Leaderboard

HAVING BOTH MODELS THE KG-935G OUT PERFORMS MY FOUR KG-905G'S WHICH HAVE THE STOCK ANTENNA AND THE 15" NAGOYA'S. DON'T BOTHER WITH THE KG-905.

Oh yeah. The bumper/taillight tower is pretty stout steel and the distance from the window is a few inches. I can shake the jeep with the tower. 3/16" thick x 8 x 8" aluminum plate for the ground plane base. I dunno what the 'modern' 3rd light towers are made of. This bumper is Currie, which isn't even made anymore so probably '08 vintage or so. Tested for the rear wiper and it clears by 1/2" or more. And the antenna is low enough it won't catch branches unless I hit the roll cage, or very close and 8"sq. is plenty of ground plane for 1/4 wave antenna, which allows me to keep it short instead of the 1/2 or 5/8 wave 'no ground plane' whips. Been there done that with the same setup on my SxS kayak rack; cost me a radio keying the mic with no antenna. FWIW fiberglass has no affect on RF. I'll check reception with a pal in front and again behind. Some nay-sayers out there in 4x4 land about GMRS (ham fans - and yes, ham is better at a lot of things) but for our trail usage they're great. And we have access to 2 repeaters nearby, one of which I hit from 50 miles with a 30w 8180. Considering putting one up on an existing tower on the edge of a nearby wilderness area we frequent off-road. See my post about recovering a stranded hunter, only because he had his HT GMRS on scan and heard us going by.

Antenna mount is done. Thank you rivnuts. Will terminate with PL259 and mount Kenwood TK8180 tomorrow. Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

If it gives you trouble, or doesn't seem to work, then change the receive code to "off" or whatever the radio calls it. That will allow you to receive the signal if the repeater isn't sending a code.

Unless the repeater owner states differently you only need to transmit the code to open his receiver.

These codes must be used by you to transmit, so that the repeater will recognize you and open its receiver squelch and retransmit your signal. If they only gave you one code, the code for your reception is probably the same, if there is any reception code at all. Receiver codes are optional: If you use it, it will ONLY open the squelch on your receiver to a signal with that code. This helps if there are other transmissions on the same frequency and hence your receiver will not open the squelch to hear those other signals. But if you do not use a code, you will still receive and be able to hear the repeaters transmissions back to you.

The main thing to consider is that there should be two charts, one using whole numbers (xxx) and one using fractional numbers with a decimal point and tenths value (xxx.x). There might even be other names used for these same functions, in which case, you want to look for the chart that uses whole numbers. Those are the digital squelch codes. The chart that uses the fractional numbers is the CTCSS chart for analog codes.

Since it looks like the antenna should be pretty well tuned to the GMRS band, I'd look at a couple of other things first. The first thing I'd check is the SWR meter you're using. Is it intended for the frequencies you're checking? Have you used it with another antenna in the same frequency range to be sure it's providing an accurate reading? Are you using adapters to connect it? If so, they could be causing a bad connection. The second thing I'd suggest checking is the mount. With a lip mount, you want to be sure there is metal to metal contact between the body of the vehicle and the body of the mount, so the screws on the bottom that hold the mount in place need to penetrate the paint on the vehicle for good contact. If you have access to another mount, such as a magnetic mount, try the antenna with that mount to see what your readings are. If you have access to another similar antenna system that you know is within the desired SWR on the same frequency, you can try switching the antennas between the systems to see if the problem follows the antenna. If it doesn't, then you know to look further into the mount. If it does, then you need to look more closely at the antenna. If it was a "70cm" or "dual-band" ham antenna, then it would likely be a little longer than desired, and it could be trimmed for GMRS. An antenna designed for the 450-470 MHz range should be about right, though, and should not need trimming.

If you don't have a chart for DPL, then you probably have one for DCS (digital coded squelch). These are different names for the same thing. The other type of codes you will commonly see are CTCSS codes, which usually include a format of xxx.x rather than xxx (for DCS/DPL).

In Motorolian, the Talkaround term is basically when two radios that are programmed to use a repeater, can talk to each other directly without the repeater. This comes in handy when you go out of repeater range. G.

[my_opinion] Personally, I'm not a fan of "all-in-one" devices. If you break/lose the radio, you're also out your GPS, clock, and whatever other functions the single device covered. Now you're double/triple/quad... screwed. In addition to the quality radio, I would suggest a CCR that meets as many of the requirements as possible. If you're that far away from civilizaion, you need a spare. One is none, two is one... [/my_opinion]

The rules are written the way they are because the underlying assumption is the user is a non technical person who has no idea what the difference is between Hertz and Hurts. The rules are designed to prevent interference to other services regardless of how a user manipulates the radio’s controls, either deliberately or by accident. Hams are held to a higher technical standard, and assumed to know where the bands are located frequency wise. There are few out there that would be challenged using two soup cans connected by a string, it’s not a guarantee somebody is competent just because they have a Ham license. It’s not a perfect world.

Also just received my Call Sign. For my first HT, I've ordered a KG-935G - should be here 10/8... Because the 935 shares the same battery AND charger as the 905, my future #2 will most likely be the KG-905G - but would like to see how well the 935 works before ordering.

Just got license last week Call sign WROA968, 2 Wouxun KG905's. Looking to add a base station, you all know how it goes, you just can't have one.

Man... it kills me to see people keep saying that GMRS is not a hobby but Amateur Radio is. It's like people forget the meaning of words and how subjective they can be. First, I have to say, GMRS and FRS use can be a hobby. That includes rag-chew and anything else you can legally do on GMRS. GMRS can also be utilitarian. What makes it a hobby or utility is how YOU use it. That's it. Nothing else. I would wager to state the opinion that Amateur Radio is far more utilitarian than GMRS would ever be. Just because you can legally conduct business on GMRS and FRS doesn't take away that fact that for many private owners, it's purely an entertainment device. It also doesn't take away the utility value of Amateur Radio. Amateur radio is called such because of non-commercial exchanges, and no other reason. The organization and practice of amateur radio has led the world for more than a century with new inventions of methods for moving data, messaging and voice comms. There is wireless experimentation, self-training in electronics engineering, private recreational use, and emergency communications. If that isn't less a hobby and more utilitarian, I don't know what is. Radiosport, contesting and rag-chewing is just a small part of Amateur Radio culture. And again, what makes it a hobby or a service is how YOU use it.