WRDC898

Outstanding point when hitting an IRL repeater! But, I also hear it on a local repeater where, yeah, you can tell if someone is on a mobile or HT, bit it's not that "wuan, wuan, wwwaun 9 wauuuun 7 won" I hear every day. I think I'm just totally spoiled listening to 2m nets where the people sound like they're sitting next to me or just crystal clear. Granted, some of these guys have thousands just into their desk mic not to mention their equipment.

FRS on a repeater would be a no go.... It sounds like they're Charlie Brown's parents. SO far so good today in regards to audio reports with both my UV5R and the 1000G. Maybe I'm old, but I hold the mic almost like I'd hold an old school telephone and talk across it vs. talking into it.

Just did a little proof of concept... Hooked it up to my HT and can hit every repeater in the Denver Metro area through 75' of 1318 coax, lightning arrestor and a coax switch.

This is the one I'm using now, probably close to as old as I am.

Better off just making your own external. A nice 2' to 4" full range speaker, like a take out from a car audio upgrade would be perfect. You could have someone 3d print a cabinet out or fab your own out of scrap plywood. Just be sure to stuff it with insulation. I'm toying with making one out these I pulled out the wife's Jeep.

Maybe I'm sounding like a sad ham here, but it seems that most contacts I've made are severely over modulated. The people on UV5R radios actually sound pretty good but darn man, some people are so "In The Mud" so to speak that I can barely understand them while others are crystal clear. I just picked up a Wouxun KG-1000G+ and I'll have to do some testing to see if I'll be in the same camp. Full quieting and intelligibility are two different worlds. I think my Icom and Yeasu gear has spoiled me.... BTW Kenwood people fall in the "Crystal" group as well!

I'd much prefer a separate speaker altogether for clarity and use one for my Icom 7000 Ham radio. You really don't need HI-Fidelity when your on a net, but something that has peak response in just the vocal range. A speaker that peaks from 200hz to 1khz is all you need as well as good enclosure.

Almost forgot I had this laying around in the corner of the shop. I do need to get a N to SO239 adapter and a stand-off side mount for the shop, but it should be a big improvement over the Midland mag mount on a file cabinet. I already have a pass through, ground plate, 6 8' ground rods driven into the soil, lightning protectors, spare antenna switch, etc. For my ham stuff. It's brand new, just found it while messing with my 72 Duster.... Too many projects, moves, marriage, ect. If anyone here has some tips or knowledge regarding this antenna, please let me know. BTW, I love quality verticals. I have a Diamond Dual Band XD510 for ham 2m/440 that is amazing and has lasted for 15 years in 80+ MPH winds here in Colorado.

Just donated to Front Range GMRS, thanks for setting up some great coverage here in Colorado. Thanks also to the contacts I made in New Mexico and Arizona... I wish I could remember your call signs, but age can be a bear.

Wow, the Lookout Mtn reater is pretty amazing. My setup is pretty much a joke, a Baofeng HT with about the dumbest antenna you could imagine stuck on a file cabinet in the garage. Got 5/9 reports in New Mexico and Arizona, got to love a linked repeater. I've got about 20 bucks into the radio and the antenna is midland MXTA13 I have from an older Midland 115. I think the mag mount is about the size of a quarter. Anyone could duplicate this for well under 50 bucks.

Thank you! That's an option I hadn't thought of.... For the same price or less I found a solution on Amazon, I'll post up whether I have any driver compatibility issues when it arrives. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0852HVYQ5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It'll be nice to have an all in one deal, less stuff to lose.

Outstanding! Thank you so much for the reply, I tried googling up a solution but got nowhere.

Man, what a Beast. Many, many moons ago when I first got licensed into GMRS (my old call was wqnh201) there were zero part 95 compliant 50W or near radios available so the 6021 was the go to. Mil Spec rated, no fan, just a solid block of aluminum. The mic has to weigh close to a pound.... But programming was/is a bit complex. I still have the software and cable, but the cable is a 9 pin serial port on the computer side.... Luckily, I still have an old windows 2k laptop with a dead battery but a good power supply, and after 30 minutes of trying, I remembered the password. Anyway, without being too specific, I realized the 15w midland I bought just for a cheap trail riding solution was no longer "compatible" and a call to midland was met with " well, we'll give ya a discount to buy a new 115", led me to think why did I buy that pos when I had this in a box from back when! I CAN program this radio for what "we" need using that old laptop and cable, but I was wondering if anyone had a USB solution?