WRYZ926

I found the same thing with pins 5 and 7 swapped. It was the same with the short cable and the extension cable. None of my cables showed Pin 2 shorted at all. I tested the short and extension cables on my KG-1000G and KG-1000G Plus.

I'm curious to see how it compares to the Bridgecom repeaters if that is possible.

GMRS repeater channels share the same channels as Simplex channels. We will use channel 17 and repeater 17 as an example. The repeaters output will be on 462.600 MHZ and Channel 17 (simplex) is also on 462.600 MHz. So if you don't have a receive tone set on your radio, you will hear the repeater traffic and any simplex traffic (with no tones). And yes you can still hear the repeater even when it is using the output tones even though your radio does not have a receive tone set. Setting the receive tone just filters out any unwanted traffic on the channel so you don't hear it. We have tones set for both receive and transmit on our repeater. Last Saturday there were a bunch of kids on Channel 17 simplex. I did not hear them at all since I do have the receive tone set on my radio, others that don't have the receive tone set did hear the kids.

The pinouts I got was when using my standard RJ12/RJ45 cable tester with the connectors both facing the same direction ( clip on bottom). I tested both the short cable and the long extension cable. IMG_3755.MOV

You can't always rely on the brand name either. My Wouxun KG-Q10H and KG-935G both outperform my Icom IC-T10. And with the global market, most companies source parts from China and/or have their products made in China. Yaesu is having some of their radios produced in China now.

Talking to the space station or satellite is a little different since there is a completely open line of sight from the ground up to space. And I am glad to hear that you can talk that far. But that is definitely not going to be the norm for most people. And it doesn't matter if it is a $20 hand held radio or a $1000 hand held radio, UHF is only going to reach so far depending on location and terrain. UHF is a line of sight. After a certain point then the curvature of the earth will come into effect. UHF doesn't skip off the atmosphere like HF does. My last reply to this thread is based on personal first hand experience using VHF and UHF while I was in the military. Now if we were on top of the Granite Mountains on Ft Irwin, then we could reach farther with a hand held, but we still weren't getting the range you say you are getting.

I looked into them and you can get a Bridgecom repeater for close to the same price. And you get excellent customer service/technical support from Bridgecom.

I have used both military issue and commercial Motorola radios while in the Army. I have never gotten anywhere close to 50-60 miles range with any hand held radio even in the wide open deserts of California or the Middle East. We used commercial Motorola radios when I was stationed at Ft Irwin California. We had to use repeaters on base due to the mountains. Otherwise we could not talk to main base while on the live fire ranges on the north part of base.

I have the R & L Electronics RLPS30M power supply. It is a 30 amp peak switching power supply a rating of 20 amps continuous. I run two 50 watt mobile radios with it and don't have any issues. Of course I am not transmitting on both radios at the same exact time either. https://www2.randl.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_9110&products_id=74100

I say go for it since you have plenty of coax and a 6 foot pipe already. An extra 5 feet might not make much difference or it could help out quite a bit. You won't know without trying.

Actually it depends on the type of terrain, foliage, structures that one is operating their radios in. In flat/open areas a higher gain antenna is better. A lower gain antenna will work better in hilly areas or areas with lots of obstructions. I have a mixture of everything around me here in Mid Missouri so I run a Nagoya UT-72G which has about 3 dBd of gain. It works well for the most part. Now I do run a high gain antenna at home mounted up on my roof.

The Wouxun KG-XS20G is an excellent 20 watt radio. That is what I use in my SxS.

The Comet 2x4SR works well for 2m, 70cm and GMRS. I tested the the SWR while inside the garage and the highest I got was 1.6 to 1.8 at 467 MHz. And I know being inside the garage and the metal garage door tracks effected the SWR reading a little. I have no problem receiving and transmitting and always get good signal reports. I would love to put the Comet 2x4SR on the roof of my Ford Escape but it is too tall to fit into the garage or the VA parking garage.

You can order a 75 foot coax cable ready to go from DX Engineering. It is DX engineering brand 400MAX. It is available with PL259 or N Type connectors. The cable with PL259 connectors is $137 and the cable with N Type connectors is $140. DX Engineering 400MAX cables.

An expanded metal rack makes a pretty good ground plain for the Comet 2x4SR antenna. Here is a photo of the rear rack on my Honda Pioneer 500. I have the antenna set in the center of the rack. Here is a phot of the rack before installing the antenna.