WRYZ926

The Comet 2x4SR is an excellent multi band mobile antenna. Since you said that you can get into that repeater with an HT then yes going to 20/25 watt radio will improve things. Stepping up to a 40/50 watt radio will definitely improve things. I have a repeater that is about 50-55 miles away that I can get into with a 20 watt radio but the other people hear a lot of static on my transmission. Everyone can hear me clearly when I use a 50 watt radio. Basically you have to quadruple the power output to notice any big difference. I am still going to suggest going with the Comet CA-GMRS for a few reasons. One is that it is light enough at only 2 pounds. Second, it has a wind load of 135 mph. And you can also get rid of the pizza pan that will definitely act as a sail in high winds. The CA-GMRS is lists at 5.5 dBi which is 3.4 dBd. The 2x4SR is listed at 6.2 dBi ( 4.1 dBd). Plus you would still have to use a metal pan for your ground plane which is a wind sail. I can't tell in your photo if your roof is fairly flat or has a ridge. Getting your antenna up some more and going with a mobile radio will improve performance for you.

You now have so many more squirrels to chase, especially once you get your General.

I never cared for pine and cedar trees since they harbor ticks but I have come to despise them when it comes to UHF. They really do a number on blocking 70cm and GMRS. We have lots of rolling hills around here and it is common for the farmers to let the red cedar trees grow along the side of the roads.

CB channel 9 can be useless now days when you have people running high power amps on that channel. I hear it all of the time. There is one guy from Puerto Rico that is always blasting away on channel 9, he sounds lie he is sitting next to me.

I am the same way, I put the blame on the bad actor. Unfortunately it only takes sone bad apple to ruin the bushell.

Ft Irwin has been expanded quite a bit since I left in 1996. Either way, that was a good haul to hear people in Death Valley.

You hit the valleys just right to pick up people in Death Valley from Barstow. And I agree you would not have been much help to them being 85 miles away. We had problems getting through from north post of Ft Irwin to main base without the use of repeaters due to the Granite Mountains. For those that don't know. Ft Irwin is 45 miles north of Barstow. And that is only to main base and not including the north part where all of the live fire ranges are. The Northeast corner of Ft Irwin butts up to the southwest corner of Death Valley National Park. Range will be limited in the Mohave due to the terrain while you can definitely get farther range in the Sonoran since it is more flat (in spots).

I just received an email from RT Systems, They are working on making Mac compatible versions for the Wouxun radios. She stated that they are working on it and have to ready to go for testing. Unfortunately she did not say which radios. I'm glad that they are working on Mac versions of their software for the Wouxun radios.

Yes the 935H can be unlocked. The same unlock method works for the Q10H and 935H. For those with the GMRS only versions, those cannot be unlocked, Yes I have tried. I can't answer about the batteries other than the 935H will use the same batteries as the 935G. I don't have a UV-9 series radio to test. The batteries and chargers are different between the 935G/H and the Q10G/H that they are not interchangeable.

Try taking any adaptors you might have out of the loop too. I had a 90 degree SO239 to PL259 along with a straight PL259 to PL259 adaptor go bad on me which caused the SWR to go up. I was using those two adaptors to connect my lightening arrestor to the bulkhead. I removed the 90 degree adaptor all together and replaced the male to male adaptor with a 12" coax jumper and my SWR went back down.

I personally would use the free Wouxun software from Buy Two Way Radios as long as you have a Windows computer or a way to run Windows programs on Linux or Mac. The reason I say this is the fact that there is always a chance that one could brick their radios by choosing the wrong one in CHIRP. I'm not saying that one will brick their radio by choosing the 935G in CHIRP. Just a word of caution,

My KG-1000G radios put out between 46 and 50 watts. The Midland MXT500 I had was from a bad batch and would only put out 38 watts on high. One of the guys in our local club has a BTech UV-50x2 and he is wanting to install it inside of his center console. We have all told him not to do that along with saving up for a better radio. I haven't heard very many say good things about the BTech UV50x2 or UV50x3 radios. The TYT-7800 is a pretty good dual band 2m/70cm radio for those on a budget. And it is hard to beat the Wouxun KG-1000G when it comes to GMRS mobile radios. And if you want only a single mobile radio and do not care about it being Part 95 certified, then the TYT TH-7800 is a good one for that without breaking the bank. It is easily unlocked through the official TYT programming software. I actually run a TYT 7800 and a Wouxun KG-1000G Plus in my vehicle.

As @WRTC928 mentioned, keep channels 8-14 set to narrow band. You won't have to worry about interfering with the repeater input channels if you keep channels 8-14 set to low power and narrow band. Now an unlocked mobile putting out 20 watts or more will get you noticed and can cause interference on the repeater channels. Set those channels to low power and narrow band and use them to your heart's content

This is correct. And in the case of the Midland/Retevis 10 watt repeaters, you will only see about 5-6 watts out after the duplexer. We are getting 30 watts out after the duplexer on our 50 watt Bridgecom GMRS repeater. We still are getting a 30-35 mile radius of coverage, granted our antennas are at 400 feet above ground. And you can get away with using a good quality RG8 if the overall run is 6 feet or less. You won't notice much difference in loss between RG8, RG8U or LMR400 at such short lengths. I run RG-8U jumpers in my shack with the longest one being 6 foot. Most are three feet or less. IF anyone wants to see the loss for themselves then use the https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ The most important thing is to use a good quality coax with good connectors.

This is true and I would have sealed the connectors anyway. I would wrap brass connections too.

The Comet antennas have plastic connectors with rubber washers that seal the pieces and I still wrap them just like I wrap coax connections. All materials will expand and contract depending on the temperature. wrapping the antenna joints might not be 100% necessary but it sure doesn't hurt and gives a little more protection from the elements. I have seen water get into weird places with 50 mph plus winds.

No one is going to come after you for being 1/2 watt over. And as mentioned, I bet that the power output will be closer to 1/2 watt versus 1 watt if you check with a power/swr meter. Again, don't worry about being at 1 watt versus 1/2 watt.

It may or may not help. But it is something to consider. I really haven't noticed much difference with my Comet GP-9 or CA-712EFC but I do see a change with the MFJ multi band vertical HF antenna when the temps get really low. The change in SWR on the MFJ is not as much as with the cobweb but still noticeable. Food for thought.

I'll see what I can do to come up with some data. My 6 band cobweb antenna is affected the most when it comes to very cold temps. My thinking is part of the reason is the design. A cobweb is basically a folded fan dipole where all bands (except 6m) are bent into a square.

SWR can change with temperature changes. I have seen it happen on my HF antennas when temps get into single digits. The SWR usually goes up a bit. But the SWR goes back to normal once temps get to 20 degrees or higher. So far the changes have not been so bad that the internal tuner on my IC-7300 can't handle. Most of the time I don't even need to use the internal tuner.

There are many ways to get an antenna up in the air. The main thing is to make sure the antenna and mast are secure so they don't fall over.

You can use 1 5/8" fence posts as a mast or to extend the height of a j mount. You will need some 4 Pieces 1-5/8" X 6" Chain Link Fence Top Rail Sleeve to attach the fence posts together or to a j mount. I will suggest using some guy rope to guy the mast if you extend the j mount or the mast is more than a few feet above the mount. I have used 1 5/8" fence posts with those couplers for a mast and also extended j mounts with 1 5/8" fence posts and couplers without any issues. I do run a total of 16 zip screws into the coupler to attache them. I put 8 zip screws into each pipe I am connecting. The main thing is to properly guy the mast to support it and the antenna. Here is a photo of my 6 band cobweb antenna that is on a 8 foot section of 1 5/8" fence post attached to a 40" tall j mount. I have it guyed at three points with guy rope. Here is a photo of my Comet CA-712EFC GMRS antenna attached directly to a 40" tall j mount. I did not need to guy it.

A 10 watt repeater will be just fine for the OP's needs.He is only needing to cover about a 1 3/4 mile radius. The key for him will be getting his antenna up as high as he can get it on the highest point of his property, He doesn't need a 50 watt repeater for that. 50 watts is overkill for such a small coverage radius. Plus he can save a lot of money by getting a Midland or Retevis 10 watt repeater.

A lot of us use Comet antennas. And for your situation, I am going to recommend the Comet CA-GMRS antenna. The best price I found is $99 theantennafarm.com CA-GMRS antenna I will suggest looking at the DX Engineering 400MAX from DX Engineering. It is good quality and will be cheaper than actual LMR400 coax. I have used JET LMR400 coax from R & L electronics and it is good stuff too. Though I have not used any JET coax longer than 6 feet. A satellite dish j mount will work fine for mounting an antenna. That is what I use for my GMRS antenna along with my HF cobweb and a vertical HF antenna. They have survived 50-60 mph shear winds along with snow and ice. Here is the mounts I have: Antennas Direct ClearStream TV Antenna Mast . I went with the 40" tall version but they only have the 20" version in stock. Or you could probably scrounge an old Dish/DirectTV mount.

This is very true. The closest GMRS repeater to me is 21.5 miles away. I can get into it just fine with my base station even on low power. Granted my transmission is clear of any static on mid and high power. I do have my antenna at 22 feet above the ground and the repeater antennas are at 400 feet. I've also talked on the repeater from home using my KG-935G too. But I have to be in the right spot and facing the repeater to do so. The Midland or Retevis 10 watt repeaters will work just fine for @jwalsh7107 as long as he gets his repeater antenna up high enough and uses good coax. 5 watts is no issue for a couple of miles with the antenna up high.