WRYZ926

That is the same reason I bought the TYT TH-7800. And the first one worked well enough that I bought a second one for the vehicle. The one in the shack has since been replaced by an Icom IC-2730 but that TH-7800 is now used for Winlink. And the TH-7800 is still going strong.

That has to do with the tint that is built into factory windows. Some tint has enough metal in them to mess with reception. I have even seen people have problems with the glass mount antennas like what nokones posted. Granted not everyone has had reception issues with these type of antennas but some have. It depends on the tint used and how much metal is in it.

That is one of the issues I have read about the TH-9800. I'm thinking it has something to do with it being quad band since you don't hear about the TH-7800 having that issue. Wouxun makes their KG-UV980P quad band. I can't comment on its quality since I have never used one. That being said, the Wouxun KG-1000G is based off of the 980P with a different firmware and it is a good radio. Now if you don't mind using a dual band radio then the TYT TH-7800 works pretty well. The only complaint I have about it is that there is no mic gain settings and the mic is hot. But that goes with most CCR mobile radios, none of them have adjustable mic gain. You have to remember to hold the mic at a certain distance and at an angle.

Yes you can program extra channels on the MXT500. I forget if the MXT labels the repeater channels as Ch 23- Ch 30 or RPT 15 - RPT 22. Say you have two repeaters in your area that use the repeater channel 19 which is 467.650 (RX on 462.650). You can set the tones for the first repeater on the pre programmed RPT 19 ( channel 27) with the correct tones. Then add a custom channel in any memory slot above RPT 22/Ch 30 using the same TX/RX frequencies (467.650/462.650) and then put the tones for the second repeater in. Doing that will keep you from having one channel where you have to constantly try to change the tomes to use the different repeaters. I have two repeaters in my area that use the RPT15/Ch 23. I programmed the first repeater in the channel memory slot 31 and the second in channel memory slot 32. I also set my radios to display names instead of channel numbers which helps keep different repeater on the same channels separated and easy to find.

I'm another one that wished I would have taken the general test on the same day after passing the technician test. I started studying for the Extra but got distracted by too many squirrels to chase - digital modes, Winlink, AllStar, CW, etc.......

Myself and others have quite a few of the Wouxun UV and KG series radios. And none of us have had any issues with tones not working as they should. And NO I am not sponsored by Wouxun, Buy Two Way Radios or anyone else. I am going to give you honest answers when asked to the best of my ability. Again I have not heard anyone having issues with the CTSS Tones on any of their UV or KG series Wouxun radios.

The clicking is not normal. I'm curious to see what is causing it.

The TH-7800 and TH-9800 use the same password unlock to open them up. Though you must use the official TYT programming software to do so. I went with the TH-7800 dual band since there is no 6m or 10m FM repeaters near me and the fact that a 6m and/or 10m antenna would be way to big to drive around with all of the time. I have one TH-7800 in the vehicle and the other is setup in a go box for Winlink. I have not noticed any clicking noises like @Wayfarer has with my TH-7800's so maybe it is something with the TH-9800's.

The Comet 2x4SR is an excellent multi band mobile antenna. Since you said that you can get into that repeater with an HT then yes going to 20/25 watt radio will improve things. Stepping up to a 40/50 watt radio will definitely improve things. I have a repeater that is about 50-55 miles away that I can get into with a 20 watt radio but the other people hear a lot of static on my transmission. Everyone can hear me clearly when I use a 50 watt radio. Basically you have to quadruple the power output to notice any big difference. I am still going to suggest going with the Comet CA-GMRS for a few reasons. One is that it is light enough at only 2 pounds. Second, it has a wind load of 135 mph. And you can also get rid of the pizza pan that will definitely act as a sail in high winds. The CA-GMRS is lists at 5.5 dBi which is 3.4 dBd. The 2x4SR is listed at 6.2 dBi ( 4.1 dBd). Plus you would still have to use a metal pan for your ground plane which is a wind sail. I can't tell in your photo if your roof is fairly flat or has a ridge. Getting your antenna up some more and going with a mobile radio will improve performance for you.

You now have so many more squirrels to chase, especially once you get your General.

I never cared for pine and cedar trees since they harbor ticks but I have come to despise them when it comes to UHF. They really do a number on blocking 70cm and GMRS. We have lots of rolling hills around here and it is common for the farmers to let the red cedar trees grow along the side of the roads.

CB channel 9 can be useless now days when you have people running high power amps on that channel. I hear it all of the time. There is one guy from Puerto Rico that is always blasting away on channel 9, he sounds lie he is sitting next to me.

I am the same way, I put the blame on the bad actor. Unfortunately it only takes sone bad apple to ruin the bushell.

Ft Irwin has been expanded quite a bit since I left in 1996. Either way, that was a good haul to hear people in Death Valley.

You hit the valleys just right to pick up people in Death Valley from Barstow. And I agree you would not have been much help to them being 85 miles away. We had problems getting through from north post of Ft Irwin to main base without the use of repeaters due to the Granite Mountains. For those that don't know. Ft Irwin is 45 miles north of Barstow. And that is only to main base and not including the north part where all of the live fire ranges are. The Northeast corner of Ft Irwin butts up to the southwest corner of Death Valley National Park. Range will be limited in the Mohave due to the terrain while you can definitely get farther range in the Sonoran since it is more flat (in spots).

I just received an email from RT Systems, They are working on making Mac compatible versions for the Wouxun radios. She stated that they are working on it and have to ready to go for testing. Unfortunately she did not say which radios. I'm glad that they are working on Mac versions of their software for the Wouxun radios.

Yes the 935H can be unlocked. The same unlock method works for the Q10H and 935H. For those with the GMRS only versions, those cannot be unlocked, Yes I have tried. I can't answer about the batteries other than the 935H will use the same batteries as the 935G. I don't have a UV-9 series radio to test. The batteries and chargers are different between the 935G/H and the Q10G/H that they are not interchangeable.

Try taking any adaptors you might have out of the loop too. I had a 90 degree SO239 to PL259 along with a straight PL259 to PL259 adaptor go bad on me which caused the SWR to go up. I was using those two adaptors to connect my lightening arrestor to the bulkhead. I removed the 90 degree adaptor all together and replaced the male to male adaptor with a 12" coax jumper and my SWR went back down.

I personally would use the free Wouxun software from Buy Two Way Radios as long as you have a Windows computer or a way to run Windows programs on Linux or Mac. The reason I say this is the fact that there is always a chance that one could brick their radios by choosing the wrong one in CHIRP. I'm not saying that one will brick their radio by choosing the 935G in CHIRP. Just a word of caution,

My KG-1000G radios put out between 46 and 50 watts. The Midland MXT500 I had was from a bad batch and would only put out 38 watts on high. One of the guys in our local club has a BTech UV-50x2 and he is wanting to install it inside of his center console. We have all told him not to do that along with saving up for a better radio. I haven't heard very many say good things about the BTech UV50x2 or UV50x3 radios. The TYT-7800 is a pretty good dual band 2m/70cm radio for those on a budget. And it is hard to beat the Wouxun KG-1000G when it comes to GMRS mobile radios. And if you want only a single mobile radio and do not care about it being Part 95 certified, then the TYT TH-7800 is a good one for that without breaking the bank. It is easily unlocked through the official TYT programming software. I actually run a TYT 7800 and a Wouxun KG-1000G Plus in my vehicle.

As @WRTC928 mentioned, keep channels 8-14 set to narrow band. You won't have to worry about interfering with the repeater input channels if you keep channels 8-14 set to low power and narrow band. Now an unlocked mobile putting out 20 watts or more will get you noticed and can cause interference on the repeater channels. Set those channels to low power and narrow band and use them to your heart's content

This is correct. And in the case of the Midland/Retevis 10 watt repeaters, you will only see about 5-6 watts out after the duplexer. We are getting 30 watts out after the duplexer on our 50 watt Bridgecom GMRS repeater. We still are getting a 30-35 mile radius of coverage, granted our antennas are at 400 feet above ground. And you can get away with using a good quality RG8 if the overall run is 6 feet or less. You won't notice much difference in loss between RG8, RG8U or LMR400 at such short lengths. I run RG-8U jumpers in my shack with the longest one being 6 foot. Most are three feet or less. IF anyone wants to see the loss for themselves then use the https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ The most important thing is to use a good quality coax with good connectors.

This is true and I would have sealed the connectors anyway. I would wrap brass connections too.

The Comet antennas have plastic connectors with rubber washers that seal the pieces and I still wrap them just like I wrap coax connections. All materials will expand and contract depending on the temperature. wrapping the antenna joints might not be 100% necessary but it sure doesn't hurt and gives a little more protection from the elements. I have seen water get into weird places with 50 mph plus winds.

No one is going to come after you for being 1/2 watt over. And as mentioned, I bet that the power output will be closer to 1/2 watt versus 1 watt if you check with a power/swr meter. Again, don't worry about being at 1 watt versus 1/2 watt.