WRYZ926

@LeeBo thanks you for sharing that information. I'll have to see if I get the same errors or not when I update CHIRP on my laptop. I have not updated CHIRP on my W11 desktop or Mac in a while.

I know that I have to choose the Radioddity UV-5Rx3 in CHIRP to program my Baofeng GT-5R after I opened it up for the 1.25m band. And all I did was use CHIRP to change the frequency range for 220 MHz.

Good information. We have always used external controllers for our 2m and 70cm Motorola repeaters so I definitely would not be any help to the OP here. We were using Allstar nodes as controllers but are switching over to Arcom RC-210 controllers. We recently upgraded the 2m repeater with a Motorola Quantar and RC-210 and the combo is working well for us. In fact, we are in th process of programming a second Arcom RC-210 for one of our 70cm repeaters and will also be connecting our Bridgecom GMRS repeater to it. We have issues with the Bridgecom's built in CW ID not transmitting with a tone and also cutting people off when it transmits. The only solution for that is to use an external controller.

Ham radio rookie has some interesting designs. His latest one is using faraday clothe on a fiberglass pole as a vertical HF antenna. And his faraday cloth j pole antennas are well built and work pretty good. I have seen others make slot antennas out of old satellite dishes before but never seen one made flat like the one above. It would be interesting to see a flat and horizontal slot antenna looks like in one of the modeling programs.

You are not suppose to transmit on channels 8-14 with more than.05 watts BUT I seriously doubt that you will cause any problems by transmitting at 1 watt. You can either delete channels 8-14, set them for receive only, or set the radio to low power. The FCC isn't going to send jackboot thugs to kick your door in and shoot your dog for transmitting at 1 watt on those channels. Like Sgt. Schultz, I know nothing, nothing.

Now on a Mac unless he is running Boot Camp, Parallels, or some other type of virtual machine running Windows. The software from Radioddity is only for Windows. @AndyOnTheRadio I have a couple of questions for you. Did you make sure the cable is plugged into the correct data port on the radio (port closest to the fan) and it is in all of the way? Did you select the correct com port in CHIRP? I'm sure you have double checked all of that but sometimes we all overlook the simple stuff when trying to trouble shoot things.

I had a Midland MXT 500 and replaced it with a Wouxun Kg-1000G. The Wouxun is a better all around radio and close to the same price as the Midland. My MXT500 was one that suffered from low output power when set to high power. I should have sent it back to Midland to fix but sold it instead.

The TYT mobiles are pretty easy to program with software. I have used both CHIRP and the official TYT software. I've been running one TH-7800 in my vehicle for a little over. year now. I had another one setup as my base radio until I upgraded to an Icom IC-2730. The second TH-7800 is now setup for Winlink. I also run a TYT TH-8600 in my SxS. TYT radios aren't the greatest but they do work well.

I agree that using a computer is easier. And the official Wouxun cable (red cable) is good to go.

Listen to 2m repeaters in your area in case they have a Sky Warn net is a good idea too. Another good source is your local sheriff department and county road crews. Here is a good site that lists all of the county frequencies for the state. https://www.radioreference.com/db/browse/stid/29

It is true about Midland radios. All of the models with everything built into the hand mic cannot be programmed with software. You can't update the firmware without sending the radios back to Midland either. The MXT500 can be programmed with software and you can update the firmware yourself.

I'm going to be an enabler here, go ahead and get the 935G Plus.I have the KG-935G Plus and definitely like it.

I know @OffRoaderX has compared the Midland and Melowave ghost antennas against each other and also against other antennas. I also tested the Melowave Shadow (ghost) antenna against my Tram 1184 and the Nagoya UT-72G. The Melowave outperforms the Nagoya. The Tram is definitely the best out of those three. You can run a longer antenna if you want. You will have to worry about the longer antennas getting damaged easier and also have to deal with them if you park in a garage.

Unlocking the TYT TH-9800 and TH-7800 radios is super simple when using the official TYT programing software. It is only a matter of pressing a key combination on your keyboard and then typing in a password. I seriously doubt that the radio is bricked by unlocking it through the TYT software. I agree that seeing a config file or even a screen shot will make it easier for us to help the OP. CHIRP will add the correct offset and I am pretty sure the TYT software does too. It's been a while since I used the TYT software. With RT Systems you have to manually put in the offset and offset frequency yourself. I had to do that when programming my different Icom radios using RT software.

If you are transmitting on 467 and hearing on 462 then you are getting into the repeater. Double check the tones. I would also try turning your radio's RX tone off.

That is totally normal since the output frequency of the repeater is the same as the corresponding simplex channel. The repeater output frequency for the repeater is 462.550 and the simplex channel 15 is also 462.550. When using a repeater, you transmit to the repeater on 467.550 and you receive the repeater's transmission on 462.550. And YES you will hear a repeater's transmission on the corresponding simplex channel. Having tones set on your radio does not keep other radios without tones from hearing your transmission. All the receive tones on your radio do is keep you from hearing transmissions from other radios that are not using tones. If you are hearing yourself on simplex with a different radio then it sounds like you still don't have the tones set correctly on your KG-1000G when you transmit on the repeater channel. Turn off your receive tones on the KG-1000G and also double check your transmit tones.

Most people are happy with the Retevis mobile GMRS radios. Retevis does make a 40 watt GMRS mobile if you want more than 20-25 watts. Now if you want a 50 watt radio, I will recommend the Wouxun KG-1000G Plus. Yes the KG-1000G is more expensive but it is a much better radio than anything from Baofeng/B Tech.

I have a Comet GP9 dual band and a CA-712EFC. Neither needed tuning so I would say that the CA-GMRS does not either. Even though it says that, you best double check it with an antenna analyzer. I know the Tram 1174 I have stated it was good for GMRS, I did in fact have to cut/tune it for GMRS. It was tuned more for 70cm even though it was labeled as a GMRS antenna. You really can't go wrong with one of the GMRS antennas from Comet. Even some of their 2m/70 dual band antennas will work pretty good for GMRS, again always double check the SWR first.

You should be fine with that as long as it is good quality LMR400. Using the loss calculator that I linked earlier, you will still get an ERP (effective radiating power) of 117 watts out when using 80 feet of LMR400 and an antenna with 6 dBd of gain. EDIT to add: the ERP is when using a 50 watt radio on high power.

My coax run going to my GMRS antenna is only 30 feet. Now if the coax length was 100 feet or more, then I would definitely consider LMR600 or Heliax if I could afford it. I would say that LMR400 (and equivalent) coax is a must for runs under 100 feet for GMRS and 70cm. Using the wrong type of coax effects 2m frequencies too. I had to say something to a friend that lives close by when I found out he got his coax cables mixed up and had RG58 hooked up to his 2m radio and 2m antenna. He was wondering why his receive and transmit was horrible. He put a 160 watt amp in line which overloaded my radio really bad. We are only 325 yards apart. I found out he had the RG58 hooked up to his 2m rig when I called him to ask that he stopped using the amp.

Another thing to take into consideration is how manufacturers advertise the gain of their antennas. Most will state the gain in dBi which is always higher than dBd.dBI is the gain measured in free space while dBd is more realistic to what you will see in reality. Don't worry, it is easy to convert dBi to dBd. Just take the dBi and subtract 2.14 from it to get dBd. We will use the Comet CA-712EFC and Tram 1486 as examples. The Comet is listed as 9 dBi which equals 6.8 dBd. Buy Two Way Radio lists the Tram 1486's gain in dBd at 6.5. Comet antennas generally do not need to be tuned while Tram antennas do need to be tuned. Another choice if you need a shorter antenna with lower gain is the Comet CA-GMRS. It is listed at 5.5dBi which equals 3.36 dBd and it is only 42" tall. https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/base-antennas/gmrs-base-antennas/gmrs-omni-directional-base-antennas/comet-ca-gmrs-base-antenna-detail Now onto coax. First hear is a good online coax loss calculator that I use. https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ Most people will use LMR400 for lengths of 100 feet or less. It will also be cheaper than LMR600 and Heliax. LMR400 Ultra flex will also be easier to work with since it is more flexible. Again get the best quality coax that you can afford. I can recommend DX Engineering 400MAX. Don't skimp on the coax with the el cheapo stuff from Amazon. It will not have a good shield and will have higher losses. What ever you do, do not use RG8, RG8X, RG58, or any other coax meant for HF. It will have a lot of loss with GMRS frequencies. Heliax, sometimes called hardline, usually requires special tools to install connectors. Where one can install connectors on LMR400/600 with regular tools. Another thing to consider is that Comet GMRS antennas have a N type connector while the radio has a SO-239 connector. So you will need to order a cable with a Male N type on one end and PL-259 on the other, change on PL-259 to a N Type or use a SO-239 to male N type adapter.

That's weird and you should not have had to do that.

Glad you got it figured out. That being said. All of the Wouxun programming software from Buy Two Way Radios is Windows 11 compatible. I have never had any issues with the Wouxun software for the KG-XS20G, KG-1000G, KG-935G, and KG-Q10H when using the Wouxun programming cables from Buy Two Way Radios. All bets are off when using third party cables from Amazon, especially if they have a copied/pirated Prolific chip in them. The Wouxun two pin cable also works well for other brands of radios with the 2 pin Kenwood plug. I've also not had any driver issues with the Wouxun cables in Windows 11 Home or Pro version 23H2. I have yet to upgrade to Version 24H2.

Sounds like you are either trying to use a simplex channel and/or you don't have the transmit tone set correctly on your radio. Make sure you are using one of the repeater channels that corresponds to the repeater you are trying to reach. Then make sure you have the correct tones set to match the repeater's tones. You can leave the RX tone turned off on the radio and you will still hear the repeater. But if the repeater is using tones then you must have the correct transmit tone set on your radio.

Yes the general rule of thumb is to quadruple your power in order to make a noticeable difference. But just doubling the power output can sometimes make a difference. For the OP, he would be quadrupling his power output going from a 5 watt radio to a 20 watt radio the using a base antenna with both radios. He will definitely notice a difference going from 5 watts to 50 watts. I know HF is a different animal compared to UHF. With HF you really don't notice a difference until you quadruple your power say going from 100 watts to 400 watts. Most won't notice a difference on SSB going from 100 watts to 200 watts.