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Those are good questions: The least expensive, usually from China, hand-held radios ("HT"), use what is known as SOC technology: System on a Chip - The whole radio is virtually built into one chip. Most of the more expensive radios (usually 3X the cost and more), have additional circuitry known as a superheterodyne circuit. This gives the receiver both more selectivity (the ability to differentiate between two powerful signals on two close frequencies) and sensitivity (the ability to pull in more distant and/or weaker signals). In simplex mode: one HT is transmitting on a frequency and the other HT is receiving on the same frequency. There is no second transmission to overwhelm the receiver of the second HT; only the one signal. In repeater mode, the first HT is transmitting on 467.abcd up to the repeater; and the second HT is receiving the retransmitted reception signal from the repeater on 462.abcd. The second HT must differentiate between two received signals: the signal you want to receive on 462.abcd from the repeater many miles away, and the HTs more powerful signal on 467.abcd. Hence the HTs signal washes out the reception of the repeater's signal on the second HT.* Superhetrodynes have that ability; SOC's do not. How much is far enough away? Differing factors are at play here: The power of the HT transmitter; the distance between the HTs and the distance and power from the repeater. Experimentation will help you determine the answer. *NOTE: this is why when two inexpensive HTs are bundled together with the appropriate cabling and settings to act like an inexpensive semi-portable repeater, they must be on the two separate Ham bands: 2 meters (144 MHz) and 70 cm (440 MHz) to avoid this washout effect.

This is how you repair a CCR...

Your choice of radio brands, types (HT, mobile or base) and what purpose you want to use them for, e.g. GMRS for family under one family license to the different levels of individual Ham licenses. So those just starting the venture I hope that the following will help you plan where and what you want to do. This review of the Wouxun KG-935G is more for how should one position this radio since Wouxun has made several GMRS radio which I have KG-805G, KG-905G now KG935G for GMRS and a Wouxun KG-UV8H for Ham. They all have their place in how you use them. The 805G has it place for smaller hands, easy to use. Then going up to the 905G and 935G for a more beefy feel, programing and what I like is scanning group options to name a few. I have my Ham ticket and so how do I plan to fit GMRS and Ham radio into my life. Though out all the forum and posts on Part 95 for GMRS radios and Part 90 for Ham and the two can get married per FCC, I choose to carry two radios that share batteries and other accessories plus program on the HT face and software menus are some what alike. So the KG-935G is a solid commercial radio for GMRS but allows you to monitor 2 and 70 meter ham frequencies, to be clear only receive and can not transmit. So if you want to monitor a Ham repeater, pick the correct frequencies to hear the repeater when you set it up. I have only had the KG-935G radio a few days and still working on making it my daily carry in my Jeep. Yes, I could get a Baofeng or other multi band radios for Ham and GMRS in one radio but if you have used a $40-50 radio, you may not reach a repeater or others may not heard your audio. Do not get me wrong, many who have these multi band radios and works for you great, you are closer to a strong repeater and it is your radio choice… Happy for you. I was given a free BaoFeng UV-82 Classic and could trigger the Ham repeater but no one could hear us in both GMRS and Ham… Now I know why the gifter gave it to us. Do not read into this statement BaoFeng or other brands… are fine, you get what you pay for. It just where I live and the equipment did not match to my radio environmental needs. So for fueling my Ham 2 and 70 meter I have a Wouxun KG-UV8H which is a Ham radio that can monitor GMRS but not transmit on 462.xxx…467.xxx KG-UV8H is Part 90 legal for Hams per FCC. So on both KG-935G and KG-UV8H I can scan away and in my area of Western NC, we have great high mountains and privately owned and friendly repeaters owners as long as you are license, follow the repeaters owners rules and get permission before hand to get the PL codes. So one day the GMRS is busy or I need to reach family/friends/others approved operators on the GMRS repeaters. Then on other days the Ham frequencies is active like on Net Control nights or Fox Hunts or just general communication with other Hams. In our area we have more Ham repeaters then folks to use and talk on them. Out of the 6 repeaters in all bands, it like crickets. O let me add one of the latest thing new to me as a Ham, it is DMR and the DMR repeaters are linked and you can have miles and miles of communication plus talk to others around the world with just a handheld HT radio. No big antenna or collection like an antenna farm in your backyard which might upset your wife. As soon as I understand more about DMR I will let you know. So for those wanting digital GMRS and roam which FCC has not made the rules changes to fit that function, go get your Ham ticket… and do DMR as we have more DMR repeaters in our area. Ham ticket test is not that hard… I’m 74 yo and my 12 yo grand daughter and I did FRS for years just in the yard and close neighbors. Then we got a family GMRS license and many GMRS folks who are Hams also, suggested to us to study and take the Ham test. You no longer need Morse Code as part of the first level of license. Second get a study buddy, friend, one or more of your children or grand children. For a preteen to get ones Ham ticket has caused her to grow, be confident and has new friends, fun events. O yes she had Mic fright at first, I still do and ex LEO. How we got started is we first reached out to the local Ham club, we meet the folks at a lunch meeting and felt welcomed and asked for a coach to walk us through the process. It not hard, it took us one and half months of online study three times a week for one plus hours and we pass the test end of May 2021. It is quoted that Ham radio is the art, science in communication and helping others in times of an need or emergency. My 12 yo grand daughter caught the radio vision after going to Rocket Museum in Huntsvilles, AL and saw all the radio equipment and all the astronaut where Ham and you can talk to the ISS as it goes overhead. So one of her many goals in life is joining Space Force as well as be a pet sitter and walker. Feel free to PM me if you want more personal detail, otherwise all comments accepted as this is IMHO which that is why no one radio fits all your needs, it personal, so share your story so others can see if that fits them. So go and enjoy your radio journey. MacJack

This is probably covered here somewhere as advice for new people coming on the scene, and hey, I probably covered it myself in years past here. If you are new to GMRS and buying a couple or more radios to put a group on the air simplex for activities, please consider a good read of the manual and programming, then do a little homework locally, or where you intend to use them, before settling on your "home channel". I suggest scanning, with no tone set (CSQ) on all channels to see who's using what channel and how strong the signal is, before picking one. It's not a matter of " not getting on someone else's channel", no, you got your license so you are entitled to use all of them too. They are shared channels. What it does for you is allow you to pick the best one for your area so you don't run into same-channel usage, or as much (remember, someone else using a channel is NOT "interference"). Once you find a fairly quiet one, or maybe even an all-quiet one, then you can make it your home channel, and pick a tone/code for squelch if you like. I have, in the past, even setup a receiver at a good site, and used a vox recorder or a program called scan-rec which is the same, just in software so you can use a PC, and let it run for weeks to see what's going on. By monitoring in open squelch, you can hear it all. If you program a tone too soon, you will only, possibly see a busy light, if you are looking, and not know why, at the same time you may have trouble communicating because it's a busy channel and you didn't know it. Searching the database here, and avoiding the existing repeater channels is a good idea too, that way you can steer your activity to a lesser used channel. Of course if you will be using a repeater, this really only applies if you want a secondary go to channel everyone knows to use, a designated backup, so to speak. All of this is known as self coordination. I bring it up, mostly because you can sure save yourself a lot of headache and be much happier with the performance of the radios when you are not a victim of so much co-channel activity. I also mention all of this because for years, I have heard people get new equipment and start using it...on channel 1, and sometimes code/tone 1. This does no one any good unless you are the only guy with that idea. Ever. Happy communicating!

Though I've mentioned this as a side item in various posts, I wanted to take the time to create a specific post to spotlight my favorite youtube channel for GMRS info, including equipment. I'm speaking of NotaRubicon Productions. The owner of that channel is a down to earth guy by the name of Randy. His channel has good things going for it: + Good Production. Good lighting. Good mics. A sense of humor. A born-to-do-this delivery ability. Aspiring YT channel stars, take note. + Good Information. The good production attributes mentioned above can help bring people into a channel and make them want to return. But that is not enough. There has to be relevant information delivered to the point. Randy does this. It's obvious that manufacturers are aware of him and the fact that he is an influencer. When Randy gives a thumbs up for a radio model, buyers snap them up. When he mentions problems with newly introduced radios, manufacturer's fix them fast. I have no connection with Randy or his YT channel. Just wanted to share a good GMRS youtube channel for those interested.

Just to keep things More Moto-confusing, there's another software pkg out there called "Tuner". You better know what you're doing before you mess around with Tuner blindly & just "try some stuff" to see what it does. Save your Tuner files before you do ANYTHING you might regret. You also need to match up the firmware package on the radio with the version of Tuner you plan to use. Newer versions of Tuner pretty much assume that you've got the radio hooked up to a high end Aeroflex service monitor to do "Autotune" which is a nice feature if you're going through 100 or 1000 radios, but not so great for the hobby user. Anyway - the Tuner software is where you can actually adjust the squelch settings. From the factory, the standard Normal squelch is fairly close to threshold, and Tight usually brings it up 3-5 dB.

I came across the Normal/Tight settings for my Connect Systems radio. The actual squelch levels were tucked away in the radio settings where you put the radio identity in. Might be similar in Moto CPS, though for Digital its not used, on in analog channels. You and I have two different uses and surrounding areas. I'm not really bad mouthing Moto, though their acquiring of Vertex Standard and killing the line all together does seem to leave a bad taste, as I liked that lineup. That may be because I'm partial to Yaesu. Based on my intended operational area, VHF low band and/or 6m is and will continue to be part of the plan. I also won't ever give up 2m or 70cm ham, thus the 3 RF decks. Sure, I could put multiple heads/radios, but that only further expands the power problem. Again, I don't have a commercial license (yet) so our uses remain very different. I also never intend on putting up a full time repeater. But for receiver performance, in digital modes, the signal is there or it isn't, and a proper antenna in my experience is more important than the minor differences across the commercial options. I've thought of getting Moto gear numerous times, but the thing stopping me is getting support, documentation and software.

Yep, I know that well... With that said, I believe that something like a CDM 1250 will be a far better radio for GMRS, or some of the older Kenwood/Icom/Vertex LMR mobiles, plus those won't get blitzed under heavy RF traffic (as in: no desense, and little to no intermod) The CDM Professional radios can be aligned manually at home with a simple signal generator and a SINADder. The software can be found on the web and the the programming cable+jumper pin can be made at home for the cost of a CAT5 adapter. Maybe having a tiny 2" inch color screen is more important than having a decent receiver... ? G.

Exactly! There are also relatively inexpensive HTs from China that have water-resistant and even waterproof specifications. Check out OffRoaderX's detailed YouTube reviews of the various HTs available and he does focus on their water-resistant abilities: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=notarubicon

The Impres battery system is one of the few Motorola things that impresses the heck out of me. I'm surprised that other manufacturers haven't followed Motorola's lead on this. I can vouch for the increase in battery life & efficiency. I've had some customers getting 4 and 5 years out of daily use Impres batteries before they drop below 80% capacity. Prior to Impres, those batteries would have been tossed after 2-3 years. Nearly doubling the lifespan makes a pretty good case for why you should pay twice as much for Impres. Newer 2nd generation XPR radios (not the XPR6550) and systems allow you to report and track battery status "over the air" as the units transmit.

I ended up buying a scanner to scan... who knew it worked so well... G.