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It seems like a lot of people here also have Jeeps and maybe even it's the reason you are in to GMRS. Just curious who's got what equipment in what rig, how you have it mounted, and what you generally use it for. I have a '98 TJ with a Midland MXT275 and the Midland 6db nmo antenna. I also have the same Cobra 75WXST and Firestick antenna I've had forever and have rarely used. Hopefully the GMRS one will get a lot more use. Planning to install another KG-1000 in the Jeep soon. [image]https://flic.kr/p/2kJQ2bv[/image] https://flic.kr/p/2kJKLyo **This forum is confounding me. I can't figure out how to embed an image. Anybody got any help?

I installed the base radio under the driver's seat and face plate on a 67 design cf arm attached to a ball mount that installed in the passenger grab rail, running the cable to the face plate would have been cleaner with the base unit under the passenger seat but i could do that because my ARB compressor is already in that space. I hung the mike from another 67 Design arm that is using JeepUniq mic mount and also put a lido mic mount on the drivers side freedom panel so it could be closer to my head when it was really loud in the jeep. In order to mount the face plate i modified a 67 Design SwitchPro-SP9100 Switch Panel Holder. Overall very happy with how it all turned out, The mic speaker volume is loud enough but I like have both speakers on

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Every SHTF radio in SoCal should also have 450.7 MHz programmed into it (on a "scan-off" setting), so that when, for example, an earthquake hits, you can get immediate access to KNX-AM (1070 Hz), which is a great source for emergency information.

Uh, no Bad catch on my part, I didn't look at the modes being used LAPD is P25, oops, My bad is a severe understatement [hanging my head in shame] At least LASO & LACoF are a mix of narrow band & wide band FM Send me to my room to reread Frequencies & Modes 101 again

RG8x is better than RG58 but is still terrible for UHF - spring for the LMR400; it'll give you a noticeable boost in performance. It's worth the cost: https://abrind.com/product-category/abr400-solid-ultraflex-assemblies/ I can't comment first hand on the antenna; but the Browing BR-6353 works well at GMRS for what it is, it's only slightly more than the TWAYRADIO brand: https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3580&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkbuKBhDRARIsAALysV7PYMkBxYiCxyoQ5dSVENW9I2CnZc0eMgrFmNlvt_oP7ufbQQW9qdYaAiPhEALw_wcB. It's fully welded and pre-tuned, it's surprisingly tough for how cheap it is. I recommend getting away from Amazon when shopping for radio stuff. Bonus points for the type N connectors too - while PL259's are also called "UHF" connectors it's because when they were designed UHF was anything above 30mhz; Type N is mechanically a better and lower loss connector, and are better for weatherproofing too. edit: Back on the coax; you're putting up a 7.1dBi yagi antenna, with 50' RG-8x you will lose 4.246db of that gain for a net system gain of 2.9db. In contrast; with the LMR400 - you're 'only losing' 1.371dB for a net system gain of 5.7dB For the hell of it - using RG-58 results in a net system gain of 0.2dB; it'd almost completely negate the benefit of your antenna to an isotropic radiator (which is below the performance of a basic dipole as it is already). For reference; a basic dipole 'unity gain' antenna is 2.15dBi (aka 0.0dBd) see: https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Coax_Calculator.htm

My experience with "safe keeping" is that I can't find it when I need it! hahaha So in this case, I just loosened the screw in my antenna and, if for example, I ever sell it or give it away, I know exactly where it is! ?

Michael, receiver antennas don't need tuning as they are all band from one quarter inch stubs to mile long wires. Yes, the length matters in that a longer wire is more sensitive; but length doesn't affect the frequency range. You can prove this to yourself by using a simple piece of coat hanger or any wire connected to your radio and listening to the various stations on different bands.

If the radio is GMRS transmit only I wouldn't buy a dual band antenna but one for GMRS. You can receive on almost anything as an antenna.

Picking up my '06 Rubicon Unlimited (LJ) and pondering the antenna mount. I too have the Rock Hard cage so the radio mount is a no-brainer. In fact the previous owner has a CB mounted there now. I'm wondering if spare tire antenna mount will be as efficient as a ground plane antenna? Are you using a no GP? Reason I'm back on this thread is I'm planning to put a GenRight full hood vent on the LJ. I'm getting a spare TJ/LJ hood to monkey with so the original can be replaced if needed. Not wanting to cut up a rig with 29,000 miles on it. So... with the steel hood vent I can mount a 1/4 wave 6" antenna in the center of the modified hood and have a great ground plane. Question: is RF of any concern with only 4 or 5 feet and a windshield between the antenna and occupants? The look? Who cares if it works. Black antenna on a black hood and a total of 7" extruding. I'll read on.. haven't been on here in awhile, like since July. Thanks.

tl:dr: Some CCRs are really bad clinkers while others work reasonably well. That's the same situation as anything coming out of China, though. They'll make anything you ask them to make at whatever price point you want it to meet. So read reviews and test reports on this (or any) radio. If they work alright and seem well built then don't worry about the architecture. Long answer: Don't get wrapped around the axle about SoC or similarly the terms direct conversion, direct sampling, SDR, hybrid, double conversion, heterodyne, etc. The words are thrown around indiscriminately. Basically a good radio is a good radio no matter its architecture while a bad radio will be bad regardless. The RDA1846 chip that most of these radios use can perform adequately if the design is sound otherwise. It's one particular frequency agile wideband RF chip but not the only by far. There's tons of them now, some that cover HF to SHF. One I'm familiar with is an Analog Devices part that can TX and RX on 2x2 MIMO from 70 MHz to 6 GHz. It's not something intended for cheap consumer HTs though. The chip is $300 alone and a drop-in SoM (System on a Module) is $1,600... You might generalize saying it's easier to make a straight superheterodyne radio that performs fine but is less expensive. Mostly it's reliability and build quality that suffers. After decades of engineering churn there's not much fat left to cut in the fundamental architecture to significantly improve performance so all you're left with is using cheaper components. So it won't last as long being tossed around but the actual RF performance is indistinguishable otherwise. But such a radio is inflexible and doesn't lend itself to adaption to something else. DSP techniques are still evolving and proprietary. So there's a lot more ways to screw up a direct conversion radio. Algorithms and firmware are where established companies (Motorola, Harris, Yaesu, Kenwood, whomever) can really distance themselves from competitors. Motorola is probably using direct conversion in the XPR7000 and EVX models and it works well. But then again no one other than Motorola knows really what is inside their ASICs to know for sure. But the guts don't matter, they aren't able to bend the laws of economics, physics or engineering. What matters is where the rubber meets the road - does it work or not? And if they can do it other companies can, too. In fact Harris builds most of the high performance, high reliability radios for the military and one portable example, the AN/PRC-152 (Falcon III), is a highly frequency nimble (covers 30-512 MHz and 762-870 MHz without gaps) 5 watt TX SDR that can do several analog and digital modes, some of which (like APCO-25, amongst other things) were added with a firmware upgrade after the radio was accepted and put into service. That sort of flexibility is why SDR is where it's at. The reason these CCRs proliferate is once a basic design is done they can adapt it to just about anything. That comes with up- and downsides. They can just make them faster and cheaper or they can add interesting form factors or features, whatever. And even heterodyne architecture have DSP, so the line isn't really that distinct to say this-or-that. If you're still interested after that diatribe you can start digging into the engineering behind various architectures and RF generally here: https://analog.intgckts.com/wireless-receiver-architectures/

Nice looking setup... Wish I could do that.... my problem is I'm topless and will loose all my equipment... I have to hide my HT radio if I park. So glad to see what I'm missing out going topless. MacJack

Just had my KG-1000 mounted in my 2019 JLUR, the mic sits on a 67 Design Nano CF arm with JeepUniq holder mounted to a 67 Design JL rail system, that rail system also has my Garmin Overland, Valentine Radar detector, GoPro camera and IPhone mounted on it. The control unit is mounted on a 67 Design CF Mini arm, that attaches to the passenger grab bar, the radio is mounted under the driver's seat. I also have a Lido Speaker Microphone Mount attached to the headliner so that the mic can be closer to me in loud environments. I am trying three different antennas all of them on the roof rack using a metal plate, the rack is aluminum like most of the Jeep, to attach a Midland magnetic NMO mount, a Midland MicroMobile® MXTA25 for around town general use, and am favoring for long range use the Nagoya NL-770G with a NMO to UHF Female Low Profile Antenna Mount Wattmeter Adapter over the Wouxun ANO-050G, but still playing with each.

First trail GMRS use and man, do I prefer that over CB. Still have the CB installed in the Jeep as it will be a secondary form of comms for others that haven't seen the light yet. Running trails in Moab. Ran Elephant hill yesterday and on the way out, the team leader was well over 5 miles out and some generous but not too heavy terrain between us and we were talking back an forth as if we were standing next to each other. Oh yeah!

My post was a play on a certain YouTube host's pronunciation of the name, but thank you for the clarification.

Excuse the mess. We are under construction. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk