher than your HT antenna so that would have a positive effect on your effective range. You might also give consideration to getting your antenna up higher, perhaps an additional 10-15-20 feet. You could do that by using one of the readily accessible push-up fiber glass antenna masts available from various amateur radio supply shops. They collapse and store easily. You could set this on the ground next to camper, raise it up and secure to side of your camper. There are tripods available for some also. For those new to GMRS and reading this message, antenna height is more way more important than power when it comes to range. Your investment in height will pay more in dividends than any high-powered expensive radio. One special reason for height in a tightly packed KOA campground is all the metal sided campers. The more of those campers in the path of your signal, the greater your signal loss and reduction in effective range. I would start with your initial idea. See if it works to your satisfaction. If range is acceptable, let it fly. If you need more range, raise the antenna. Regards, Michael WHRS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Found it. It was started by @gman1971 on 25 October 2020 and the last post was barely 3 weeks later. A total of 3 people contributed reviews. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/2183-brand-name-radios-proscons-thread-usednew/

There is no consequential prohibition on which frequencies the radio can receive on, there are restrictions on which frequencies the radio can transmit on. NOAA frequencies live in the VHF Spectrum. GMRS is the UHF spectrum. The radio that the 805G is based on is a UHF only radio so it does not have NOAA capability. There are many GMRS radios with NOAA capability, the 805G is just not one of them. Wouxun does have a model pending FCC approval that will have NOAA plus a basic 7-band analog scanner. The radio is already advertised and will cost twice as much (KG-UV9G). Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

A lot depends on your *local* community. There's traffic on the Southwest myGMRS net most hours of the day - some hours more than others, and nobody minds responding to a radio check request. We've even had to spill over to a non-networked local repeater on a occasion just to keep myGMRS Southwest open. Best thing I can think of, if you have time on your hands, is to keep that radio on during the day and be an ambassador of sorts - greet new people, say hi, welcome them to GMRS, and all that. They love that, and they come back.

I had a Ham buddy at work that picked up a few of those ultra cheap BF-888S 16 channel UHF "only" radios. Well it he found a code plug hack that would let it work on VHF too. To test it he did a test TX on a Ham 2M frequency in our south building while I monitored it in the north building. Yes it did work. But, this was the big one, I tuned to the third harmonic of the 2M frequency, which put it in the Ham 70cm band. I picked up the signal loud and clear! Needless to say I told him NEVER try to use the radio like that again. The crap coming out of that radio was a interference disaster. But what the heck, it was a cheap "multi-band" radio where you could talk on several bands all at the same time. A real bargain if you get what I mean.

Nothing wrong with that idea. Who do you propose should take on the responsibility of doing that? A thread was setup for exactly that purpose a few months ago, it went dead after listings for a half-dozen radios or so. I can't even find that topic now.

Search this forum. You will see that this idea has been proposed, and even started, several times. However, for whatever reason, the effort soon becomes abandoned. Perhaps if someone was willing to actually take on the task, and approach Rich (WQEJ577) it might work. However, as long as the implementation depends on the efforts of others, it is not likely to be sustained.

Most of the issues people have with the MXT 400 can be resolved by use of the programming software. Here is a link to one discussion on that topic. There are others.

I too am somewhat feeling the way of the author when it comes to educating folks interested in this field. Jeep Jamboree USA will reqiure FRS radios next year instead of the CB's we have used forever. I am a die-hard for obvious reasons like, Why change if it isn't broke? But I too am trying to embrace this new technology so I'll be knowledgeable when the change takes place. Getting my license and buying what I thought was the correct rig for me, I found I had only the manufactures literature to guide me. And I fell for the POWER of 40 watts and a 6db gain antenna before getting here, on site. I figured, well we'll be in the mountains and winding thru the hollows so more power is better. Maybe getting more like-minded (Jeepers) together and utilized the collective minds and experience to better serve our community. Just Like learning here. But there is an empty spot in world of education when it comes to FRS & GMRS. Just got it set up in the Jeep today. So far I have talked to one child on the radio that responded to a radio check.

I disagree. It is the frustration anyone feels when trying to learn something new. Eventually you find someone who knows how to teach and explain, making the path less cluttered. We'll figure it out. No need for name calling.

Your "sharing experiences" was what allowed to put it all together. Thanks! Moral of the story is, even if you think you know, talking to someone who has a lot of experience will help a lot... G.

And there is the problem. There is usually no clear answer as to what the best, or even at times, a good, decision is. There are far too many variables involved. It might be that one excellent solution requires someone with a service monitor to configure, or the ability (and courage) to climb a tower, or deep pockets, a machine shop, and so on. Some users here are computer gurus while others can’t even connect a cable between a radio and their computer. Etc, etc, etc. I for one, have no interest in becoming a leader in this field. On the one hand, the more I know the more I realize what I don’t know. On the other hand, I am completely uninterested is accepting responsibility for someone who blindly trusts in whatever I might opine. At best, I am willing to be a guide or counselor to someone else’s journey into self discovery. YMMV. And that is a good thing.

I'd rather have your expertise and there's no need for bickering. If someone knows what is best for each application, stand up and say it. The rest of us need to know when to lead, and know when to follow.

Aaaaaand speak of the devil... Sunday's Wall Street Journal article, which affirms everything I'm saying! ‘Ready for Lunch? Over.’ Walkie-Talkies Make Comeback With Folks Stuck at Home. Coronavirus lockdowns give the World War II-era device new life