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While I'm all for a continued discussion, just in case anyone missed it it has been nearly ten years since OP posted this question. I hope he isn't still trying to make this decision.

Just keep thinking about creative ways to justify spending the money. You'll give in sooner or later. Me, I won't give up until I run out of plastic storage boxes to put them in. Then I'll wait for the Dollar store to get more in then buy another 20 to 30. That'll hold me for a while.

I use the Larsen's.

I’m Steve and I’m a radioholic.

The guilt will slowly eat at your soul until you find yourself standing in the desert in bunny slippers howling at the moon and calling “CQ 10-4” repeatedly on some bubble pack FRS radios with the batteries in backwards? Or something like that. I wouldn’t risk it.

Thank you for posting a more concise description of what this thing is really made out of. The link @gortex2 posted wasn't as descriptive and had me assuming, and you know what they say about assuming, that it is that fancy new marketing speak that's so prevalent these days. They didn't even mention plating. This reminds me of going to Home Depot to buy a garden hose with "copper infused" fittings, which simply means anodized aluminum that is colored to look like copper or brass. And yes, I do know what these differences are when it comes to metallurgy. I'm just not proficient posting from a smartphone. Yes, brass is made by alloying copper and zinc. Also, pure zinc or magnesium is used in sacrificial anodes in the corrosion prevention sector. And now that I see that they are using "zinc alloy" which indicates it's not pure zinc, not that it matters in this application. The primary reason these NMO mounts are being manufactured with "zinc" is it's much cheaper than brass, as you indicated. And requires very little machining, if any, as these mounts are die-cast. In my opinion, these are equivalent to Chinese pot metal. That said, I'm confident these mounts are still going to be quality from an electrical and mechanical perspective and one shouldn't have any second thoughts of using one. Call me old fashioned as I've been using quality brass NMO mounting kits for close to 40 years. Plus, I have a nice stockpile of kits to last me two lifetimes. No zinc for me.

To answer my own previous question, Premium level members have no limit on the number of reactions. They also are allowed to post in the classified ads and delete their own posts.

You close by?

I would rather have one of each than two Q10h’s. Long answer- If it were a one or the other it would be the Q10H because it is quad band, IP67, super het. It’s probably going to be able to take a good beating. I really like my 935G plus. I’m pretty sure the battery life on my 935 last longer and I like how it fits in my hand. It is my favorite GMRS radio and recently I was wishing it did Ham. Even though I have the Q10H and other Ham HT’s. So two weeks ago I was looking at the KG-UV8H. I decided I really can’t justify it, I have other radios that will do everything it does despite my want. Did mention I have been stricken with the I want another radio affliction? The minute I saw the KG-935H and saw it was tri band I thanked myself for not giving in to my whim of getting the UV8H. Yeah I ordered a KG-935H three days ago. Well I’m off to my radio anonymous meeting, Anyone need a ride?

Make sure that your antenna system is grounded to the vehicle ground at the mount and not just through the coax connection. Also, do not ground your radio negative power lead directly to the battery with the later model vehicles that are laden with LED lighting and various control modules connected to a CAN system. Connect your negative power lead to a factory chassis grounding point. There is one in the front passenger kick panel well.

Are you crazy? I added two more so that I can be prepared when the main one burns up. Remember, GMRS is all about being prepared.

Oh my, that sounds serious! So, what would happen if someone did this?

THATS IT. THAT FIXED IT! Thank you so much Ripper *fistbump

That radio is a clone of a Yaesu FT-8900r. It does 2m/70cm/6m/10m. Diamond made an antenna especially for the FT-8900r, call the CR8900A. I had the setup and the antenna worked great on all 4 bands. Th only thing I didn't like was that if you wanted to use the radio on the top end of 10m, you had to shorten the whip, and if you wanted to use the bottom end of 10m, you had to lengthen it. There was no such thing as putting the adjustment in the middle and getting a good match across the 2MHz range. Also, the whip wasn't long enough to cover 26MHz. So, even though it was a good radio/antenna combo, you either need to be flexible about tuning it manually or spend a few hundred $$$ on a 12v automatic tuner.

We have migrated to this mount over time on our SAR team. Its held up the best out of anything we have used. Both in true NMO mount fasion (in a roof) as well as on fender mounts and other not normal installs. The enclosed cable on the bottom of the mount keeps water out and we found it worked better in fringe areas on simplex. I still use the standard NMO from MSI/Larsen/Laird/PCTel on our UHF TLMR stuff but anything VHF is the Larsen one now. When possible I use them on all mounts. My new work truck as 6 mounts and all are the same.

RT Systems has software for most, but not all, of the Wouxun radios. I know some do not like to pay for programming software but the $35 cost of the RT Systems is reasonable and is veery easy to use.

Talk about resurrecting a zombie thread

https://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html

I am doing my best to resist getting the new KG-935H. What is helping me resist is keeping my KG-Q10H right in front of me as a reminder that I don't need the 935H. Wish me luck

That’s right, but not only that it’s not AM, which the air bands are. If I knew how to unlock it to transmit on the Airbands I wouldn’t tell you.

The term best is really up to what criteria you apply, there is no absolute. I see all the big names mentioned here already and while I doubt Midland comes to mind for anyone using the term best I would add that if you need to get through a firewall, have a limited size hole in which to do that and you are not comfortable cutting and redoing the cable end or mount than the Midland mount might be best for you. It appears to be yellow brass (I couldn’t find documentation) and the cable end removes to go through tight spaces. I used one to connect my mobile and have no issues so far two years and counting.

That use to be the best way to hook up radios but that doesn't work very well with modern vehicles with all of the computers and battery management system onboard. I know battery chargers/maintainers are different than two way radios, but the manufacturers don't even want you to connect a charger to the negative terminal of the battery on newer vehicles. They will state to use a good chassis ground so you don't take any chances of messing up the battery monitoring system or computer modules.

That Anytone (assuming it’s a 578 or 878) uses software that also allows importing external csv files, and in fact it supports “Roaming Zones” which allow the radio to automatically find the closest repeater based on its internal gps. And it can be very easily opened up to GMRS (I have the Alinco MD5XT which is basically an Alinco 878. I also think the Wouxun radios can be programmed using RT Systems software, which can also import csv or tab files.

If you know you’re going to travel through another state you could download a file of all of the repeaters for that state and load them into Chirp to program your radio.

Premium level also allows you to form clubs in the forum software and download extracts of the repeater, which is pretty sweet for traveling people with radios that hold lots of channels.

I have one and have used it on Baofengs at home and in the field and have had no issues with it. Odmaster is a bit stodgy compared to Chirp visually, but works fine when out in the wilds.

I have one but have not really had a chance to use it. I bought it because a friend has a radio that needs an easier way to program it in the field using the cell phone. I don't really like the odmaster app as much as chirp for programming but it is convenient for doing changes away from the computer and without a cable. I have TD-H3 radios personally so they already have the bluetooth built in, so I didn't need the bluetooth programmer for my radios. (and actually I don't find programming most things from the keyboard on the radio to be that difficult) I have never tried a Baofeng, So not sure how easy or difficult that is to program. as far as powering it on... if you charged it, that little button on the side (small and kinda hard to see) should just turn the blue light on it and it should be on.

That can't be stated enough with newer vehicles AKA computers on wheels.

There, I fixed that for you.

That's hard to say since I had the 935G for a while before getting the Q10H. The Q10H has the advantage of being quad band versus the 935H being tri band. Both can be unlocked for use on MURS and GMRS. The nice thing about the 935G is that I can give to a family member and not worry about them accidentally transmitting on the amateur bands. Remember that the 935G and Q10G are GMRS only radios and can't be unlocked. Yes I tried and the unlock password will not work on the GMRS only radios.

I got a set as an Xmas present, so I'm just going by what Notarubicon (Randy) has told me, because I'm his favorite subscriber! He told me that!

The TH-9800 has the capability to receive AM CB channels, so ever since I got one, I wondered if it could transmit on those frequencies as well. With a minor software tweak, you can "unlock" them, but the radio doesn't have the hardware to transmit AM. I finally got around to checking it out, and the answer is yes, the 9800 can transmit on CB frequencies, but only in FM mode. It works great in FM mode, both transmitting and receiving. Not that it really matters, because literally nobody in the US uses FM CB, but it's kind of cool anyway. I only keyed up for a few seconds 3-4 times because on my 2m/70cm antenna, I was getting an SWR around 19. Obviously, to use it I'd need a different antenna. However, the radio has 10 meter capability, and when I start using it, I may be able to find an antenna that will do 11 meters as well. As I said, not likely to be useful, but if the capability is there, you might as well be able to use it should you want to.

I'll say this for the UV-5R...it works and almost anyone can afford it. Sometimes that's all you need.

An elderly lady phoned her telephone company to report that her telephone failed to ring when her friends called -- and that on the few occasions when it did ring, her pet dog always moaned right before the phone rang. The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile elderly lady. He climbed a nearby telephone pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned loudly and the telephone began to ring. Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found..... 1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire via a steel chain and collar. 2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose. 3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the phone number was called. 4. After a couple of such jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate on himself and the ground. 5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring. .....Which goes to show that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning.

I still have my two 380s in the drawer all charged and ready to go. Great little radios. They are my tower radios. If I drop one, I'll read a few scriptures from the good book, but other than that it's no big deal.

It's definitely cheap enough. And if they don't like it the money invested wasn't much. Better than spending a few hundred to learn the same thing.

I gave up trying to use my Radioditty DB-20G in wide band. I tried all the settings with squelch tail and other settings. I just set all my channels to narrow band 12.5 and the radio does not hang anymore with squelch wide open(set it back to 2 not the 8 I had it). I have two DB-20G's that do this. I wish they would come up with some new firmware and address the open squelch with wide band annoyance. Otherwise my family and the people I talk to do not hear a difference in narrow band or wide band. Problem solved IMO . Jim

if you have room, The newer Ram Trucks 2018 up do, i'd go with a Breedlove mount. You will pretty much have to remove your headliner to do a good mount job and thats the hardest part. Breedlove mounts are built like a tank and will not fail. Do your homework, not every NMO mount is equal, a lot are junk.. Here is a good read. https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/nmo-mobile-antenna-mount-options.html https://breedlovemounts.com/store/ols/products/nmo-roof-mount

I head up an emergency neighborhood radio watch group in the northern California region. We use Kenwood Tk-380 HT radios operating in the 462 Mhz GMRS bands that we have obtained from various service organizations in the state. We refurbish them and make them available to our users at our cost. Due to the costs of maintaining and obtaining batteries, my research has led me to find a suitable replacement for the aging Kenwood radios. I settled on the Tidradio td-h8 GMRS version for its solid build USB C charging capabilities and ease of programming. I unlock the radios to monitor vhf Cal Fire and other emergency response frequencies for our users. After using the GMRS version of the td-h8 radio for some time now I've run tests in all three modes of operation (HAM / GMRS / Unlock) with the HAM & Unlock power measured at 5-watt maximum output when using HAM VHF frequencies. My question to those of you who have purchased the TD-H8 HAM version from Tidradio is do you get 10-watt output in the unlocked mode on VHF ham bands or do they throttle down to 5 watts as the GMRS versions do? Something is preventing the GMRS flavor of the TD-H8 from using 10 watts when configuring them for the HAM mode and Unlock modes. If the HAM & GMRS td-h8 radios are the same base radio something is causing the difference in the power output between the two units. Thank you, Bob Kleinbrahm - W6FYN / WRHS279

That’s defiantly true!

Well I gave up and figured I’d just not replace the battery and just charge it in place. I tossed it on the bed and the battery came off! What I was doing was trying to slide the battery off when it actually lifts up and then off.

The biggest improvement you can make to your hand held is to use a mobile or base antenna with it. Either way you want to get the antenna as high up as you can. A mobile antenna with a magnet mount stuck onto a pizza pan or 9x13 baking sheet will work well, again get the antenna up in the air. A mobile or base antenna up high will make a big improvement over the best hand held antenna.

As of right now the KG-935G Plus is $149.99 and the KG-Q10G is $219.99 on Buy Two Way Radio. Both are IP rated; 935G - IP66, Q10G - IP67 935G - SOC Q10G - superheterodyne Q10G has GPS functions - downside is it only works with other Wouxun radios. I have a 935G Plus and a Q10H (quad band model) and I can't tell much difference in performance between the two. Both have good front ends that are not susceptible to front end over load. Both receive well and both sound good when transmitting. So you have to ask yourself if the slightly better IP rating, superheterodyne vs SOC, and GPS function is worth the extra $70 or not. PS: I went with the Q10H version since it is quad band and can be unlocked if I choose to do so. The Q10H covers the 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and 6m bands out of the box and will also cover MURS and GMRS if unlocked.

Accurate coverage mapping requires a number of different pieces of information to run the calculations against to generate a map. Some of those are power from the transmitter, duplexer loss, antenna cable loss, antenna gain, antenna height at the center of the radiation pattern, antenna pattern and down tilt. What is calculated is path loss based on the transmit and receive frequencies, losses due to vegetation, buildings and ground cover. This is selected in the coverage mapping software during the configuration and data input. You will also need to supply the subscriber antenna gain, transmit power and antenna height so that the talk in can be calculated. A base radio will work farther than an mobile with the same power output because of antenna height, a mobile will work better than a portable due to antenna gain and power output from the portable being typically 10dB less than the mobile. Again, there is software out there to run the numbers. But without the REAL numbers, it's garbage in and garbage out.

Coverage maps like you see on MyGMRS maps and repeater book are just good estimates. The only real way to determine coverage area is to get out and test. Our MGRS repeater antenna is on a local radio station tower at 400 feet above ground. We have a 35 mile radios coverage area. But local terrain and forested areas can and will make a difference on if you can actually get into a repeater. Several of us drove around and tested our repeater's coverage area before opening it up to public use. Our 70cm repeater has about the same overage area even though its antennas are at 900 feet above ground. Our 2m repeater antennas are also at 900 feet above ground and we get close to a 80 mile radios of coverage. Just to show the difference between VHF and UHF. The 70cm and GMRS repeaters are putting out 30-35 watts after the duplexers while the 2m is putting out around 45 watts after the duplexer.

Probably a more practical idea would be to actually go out and test your rig, perhaps with someone on a second radio, stationary at your home location, then drop pins in googleearth so you can clearly determine line of sight distances and elevations, as well as obstructions that may affect your actual range. This has the added benefit of providing actual experience communicating and learning that sometimes you only need to move 50 feet in one direction or another to have acceptable comms.

There are several on-line tools. Try Splat.. You will need coordinates. You can get that off the KML maps if your are a paid member.. Or if you know how to read nd decode the site HTML data you can pick site coordinates from there...

I'd shortne the cable to bare minimum.

You'd look at the listing for the repeater to see what tone it wants for the input. On your radio/software, it may be called PL tone, or it may be called ctcss. My btech/baofeng stuff shows the menu item as "t-ctcs" (transmit ctcss tone). Some radios just use the straight tones (like 141.3), while others like many Midland and the wouxun kg935g use codes that correspond to the tones. For the latter, there is usually a table in the manual that shows what code matches which tone.