WRYZ926

Like mentioned in another thread, a good SOC radio works fine. I wouldn't worry about SOC radios from Yaesu or Icom, they work just fine. I do have to say that it does sound like having a good hand held scanner would be the best option for you to listen to all of the bands. There is really no one size fits all for hand held transceivers.

Safety first. A club member had an ID10T run off the road and hit one of the guy wires on his 70 foot tower and it tweaked the tower and guy wire mounts. He had several beam antennas on the top and it was not safe to climb the tower. He called in carne to drop the tower. Cranes can average about $200 an hour with a minimum 2 hour charge. But that is cheaper than medical bills and lost wages.

I agree with what @Sshannon and @WSAM454 said. Most of us will flat out ignore a kerchunk. And if you are giving your call sign, then you might not be getting into the repeater well enough for people to hear and understand you. We currently have a guy asking for radio checks on our GMRS repeater but most of the time all the rest of us hear is static. Or if he do hear him (with lots of static) he is hard to understand.

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This is very true. My Icom IC-T10 is SOC and does very well.

Yes you normally tune while transmitting. But an out of tune antenna with a high SWR definitely won't hear as well either.

It's definitely easier to turn the power level down than it is to add power when needed. I'll use low power on my base station or even a HT when talking to someone across town on simplex so I don't blow them out of their chair.

Eight miles should not be a problem for a HT to reach if the repeater antennas are high enough. It sounds like either the repeater antennas aren't that high or you are dealing with a lot of RF/EM noise in your area. Urban and suburban area are going to have higher RF/EM noise. This is commonly called the noise floor. For the OP, I agree from personal experience that VHF definitely does better cutting through foliage and getting around hills compared to UHF. I notice this all of the time when using the local repeaters while in my vehicle. I can be in a valley or surrounded by cedar trees and I can still get out fine on 2m while 70cm and GMRS struggles at times. Now UHF has its advantages too. UHF works better inside buildings and such.

I'm interested to see if the Smiley antenna does any better than the stock 935G antenna. I have an Abbree 771G antenna and it doesn't do any better than the stock 935G antenna. The same Abbree antennas are definitely better than the stock Baofeng UV-5R GMRS antennas and does make a difference.

This is very true. The local 2m,70cm, and GMRS repeaters are all on the same tower 21.5 miles away. I use mid power on my 50 watt base radios since I do not need to use high power. Now high power is needed at times when talking simplex on all three bands.

There is another thread that explains the loss of different types of coax cable. It is worth reading. And that is also why most of us will use LMR400 or equivalent coax for our base station antennas, it has the lowest loss per 100 feet for UHF. Range is very dependent on location. This of us in the midwest and eastern parts of the country will probably never see 60 or more mile ranges due to terrain, forests, structures, noise floor, etc, etc. Those in the deserts with clear line of sight over gray distances and little to no noise floor will have greater range. The quality of your coax and antenna, along with the antenna height above ground matters. I can get into the GMRS repeater that is 21.5 miles away on low power (5 watt) with my KG-1000G hooked to my Comet CA-712 antenna mounted above the roof (20 feet above ground). But at low power, my transmission volume is a bit low for others to hear. I can probably use any of my HT's hooked to that antenna too. I also have a Wouxun KG-XS20G in my SxS with a Comet 2x4SR antenna that works great getting into the repeater. 25 miles is about the maximum distance I can talk to anyone on simplex with my 50 watt base station. The others that I can reach have their antennas either at 30 feet or 60 feet. But we have to use high power to hear/understand each other. Granted line of sight for the other guys from my location is just barely over the local terrain and forests.

I agree that it isn't worth chasing after a 10 watt hand held, the extra 5 watts won't make a difference. Now you can get the Wouxun KG-10H amateur band HT that covers 1.25m, 2m, 6m, and 70cm right out of the box and it can be unlocked for GMRS. It will also receive air band frequencies. But it is out of your price range if your cap is $140. The KG-10H is $220.

It could be that there was structures, trees, or terrain blocking you two. The antenna that comes with the KG-935G is actually a good antenna. I can sometimes get into the repeater that is 21 miles away with mine. Granted the repeater antenna is at 400 feet above ground.

More information about your buddy's setup would be helpful. You might be hard pressed to reach each other if you are both using hand held radios. Your buddy having a base station with a good antenna as high as he could get it would definitely help. You can also try a longer antenna on your 935G too.

There are a few restrictions when one instals Windows 10 or 11. As mentioned, there will be no tech support. Another thing is that you won't be able to change some of the customizable features either. But Windows 10 and 11 will still work without activation.

Yes I have but it's been a few years since I've messed with Linux. Maybe it's something with how the CHIRP program is written.

I'm still surprised that you have to run the windows version of CHIRP in WINE instead of the native Linux version.

I've seen plenty of people use gutters for their ground plane and it works fine for them. I've also seen some use the gutters as an antenna with good results. On of the weirdest I've heard was a guy hooking a ground from his antenna to a fire hydrant in his yard where the water lines are all steel. Supposedly he gets great results with it. If it works well for you, then stick with it.

Or it could be that they hear you but not well enough to make out what you are saying. We have a new person that keeps calling on our repeater. His signal is strong enough to get into the repeater but all we hear is static when he transmits.

You are correct on that one. Glad that the Slim Jim's working for you.

Yeah it will surprise you when testing a HT antenna's SWR with something like the Surecom-102. The SWR can be all over the place since there is not a good enough ground plane. I've seen big differences when checking the same antenna with my Surecom-102 and my Comet CA-500 analyzer.

Your antenna must be extremely narrow banded or something is wrong for you to get those kind of SWR readings. Normally you will find SWR around 1.0 - 1.2 on 462 and up to 1.8 on 467. Or you will get 1.0 - 1.2 on 467 and up to 1.8 on 462 with most antennas.

What you can do is use one of the many empty memory slot to program other repeaters into the radio. You can program as many repeaters into empty memory slots as you want. You can even have repeaters with teh same frequency/channel but different PL tones programmed into memory.

My condolences to the family. He was at the Collinsville, Il ham fest last month and his grandson tested that day. A couple of guys from my club got to talk to him that day. He will be missed. Maybe his grandson will get his call sign.