WRYZ926

I stand corrected on the KG-935G. It is a direct conversion SOC radio. It still outperforms the Icom IC-T10. The KG-Q10H and IC-T10 are close to the same price. The Wouxun KG-Q10H and KG-Q10G (GMRS version) are $220 and the Icom IC-T10 is $240. If I had to do things over, I would not have bought the Icom IC-T10 and instead stuck with the Wouxun KG-Q10H or KG-UV9D for a dual band hand held radio. And the Wouxun KG-935G is probably one of the best hand held GMRS radios. I ended up replacing my Midland MXT500 before I realized I could send it in to be fixed for the low power issue. Otherwise I might have kept the MXT500. I have been pleased with the Wouxun KG-1000G and KG-XS20G mobile radios.

One can't always got by the name on a radio either. I have an Icom IC-T10 hand held and it is not much better than my Baofeng hand held radios when it comes to picking up noise/RFI. The IC-T10 is a SOC radio. Granted the IC-T10 is Icom's entry level hand held. Where the IC-T10 does better is on RX/TX and rejection of adjacent signals. Plus the IC-T10 feels like a real radio versus a child's walkie talkie from the 1980's. My Wouxun hand held radios are both superheterodyne and do better than my Baofeng and Icom hand held radios. Neither one picked up the RFI like my Icom or Baofeng radios. The front ends also do not get overloaded like the IC-T10 or GT-5r/UV-5R GMRS radios do. The Wouxun hand helds I own are the KG-935G and KG-Q10H. The Explorer QRZ-1 fall in between the Icom/Baofeng and the Wouxun radios. The QRZ-1 is a rebranded TYT UV-88 hand held with a custom firmware. My testing for RFI was far from scientific. What I did was walk around the house with all of my hand held radios tuned to both VHF and UHF frequencies. Every radio except for the two Wouxun's picked up RFI on UHF inside the house. The biggest culprits of the RFI source is my computer monitors and TVs. Sorry for being long winded here. This goes to show that you can't always go by the brand name either. As far as mobile radios go, the Wouxun and Midland GMRS radios are hard to beat. Neither brand is perfect but they perform better than the cheaper brands. One can always go with Kenwood or Motorola radios if they can afford them or find used radios at a decent price. In the end, go with what you can afford and has the features you like.

Every vehicle I have owned with the battery monitor system and auto start/stop system has been this way. I have seen as high as 15.2 volts and as low as 12.8 volts with my 2023 Ford escape. Most dc power supplies used for radios have two output settings. One is for a constant 13.8 volts and the other is variable voltage. I leave all my power supplies on the constant 13.8 volt setting and they are all very consistent at 13.7 to 13.8 volts.

I tried a couple of different power supplies and they all put out 13.7 - 13.8 volts according to my Fluke multimeter.

While that is very true, one expects at least 45 watts out of a radio rated at 50 watts by the manufacturer. And as noted by myself and others, Midland knows there is an issue with the MXT500 being underpowered. Now in places like I live, that extra power can and does help punch through the trees, etc. We have lots of forested areas in between the farm fields. The forested areas are all old growth hardwoods and eastern cedar. I have been in areas where I can get out fine with my KG-1000G at 45-50 watts while I struggle with the KG-XS20G at 25 watts. Same goes with my 70cm radios too. The 50 watt radio does better than my 25 watt radio in the same locations. Sometimes one needs all the power they can get with UHF frequencies.

I don't have access to a Bird monitor. I tested with a couple of different SWR/power meters into a good dummy load and also with the antenna inline. I am using a tuned Comet CA-712EFC with a 32 foot run of LMR400 Ultraflex coax with Amphenol connectors. There was a slight difference between my Surecom meter and my more expensive meter. But the Midland was still only putting out 38 watts on high into the dummy load and connected to the antenna. The two Wouxon KG-1000G radios were a steady 46 to 50 watts and the KG-XS20G was 25 watts. The only differences in my tests were the radios, everything else was the same in each test. While I did not use high end testing equipment, I did make sure to keep everything as consistent as possible.

I know a few people in different industries that deal with Chinese manufacturers. Most Chinese manufacturers will make what ever you want and to the specifications you require. You can't always go by the country of origin to determine the quality. It is what specifications the customer wants and how much they want to pay per item. And Midland radios are made in China also. Even some Japanese companies are having radios made in China now days, this includes some Yaesu models and some Alinco models. Like most people, I did my research before buying any radio. First hand reviews by actual end users are important. I take most reviews on Amazon with a grain of salt and look for more independent reviews. I had a Midlands MXT500 for a while. But I was not happy that my particular radio was not putting out anything close to the 50 watts maximum (35 watts on high). Otherwise it was a nice radio and easy to program through the radio itself. The Wouxun KG-1000G radios I have do put out between 46 and 50 watts as advertised. And the KG-XS20G actually puts out 25 watts versus the advertised 20 watts.

I have to agree that the Wouxun KG-XS20G and KG-1000G radios are great choices. I own both and they work well. I am using one KG-1000G as my base station with a Comet CA-712EFC antenna and another in my car with a short Tram 1174 antenna. The KG-XS20G is in my Honda Pioneer 500 with a Comet 2x4SR antenna. While I am not a fan of Midland mobile radios, they are hard to beat for their simplicity and ease of use. I haven't heard a lot of positive reviews on the Baofeng/B-Tech mobile radios. This goes for their GMRS and amateur band mobile radios.

As stated, there are a few reasons why one would want to put a loop in the coax right below an antenna. Though it is not necessary if the coax is attached to the mast/tower so that there is no strain on the connectors. I personally put a loop in the coax on all my vertical antennas just so I don't have to undo any of the cable clamps/supports if I don't have to. Yes a few manufacturers to include Comet, Diamond, and Tram recommend a loop.

The purpose for the loop right below the antenna is incase you ever need to remove the antenna from the mounting bracket. The loop gives enough slack to pull the antenna out of the mount and disconnect the coax. And you definitely want a drip loop in the coax where it enters your home to keep water from running down the cable and then inside.

A lot of people on limited budgets or just dipping their toes into amateur radio and/or GMRS will use a hand held radio connected to a magnet mounted antenna in their vehicles. While a 5 or 8 watt hand held won't reach out as far as a 20 - 50 watt mobile, radio, it still works well with an external antenna. I ran a magnet mount antenna with my Baofeng GT-5R hooked to an external antenna in my car for a while and had no issues getting into the local repeaters. That allowed me to save up for and research what mobile radio I wanted.

A NanoVNA will work for showing if you are high or low on your SWR and if you need to shorten or lengthen the antenna. And NanoVNA's can be bought for under $100. There is a bit of a learning curve with them but it isn't that bad.

Go with what works for you. The main thing is to be 1.8 or less on 462 and 467. An SWR of 2.0 will still work but 1.8 or less is better.

It is way easier to shorten an antenna versus lengthening one. This is where a cheap NanaVNA or an antenna analyzer comes in handy. You really need to know if the antenna is resonant above or below where you want it. I had to trim my Tram 1174 antenna. Before I made a single cut, I measured the SWR with an analyzer to see if it was high (short) or low (long). I made small 1/8" or less cuts testing the SWR after each cut. I did this until I was happy with the SWR. Remember to test at 467 MHz and at 462 MHz. You might get it spot on at 1.0 - 1.2 at one but be around 1.8 on the other. Or you might get both really close. I got my Tram to 1.3 at 462 MHz and 1.5 at 467 MHz. You will be fine as long as you are 1.8 or less on both 467 MHz and 462 MHz. Remember to cut just a tiny bit and test after each cut. If your lowest SWR is above your target frequency, then the antenna is too short. If the lowest SWR is below the target frequency, then the antenna is long and needs trimmed.

That is the easiest and fasted way to correct the issue. It would not cost much at all in the cost of redesign or materials to do that.

I finally bought a KG-Q10H. I've been happy with it so far. It works well on 2m and 70cm. I have only been able to talk to people within a few miles on 6m but it works and sounds god. I have yet to try out 1.25m since no one around uses that band. It definitely performs better than the Icom IC-T10 I have.

@marcspaz you're welcome. We are getting about 30- 35 mile radius from the repeater which is pretty good considering the terrain and forested areas in Central Missouri. Again the GMRS antennas are at 400 feet. We have about the same coverage area with our 70cm repeater even with its antennas at 900 feet. valleys and red cedar trees mess with UHF. Most of the dead spots I find on GMRS are the same for 70cm when I am mobile.

Or you get the fast "keyer's" that don't give others a chance to talk. I have seen a few guys that barely let the repeater drop out before they start talking. And we have one person that uses our 2m repeater that jumps into others conversations and derails things all of the time. That's when some of us will switch over to our 70cm or GMRS repeaters. That one person can't get into those two repeaters.

If my memory is correct, those work on the CB channel 14. Most of the Walkie Talkies from the 70's and 80's were on channel 14.

A lot of people have used cookie sheets under a mag mount mobile antenna for their base stations with good results. I did just that until I could get an actual base antenna installed.

I didn't pay any attention to the FCC ID when we received our BCR-40U back in November. We did not get the internal duplexer since we had better ones already. The repeater has been running for 6 months now with zero issues. A few of us definitely tested the repeater's duty cycle before opening it up to the public. Time will tell how the Bridgecom holds up over the long term. We have the repeater setup at 40 watts without the duplexer. So it is putting out 20-25 watts after the duplexer. What helps is having the antennas at 400 foot above ground.

Yes that will work fine too. Just try to keep it attached to a rail as far from the house as possible. Most base stations have radials and do not require anything else for a ground plane.

If you can afford to spend a little more, then most of us will highly suggest the Comet CA-712EFC base antenna. The Comet CA-712EFC will work right out of the box when fed with LMR400 or equivalent coax. They are between $135 and $140 depending on where you purchase. https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/base-antennas/gmrs-base-antennas/gmrs-omni-directional-base-antennas/1085-comet-ca-712efc-detail https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/cma-ca-712efc

In that case I will recommend using the Comet 2x4SR antenna if you have the clearance for a 38-40 inch tall antenna. I have not found any dual band antennas that are 20 inches or less that will work on 2m/70cm and GMRS.

Some dual band antennas will work fine for GMRS and some will not. The Comet GP3 and Comet GP9 antennas will work for GMRS.