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Can confirm .. This is why i always recommend purchasing via Amazon when possible because Amazon protects against this exact thing - even if you have to pay $6 more, it's worth it.

They’re only required to use the call sign, but if it helps you to identify each other you’re allowed to use something like a unit number as well. Personally, I like to use first names or familial relationships, “John, this is grandpa.” Understand that you only need to identify using your call sign once every 15 minutes and when you end a conversation, so if you talk for 2 minutes or 15 minutes you’ll only need to ID once. If you talk for 16 minutes to 30 minutes you are required to ID at least twice. Each time you ID it resets the 15 minute clock. So, if you’re concerned about compliance, just throw in your ID when it’s convenient and at the very end and don’t worry about it.

Sometimes paying a few extra dollars is worth the peace of mind.

Another thing to consider is the voltage input to the radio. Most mobile radios are rated with an input voltage of 13.8 vDC and the output RF power frequently varies with the voltage. Boost your voltage by a half volt (observing the tolerances listed in the manual) and you might see 41 watts. But a variation of one or two watts at that general power will not make a bit of difference in your ability to communicate.

It's been between 16 and 18 years since I worked as a network administrator. Most of our router internet connections were T1 connections and we provided wireless 900 MHz internet for customers. Regardless if you agree with the FCC when it comes to linking GMRS repeaters, they did clarify their stance on the matter a few months ago. Linking repeaters has its place for amateur radio but it is not needed nor wanted by most on GMRS.

A good adapter would be just fine. If you have the right tools (or buy M&P connectors which require very little in tools) replacing one of the cable ends would be the best option. In my opinion of course.

This goes for amateur radios too. This is very true. You will definitely see a different output power when running on a 12V battery versus a 13.8V power supply or when running the radio in a vehicle.. The voltage on newer vehicles can go up to 15.1 volts when charging the battery and are around 14.1 to 14.3 volts under normal driving conditions.

he is socially rheet-hard-ed and is not able to relate/to or emphasize with other humans. he is seriously defective.

I had one and it worked fine.. but unless it has some feature that you need that the Retevis RT97 does not have, you should consider it also.

What is Wrong with YOU ? Why do you have to act like an Ass, every time someone makes a normal statement ? BE NICE, it really Doesn't hurt.

You will also need a good duplexer for it to work correctly. The transmit radio will desense the receive radio if you don't. There is more to it than connecting two radios to each other.

Agreed. One thing to take notice of is that most GMRS radio marketing statements specify power as "up to x watts", or "as much as x watts" and do not actually state your 40 watt radio will deliver 40 watts.

Pretty much covered in the following, and I've not seen how Cogent can gainsay this one? § 95.1733 Prohibited GMRS uses. (a) In addition to the prohibited uses outlined in § 95.333 of this chapter, GMRS stations must not communicate: (8) Messages which are both conveyed by a wireline control link and transmitted by a GMRS station; Internet is chock full of wireline control links! As are most, if not all Cell systems. FWIW, I don't really have a dog in this fight, I rarely use repeaters, the other people I use GMRS with, at least the immediate family and off-road groups/friends never use them. But just seems no real need here for what Cog is proposing...

The Midland MXTR10 and the Retevis RT97 will work just fine. Compare the specifications on both and also the prices and go with which one suits your needs at the best price. PS: Ignore Negative Nancy, he hardly ever has anything positive to say.

The only thing the fcc says is that you must ID every 15 minutes and at the end of the conversation and that unit numbers are allowed. § 95.1751 GMRS station identification. Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification. (a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted: (1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and, (2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes. (b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone. (c) Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.

2-3 watts is nothing to worry about. How did you check your RF power output? With a meter in-line with an Antenna connected or a Power Terminator connected? If you're using a Power Terminator make sure it measures out at 50 ohms for an accurate reading. Having an antenna connected is not the most accurate method because of the reflected power.

While you might be controlling access to your servers, you will still be using other networks, either internet or phone, to connect to GMRS repeaters. Last time I checked a server still connects to the internet and accepts connections from the internet. Again you will still using other networks to connect to GMRS repeaters, which is not allowed.

That didn't come up in my google search. Thanks Steve

I wouldn't paint chinese radios as all bad or junk. It's hit or miss, some people get a good radio and it works out for them, others, get a bad radio and then a subset of them have a bad return experience. I'm in the latter group. Following the suggestion of several on this forum, I bought a TYT-7800 and it too was defective, but luckily I bought it from a reputable US-based ham shop and the return was seamless. So that's 3 out of 4 chinese radios that were DOA. In 30 years of being a ham and buying dozens of radios, I never got one that was DOA until this experience. Take it for what it's worth, your experience may be different. In fairness to Radioddity, I did have a good experience with them last year, having bought a QT80 direct from them, and it works great. So I thought I'd give the VHF/UHF radios a try. Maybe the HF radios run off a different assembly line. I've decided on a Yaesu FTM-150 but am waiting for the spring hamfest deals to come around first. I'm swearing off chinese radios until they work out the quality control issues.

Here is a good read on common mode chokes. The article talks about 2m VHF but the principal works for HF bands and UHF bands too. https://w6nbc.com/articles/2020-TBDcoaxchokebalun.pdf

That's exactly what I've done with Radiodditty, since their return policy seemed sketchy and we know that DOA happens.

I like my H3. It has been a good radio for over 1 year now. I like the longer battery life, the USB-C jack for charging, and the sound quality of the audio. Mine works well on both repeaters and on simplex.

Normally putting loops in, especially loops at certain diameter for the frequency along with certain number of turns can actually reduce noise as the loops will act like a common mode choke.

I am very sorry to hear that. I also purchased directly from Retevis and I had a few problems also. I refused to give up. I kept emailing/ saying the same thing differently until someone could understand the points/problem. They did make me whole. Best regards!

My wife and I use our local repeaters pretty regularly for chit chat. Just remember everyone is listening...

Physics and me actually doing this both say that you are very, very wrong.

I can confirm that it is true.

Have you done that?

Fixed.

While the FCC website can definitely be slow and occasionally time out, I haven't had troubles registering for my FRN, applying for my GMRS license or paying for my technician license once I received an email from the FCC. I think that we can all agree that the FCC website, and especially their data base, can use improvements.

We can agree to agree on this one! I've never had any trouble with the FCC website, and especially none where they wanted my money!

If Amazon's web site was similar, it would be out of business.

John, Did you ever get the Motorola mic to work with the KG-1000g ? If so, would you provide details? Thanks - Nick

There's no rule against using names on GMRS. So long as someone IDs every 15 minutes, use your names, use a nickname. Hell, give each other trucker or Top Gun call signs lol The ONLY thing the FCC requires is that someone talking under that callsign IDs every 15 minutes

As others have said, getting 37-38 watts out with a 40 watt radio is perfectly fine. A 50 watt radio only putting out 35 watts would be enough to contact the manufacturer and ask questions. I also would not worry much about having an SWR of 1.8. You will be fine as long as the SWR is 2.0 or below.

So there is an old thread on this site that asks this exact same question a few months back. Maybe start there with a basic look a round or search. I quick search I. The work wide web would also tell you before asking strangers. However, The answer is, what do the fcc rules say. You should look things like this up for your self before asking strangers. When you purchased your license you told the fcc that you read and fully understood all the rules pertaining to gmrs. Did you just click through and not read anything? If you actually had spent time reading, that then you would know the rules. I will say that simplex has the fcc rules BUT repeater owners or clubs can ask for more than the fcc. So I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the fcc rules you should already know.

The REAL fun will begin when the temps start rising and we get some Tropo Ducting happening, along with some solar flares ! then 100-200mile hops will become commonplace.

This whole thread amazes me. I had zero trouble. It took like 10min total all on the first try. But I read instructions before I start something. An average adult witu basic skills should be able to use the fcc web site no problem. What is wrong with people.

Yes, that’s an acceptable SWR range. Yes, that’s an acceptable power output.

By the way, here is a glossary from ARRL: https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Education/HRLM Online Glossary.pdf Unfortunately “desense” isn’t in the glossary but it is in Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desensitization_(telecommunications)

Little update. The possible issue of looping coax isn't increased SWR. It's noise. Apparently depending on how and where the loops are it can be an issue. So, if you avoid loops, you avoid problems. By the way, someone mentioned that GMRS is so simple it should need a lot of explaining. Well, I've been involved in firearms for over 60 years (first .22 rifle on my 10th birthday). While I would never claim to "know it all", I do know a lot. So, to me it's all pretty simple stuff. But when a newbie shows up on a forum the last thing you want to do is prove how superior you are by saying things like "it's so simple even a caveman can do it" (yea, I have read that exact comment). People don't now what they don't know. The smart ones ask. The smartassed one's respond with distain. But fear not, I shall continue to ask "stupid" questions, even when I am no longer stupid.

And not everyone lives in the wide open desert where it is flat. Our GMRS repeater antennas are at 400 feet above ground and our 70cm repeater antennas are at 900 feet above ground. We get around a 30-35 mile radius range on both. Again due to local terrain and lots of forested areas. In comparison, our 2m repeater antennas are on the same tower and also at 900 feet above ground. We get around 80-85 mile radius range on 2m. This clearly shows the difference between UHF and HVF. If it was a height issue then we would see better coverage with the 70cm repeater than the GMRS repeater. But both have the same coverage. We actually encourage that type of use on our repeater. Most families won't "rag chew" for hours on end so it's not an issue. Most of us get a big kick out of listening to one of our member's grandson when he gets on the repeater to talk to Grammy and Papa. The kid is only about 8 years old and does a great job with using proper etiquette on the repeater.

Nevermind [emoji2957]

Not meant to be a divisive or abrasive topic. It's laid out pretty clearly what the spirit of GMRS is. Not 70cm lite.. Less for "rag chews" and "making contacts" and more for having radios in the family cars to home. Or a group or family on a ski trip, event, or off roading keeping track of eachother... Repeaters meant to be more local to get up over a hill... Not for yelling "WHISKEY SIERRA ALFA TANGO 423 Monitoring!". For people with some other stated goal and using radio as an aid, and not just "being on the radio". Functional use..

There’s nothing wrong with you talking to people using your GMRS radio. Have fun and welcome to the forum.

You sure it doesn't need a ground plane?

I am hoping someone might share the programing code plug for the TK-890. I have been "successful" programming mine and can transmit fine, but I'm having some issues that I suspect are from something not being programmed correctly. I using the full function remote head and an external speaker, but I'm getting no sound at all. Also, the busy light stays on all the time unless the squelch is cranked to 13 of 15. If anyone is using this radio successfully and is willing to share, I'd like to try to replicate your settings and see what is different with mine. I should say that I'm still fairly new to Kenwood commercial radios, but I have had no trouble programming and using my TK-880's or my NX-800. Any help is appreciated.

$35 to get the license. Set up the group as a non-profit and/or ask your city/town/county to help fund it. Each member can get their own license, then be reimbursed by the organization.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the help everyone. Turns out the ignition sense wire was in the wrong spot in the 9-pin on the back of the radio. I was told wrong by the seller on ebay (big surprise, right). He even circled for me, but wrong. The radio powered up, but I suspect the speaker was getting no power. Once correct, it all works as it should. I'm very happy with the radio.