WRNU354

I agree with you. Even with the older chemstry of my (Li-ion) portable power station, a Jackery Explorer 240 241Wh, I'm now confident I can run my KG-XS20G+ for the day with reserve capacity to re-charge a KG-935G+ battery or two. Luckily, I got the 100w solar panel option so I just need to get a couple hours into morning for the Jackery to be 100% again. However, as you suggest, I'm going to get a more durable and safer LiFePO4 power station, but now I can take a little more time deciding. Any suggestions on brand? Thanks!

I checked both the KG-935G+ and KG-XS20G+ software. They only support the proprietary Wouxun ".KG" file format.

The use-case for my GMRS radios is family / community communications during emergencies and special events. To that end, I selected the KG-XS20G+ for my mobile and base station solution since it can be easily powered by my cars' auxiliary DC power outlet or small portable power station or A/C powered 13.8vdc power supply. The KG-XS20G+ big red power button connects to circuitry drawing current as long as DC power is connected to the radio. This always-on circuity detects the power button being push and then switches on the rest of the radio's internals. Also, in case DC power is removed, this power-button circuitry returns the radio to its prior on/off state once DC power is restored. Since one of my power sources, the small portable power station, is limited in capacity I decided to measure power consumption with different radio configurations and uses. DC Current draw * Radio off - 13.5 mA Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with nothing being received or transmitted - 195 mA Radio in DUAL DISPLAY with nothing being received or transmitted - 266 mA Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with Area A in scanning mode and nothing being received or transmitted - 197 mA Radio in DUAL DISPLAY with Area A in scanning mode and nothing being received or transmitted - 266 mA Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with Area A receiving with audio set to moderate volume - 270 mA Radio in DUAL DISPLAY with Area A and Area B receiving with audio set to moderate volume - 345 mA Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with Area A transmitting at 5W on Channel 1 - 1.76 A Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with Area A transmitting at 20W on Channel 15 - 4.61 A Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with nothing be received and FM on at moderate volume - 290 mA Radio in SINGLE DISPLAY with nothing being received and WEATHER on at moderate volume - 339 mA * All measurements were made with a Fluke 17B+ and connected in series with the positive line of the BTECH RPS-30M 10A switching power supply to the KG-XS20G+. No other devices were connected to the supply. When DC power or the radio was turned on or off time was given to allow the DC current draw to settle. DC current values measured during receive or transmit are approximations. Results I expected: Radio OFF current draw is reasonable and likely not a factor under normal conditions. Running with DUAL DISPLAY is a bit expensive. I'm going to avoid using DUAL DISPLAY when running on my portable power station. Transmitting at 20W is really expensive and should be limited especially when running on my portable power station. Results that surprised me: Scanning is free. It doesn't consume more power than monitoring one channel. Scan away! Weather radio consumes more power than listening to FM radio. A surprise, but not a big deal.

I have a couple of Wouxun KG-935 + and haven't used the Channel Wizard yet, so I gave this is try! Verified your problem using: 1) Using the Channel Wizard I created the a new repeater for previously unpopulated entry Ch No. 32 using the 462.725, TX CTC 67 and the Channel Name "HMRS-22" 2) I uploaded the radio config to my PC using the Wouxum software and confirmed the new entry for Ch No. 32 was there with the correct values. 3) I power cycled the radio and re-uploaded to my PC radio's config verifying Ch No. 32 still was 462.725, TX CTC 67 and Channel Name "HMRS-22". 4) Lastly, I selected CH No. 32 and invoked the Channel Wizard and verified it displayed Channel Name "HMRS-22", but with a Frequency 462.5500. One clue to the problem is the frequency of 462.5500 (channel 15) which is the first of the repeater transmit channels. The other clue is the Wizard uses whatever current Channel Name is displayed when the Wizard is entered as its default. This makes it appear it might using the other values for the channel as defaults, as well. This tells me the tool is just for creating new channels, but not modifying them, but with the possible exception of using an existing channel NAME as a default. The Channel Wizard is a cool feature I can see myself using when I don't have access to my PC!

Sounds like a good config choice. My buttons are setup with PF1 being the things I use most, Weather and FM and the two thing I need but use less frequently; monitor and flashlight. The reason I prioritize FM (tuned to local news) and weather over other options is my GMRS use-case in primarily for emergencies and special events where realtime info they provide is important. After posting I thought about using setting SQL=0 as a workaround and that seems to work without problem. Thanks!

I didn't consider it might be a deliberate safety feature! Makes sense given the programmable button feature seem otherwise well thought out. However, in the unlikely scenario, if I just gotta monitor a channel while turning the flashlight on and off I found setting the SQL=0 is a workaround. Thanks!

Since I got my Wouxun KG-XS20G Plus have been learning how its features behave individually and in combination with others. Today I was trying out the programmable keys, PF1 and PF2, individually and in combination. I have the PF1 short press configured to enable/disable FM radio and a long press to enable/disable Weather radio. For PF2 a short press I have it configured to enable/disable the radio’s flashlight and a long press to enable/disable the Monitor function. Using PF1, I can independently enable and disable both the Weather and FM. However, when both are enabled the Weather radio audio will preempt the FM radio audio while displaying “FM” disabled icon. All good! Using PF2, I can enable and disable the Monitor function independently of whether flashlight, FM, Weather and Monitor are enabled or disabled. However, with Monitor enabled it will preempt FM and Weather radio audio while displaying their respective disabled icons. Makes good sense to me! Now here’s the surprise. Enabling the Monitor function with a long press of PF2 disables the ability to turn on or off the flashlight, in this case, with a short press of PF2. After some further testing, the problem persists independent of how I assign the Monitor function and Flashlight to the PF keys. Is this a bug or some necessary constraint of the radio’s architecture?

Given you are from So Cal and assuming you are of certain age you might remember Brew 102, lovingly crafted from LA River water. In my youth, Brew 102 was my adult beverage of choice because it was available, cheap and yielded the desired effect. With time I gained experience and knowledge of adult beverages resulting in a appreciation of the finer brews. So I like to think I'm in the Brew 102 stage of my GMRS hobby. Wouxun is available, cheap and has the desired effect. It will do until I can develop experience and knowledge enough to appreciate something better.

Thanks for your post. It's actually doing what it should. So its still very useful, but not in the way I thought it might be. I don't have a Midland, but if you can more than one scanlist there has to be a means to select which one will be used. If your radio is dual receive capability you might even have ability to select separate scan list numbers for the A & B channels. How its done on your Midland is likely most apparent in your factory programming software or CHIRP, if available for your radio model. Here's how it works on my Wouxun radios using the factory programming software. There are up two things that control which channels will be included in a scan. The first is a parameter included with each channel entry called "Scan Add". If Scan Add is "ON" the the channel can be scanned. If "OFF" then it will NOT be scanned even if included in the range of the selected scan list or when using scan list "ALL" The second thing are scan lists. The default scan list is "ALL" which includes all configured channels with "ScanAdd" of "ON". The user defined numbered scan lists each consist of a start channel number and an end channel number. Again, even if a channel is included in scan list range it will not be scanned until the channel's "Scan Add" is set to "ON" My radios are dual receive so I have two parameters I can use to select a scan group; For area "A" the parameter is "SCAN-GRP-A and "SCANGRP-B" for the "B" area. Each can be set either directly from the radio's menu or using the programming software to either "ALL" or one of the scan list numbers. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the question. It got me thinking so I did some testing with a Wouxun KG-XS20G+ configured with a scanlist of 15 channels and priority scanning of channel 2. I used a Wouxun KG-935G+ on channel 1 and another on channel two to key all the combinations with the KG-XS20G+ scanning using scan mode = CO. Initially I had the misunderstanding that Priority Scanning was something independent of manually initiated scanning and worked constantly in the background when enabled. I also assumed assumed it was preemptive. Testing my Wouxun KG-XS20G+ shows priority scan only works during a manually initiated scan effectively interleaving the scanning of the priority channel while stepping through the scan list channels. For large scan lists this noticeably improves how fast the radio detects the priority channel. Answer to your question: I found priority scanning is not preemptive. When I can lands on a channel in the scan list or on the priority channel it will stay on the channel base on the scan mode. So with my better understanding I've made my favorite repeater my priority channel so I'm less likely to miss the first the first part of of transmissions when I'm scanning.

Sorry, read too fast and I missed the "Plus". Thanks for pointing out my error!

I have a GM30 so after reading your post I connected it to my Windows 11 PC using the USB cable I got from Radioddity when I bought it. Only way I could get the "PROGRAMMING..." message on the GM-30 is by successfully initiating an up or download using the Programming Software (Version 1.05). The only way I could simulate the actual problem you are seeing, the screen to go blank after the "PROGRAMMING..." message is displayed, is to unplug the USB-A cable while up or downloading. So it seems the Programming Software is communicating with the GM-30 via Programming cable, but something is interrupting the process only after it is initiated. Maybe a conflicting program on the PC or intermittent connection? This is probably irrelevant, but I played around with trying each of my PC 4 USB ports with the Programming Software and got it to fail, but not in the way you describe. After plugging the Radioddity programming cable to the PC & GM30 I brought up the GM-30 GMRS Programming software, turned on the GM-30 and attempted a download to the PC. It failed, so I checked to see which COM port showed available and found that all COM PORTS showed up as grayed-out indicating no port was available. I repeated the process after moving the PC end of the programming cable to another of the PC's 4 USB-A ports. This time when I checked the Programming Software it showed the COM6 was highlighted in bold characters indicating it was available! I attempted to another download and it was a success. Checking the other two of the PC's USB-A ports, one couldn't be seen by the Programming Software and they other was see erroneously as COM6 and didn't work.

Alas, Wouxun... Ocean did not include the "NotARubi" theme in the KG- XS20G Plus... Plus. In these difficult times "some people" say this is only a minor oversight, but they are wrong.

Since I received my Wouxun KG-XS20G+ last week I have been playing with it's features individually and in combination. In this process I have found some things that at first seem to be problems, but I'm now thinking are just the way radios work. Your thoughts are appreciated! So after creating a scanlist of channels 1-10 and initating a scan, my new radio works as I would expect. The channel numbers display in quick legible ascending order and repeat until I either stop the scan or a signal is detected. (NOTE - I'm using the 14: SCANMODE = TO) So here's the issue: When I enable Priority Scan (18:PRI-SCAN) and set the Priority Channel (18:PRI-CH) initiating a scan results in the scan display interleaving scanlist channels with the priority channel. The display is changing so quick it is only barely legible. I know this is evidence the priority scan is technically working correctly with the scan list, but it seems to me an odd design choice. It would make more sense to me the Priority Channel be excluded from the display leaving the scanlist channel sequence legible. Do other radios work this way?

Ok, took me a while to figure out how to post a reply, so I hope this is the correct method! Special thanks for each of your suggestions and feed back on your experience with the KG-XS20! For brevity, I left of the results of interim testing from my posted findings. For LeoG; When the problem occurs the initial power-on screen and main screen colors are REALLY messed up. It's nothing close to one of the 4 Themes( menu 56). When the problem first showed up, I uploaded the radio's configuration to my PC and verified the Theme had not changed either accidently or by memory corruption. The next thing was I attempted to correct the problem by changing the screen from one Theme to another, but it had no effect. For SteveShannon; I too was concerned about loose coupling of noise onto the DC lines or the Wouxun programming cable. I even considered my switcher DC power supply might be generating noise or significant transients on power-up, but with careful monitoring I didn't see anything unusual. Just to be sure I shorten the DC supply lines to the radio to just 1ft and rerouted A/C cords, coax and the programming cable to prevent significant contact. For WRYZ926; I believe a FULL factory reset DID clear the problem, but my notes/memory are a little fuzzy on that. Either way, I didn't considered a fix given the frequency the problem was occuring. Basically it was occurring everytime I sat down, turned on the DC power supply and hit the radio's on-button. Just turning my KG-XS20Plus on or off using the radio's power button or having the radio reboot itself after an upload had no effect in creating or clearing the problem. I'm curious if using the exact steps I described in my post you will experience the problem. If you get a chance, let me know!

I received my Wouxun KG-XS20G+ last week and I'm really enjoying it! Since I am a newbie to two-way radios my learning what each feature of my new radio does individually and in combination is really helping. Along the way I have encountered some interesting things about my new radio, of which this is the first of several I encountered. Cycling DC power from the KG-XS20G+ while the Wouxun programming cable is connected to both the KG-XS20G+ and the powered-on PC may result in the KG-XS20G+’s initial power-on and main screens appearing with distorted colors and icons. Refer to attached pictures, wouxun1.jpg and wouxun2.jpg. I could not determine if the KG-XS20G+’s other functionality is affected. The problem can be cleared and also avoided by removing the Wouxun Programming cable prior to cycling DC power. Test Methodology: Perform the following actions in the listed order to re-produce the problem. 1) Power-up the PC with the Wouxon KG-XS20G+ programming software installed along with the USB driver, if needed. 2) Plug the programming cable into the PC and KG-XS20G+ (see manual for instructions). 3) Verify the KG-XS20G+ configuration can be read by the Wouxon KG-XS20G+ programming software. 4) Using KG-XS20G+’s RED power button turn off the radio. 5) Disconnect DC power to the XG-XS20G+, count to 5, and reconnect DC power. 6) Using KG-XS20G+’s RED power button turn on the radio. NOTE: Steps 4 and 6 can be skipped allowing the KG-XS20G+ to power up automatically when DC power is restored. Software and equipment used: KG-XS20G Plus Commander version 1.10 (20221005) Model: KG-XS20G Plus, GMRS FCC ID: WVTWOUXUN25 S/N: MRGX121385 Manufacture Date Code 2024-12 Wouxun Mobile Radio USB Programming Cable (PCO-003) BTECH RPS-30M Switching Power Supply Output: 13.8VDC 30A