WRYZ926

I live in a rural area that is an hour away from the closest big cities. I don't look for anything crazy to happen here. But I am always prepared for the worse.

Home insulation, metal siding, metal roofs, plaster/wood lathe walls, and heat barriers are basically faraday cages. A guy that lives close to me has an old house built in the 1920's that is all plaster and wood lathe. So every interior wall also has chicken wire in it to hold the plaster in place. He also has a metal roof too. We are about 350 yards apart and he can't talk to me on a hand held from inside his house. My brother built his house out of a metal building. He can't hardly use his cell phone let alone a HT while inside unless he stands at a window. I mentioned this so people take all of it into consideration when trying to use an indoor antenna.

One thing to remember abut Midland radios, their models with everything in the hand mic cannot be programmed using a computer. Out of all the GMRS and amateur band radios I have, the Wouxun KG-XS20G and KG-935G Plus are the easiest to program. Guys give me good signal reports when using the KG-XS20G with a Comet 2x4SR antenna.

Those numbers are perfectly fine. It is quite normal to see a slightly higher SWR on the repeater channels since they are 467 MHz versus 462 MHz. The SWR on channels 8-14 will probably be around 1.7 also since they are 467 MHz. And good for you on using LMR400 instead of some cheap RG8 from Amazon.

Chassis ground is the best for all the newer vehicles with a battery monitoring system.

You would have to have an inspection done on the chimney to see if it would support a 40 foot mast plus antenna. I personally would not do that unless I anchored the mast in several locations and guyed the mast at several points along the mast to at least 3 points around it. I'm using a 22 foot mast made from 1 5/8" fence post and have it anchored to the house in three spots along with the top guyed at three points. Maybe I over did things, but its better to be safe than sorry.

A bad adaptor along with tree branches touching your antenna will definitely cause high SWR. I learned the hard way. I avoid adaptors as much as possible and make sure to keep trees well trimmed back away from my antennas.

And some 20 watt mobile radios can transmit on channels 8-14 when set to narrow band and low power without any mods being done. They still transmit above the legal 0.5 watts though. A suggestion for those thinking about modding an amateur radio for GMRS, I highly suggest that you make sure that it will not transmit on GMRS channels 8-14 so you don't possibly interfere with the GMRS repeater channels.

No one will ever know the difference unless you tell them. As stated, amateur radios are not type 95 certified so are not legal to use on GMRS. Some people want to stay compliant while others don't worry about it. That is a decision you have to make for yourself. I can't confirm or deny that any of my radios have been modded

Air bands are AM and the KG-Q10H is FM only for transmit. I can't tell you if it will transmit in the maritime mobile band or not since I am not licensed nor have any reason to use that band.

I have the KG-Q10H and it is a nice radio. And yes it can be unlocked. Here is a video showing how to unlock the Q10H https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXFtMe_-Eo Once unlocked, you can use it on MURS and GMRS along with 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and 6m bands.

You can also use DTMF tones to call specific radios too. And the Ashland GMRS repeater is an excellent one and at a good location. I can get into it from Montgomery County which is about 50 miles east of Columbia. I do struggle a little getting into the Ashland repeater with 20 watts but normally do fine at 50 watts.

I don't suggest that you look at the prices of a good linear power supply then. And yes a linear power supply will always provide cleaner power than any solid state power supply.

You can find power supplies on Amazon that put out the correct 13.8v DC and have a 10 amp accessory port (cigarette lighter) that will work fine for a 20 watt radio. I suggest buying a 30 amp power supply just incase you ever decide to get a 50 watt radio to use as a base station. Here is one example: 13.8V 30A Bench Power Supply, Analog DC Power Supply with Cigarette Plug, Ham Radio Regulated Switching Power Supply, Noise Offset Control I know its a generic brand, but that exact power supply is sold under various names and has a good reputation. One thing to remember is that most, if not all, power supplies are marketed at their peak power output. The continuous power output is between 75 and 80 percent of that. SO a 30 amp power supply is really only good for 22-24 amps of continuous use. A 20 amp power supply is good for 14-16 amps continuous and a 15 amp power supply is good for 10-12 amps continuous.

I have noticed the same thing with the recent requests I have received. And people will be disappointed during an actual emergency. Our organization's main focus is to support local agencies so that is where our priorities will be. Plus we still need to move our GMRS repeater from its temporary spot to its permanent home in a rack along side our 2m and 70cm repeaters so that it too will be on battery backup. Our GMRS repeater is not currently on any type of backup power. I guess that more people are buying radios from Amazon lately due to what happened in the Southeast and not bothering with getting licensed. We have had a lot more kerchunking on all three of our repeaters in the last few weeks. It's a bit aggravating t say the least. And it isn't as easy to change PL tones on the 2m and 70cm repeaters since that has to go through the local repeater counsel. What was worse was today. We had to do some final tweaks on our new (to us) 2m Quantar repeater along with trying to get Allstar backup and running. And we has a ID10T or two that kept wanting to kerchunk the repeater all day. Even had a kid get on and say "breaker breaker 19" on the repeater. I guess it's time to build some hand held yagi antennas and go hunting.

Yes the KG-Q10H can be unlocked. I won't get into the subject of unlocked radios on GMRS. The KG-1000G is strictly GMRS only and cannot be unlocked. Wouxun does make the KG-UV980P quad band amateur mobile which the KG-1000G is based on. I haven't messed with the KG-UV980P so can't comment on it.

I have a KG-1000G Plus, KG-935G Plus and a KG-Q10H (amateur version) and all are good radios. I had a Midland MXT500. To me, the Kg-1000G is a better radio.

Flashing your headlights to warn others of a speed trap falls under the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech. At least one person fought a ticket for flashing their headlights all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court and won the case. The same goes for using CB, MRS, FRS/GMRS, etc. to warn others of a speed trap. Missouri Highway Patrol use to monitor CB channel 9 for emergencies before cell phones were prevalent. Now you can either dial 911 or *55 to report accidents. I'm sure they still monitor CB channel 9 and probably GMRS too.

I wouldn't worry about it and use what you like and fits your budget. All GMRS radios are made in China, yes this includes Midland too. When it comes to amateur band radios, even some Yaesu radios are made in China. And just because a radio says Icom on it doesn't mean they are any better, depending on the model. I have an Icom IC-T10 and it is no better than the Baofeng UV-5R. Both are susceptible to interference and front end over load. My Wouxun radios are better and do not have those issues. An example is that the IC-T10 and UV-5R will pick up interference from my computer monitors when tuned to 70cm or GMRS frequencies where my Wouxun, TYT and Quansheng radios do not pick up interference when tuned to 70cm or GMRS frequencies. Here is a photo I like to send to guys when they give anyone trouble for using CCR radios.

I have a Nagoya UT-72G and a Tram 1174. While I did have to trim/tune the Tram 1174, it definitely outperforms the Nagoya UT-72G. I use the Tram 1174 since I have height restrictions with my garage and also all of the parking garages I use. I also have a Comet 2x4SRNMO that lives on my SxS. It does great with my 20 watt Wouxun KG-XS0G. And I occasionally will use it on my Ford Escape when I am out and about with no worries about height issues. The Midland MXTA26 is another good choice if you don't have to worry about height.

If having an IP65 rating for dust and water are important then I will suggest the Wouxun KG-XS20G Plus for $199. It is an excellent radio and very easy to program using the radio buttons or mic buttons. It has dual watch, NOAA channels, weather alerts and can receive 2m and 70cm bands. Here is the link to Buy Two Way Radios so you can read the specifications. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-xs20g.html?___SID=U There is nothing wrong with the DB2-G and it's very popular. But is is not IP rated if that matters to you. As far as antennas go, the Midland MXTA26 is a very popular antenna as long as you are not restricted on antenna height. If you need a shorter antenna, then go with a good bottom loaded 5/8 wave antenna.

I will suggest getting a mobile radio with a good IP rating since you said you want to use it while off roading especially if you are in an open type vehicle such as a Jeep or UTV. Knowing what features you want will help us give suggestions. And don't forget that you will need a good antenna.

I have been happy with my KG-1000G, KG-XS20G, KG-935G and KG-Q10H.

I occasionally will tune my HF rig to the CB channels to just listen. I hear guys from Puerto Rico blazing on channel 9 and I heard one guy broadcasting political stuff on channel 19 non stop lately. I hear plenty of people using AM, USB and LSB but not much heard on FM here in mid Missouri. I could buy a CB or just open up on of my HF rigs if I really wanted to talk on CB.

All I can say is that is everyone's individual right to vote or not to vote. I have been stationed all over the world and there is still no where else I would want to live. I gave a good many years of my life defending the rights we hold dear. I only want to see everyone exercise those rights.