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If the specs are correct, that looks to be an excellent antenna for GMRS. For VHF reception, having an SWR below 1.5 isn't a necessity. I suspect it will reasonably tune a much wider spectrum that what's stated. If you were wanting to transmit in the VHF range, however, you might want something different, depending on the part of the spectrum you wanted to transmit on.

I believe that antenna has a SO-239 connector on it. So you will need coax that has a PL-259 connector on one end and what ever you need on the other end to your radio. Most radios are SO-239 connector but you will have to check. Most people that I know get the same ends coax and just buy a jumper coax or adapter for the radio if it's deferent. Try not to put jumpers or adapters outside, it just make more of a chance that you will get water or corrosion in it. As for coax for a base station I would use LMR-400. At 25 feet it's going to cost you around $55-$70 with the ends already installed. https://www.ebay.com/itm/LMR400-PL259-UHF-Male-to-PL259-UHF-Male-Coaxial-RF-Cable-USA-Ship-Lot-/143390300768?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Because generally speaking they work quite well. I have 4 or 5 between the 880 and 8180 and have had an issue with only one. Well, not counting the one I fried after tearing the antenna off my SxS. ?

I settled on a mounting configuration for the Wouxun KG-1000G. I bought a tiny stainless steel cooling rack off Amazon and zip tied the head unit to it, then mounted it on top of the seat latch handle under the driver seat. The rack was orignially intended to keep it up off the carpet to let air get to the underside to aid in cooling, but it made it easy to secure the radio to the handle. I then wired it up and tucked the wires away and installed the faceplate on the center RAM ball on the dash tray. It works great! I like having the face plate be somewhat a part of the center stack in the dash. It makes it easy to manipulate the radio controls without looking too far down into the cockpit. I think I'm going to add an external speaker and put it somehwere close to my ear. The mic and head unit speakers are ok, but I'd like them to be a little louder, especiall in the summer when the doors are off. When not in use, the mic goes where the cb mic is and the cb mic moves over. I haven't driven around using it much yet, but with what little I've done, I really like it, so far.

@Papatree also has a couple of threads getting recommendations on antennas.

i had less luck with the gp1 (2.4 on 462.xxx, and 3.0 on 467.xxx) that is my 2m/70cm. This is why i chose to keep the dual band ham radio at home (doing 2m/70cm together) and run gmrs on a separate midland 5/8 wave, rather than combining 70cm and gmrs (dual cert vertex), with a 2m monoband radio. the vertex went to the truck instead. and this one should work (for the gp3 photo):

Glad to learn it is in writing in this case. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

The radio should have a factory installed GMRS image already stored within it. However, there is an issue with the radio in that after a reset, the radio does not boot up into channel mode. Instead it boots up into VFO mode. That likely explains your issue. To resolve your issue, activate the Area A radio by pressing ‘Band’. Then press the #6 button 3 times. Then switch to the Area B receiver and do the same. You should be back in business. If these steps do not work, then you radio may not have been supplied with the factory GMRS image. In which case you will need to follow @Jwilkers advise. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

To restore factory settings, you must download and install a factory image. As always, it is recommended to always upload a factory image to your computer and save it away. A computer is quite obviously required in this case. Sent from my SM-A125U using Tapatalk

Somewhat new GMRS user (at least in the world of repeaters) and new ham (but with a lengthy interest in radio in general) here, and I'm maybe wading into dangerous territory with this older thread, but I do have some thoughts, and that it's worth respecting both viewpoints here on repeater access and use of the few channels we have. As with any hobby, we want to find a use for our toys, and those uses can be varied. Sometimes it's easy to forget there are other sides of the hobby, or antagonize them. Not everyone is using the radio just for the sake of using a radio Over on the ham side, you've got all sorts of things. CW and DXing, ARES/RACES, social nets, AMSAT, packet radio, you name it. I don't know how much overlap there is on each of those niches, but there's plenty of spectrum to go around. Or at least enough. Yet there's still plenty of arguing by the "Sad Hams" on who's doing it right, which seems to be whatever they aren't. OTOH, we're limited to 22 little channels here, and only 50W and repeaters on 8 of them (six, if you're like me and 'North of Line A'). We have to play nice. Thanks to the past posters who mentioned the roots of GMRS as CB Class-A and some business use, which explains why we get such a small slice of spectrum. Thankfully, we're not dictated on what we can use it for. But for better or worse, we share it with FRS, and bubble-packs (licensed or not), Garmin RHINO, legacy-license businesses, and the like. Clearly it's used as a 'utility' service, whatever that may be. Maybe to you it's shooting the breeze, and to others its something else, and that's the beauty of it, since by nature it's fairly limited in range. I've seen complaints around the web of GMRS users coming across families yapping, traffic flaggers and the like, and, well, assuming they're licensed or using FRS, they have every right to be there. Even if they're not, they're there, and thankfully at least around here it doesn't sound anything like the chaos of CB. That's why we're limited to 50W and not 1500W. (also thankfully, in my area in the middle of Seattle, all I ever hear regularly are some carpenters on a nearby construction site, and a parent checking in on their child walking home from school.) Yes, its frustrating to hear kids screaming on Channel 1 day and night, but the disdain should be towards discourteous users, rather than all utility users. Someone earlier mentioned communication while kayaking, and similarly I'm sure many here are off-roaders switching from other communication modes, and as another person replied, for them the radio is in support of another hobby, rather than the hobby itself. For me, I'm interested in radio as a hobby as well, but in a way I can use it for what I need. That's the type of thing I use it for—group and family outings and beyond-cell, or alternative-to-cell communications. To that end I like that GMRS is relatively quiet.Something I don't appreciate, when I have been using it for intra-party communications, is someone coming on a simplex channel and asking to strike up a conversation. No, I don't want to chat, I'm halfway down a mountain, trying to get ahold of our ride at the trailhead. Using tones appears to be a no-no in ham bands, but I definitely use them on GMRS simplex. Anyway. With all that said, I certainly understand @JCase's views on this, in wanting to limit all those other uses when you need wide coverage. In the Seattle area, we've got quite a few repeaters, including many unlisted ones in-city, that are private, for neighborhood/emergency use, or request permission and discourage rag-chewing. That's their choice—unlike in amateur, there's no (voluntary) governing body on choosing a channel, and they don't have rule over a specific frequency, but it's their equipment and they have every right to be picky over who can access it. Many of them are in areas with no cellular coverage, and I too would be a bit miffed if I couldn't get through to family member because of chitchat, or they turned their radio off because of such. And I appreciate those that have extended the offer to me with the expectation I'm not going to yak all day to strangers. Most of them are not 'for absolute emergency use only'—they want them to be used, but they also want them to be usable and not clogged up. Again, 50W will only go so far in most places. It's their right, legally and in practice, to have a privately accessed system, and it's likely not going to step on others' systems. This is what I mean by GMRS being utility oriented. But in counterpoint, I also appreciate those like @WRKC935 that have invested the time, money and effort into building something for complete public access. Looking at the WWARA database, I'm astounded at how many repeaters are in the area. And scanning through, equally astounded at how many are dead quiet, or on further research strongly discourage use other than some specific purpose; again, that's their right as equipment owners, but it's nice that some owners have stepped up to provide a community forum. On those bands, where repeater slots are coordinated, both 2m and 70cm are pretty full with very wide coverage systems—there's no room to say "hey, I'll just start my own repeater!" Again here, on GMRS, we have one repeater up on Tiger Mountain that covers much of the region, and it gets used for ragchewing, even if it's the same 5 or so guys, and that's great that it doesn't sit there silent. Agreed with @mbrun that if you're gong to cover that much ground with one frequency, it is a public service in a way. People have the technical know-how and resources to set up something like that make it more useful for everyone, not just radio junkies. Moreso than the amateur band, I do believe that, with cellular taking away a lot of the user base and the growth of different wireless data modes, GMRS is at use-it-or-lose-it risk. I do hope this doesn't come off as the radio police (or alternately, too wishy-washy). I try not to be pedantic, since there's too much arguing over Part 95 or when to ID and things like that. I just think that we occupy a special niche—restricted in equipment, power, and frequencies, but not in coordinating through a regulating body; we're neither CB nor amateur—but it's small, and we need to make everyone happy. You can have a small private repeater for your neighborhood or a public one for your whole county, but be understanding of other uses, even the mom calling kids in for dinner on simplex. And to @Doctnj the radio world is fun, and there's lots to play with and many ways to put it into good use. I've long been an audio and phone tinkerer, and I thank MacJack on here for suggesting I get my ham ticket, since I learned in studying for it that there's a lot more to that than the quite literally old boys' club, and room to experiment with things you can bring back to GMRS. No reason to be one or the other!

Given that it's got some gain in vhf, it will likely help, although not quite as much if it were focused in the range you want (gain helps both transmit and receive). On the other hand, if it were focused lower, the UHF side would likely be focused lower as well, which we don't want....where its tuned is more critical for transmit, and that 460-470 is the range you want for gmrs. Some Dual band antennas for the ham 2m/70cm bands can work well, and others, less so, given they're generally tuned for lower frequencies in both bands.

Michael, thanks for the detailed reply. I think I misunderstood your original post as when you said you understood the purpose of group calling that you had accomplished it somehow. (as an aside, I feel similarly about devices with functions I haven't figured out or found a purpose for—I have to figure it out and it feels like a waste of capacity if I can't use it) It looks like we've done the same experiments (on my end with the 905 and 935) and come to similar dead ends. The 905 seems to want to decode something; but sometimes that something is dialing '1' and getting back '111111'. Playing with a few custom channels programmed with DTMF squelch and PTT-ID haven't worked at all. The closest I've gotten, I think I mentioned, is programming each with PTT ID and getting them to start screaming the siren. Not quite the call tone I was looking for. I think you're right, there's some functionality that's been lost in the firmware. The programming software for the parent models (KG-978, UV8H) looks mostly identical save for fewer button options, so I'm wondering if they do work satisfactorily on the LMR/amateur models. It is strange though that in BTWR's own authored manuals, they mention the function in passing without really describing how to implement it. My guess is that they came that way from the factory and know it's not functional (and most users won't bother), but didn't want to have some mystery setting go unmentioned in the manual. I'd be interested to know what Wouxun really means by 'calling' specifically, and am guessing some sort of paging, unlike the private calling function on DMR. Though I could see how one could setup a 'dispatch channel' set to DTMF squelch, where individual stations could be called from a console. But again, that's much more of a business band feature than of much use on our few channels! And now I'm running a bit long, but thanks again for sharing your experience with it!

Thank you, Michael. Don't buy a Green Dot debit card from Walmart whatever you do.....there have been lots of fakes sold!

In another thread, I seemed to have engendered some argumentative replies to my suggestion that having a dual-band antenna matters when attempting to listen to marginal VHF stations. I will say that MY preference is to go with a good dual-band antenna for a dual band radio!

Thank you. Good observations about that chart. Range could probably be improved with a longer (and more expensive) mag-mount antenna. As the old saying goes, "height is might".

Valencia, CA: how lucky is that?!? Be sure to stop by Dickie's and get some good BBQ! hahahaha

I seem to be blessed from my two-story rooftop: Historically, I had the original TV antenna up there rewired to my HDTV, so I would have OTA TV options to cable/satellite. I was able to watch in HD channel 24.1 PBS from San Bernardino, 64 miles away, until they moved their antenna some years ago. I still watch channel 24 on my DirecTV. So, using 146.52 simplex, I am always amazed at the coverage I get to the Southeast (shooting over the Cahuega Pass), East, and West, so far: about 45 miles. I was watching a similar Live YouTube video the other day: October 10th, 2021 | Simplex 146.52 | Long Beach, CA due South of me, over the Santa Monica Mts. I was unable to make an impression in its waterfall, but I started a simplex conversation with a Ham to the southeast whose beam was facing 180 degrees in the wrong direction and he made no dent in the waterfall either. But when he turns his beam around, not only did he come booming in to my shack, I could both see and hear him on YouTube! I also have had a good simplex conversation on MURS with a new GMRS friend also using a DB-20G who lives about 25 miles north of me, when he drove to a better "line of sight" spot to hit a GMRS repeater and then experimentally converse with me simplex first on GMRS Channel 3 and then a better signal on MURS 1. Hitting repeaters is very eye-opening, too; because of their height: Although I could not hit the YouTube video waterfall in Long Beach, I am able to converse easily on the Catalina Island repeater, 147.09, 26 miles to the south of Long Beach, which gives me wide coverage up and down the coast of Southern California. And, the Frazer Mountain repeater, 447.86, to the North, which is about 50-60 miles from me and even the Double Mountain repeater, 446.32, about 10 miles further north, which gets me wide coverage, including into Bakersfield to the North directly through the repeater (and not through a further linked repeater). And, the Santiago Peak CREST GMRS repeater, 462.675, about 50 miles to my Southeast, which gets me into San Diego. And the Chatsworth Peak repeater, 145.24, of the PV Amateur Radio Club, which itself faces west and gets me good coverage into Ventura County and southern Santa Barbara County.

I'd move the bracket to the peak of the roof and mount a good antenna as high as possible, its almost impossible to "power thru" trees

I've helped a few people with the same setup as yours. Remove the dish and leave the tube and install one of these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/LARSEN-BSA-450-Ham-Amateur-Radio-70CM-UHF-Base-station-antenna-easy-install-FS-/152620569387?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Or, read this: http://w6nbc.com/articles/2016-03QSTdishslot.pdf You would need to do some calculations to adapt the design to the 462MHz. And NanoVNA to properly tune the contraption. I will try this myself one day, too damn clever.

Gee Michael, I thought the OP would have enough common sense to point the dish at the repeater. I guess some people need to be led step-by-step and can't reason things out.

Unfortunately aimed perfectly to any GMRS users up on the DISH satellite! ?

Remove the entire dish, and use the tubular bracket to mount a lightweight GMRS antenna.

UNTIL THEY COME UP WITH A WATER/DUST PROOF SOLUTION TO KEEP FROM MISPLACING THE HATCH COVER ROTATE IT OUT OF THE WAY?

They sent my RMA# last night, shipping it out today to exchange for the DB25-G ?

Ok, thanks for the ping back. I'm not a Chrome user but I'll see if Firefox has a comparable add-in. Edit: I just installed this; https://darkreader.org/help/en/ and it turned the site dark and very readable. Looks to be easy to toggle modes, contrast and brightness. Sweet!

That issue has been reported to Wouxun. You can turn off the Weather Alert option in the menus and it will work normally.

Thanks, The mic speaker is loud enough that I can turn it down and be fine, I got a ball mount form I am not ure where at the moment that replaces one of the screws for the passenger grab rail, then a 67 Design CF arm, then the face plate is mount to a 67 Design SwitchPro SP9100 Switch Panel that I modified with some new holes and bolts

I have the KG-935G ordered (backordered). I had sent an email asking a question about the radio and before I got an answer some YouTube Hobo put out a video about it. I went ahead and ordered it before watching said video but I assume it was too late to get any they had in stock. I don't always carry a HT with me but I normally have one in my vehicle just in case. I carry the 905G because of it's functions and mainly because of the IP rating. The 935G is going to be a good emergency radio. I can program all of the local LEO and Fire frequencies as well as county road and public works and HAM repeaters. During multiple week wild fire events (been through a few in the last four years) and in the winter I can get road conditions and other info I need. A big plus with the 935G for me is it takes the same battery as the 905G. If I am headed into the back country with other people I will use the 905G. For travelling the 935G will be a good choice. I still have a 2m HT in my bag but my extended family aren't interested in HAM, and frankly, I don't enjoy chatting about weather and antennas over the air (been a HAM for 25 years).