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Maybe think about spending a little more and get a KG-935G Plus, it seems to hit the marks you laid out; transmits GMRS, receives VHF/UHF. FM radio, NOAA channels, IP66, etc.

If it were me, I'd change the Tx power to high...

The FCC rarely enforces the rules that are clear much less the ones that are un-clear. I doubt this whole fixed/base issue is worth the energy being spent on it.

You are suffering from "analysis paralysis" in that you are so wrapped in your comparisons that you've lost sight of your original objective.

I would just like to point out that one need not be "a programmer" to setup a UV-5R radio. Investing a few minutes reading some online articles or watching Youtube videos is all you need to learn how to 'program' your radio. You can even do it all by hand, right on the keypad, no computer necessary. Virtually everyone here learned to do it ourselves, and we all have faith that you can too - We believe in you!

If you're talking about legally like hands free laws, then you would need to check your local laws to see if a radio needs to be hard-mounted with a microphone. If you're talking about power-wise, I often use an HT with a mag mount and that 5 watts does fine with my local repeaters that are 5,000 feet up and 15-20 miles away.

Well, as many on this board know: I LOVE the DB20-G: Mini-Mobile, 20 Watts, VHF/UHF, Cigarette Lighter Plug, 500 channels and once "opened*" many other features are available for GMRS, including microphone control of various features such as Power, Reverse, etc. AND only $109 (and cheaper when on sale). So I discovered this DB25-D on sale over at Radioddity for $194 and the "experimenter" in me just could not resist! PayPal Credit (up to 6 months interest free, if paid within 6 months) is a dangerous, dangerous addition to my arsenal! More details to come... *When "opened" the DB20-G also can become a Ham Radio for 2 meters and 70 cms.

I didn't have any LUCK with the 5/8 Rubber DUCK. I was actually getting better Tx with a stock Wouxun antenna that I got from BuyTwoWayRadio for $8 bucks. I ended up sending it back. Nagoya works well IF it'll fit down into the recess where the antenna goes. I had one radio(think it was a Wouxun) where the Nagoya didn't seat all the way and Rx and Tx were not that great. My current Talkpod A36 Plus suffers from the same issue, the channel for the antenna to screw down into is too narrow so the stock antenna for it works better than the Nagoya does. I really wish they'd standardize this stuff so that all the OD's of the antennas and ID's of the radios would match up.

You have stated it many times with your interpretation of Fixed Station. You have stated several times that a station that doesn't move is, by definition, a fixed station. That is an incorrect interpretation, as fixed stations are primarily used to transfer data from one fixed point to another. A control station triggers another, usually remote, station to begin or cease operation, while a base station is used to communicate with either other base or mobile stations. Pressing your PTT to trigger a repeater to carry your information automatically renders your station a control station, as it is controlling the operation of the repeater. Simplex between two stations is classified as base-to-base traffic or base-to-mobile traffic, depending on where the remote unit is located.

You just have to know what the definition of "Is" is...

The KG935G has been mentioned a few times in the different threads. Buy Two Way Radios is currently out of stock on the KG-935G Plus but expect them to start shipping on March 15th. They are $149 and worth it. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-935g-plus.html?___SID=U You can download the Wouxun software from the BTWR website. I find the Wouxun software easier to use. It will only run on Windoze though.

"Station" is not the same as "radio". If you have an HT connected to an outside antenna at your house, that's either a base station or control station, depending on how you are using it. The FCC cares about how your "station" is used, not what equipment makes up the station. Most hams who use 2m or 70cm (either simplex or through repeaters) do so using a mobile radio connected to a power supply and outside antenna. There are only a couple currently-available "base" ham radios that include those bands. Can't disagree with the last paragraph. As I said in my previous post, just accept the definitions the FCC provides and move on ... don't try to make sense of them!

50W is good, especially when you have a long-run of that leaky coax, to get more juice squirting from the antenna. 50W is also good to step on the other guy that is irritating everyone but only has 20W.. all else being equal.

PL means Private Line. It's the same as a CTCSS tone. Motorola patented the Private Line term.

@WRZD720 Did you do like @WRPG745 said and set the power to high? If you are trying to punch through a bunch of trees, this is one place where power matters.

@WRUU653 I don't have that radio but on mine (AT-778UV) it just means it is able to be activated. I have to push a button on the mic to actually make it active.

Looking over the listed frequencies it looks like 1-7 is GMRS channels 1-7 and A=16, B=18, and C=20. As @Sshannon mentioned it looks like there are no frequencies/channels for TX to a repeater but hey you got @OffRoaderX’s favorite off road channel 16.

Depending on your truck, you might use a magnet mounted Tram or Nagoya. you will also probably need an adapter for your radio (depending on the connector on the antenna cable). There are vehicle specific mounts (what truck make/model/year do you have?) and options for front hood, rear stake body or 3rd brake light. if you have an aluminum body or for instance you have racks and such. Or just hate the idea of putting a magnet on the paint. Long term, you may need to drill a hole somewhere to run cable for a permanent installation. I get great coverage using a Tram 1180, fender mounted, cable running through the firewall. It's driver side front mounted. All in I think I spent about $110 because I used a firewall boot and a stainless steel mount. YMMV

Many Cables were manufactured with notoriously counterfeited Prolific chips. these are causing many Windows 11 problems.

That won't work. You need to be outside the car or use an outside antenna connected to the radio. RF can barely get out of the car. You lose most of your transmit power.

Those Interference Eliminator Codes are just marketing talk for CTCSS, which is an analog tone overlaid on the speech that is transmitted. Motorola also called that PL for Private Line. It truly does not make your calls private but it can reduce hearing other calls that don’t have a matching tone. Unfortunately none of the ten frequencies your radio transmits are those needed to activate a repeater. Repeaters listen on 467.xxx MHz and transmit on 462.xxx MHz. You should be able to hear repeaters though. Just leave the tone out.

How close is your Baofeng to the MXT400? The radios could be getting desensed from each other. Especially the mobile could be overpowering the HT. You will need to put some distance between them to test.

I use my Amazon Card so I'll get 5% back and normally(but not this time)and I can take my returns to Khol's and drop them off and I'll get the refund in a couple hours. I had to ship some of the stuff back UPS(on their dime so I didn't have to pay shipping) and I'm still waiting on the refund to hit my Gift Card balance on Amazon.

Does Amazon not refund to your credit card? The Antenna that comes with the radio is hard to beat and I have a drawer full of antennas.

Just arrived!

I do not have experience with this radio yet but I am considering it as my first DMR radio. I will be watching this thread. Edit: Also, I'm interested in how it would do as a backpack radio.

I don't have the 935G but I do have a KG-UV9GX and various other GMRS handhelds and I have the Smiley Slim Duck and the retractable one and although the build quality is great my Nagaoya 771Gs outperform them.

This made me laugh more than usual, as it would happen that literally was the case. I had done a fast and then went for blood work so no coffee. I'm good now

It's all good @WRUU653. I sometimes suffer from too much blood in my caffeine system.

According to the rules it does: Control station. A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations.

Okay I was wrong, CHIRP Next does support the 935G. I just prefer the Wouxun software from the BTWR website. It is nice and easy to use. I run CHIRP Next on my Mac mini and Windoze 11 computer.

I really don't care. Just read the rules. It's all there. People are not completely reading the rules and I already pointed/cited the rule in question out. If the rule that I point out is not to your liking I can't help that and no one has come back and explain what than does that particular rule mean than. All people have to do is than explain the rule I pointed out. No, they can't do that because they don't know how.

Get the KG-935 plus. This is a good… no it’s a great GMRS radio. Which is perfect because you have a GMRS license and want a good radio. You won’t get everything in one radio but you have other radios to cover other bases. I use Chirp for my KG-935 Plus. @WRYZ926 ,Do they not support his Lynx?

Kenny, You are flat wrong in stating that a transmitter location defines how it is classified. The use of the station determines the class. If a station only communicates with one other station, then you could consider it a fixed station. Yes, some fixed stations do communicate with more than one other station, but the others are usually receive only. Golf course or farm sprinkler systems are examples of one-to-many, while microwave is an example of a one-to-one system. Radios used under parts 95 and 97 are either base stations, control stations or repeater stations.

OK I'll recap. I challenge your incorrect assertion that all "at home" GMRS stations are considered fixed stations and rather than defend that position you start insulting me. Into the ignore list you go. For those watching from the sidelines ... why are there definitions for "base stations" and "control stations" in Part 95 A?

Again, and your point is? I would also strongly disagree with you. A circular definition with no additional information is not clear.

Agreed. And telemetry is one use case that I understand. Another that I have mentioned before could be for direct voice communications between two family locations, such as between my house and my cabin that’s 16 miles away. Being able to use 467 MHz (or even duplex) and Yagi antennas reduces the probability that I will interfere with others or they with me and 15 watts is certainly enough power.

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. If you are arguing that a GMRS station using a mobile radio, power supply, and outside antenna is a "fixed station" (as defined in Part 95 A) and must adhere to the restrictions for fixed stations, you are incorrect. The term "fixed base" appears nowhere in Part 95 that I can see. I do agree that the type of radio ("base", "mobile", or "HT") does not determine the classification.

Every time someone asks, "But what's a Fixed Station" my response is, "Not you." There are a number of digital data (not voice) modes allowed on GMRS. It is unfortunate the FCC doesn't provide a better definition of "fixed station", and I know one of my two rules was "don't interpret" but I'm pretty sure "fixed station" refers to telemetry between remote locations and a central site. In any event, normal GMRS usage doesn't fit the definition of "fixed station".

That’s exactly how I understand it as well. The entire configuration and the use thereof establishes the station type. With that in mind, I could have a radio in my transceiver in my house (Fixed location) that I use to communicate directly with other base stations or mobile/portable radios. That’s a Base Station. Then, I could change channels and use it to communicate through a repeater to mobile/portable radios and it becomes a Control Station. However, if I only use it to communicate to Fixed Stations then my station is a Fixed Station and I must restrict my output power to 15 watts. The upside is that my Fixed Station and the other Fixed Stations are able to use the 467 MHz Main channels that are otherwise limited to transmissions to a repeater or brief test transmissions.

Yeah, having NOAA is useful if you spend a lot of time out doors. However that requires the radio to likely be based on a dual band design, a derivative of a VHF/UHF Ham type radio with GMRS specific firmware. Some of the GMRS radios are based on a single band design so that's why they don't have VHF and thus no NOAA station reception. I would just go for a good quality GMRS radio and then spend a bit extra and get a cheap Baofeng UV-5R type radio for about $25 or so and program in the NOAA weather channels in it. You're not really going to be transmitting on it, just using it as a monitor. I typically carry a TK-3170 for GMRS and UHF ham. For VHF Ham and NOAA I have the VHF version of the radio, TK-2170. https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/9/TK-2170&3170Brochure.pdf Of course you have to be within range of a NOAA station. Some places aren't covered, or not very well. https://www.weather.gov/nwr/ https://www.weather.gov/nwr/Maps Another advantage of a separate radio is you might have an active "Skywarn" group in your area. During extreme weather events this maybe a better source of timely weather updates. https://www.weather.gov/skywarn/ https://www.weather.gov/sew/spotter

I really prefer the versatility of an actual transceiver vs just a scanner since I scan so few channels. Also, if I'm going to be limited to UHF only then maybe the KG-805g would work just as well as the 905g, Plus it'd be $20 bucks cheaper. It's odd though that the 805g has an FM Radio but the 905g doesn't and neither have NOAA Weather Radio.

Where are those terms (Fixed Base and Fixed Base 2) defined within part 95?

Thank you all!

That’s a nice gift. Here’s a place that carried it before it was discontinued and it looks like they have connectors. https://www.anixter.com/en_ec/products/FXL-540-NHR/COMMSCOPE-ANDREW-SOLUTIONS/Coaxial-Cable/p/438625 Here’s the data sheet:

Ditto on firmware issues. The firmware that shipped with the radio was out of date and had issues with programing the PF1 and PF2 keys along with a number of other problems. I tried to do the update and ended up bricking the radio. Same thing happened with one of the H3's I had so I sent all 4 of them back. Tidradio HTs have been having a lot of issues and until they get fixed it's best to look else where.

I have had the KG-935G and now have the Plus. On both, I compared the factory antennas to a Nagoya 771G by talking to the same person in the same place 3.7 miles from my house. Both times the 935G (and Plus) oem antennas were a little better than the 771G. I did the same comparison with a 905G and the 771G and the 701G were slightly better. I have not tried the Smiley but have stopped looking for antennas as the oem 935g antenna does what I need it to do. I do understand about wanting a shorter antenna, but oh well. If you try the Smiley let us know what you think.

I'm interested to see if the Smiley antenna does any better than the stock 935G antenna. I have an Abbree 771G antenna and it doesn't do any better than the stock 935G antenna. The same Abbree antennas are definitely better than the stock Baofeng UV-5R GMRS antennas and does make a difference.