WRYZ926

The cigarette lighter plug is not that big of a deal and easy to either remove or get an adapter as shown in the above post. A few 20 watt radios from different manufacturers come with the lighter adapter.

It depends on what you are looking for in a radio and where you are going to use it. If having an IP rating for water and dust is important for you then I will suggest the Wouxun KG-XS20G when it comes to 20 watt radios. The KG-XS20G is basically a higher power mobile version of the KG-935G hand held. They both use the same screen and both have the same menu layout. IP rating was important for me since I use radios in my SxS. This could also be a consideration for those that have Jeeps and use them a lot with the top removed.

I did try with and without tones set on my HT and base radio

It really is a shame that no one makes a mobile radio with those features anymore. I have a Quansheng UV-K5 (8) that I installed IJV3 on but I haven't tried the DSB mode yet. I doubt that I will add the extra board for HF though. On subject. As the photos and graphs show, channels 8-14 are in-between the repeater input channels and that is why 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts. Though my testing has shown that transmitting on channels 8-14 at 4 watts did not cause any issues when I had my base radio on a repeater channel and also on simplex listening on the repeater input frequency. I tested with an unlocked HT set to both narrow and wide band and high power which was 4 watts. I would not suggest doing that with an unlocked radio set at 20 watts or higher. And we have to stick with the designated channels for GMRS since their are other users near the same frequencies that we do not want to interfere with.

That would take an all band all mode radio AKA shack in the box such as the Icom IC-7100 or Yaesu FT-991. Those two radios are capable of FM, AM, and SSB on all of the HF bands, 2m, 6m, and 70cm. They will also do CW and digital modes. I wish Icom, Yaesu, or one of the Chinese manufacturers would make a 2m/70cm mobile radio capable of AM and single side band. As it is you have to look on the used market for a mobile radio with AM and SSD capabilities. Though none of that is applicable to GMRS since it is FM only.

There is nothing wrong with the 935G Plus. The 935G Plus is my goto GMRS HT. And as you found out, your 905 accessories work with the 935G which is a bonus.

I normally run RX tones but will definitely turn them off if I think we are getting some interference on the repeater. I also monitor the repeater input frequency at times. On the hunt for ID10T's. We had an ID10T Tuesday night keying up and making noise on our repeater during our net. The hunt is on.

Plus you will hear people on the repeater's output frequency when they are talking on the corresponding simplex channel. Now if you have receive tones set then you should not hear anyone talking that does not have the same tone set. I will give a perfect example. Our repeater using the repeater channel 17 so the repeater input is 467.600 and the repeater output is 462.600. We have both TX and RX tones set on the repeater. The simplex channel 17 is also 462.600. A group of us were traveling in separate vehicles when one guy asked if the rest of us were hearing the kids on the repeater. The guy hearing the kids did not have the RX tone set on his radio. The kids were on simplex channel 17 and the reason he was hearing them and the rest of us weren't was because he did not have his RX tone turned on.

My brother runs his mobile radios on a 100AH LifePo4 battery. He charges it with a LifePo4 charger plugged into the 120V inverter built into his truck. He does this so that he doesn't have to try and get power wires through the firewall since he does not keep his trucks very long. I've never heard him complain about RF issues with the radios. Definitely get the correct charger for LifePo4 batteries if that is what you are going to use. A standard charger will ruin the battery. And there is a difference between regular lithium batteries and LifePo4 batteries. Note: my brother uses a 100AH battery in the truck since he also uses it for Parks On The Air with his 100 watt Icom IC-7300 HF radio. You can definitely get by with a smaller battery for a 50 watt radio and even smaller one for a 20 watt radio.

Hopefully you get your interference issues figured out. I know RFI can drive a person crazy trying to chase down.

Here is a full list of all the FRS/GMRS channels. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2022/11/list-of-gmrs-frequencies-and-channels.html?srsltid=AfmBOopMy04seYsWSiiA4DFSusU7BoworzqVnVNJg83cZ5PuwO9Wl5V7

I totally agree and I am glad to see the FCC not reducing his fines. Guys like that make all of us look bad.

Here is a good video about FCC enforcement. Granted the idiot deserves what he gets for interfering with firefighters trying to put out a forest fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJZroDsXBrA

Also check that the alternator body has a good ground to the chassis. Normally it just uses the engine block but sometimes you need to add a ground strap from the alternator directly to the chassis. I would try that before replacing the alternator. And I agree to check your spark plug wires and coils. If your vehicle has coil packs that mount directly to the spark plugs then check them too. I've seen coil packs go bad without throwing a code. It's worth checking.

Only the H model is capable of cross band repeat. It receives on 70cm and transmits on 2m. And yes it works well. But I do not use the cross band on the Q10H much since all of my 50 watt mobiles are capable of cross band repeat which works a whole lot better.

As of right now the KG-935G Plus is $149.99 and the KG-Q10G is $219.99 on Buy Two Way Radio. Both are IP rated; 935G - IP66, Q10G - IP67 935G - SOC Q10G - superheterodyne Q10G has GPS functions - downside is it only works with other Wouxun radios. I have a 935G Plus and a Q10H (quad band model) and I can't tell much difference in performance between the two. Both have good front ends that are not susceptible to front end over load. Both receive well and both sound good when transmitting. So you have to ask yourself if the slightly better IP rating, superheterodyne vs SOC, and GPS function is worth the extra $70 or not. PS: I went with the Q10H version since it is quad band and can be unlocked if I choose to do so. The Q10H covers the 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and 6m bands out of the box and will also cover MURS and GMRS if unlocked.

Thanks. I couldn't remember since it's been over a year since I have owned a MXT500. I know on mine, I had to do the firmware update first.

You can add your own custom channels with the MXT500. I had to do a firmware update on mine to get more than 33 memory channels. After the update, I had either 100 or 199 memory channels to use. I don't remember now. I can't speak for the Midland models with everything built into the hand mic such as the MXT 575. Those models might not have that ability. Others can chime in on that. @Photog1018 as long as your radio has enough memory channels, then yes just add different repeaters on the memory channels above what came stock as long as your radio allows that. You can have as many saved channels as you want with the same channel/frequency and different tones as you want to program.

Another place to put clamp on ferrite beads is the main cable going from your alternator to your battery. I would get occasional whine while transmitting until I put clamp on ferrite beads on that cable. I put one bead on each end. I also have clamp on beads on the hot and ground wires going to each radio. If that doesn't help, then make sure that your alternator has a good chassis ground. Newer vehicles can be temperamental about grounds with all of the computers. Make sure to use a good quality electrical tape and tape up the ferrite beads to help keep them from falling off. As @SteveShannon mentioned, always run the ground wire to a good chassis ground, especially on newer vehicles that have the Battery Management System. Doing so can help prevent problems.

Something has had to change when you added the roof rack and moved your antenna. Now you didn't mention what radio you have, though that should not make much difference. I just checked my Wouxun KG-XS20G with my multimeter. I had zero resistance between the center conductor and the outer part of the SO239 on the back of the radio. I don't have that radio hooked up to any power leads right now. Again that shouldn't make a difference.

Well there is no getting to the repeater for a while with all of the snow and ice we have right now. I did do one test this morning between an unlocked hand held and my base radio. The base antenna is 17 feet directly above my shack. I programmed the repeater input into my Wouxun KG1000G and then used my Wouxun KG-Q10H to transmit on channels 9 and 10. The Q10H puts out 3.5 watts on high power on channels 9 and 10. I had the KG1000G side A on the repeater channel and side B on the repeater input so that I could monitor both. I didn't hear anything on either when I keyed up the Q10H on channels 9 and 10 on high power. I tried with the HT set to narrow and wide band and no difference between the 2 at 3.5 watts. I tried with and without tones set on the Q10H and the repeater input. I never heard anything or saw the signal meter move on the repeater's input or output on the KG1000G while transmitting on the Q10H. I didn't expect to hear anything on the repeater's output since I am 21.5 miles away from the repeater site. But if there was going to be any interference, I still should have heard something on the repeater's input with the HT only 17 feet below the base antenna. I also had another HT on and listening to channels 9 and 10. I did hear the Q10H on the other HT when I transmitted. I will try it again at the repeater site once all the snow and ice is gone. But what I can see from my test this morning, I would not worry one bit about interfering with repeater channels by transmitting on channels 8-14 with 3.5 watts or below. PS: I didn't bother testing with any of my Part 95 certified HT's since they will only transmit at 0.5 watts.

I'm not going to upset myself by testing that with the Mex 600 repeater since I am the one that maintains it. Edited to add: None of the other users would get upset at me as long as I announce that I am testing before hand.

I agree with using an APRS beacon instead.

I guess I misunderstood things. I was thinking of trying to run a repeater for several hours and I don't see an 1800 mah battery lasting very long if the repeater sees a bit of use.

While I haven't tested it, I doubt that 5 watts on channels 8-14 would cause much of an issue with the nearby repeater channels, especially if you keep channels 8-14 set to narrow band. Now I can see those channels set to wide band and using 20 or more watts causing issues. Again I would not worry about 1 watt on channels 8-14. Just leave them set to narrow band.