WRYZ926

That is what my local club is using for our GMRS repeater. It works fine and has handled everything we have thrown at it. We tested it for about two months before opening it up to the public. The duty cycle is fine for a lot of traffic.

I have to agree with others that you might want to contact B-Tech about the issue. Sounds like there might be a problem with the duplexer. You are using good coax and a good antenna. How high is the antenna above ground and is there any obstructions such as trees or building near by?

I'm not going to argue with you. It is a well known fact that RG8 and RG8X has high loss on UHF frequencies. Here is one of the better loss calculators I have found. https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ I suggest doing your own investigation. You will find that RG8 and RG8X are not good for UHF frequencies.

@WSBT338 I would definitely go with a different type of coax cable. RG8X has a lot of loss when used for GMRS frequencies. You are looking at a loss of 8.4 dB for a 100 foot run of RG8X, that equates to an 86% power loss. Let's say you are using 100 foot of RG8X, you would only be putting out 7 watts at the antenna with a 50 watt radio. Now let's say you are using 50 foot of RG8X with a 50 watt radio. You will have a loss of 4.2 dB which is a 62% loss with only getting an output power of 18.9 watts.

Those type of roll up j pole antennas definitely work. The faraday clothe j pole antennas will roll up into a smaller package and are pretty easy to make. The guy that made the video I posted earlier also sells them built for 2m and 70cm. You could definitely make your own and tune it for what ever band you want. https://vfcomms.com/product-category/antenna/ I have to agree that BNC connectors will be better than using the SMA connectors. There are quite a few YouTube videos of guys using those faraday cloth j poles and they are generally using them at 20-30 feet high in trees. And there are many ways to get your string up to pull the antenna into the air. Either type of roll up j pole will serve well in an emergency situation to get your antenna as high as you can to get more farz out of a HT.

There are instructions online for making 2m and 70cm roll up J Pole antennas using faraday clothe. It would not be that hard to modify a 2m faraday cloth j pole for MURS or modify a 70cm faraday cloth j pole for GMRS. You would need some way to get the antenna up high along with some coax cable to connect it to your HT. There is usually a solution or two for every problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K6DNLD9Wo&t=3s

Nice view from your front door @GreggInFL But yes you are correct, all that will affect both VHF and UHF unless you can get an antenna above all the trees.

I can't wait to see the reviews. I would like to see how both of those radios compare to the Wouxun KG-Q10G also.

Knowing that information would definitely help. Using the best antennas and best coax cable that you can afford is very important and makes a big difference in performance.

I would like to see a CB radio tested on FM since that would be a closer comparison to MURS and GMRS. GMRS and MURS are FM frequencies. And yes I have been looking into getting a CB radio with AM, FM, and SSB capabilities.

I was wondering how long it was going to take before someone mentioned that the FTM500 is a amateur 2m/70cm radio. Yes the FTM500 can be MARS modded. But they would still make a poor repeater. Plenty of people have used two mobile radios as repeaters, but they never work as well as a dedicated purpose built repeater. Mobile radios just can't handle the higher duty cycle like a repeater can.

I know the Wouxun KG-XS20G is probably the most expensive 20 watt GMRS radio but it is an excellent radio. And most have found that they are actually putting out 25 watts on high power. I went with the XS20G since it is IP65 rated for dust and water. A radio with a good IP dust/water rating is a must when installing a radio in a SxS or other open type off road vehicle.

I have a couple of Nagoya 771 antennas. I have them for my dual band and GMRS radios. They make a slight improvement when used with my Baofeng hand held radios. I don't feel like the improvement is worth the cost or having to deal with the longer antenna. The Nagoya antennas were no better or even worse than the stock rubber duck antennas on my Icom, Explorer QRZ1, and Wouxun hand held radios. I don't have any experience with the Smiley or Signal Stick antennas.

The TYT TH-8600 and Anytone AT-788UV are both amateur band radios which are not Part 95 certified for use with GMRS. That being said, yes they work quite well on GMRS when opened up. If you are wanting to stay with a Part 95 certified radio then I will suggest the DB20G or Wouxun KG-XS20G. If you aren't worried about Part 95 then the TH-8600 and AT-778UV are good choices once they are unlocked. PS: No need to argue about using Part 95 certified radios versus using unlocked amateur band radios. That horse has been beaten until pulverized into ground meat.

I am going to suggest a Bridgecom repeater if buying brand new. Or look for a used Motorola repeater that can be programed/setup for GMRS. For the best results, you are also going to want to use a separate/external duplexer versus the small duplexers that are built into repeaters. Our club is using Motorola repeaters for 2m and 70cm and a Bridgecom for our GMRS repeater. We use external duplexers on all of our repeaters. I know there are the portable repeaters from Retevis and Midland, those are fine for temporary use or only covering a small area since they are low power. I would also stay away from the BTech GMRS repeaters until they work all of the bugs out. Bridgecom has sales all of the time and their sales prices are lower than what the BTech repeater costs. A few of us tested the Bridgecom repeater out for about 2 months before opening it up to the public. We put it through its paces and tested the duty cycle. The Bridgecom passed and is working well for us.

I have to agree that using a dedicated repeater with a quality duplexer is the way to go. Our club is using a Bridgecom repeater setup for GMRS and we went with a separate duplexer that one of our members tuned using the proper equipment. Mobile radios just can't handle the high duty cycle like a repeater can. Plus here is the defense issues with having antennas and radios close together. Using a cheap duplexer and cheap/wrong type of coax cable will make the problem worse. @OffRoaderX tried using two Wouxun KG-1000G radios and he went to a dedicated repeater since he was having issues when using two mobile radios. He can definitely give you insight on this.

A friend has the KG-UV9GX and the KG-Q10G. I have the KG-Q10H. I have used/compared the UV9 series with the Q10H/G models. Nothing wrong with the UV9 series radios but I do prefer the Q10H/G radios for the same reasons that @JBRPong stated. You won't go wrong with either. And I can say that all of the Wouxun hand held radios I own or have used are better than any of the Baofeng radios I own or have used.

The XS20G is an excellent radio that I am sure you will enjoy. It is pretty simple to program through the radio itself.

My club is setting up our emergency coms trailer in a local park for this weekend.

I just tested the 2x4SR versus the SBB1 on the Melowave magnet mount. Granted the SWR will be a little higher since I tested with the SxS parked inside the garage. The 2X4SR was 1.8 at 467.600 and below 1.5 on 462.600. It was 1.6 or below on 2m and 70cm. The SBB1 was at 1.8 at 467.600 and at 2.5 at 462.600. I then put the SBB1 back on my Ford Escape. Inside the garage, SWR was 1.7 or lower on 2m and 70cm. On 467.600 it was 2.2 and on 462.600 it was 2.8. Again the low ceiling along with the metal garage door tracks and garage door opener being close to both antennas will affect the SWR readings and make them higher. I then pulled the Escape out of the garage so that there was nothing close to the antenna. This was using the Midland MXTA12 magnet mount. SWR was 1.6 or below on 2m and 70cm. SWR at 467.600 was at 1.6 and at 462.600 it was 2.2 I can say with my non scientific experiment that the Melowave magnet mount works better than the Midland magnet mount. Both mounts are 3.5 inches in diameter but the Melowave is not as tall. I used my Rig Expert Stick Pro analyzer for testing. For the OP, the 2x4SR antenna will work fine for 2m, 70cm, and GMRS. PS: I tested both antennas with the Melowave mount on the expanded metal rack and also on top of the aluminum tool box (with steel plate attached). The SWR did improve with both antennas on top of the tool box. There was not a big improvement with the 2x4SR. The SBB1 had more improvement on top of the tool box. With the SBB1 mounted lower on the rack, the SWR at 462.600 was at 2.8 and at 467.600 it was 2.3.

I was wrong and corrected my earlier post. I was thinking off the KG935G and KG-Q10H software. The KG-1000G/G Plus software does not allow one to change the A-D buttons. That can be easily done through the radio itself.

No idea on that one. I have my SBB1 NMO mounted in the center of the roof on my 2023 Ford Escape using a Midland MXTA12 magnet mount. The Comet 2x4SR is using a Melowave magnet mount which is on the expanded metal rack on my SxS. I'll swap the antennas around to see if the mag mounts make any difference.

@marcspaz you did get good results with your Comet SBB1. I have a SBB1 NMO and the SWR on 462 and 467 are over 2.0 while 2m and 70cm are under 1.5

I have been keeping up with this thread and also just watched the video. I don't know what to make of that email. I personally would want to see the entire email to include the address that it came from. As stated, the federal govt. will give a "verbal" warning in person and not through an email. And All of the written warning that I have ever seen have been via regular mail using an official letter head. I willl wait for more information before passing judgement one way or another.

All good advice given by others. Definitely go with 6 gauge wire for grounding the mast/tower. I do run 10 gauge from my lightning arrestors to ground, but that is such short run. I made my own wall passthrough which has a piece of 1/4" all thread for a grounding point. All of my lightning arrestors are attached to it with 10 gauge wire and I have a single 6 gauge wire going from the all thread to my ground rod.