Leaderboard

Here is some added insight into behavior of the Wouxun KG-1000G when the priory channel scan is enabled. First, the radio does not scan the priority channel at all when the radio is in scan mode. Undesirable IMO. Second, the radio does check the priority channel when the radio is sitting idle, even when the radio is tuned to a different channel. This is desirable IMO. The radio will reproduce audio from the priority channel which is a good thing, however… Third, when the radio detects a signal on the priority channel there is no friendly way (I can find) to cause the radio to stay on (or switch to) that channel so you communicate back. One has to manually tune to the priority channel (which can be a time consuming effort). It would be more desirable (IMO) if pressing the PTT briefly button would briefly cause the radio to pause on that channel so as to allow immediate talk-back communications. Fourth, when priority scan mode is active and you are actively receiving a signal on a different channel, the channel you are listening too will be interrupted for 1 second every 4 seconds, while the radio scans the priority channel. This will cause you to miss portions of the conversation you are engaged in, even when no activity on priority channel is present. Fifth, there is no way to establish what the priority channel is on the radio without a computer. Undesirable IMO, as in my case, my priority channel is probable to change depending upon where I am and how I am using the radio. Thought I would shed some more light on the subject. Perhaps BTWR is listening and can take action with Wouxun to resolve the issues. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

For those that would like to know how to calculate the wavelength, a simple way find it is to divide 300 by the frequency (in MHz) being used. The result is the wavelength in meters. For example, what is commonly called the "2 meter" ham band can be determined by dividing 300 by 146 (the middle of the band), with the result of 2.05 meters, which is pretty close to 2 meters, hence the name. Another example is for the "70 cm" ham band, 300 divided by 430 (MHz) is .697, which rounds nicely to .7 meters, or 70 cm. A quarter wavelength at this frequency would be 70 cm / 4, which equals 17.5 cm, or approximately 7 inches. At the GMRS frequency of ~465 MHz. (roughly the mid-point of the band when accounting for repeater use) the wavelength is .645 meters. A quarter wavelength at this frequency would be just over 16 cm, or about 6 3/8 inches. If you know the wavelength, you can also calculate the frequency in a similar manner. Simply divide 300 by the wavelength (in meters) to find the approximate frequency. For example, for the 20 meter ham band this would be 300 / 20, or approximately 15 MHz. The actual band is in the 14 MHz range, but this formula will get you close. The other way to think about it is that the frequency in MHz, multiplied by the wavelength in meters, should equal something close to 300.

I think what "Motorola figured out" is that once the users perceive that DMR operates the same as P25, and the system administrators discover that DMR is about 30% the cost and they get twice the channel capacity and more features than P25, they will no longer purchase expensive P25 hardware. Its a marketing decision by Motorola, that just happens to also be good for maintaining interoperability. Its the same game played by politicians. I agree with your comment on interop, except that 95% of the time, the locals can't talk to other locals or the feds anyway, either because they are on different bands (locals cannot afford multiband radios), or the Fed did not, or refuse to share their encryption keys. Of they fail to program in each others frequencies. An normally is bad practice to change channel to another system because your commanders need you on your normal channels. If DMR had a profit margins that P25 does, Moto would just come up with an excuse to promote that technology instead - and so would the politicians. It has noting to do with co-channel interference related to DMR - this is fake news (likely by Moto or Kenwood). DMR, P25, NXDN will all be similar at the co-channel distances we are talking about (DMR is noisier than most when strong, but they would not license someone that close). Frequency Coordinators assign co-channel stations based on carrier-to-interference ratios, and the modulation is not even a consideration, except when they look at adjacent-channel separation. Then they still don't care if its P25, NXDN, DMR, etc. - they only look at the bandwidth of the signal which is the first three of four digital in the emission designator. But I may be wrong.

MXT275 is the way to go. Throw the mic in the glove box or center console and no one knows its there.

I think 5 years from now, when GMRS has supplanted AM based CB radio, we'll look back at Midland and Jeep(Jamboree) as a catalyst for the change. It's marketing genius. Jeep enthusiasts come from varied backgrounds, and they'll end up using GMRS outside of Jeep related activities.