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Can't really say how I'm liking it yet, as I haven't gotten it configured, but I'm enjoying working on it. I'm also really happy about the support in this forum! I don't know that I've ever participated in a forum where the replies were so specific and helpful, and I've been on the Internet since the WWW came into existence.

Man, blast from the past. I just wanted to hop in and say I always loved Vertex Standard equipment, but I am shocked to see some being actively used and even finding software for it. Between going from Standard to Yeasu, to Motorola, and the back to Yeasu before finally being dissolved in 2012, support and software must be tough to come by. Have to say, with the talent here, I am not surprised you got the right answer so quickly. How are you liking the radio?

A couple years ago, we all know when, I was realizing that my family was not getting any information that was not being filtered by big tech one way or another. I looked into HAM right then but I knew that would take time and I didnt know how much time that was. Then came across GMRS and between a small group of dedicated radio folks we started pushing GMRS to its limits to see what we had at our disposal. In many ways it was much better than expected. A few months ago I was discussing gmrs with a ham in my area and he saw the benefit of that type of service and by the end of that day he had put in for his GMRS license. In and around our location we are putting in repeaters in an orderly fashion creating a larger area of coverage and realizing this will be our rally point in a grid down situation. The best part is anyone can get in for a small $$. Our gmrs group was invited to speak at upcoming HAM club meeting to introduce it to the rest of the group. Since this meeting we regularly talk with several of them on gmrs keeping it alive and well and participate in state wide net meeting. So they created a RADIO CLUB that evening including our form of communication in the club with out discrimination. Just as some of original Hams joined GMRS, some original GMRS got their ham licenses. I for one am studying for my general :). I hope you find in your area, radio folks with open minded thinking. A couple of these guys have been in radio longer than most have been alive. The technology is the same in both HAM AND GMRS. UHF is UHF after all. I would encourage groups in this format to reach out to their local ham clubs and simply explain to them what you are doing and what its about and let it go from there. But please do gmrs a favor and get a little organized before reaching out if possible . Heck we had a power point the evening we spoke at their meeting so we got 30 points just for that alone! WRMK691/KI5UCM

OK, thanks. I'll look into that.

Thanks for the info. I noticed those towers are round and +50' high. I purchased a Cushcraft R-8TB Vertical Antenna Tilt Base last week. I was told I'd have to purchase a ROHN type tower instead and use guidelines.

DX Engineering sells winch kits for some of their vertical antennas: https://www.dxengineering.com/search/product-line/dx-engineering-manual-winch-add-on-raising-kits/part-type/hf-vertical-antenna-pivoting-fixture-manual-winch?fr=part-type

Maybe that's what Andrea meant, I cut and pasted directly from the email I received, including the incorrect grammar.

Did you mean MXT575? Anyway - I heard a rumor that the MXT575 50W will be available for purchase very..very.. VERY soon... I also heard that all of the good GMRS YouTube channels will post a review of the radio on YouTube on the day it is released, which is very..very soon..

I have a repeater on Zello and it's a kludge to get setup and working.. But once you get through all that, it works fairly well. Also, FYI, although you dont need GMRS license to use Zello, you DO need a GMRS license to transmit on a repeater connected to Zello. Not knowing exactly what you want to do/accomplish, a better/more robust solution might be the MyGMRS Network.

The VX-2200 is a fine radio and a good choice for GMRS. When you go into the software to "configure" your port settings, you should probably select the lowest possible baud rate. Vertex software can be a little finicky about what works as far as cables for programming. You also need to make sure that your cable has the proper driver loaded. When you plug the cable into your mic jack of the mobile, you should get a beeping along with a message on the front display saying that you're in programming mode. Here's a little help file that Google found for me. I didn't read through it completely enough to vouch for its 100% accuracy, but it seems that he hits the main points to look out for and how to make sure that your software is communicating with the radio. https://hamradioprogramming.net/vertex-vx-2200/how-to-program-vertex-vx-2200

Unfortunately, I have only used the VX-3200/4200 series radios. The 2200 series was something that was used in other areas by a former employer of mine, but I never had experience with them. However, with CE-52 (for VX-3200's) there was no warning for the wideband/narrowband requirement, as it was made well before the 2013 mandate. Turning the "clock" back to pre-2013 also works with many other radios and software as well. An issue to watch out for with the VX-3200/4200's is that many had filters that were manufactured with a defect, high humidity in the plant in Japan, where the radios could not go into narrowband due to defective narrowband filters. That cost thousands of dollars when January 1st, 2013 came around....and it was not just Vertex. Many then end up being sold as fully functional, either unknowingly, or by those that do not care. Good luck on the VX-2200. Quality wise, they are an older Vertex which were made well.

Perhaps @PACNWCommsmay have input/experience with the 2200's; I know with my 4200's, they'll go into a reboot loop when the cable is plugged into the radio, and stop and switch to "pc prog" when it gets whatever signal it wants to see from the software. I'll usually have the cable plugged into the computer, plug it into the radio right before I'm ready to read/write, and then click the menu item (which, IIRC, reminds you to turn the radio off and on). one other thing to check would be Windows Device Manager to see if it may be a driver issue (look for the little yellow triangle/exclamation point). On a side note, I found it interesting the "upload" and "download" terminology are opposite from most consumer radios/software I've used.

I just set up my KG-905G as mobile radio.

My radio actually does weird things like that too. I tell it to display the channel name, but it displays the frequency. It doesn't seem to "take" until the second time I change the setting. I've found that I have to make the change from the front panel twice, too, because whatever I do in the software doesn't work correctly when writing to the radio. Basically, the only place it's been an issue is with the second VFO. I typically use that VFO to monitor a local ham repeater, so if I forget to reset it after powering down the radio, the only thing that happens is that I don't get to hear that repeater.

I have done that too. Works well.

A word about tone settings in CHIRP. Tone means the transmitter transmits the selected tone when the PTT is activated. TQSL means the transmitter transmits the selected tone and the receiver listens for a tone to operate. Unless the listing for the repeater lists both a transmit and receive tone, you should always select TONE and not TQSL.

I suppose that workaround is true for any radio. For me purchasing a $30 HT with tone scanning solved that problem!

For ease of use, mounting options and power/capabilities, you can't beat the KG-1000G which is a 50W SuperHet radio.. If you want something less expensive, the KG-XS20G is a good, small, very capable SOC radio. For simplicity the Midlands are great - but they're not cheap, they have limited abilities and many/most of the pre 2022 models are narrowband only, which is an issue if you want anyone using a "real" GMRS (wideband) radio to actually be able to hear anything you're saying. My opinion is based on having/testing/using virtually every mobile GMRS Radio on the market.