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I picked up a Wouxun KG-UV980P, like new in box, on ebay, and thought I'd give some of my impressions now that I've used it a few days. The KG-UV980P is a quad band amateur radio, featuring 10m, 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands. It will also receive in the CB range, airband, and with proper CHIRP configuration, MURS, Marine VHF, and GMRS. The KG-UV980P is the amateur radio version of the well known (in these circles) KG-1000G GMRS radio. The KG-UV980P will transmit with 10w in the 10m and 6m bands. And it is advertised as 50w in the 2m band VHF band, and 40w in the 70cm UHF band. In testing with a dummy load, my unit comes in at a little over 10w in the 10m and 6m bands, about 46w in the 2m VHF band, and around 43-45w in the 70cm UHF band. So its marketing may be slightly overstating the VHF power, and understating the UHF power. However, it doesn't matter. For practical purposes, it's an ample mobile and base station radio in the UHF and 2m VHF bands. First obvious question: Will it work for me, a person reading posts on a GMRS website? And the answer is that through some simple configuration adjustments of the band ranges in CHIRP, yes, this will work for you. You might also ask if it will work for those people who prefer more of a Smokey and the Bandit radio band, the answer is sort of, with caveats. And some might ask if it will work for them on a band that has five VHF channels numbered 1-3,Green,Blue. The answer is somewhat, with a caveat. The caveats: On the smokey and the bandit band the radio can listen in AM mode, but I think only transmit in FM, and would need to set the power to L or M. But at "M" you're only putting out about 2.6w in the 11m band, whereas this band is FCC restricted to 4w maximum for AM and FM transmission, so you come up a little short. On the other hand, at "H" power, you're way over the limit, at 10w, so don't do that. In other words, if you're buying this for the Superbowl band, it's not ideal; only FM, and wrong power levels. As for the 5-channel VHF band starting with the letter M, there is no power setting that brings you down to compliance, as the lowest setting is a little over 5w in the 144+ VHF band, and the M band is limited to 2w. So if you're buying this for the M band you're making a mistake; it cannot meet the technical limitations required for that band. The final caveat is this radio is an amateur radio, not type approved for bands that require type approved equipment. If you have your amateur license, it's useful. If not, radios specific to your license make more sense. About our on-topic band: Low power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 1-7 -- narrow band or wide. Medium and High power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 15-22 and the repeater inputs -- narrow band or wide. The radio's lowest power setting in UHF is about 5w, and it's a mobile radio, so, like all mobile radios, it will not meet the restrictions for channels 8-14, which must transmit below a half watt. The radio: it's two in one. This radio has two radios inside. It has two volume knobs. Its display has a left side and a right side, each of which corresponds to one of the radios. It literally can play both sides at the same time. It can function as a full-duplex repeater, and as a full-duplex cross-band repeater. It can receive and transmit at the same time, in repeater mode. Some radios have a left and right side, but only one radio on the inside. Those radios achieve this trick by rapidly shifting the one internal radio to listen on the channel set on the left, and then on the channel set on the right. This is how the RA87 works. This is how the UV-5G or UV-5G Plus work. But the Wouxun KG-UV980P doesn't need such a trick; it has two transceivers in it. This is a really nice feature for some people. The mic: It's well balanced, and weighted. My RA87 mic feels like it's mostly air -- like a hollow chocolate bunny. The KG-UV980P mic feels like a MaBell desk phone from the 80s. It feels nice. Its keypad works well, and has all the features you would want on it (better so than the faceplate even). There is a speaker in the mic handset, and there are two speakers on the base unit. There is a volume control on the mic, a monitor button, menu button, band selection, direct frequency input, and a lot more. It's a good mic, and from what people who have heard my voice over this radio say, it sounds awesome. The speakers: With a speaker in the mic, and two speakers on the base unit, it sounds good and offers nice options for listening. There are also two external speaker outputs. Remember, it has two radios in it. And this is why. I've used the radio indoors, and in my super quiet 2014 F150. In those environments, the speakers are plenty loud. I have not tried it out in my old Bronco with a 5.8L v8, 3" exhaust, every rattle known to man, and a thin shell of a roof. I suspect that just like my RA87, which is mounted in the Bronco, its speaker will be almost adequate unless I'm at highway speeds. However, the fact that it has a mic speaker may help in noisy environments. The faceplate: The radio's faceplate is removable, and can be mounted separately from the base unit. It comes with a short connector for mounting the face plate on the base unit, and it comes with a long connecting cord, as well as a dash mount to allow the faceplate to be located a few feet away from the base unit. CHIRP: This unit can be programmed with Wouxun's kooky Windows software, or it can be programmed very easily from CHIRP. You will need to purchase a data cable, as it doesn't come with one. The cable is not expensive. With CHIRP you can program its 999 channels, set the band limits, set many other options, and even allocate channels to ten different scan groups, of user-defined size. This allows you to set it to scan only 2m repeaters, or only GMRS, or whatever other scan groups you can imagine that fall within its band capabilities. On my Linux laptop, the cable required no additional drivers; just download and install CHIRP, which I already had, plug in the cable, download the code plug from the radio, modify it, and upload it back to the radio. Modes: The "left side" radio supports AM and FM. The "right side" is FM only. Despite supporting 10m, it doesn't have SSB. It also doesn't have any digital modes. Transmit bands: 10m(&11m), 6m, 2m(+...), 70cm(65cm). Receive bands: 11m, 10m, 6m, VHF from 144-179, UHF from 420-470, plus airband (123), and 33cm. Heat: I don't talk nearly as much as I type, so I haven't really gotten it hot. It has a fan, and the fan can be set to always on, on while keyed up, or on when it reaches a certain temperature or is keyed up. Heat dissipation doesn't seem to be a problem. I keyed it up for 90 seconds into a 50w dummy load at high power, and it got warm enough to feel the warmth, but not hot. Nevertheless, dash-mounting the radio and then rag chewing in southern Arizona may not be a great plan. If you're going to dash mount it, dash mount the faceplate, and put the base unit somewhere shady in the vehicle, with sufficient ventilation. Programming: The menu is not too difficult to understand, but it's sure easier using CHIRP to get the radio configured, and then to just rely on the menu system for a little tweaking here and there. That goes for programming channels, too. Just do it in CHIRP, upload, done. Overall quality impressions: The radio is hefty, solid, has nice sound, close-enough power, good venting, great features, and great mounting options. Antenna choices: The closest I have to an antenna that will cover this radio's capabilities is a Comet CA2X4SR-NMO. I don't have a General class license, so I don't spend time in the 10m band. And nobody uses 6m in my area, from what I can tell. The CA2X4SR-NMO covers the 2m, 70cm, and closely adjacent bands nicely, so that's what I use. Odds and ends: Independently configurable Tx and Rx tones, compander, over-temp detection, high/low power input detection, scan groups, CTCSS and DCS scanning/detection, and very important to some, a roger beep. Very important to others, the roger beep can be disabled. DTMF, call groups, lots of features you'll never use. Should you consider this radio? Well, it depends. It's not cheap, at about $380-$400. There are far cheaper ham radios out there, and far cheaper GMRS radios. You might even find less expensive quad-band radios. But the build quality and sound quality are pretty darn good. If you are only GMRS licensed, get the KG-1000G Plus. It's the same radio but type approved for, and configured for GMRS. You'll be very happy with that radio. If you're a CB person, no, get a proper CB because it will have the appropriate power levels available, and will be type approved. If you're a MURS person, no, get the KG-1000M radio (which is serious overkill -- so really get an inexpensive MURS radio). If you're an amateur who operates in the SSB portions of the 10m band, get a proper HF radio so you can also enjoy 12m, 15m, 17m, 20m, and 40m. But if you're like me -- rather addicted to nice equipment, enjoying both amateur and GMRS, needing flexible installation options, and appreciating the features this radio offers, it's a pretty decent choice.

Have you tried contacting Retevis? They say they offer lifetime support. Here’s the email address for support. info@retevis.com

I Failed as soon as I saw it !

I'm testing my will power. Timing how long I can go without laughing at @PRadio's Midland page . Well crap, that didn't last long.

I used my 220 radio twice today

Thanks for this! I am sure a lot of people considering one of these will find it helpful.

Community Note / Readers Added Context: To identify someone based on their callsign takes 10 seconds and can be done by anyone in the world with access to the internet. To identify someone based on their license plate number in most states takes a lot of work/knowing the right people/filling out the right forms/paying a lot of monies, IF it is even legal to do so in your state.

No, if you program your radio with TSQL, you won’t hear anyone else unless they are transmitting using the RX tone or code you have programmed. Anyone listening using Tone will hear your transmissions. Squelch mode only affects your own radio reception.

That makes sense. If three radials can provide a ground plane, expanded metal should work as well or better.

My radials are on the way from Comet. I hung it from a tree and ran a few tests using my improvised "mystery metal" radials. I think I'm going to like this antenna. I had a lot of work to do to get my deck ready to support the mast, but I think I have it ready now. I can raise the antenna as soon as the radials get here. Well, when I also have someone to help me. I can raise it with a rope using a tree branch as a pully, but I need someone to guide it and secure the clamps while I hold it up.

Karl, Although it was the voltage regulator that failed that’s probably just a symptom of a high current problem with the boards which draw from power from it. Repairing or replacing the power supply will be repetitively frustrating unless you find and fix the actual problem. I would recommend sending the repeater to Retevis after contacting them using the email address Gil provided above. Best wishes! Please let us know what you find.

RT Systems is SO easy to use, a Caveman can do it !

Those who Bully, receive it in return X10 !

What I saw was someone asking for help, then getting irate and cocky with those trying to help. And for a change it was actually enjoyable to see SoCal go off on someone.

There are few areas where the 1.25m/220 MHz band is pretty active,. But those areas seem few and far between. I can only find one 1.25m repeater here in Missouri and it is permanently linked to a 2m repeater. There are two reasons why the 1.25m band is not more popular. One is that there are only two 50 watt mobile radios available on the market and both are from China. All the tri and quad band radios with 1.25m are limited to 5 or 10 watts max. Wouxun has released their KG-XS20H that is 20 watts on 220 MHz but they are not in stock at this time. The flip side is that the big three aren't interested in making a 1.25m radio with more than 5-10 watts since no one really uses the band and North America is the only market for it. It's a vicious circle. I have found that even expanded metal like what most hitch mounted luggage racks are made of makes a good ground plane for the 2x4SR. I cut down one of these racks to fit the back of my SxS and have the 2x4SR on a Midland mag mount on the rack and it works well. I'm using a 20 watt radio on the SxS.

Since it seems to have worked for you, I'll give it a try. It's the only antenna I have that has good readings on 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, and 1.25m. It has good signal on 70cm, GMRS, and 2m; I've never keyed up on MURS since I had a pair of MURS radios about 12-15 years ago. It would be convenient if it worked on 1.25m, because my car has limited real estate for antennas. I could have one antenna that did it all. On the truck, I have 3 antenna mounts, so it's no problem to have one antenna for GMRS/2m/70cm and another one for 1.25m.

I have been scratching my head over this for a long time now. I understand being cautious about the security of your home, but do you all (those that have this issue with the address on the FCC database) live in an extremely high crime neighborhood? Are you all filthy rich, prominent, and in the newspapers front and center? I have had a Ham license starting off in 1996 with several different addresses over the years and now have GMRS and Ham with my address on there. I know hundreds of Hams out there that have their address on their license and don't know of anyone who has been harmed or robbed. Could it happen? Absolutely. But ask the many radio operators out there. How many have had their house broken into and been robbed or half beaten to death? I think the key thing is to NOT display your equipment online in either a list or pictures. Even then, who is coming to steal it? Probably only another radio operator. I remember when I got one of my licenses recently, someone sent me a message warning me that my address was online. Yep, it was, just like it had always been. And if people did further searching, you would find that a hundred other sites had my address and probably every address I ever lived at, including every phone number I have ever had. The FCC website is the least of your worries. Try fast people search, been verified, and hundreds of other data mining sites that collect every bit of information on you, place it in a blender, and whip up a mess of info on you that can sometimes make you look really sketchy. Unless you paid a lot of money to the right people to have all of your information scrubbed from the internet, something about you or related to your address is going to pop up. To want to give up on having a radio because you think that someone is going to break into your house just because the FCC has your address up for all to see, is crazy. Best bet is to get a P.O. Box so that your address wont pop up. The issue is that other websites will still have your address. If you own your own home and I find your name on the FCC website, I can then take that name and then enter into the tax assessors database for your town and find your address that way. Too much is public knowledge these days. It is almost impossible to hide. My thought is that criminals looking to steal to make a quick buck are going to break into your house just because. I highly doubt they will get sophisticated enough to monitor radio traffic to see when you are not around. The best thing is to maybe get cameras installed on your house. Put up signs stating that the property is monitored by camera surveillance.

Stainless steel and aluminum won't interact as much as carbon steel and aluminum will. Though you do take the chance of galvanization anytime you mix any type of steel and aluminum. I use to hate working on vehicles with aluminum rims when previous owners/repair shops would not use anti-seize on the rims. The aluminum rims would seize to the steel if one did not rotate tires on a regular basis.

someone do my home work for me NOW. I have the world at my fingertips tips. I can find anything in the world. Anything in history. I can find singing cats doing the cha cha on mars singing in a lost 10,000 year old language. BUT I can’t find some random radio that is so junky no one even sells it. THATS the radio I want to use in my “portable home base” what ever that is. And I want to run it at 2xs legal watts. Geesh oh I’ll help…… ever heard of eBay? It’s this new thing I found that no one has ever heard of. Geesh. one could just buy 2 regular radios and set one up at home and have one portable. Not that I really get the portability thing anyway. A good radio in The car/truck is much better then lugging a bunch of weight around.

This is true. It is also true you have the on-line personality of soiled bedpan.

@WSFE961 I fixed your forum account so it shows the premium user group. This sometimes happens if you create your forum account after you sign up for the membership, sometimes the group doesn't get applied properly (a bug in the forum software we use).

As the one who shall not be mentioned says, perhaps Grinder is better for contacting strange men. The intent of GMRS is different.

I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re all a bit nerdy, but that Morse code station ID is some next level pocket protector stuff.

Im not a lawyer, but I play one on the internet.

And, while I doubt the following may be possible (for I am a real no0b), it would be a neat deal *if* one could via external programming software program their own "beep" and to transmit at a subtle volume so as not to aggrieve those bluetooth headset users alluded to earlier in this thread. I like the old-school, analog, true "beep", like one we might hear from the Mercury capsule days of the early 1960s... and just above barely audible at the end of one's tx... /ponder

Then why not post a link to said discussion (or discussions)? Many new members and GMRS new users every six months, yours truly included. Thanks for your help.

We have two repeaters that cover virtually all of Southern California and the use of roger-beeps is very strongly encouraged.. This discourages "some people" from using the repeaters making for a more pleasant repeater experience for everyone. One of the repeaters also has it's own roger-beep.

I’m gonna put up a repeater and make it a requirement that everyone must use a roger beep and the more annoying the better. We’ll hold contests! And it’ll be on channel 19. ?

I call BULLSHIT - just another Sad-HAM disguised as a GMRS user. YOUR radio YOUR choice - if the sad-HAM control freaks dont like it, they can change the channel.. HOWEVER - as you mentioned, if the repeater owner requests that you not use a roger-beep on his repeater, then following the wishes of the equipment owner who's equipment you are using would be the polite thing to do, IMO..

Perhaps, but @Wrvq441only joined this Forum on January 9th. Since this forum does not have "stickies" there is no way for a new member to glean important information without asking. Now some may say that there is a "Search" function, but those that say that are most likely not using it. If you search for Roger Beep, you get 234 results. If you search for "Roger Beep" you get 87 results. If you ask a new question, you are guaranteed to get the most up-to-date, fresh information about your question from members of this forum who actually enjoy helping out new members. Unfortunately, you may get responses from one or two curmudgeons who's attitude is "Not so much!" Hey @BoxCar: Did Rich ever answer your question about incorporating FAQs?