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Bulkhead antenna connector. But they are usually not that long. Not long enough to reach through your normal 2x4 frame + drywall + siding + etc. Also PL259 bulkhead connector will need a hole bigger than LMR-400 cable would need.

I searched "so239 through wall" and that found lots of options in varying lengths. Here's one listing: https://www.amazon.com/Female-Bulkhead-Coaxial-Connector-Connectors/dp/B075TK89VZ

Absolutely, carrying a properly setup radio on you is having another means of communication at your disposal, more so if you've also taken the time, and gone through the effort, to setup a solid infrastructure around it to meet your needs. Unfortunately, tho, for most people it will be just dead weight, given than most people won't even bother learning how to use the radio, let alone build any infrastructure to use it even remotely effective. Emergencies are all about fringe situations, as in: if something can go wrong, it will, and the worst possible moment... and when something goes wrong, you really want on you a radio that has the capability to save your life... (not that it will) but also keep in mind that a radio is only as useful/important/capable as the person listening on the other side is... so you really want to make sure beforehand that your radio is capable of reaching the people that can, and will do something about the situation. G.

Interesting observation, and might explain my experiences. I'm maybe a mile and a half from a local 2m repeater up on a hill I regularly use, and the voice modulation comes in strong and clear, there's a very high noise floor of static and buzz. UHF, both 70cm and GMRS come in just fine, very quiet. I'm in a midrise in the middle of Seattle. There's for sure a lot of noise pollution in every band (don't even get me started about WiFi interference in a 150 unit building!), but that might be why VHF is particularly problematic. To the earlier topic about power vs sensitivity/selectivity; my observations jive with @mbrun as well as to there being little correlation; I was up on the roof doing a side-by-side with the 905G, UV8H and a commercial-grade Motorola this evening, playing musical antennas (a test for another thread) and testing with someone on a distant repeater, both 70cm and GMRS. The 8W, SoC UV8H was the loser on all counts, and the 4W Motorola ( @gman1971—an XPR6550, also with the stock, albeit UHF antenna) came out way ahead on reception. Again, we're talking very fringe situations on a site 30+ miles away. That all said—I have no idea how Wyoming's SAR operates, but good on them for advertising this frequency. Looks like it's not actively monitored. @GuySagi, thanks for sharing your SAR experience as well, and I wonder what equipment they specifically will implement; around here, both SAR volunteers and the Sheriff's Office are on VHF, so at the very least its another radio to pack. Remember, we're not talking about intra-agency communications. We're talking about them being able to monitor a frequency in the off chance someone's got a radio on them, which is such a huge advantage. No, cheap bubble-packs are not the optimum means of communications backwoods, but it's still another tool, period—I can't think of anyone else I know outside my family and regular hiking friends that carry a radio of any kind, let alone the kind of gear we use here. If someone is going to have anything at all outside a cellphone, It'll likely be a Talkabout or a Midland or some such, capped at 5W, so the channel itself is sort of a moot point as long as it's memorable. That might be a problem for those with a 50W mobile with power output locked on certain channels, but I also think most of us here might be savvy enough to figure a way around that. For myself, if I'm in the woods (as I somewhat often am) and an emergency arises outside a cell site, heck, I'll try anything—146.52, GMRS 1 or 20, any repeater on either service. Tremendously valuable just to have that with me anyway.

Sure you can: You're driving in your Jeep on some off-road adventure with your new KG-935G instead of your dirt-laden UV-5R which you programmed for free with CHIRP. When you use your UV-5R you have actually started to memorize which of your favorite channels for simplex and repeaters by channel number, so you can just go right to that channel by number. But now you've got your 935G and how does it get the same order of channels, so that you don't have to go manually channel by channel to get to Crestline when you need it?!? Because using the "free" Wouxun software you must individually input all "X" number of channels that you have in your UV-5R one by one. Admittedly you only have to do this "data entry" once, until... Now you discover a new repeater and where does it get programmed: at the end of your existing list! So instead of being able to put it right next to your other favorite repeaters, you have to scroll on the fly to get to it, until you memorize what channel number the new repeater was entered into. Why is this?!? Because "free" Wouxun software has NO import, export or even "save as csv" features, which would allow you to take your UV-5R library and just PLOP it into the Wouxun software and then tweak it as needed. Now, I have never purchased RT Systems software, but I am tempted to do it for my legacy Yaesu FT-857d, because owning it for all these years, I still have NO channels in memory because it is a PITA to do so manually and there was no Yaesu software, free or otherwise, when they released it years ago. Why does CHIRP, a "free" program, have the ability to copy and paste entries from one model, UV-5R, to another CHIRP supported model? Because a bunch of dedicated computer geeks get satisfaction from constantly improving an open source computer program while paying their rent and groceries from some other source. The guys at RT, well this is their day job, so they need that $30 to earn a decent living wage to support their families. They don't hold a gun to your head to buy their product; it is just BETTER than the free Wouxun software for that one purpose; maybe more! BTW: I do not own any Wouxun radios (affiliate link not below), but I did once (the UV-3 tri-bander) and sold it on eBay after Baofeng came out with a cheaper model that used all the same accessories as my other Baofengs (mostly my batteries). I did not like typing all my channels into the free Wouxun software back then either! But I did recently buy a TYT-UV88 HT, which is modeled after the Radioditty GM-30 and it can transmit on the Ham bands, as well (a feature that is important to me - all in one radios). The TYT software is clearly better than CHIRP in many ways BUT I still was grateful that CHIRP supports the UV88 because I used CHIRP to quickly import all my favorite simplex, repeater and scanner frequencies in the order I am always used to using them. Once imported by CHIRP, I then use the TYT software to "READ" it from the HT and presto(!), all of my stuff is in the order I need and use it! Now a little tip, I learned from programming my Anytone AT-779UV (the clone of the Radioddity DB-20G) with its "free" Anytone software. Break up the programming into segments and put gaps in between so that as you grow, you can add new channels contiguously to your old ones, and not at the bottom of the list. So for example: My first group are the 30 GMRS Channels GAP My 2nd group are my GMRS Repeaters with Local first and then more distance ones I use afterwards, with a small GAP in between GAP My 3rd group are the 5 MURS channels GAP My 4th group are the 23 repeaters belonging to the Ham Repeater Club in SoCal for which I am a dues paying member (PAPA System), because I want to be able to hit one of these no matter where in SoCal I am driving GAP My 5th group are all my favorite 2 meter repeaters GAP My 6th group are my 4-2 meter simplex frequencies GAP My 7th group are all my favorite 440 MHz repeaters GAP My 8th group are my 3-440 MHz simplex frequencies GAP My 9th group are my public service scanning frequencies, starting with KNX-AM on 450.700 because in an emergency I hope to be able to hear their broadcasts as needed (with scanning turned off of course on this channel). MAJOR GAP All the way at the bottom of my 500 channels, I have the 7 NOAA channels. Now here is what Wouxun gives you for free: OF course as a GMRS only user, your level of programming complexity is much less, but many of your "viewers" are also Hams and even you will need to add more Repeaters in time.

Honestly, I wouldn't be totally opposed to the cost—I agree, copying and pasting is a nightmare, and even more so trying to run a VM on my long-in-the-tooth iMac. But I still put up with it, because I'm cheap and spent that money on more gear.... Mentioned in another thread someone is working on a UV8H driver for Chirp that, hopefully, will either mostly work or will get ported over for the 935.

I cant imagine that software being $30 better than the free Wouxun software, but, I await your notes.

All are great ideas. I will try all of them. By the way re the handhelds, no they are crystal clear both when I communicate between them and when I transmit via the KG- 1000G. It is only the receive function on the KG-1000G that has the static/noise issue. thank you everyone for these very helpful suggestions. I will try all and will report the outcome. david

Some CB'er drove by my house today yelling "Audio! Audio! Audio!" Came in clear on my stereo speakers

Sure no argument on VHF beating the pants off UHF in most outdoor cases, or the poor performance of cheap radios. I can beat you on 1 watt VHF distance, though. 155.16 mhz, on a cliff at night (elevation maybe 7,000 feet), I had no problem sending vitals to the helicopter PJ as he and the pilot waited for authorization to take off (they were at about 2,800 feet). Distance 30 miles, Motorola brick in my hand and I have no clue what the Air Force had in that old UH1 Huey at the time, but it was obviously amazing. Straight line of sight, unimpeded, but crystal clear enough I that I breathed a sigh of relief when I could hear the blades whir to life. I was young and dumb enough to take that kind of performance for granted, sigh.

"Officer, arrest that man for reckless redneckitude!"