WRYZ926

I pre ordered mine yesterday so we'll see when I get it.

Buy Two Way Radios has refurbished Wouxun KG 100G (Not plus model) in stock on their eBay store for $270 https://www.ebay.com/itm/394948647580

I am hoping that I am not waiting very long either. Needless to say I will not be buying anymore SOC mobile/base stations after some testing I did yesterday. I have a Comet CA-712EFC on top of my house for GMRS and I was hearing some guys on channel 18 on my Midland MXT500 so I thought I would swap it out with my Wouxun KG-XS20G. There was a very noticeable difference in the sound quality that I was receiving between the two radios. The Wouxun KG-XS20G was better.

The tech license test is pretty simple as long as you can remember the FCC regulations and you know Ohm's Law. I'm currently studying for the general test now.

I am going to use a seat bolt mount for the remote heads for both dual band and GMRS radios in my 2023 Ford Escape. I ordered the Wouxun KG1000G today from Buy Two Way Radios. They say it will start shipping tomorrow. 3 November.

I did get everything working. See the link I posted above.

How close you are to a repeater and how high the repeater's antennas are can cause issues. I will use my club's repeater as an example. The antennas are high up on a 900 foot tower and members that live within a mile or two sometimes have trouble accessing the repeater. This is simply due to the height of the repeater antennas and the fact that the signal is going right over the guys that are close. Granted this is with VHF in the 2m band.

I started another thread on updating the MXT500 firmware so that I don't derail this thread anymore than I all ready have. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/6363-midland-mxt500-firmware-updates/

I decided to start this thread so as to not derail other threads. The MXT500 I recently bought only had 30 channel slots and not the 127 slots as others have mentioned. And we all know Midland's software is not the best. When you go to their website, there is two different software versions to download. There is version V1.04 and version V2.01. Version 1.04 only works with the MXT500 with 30 channel slots while version 2.01 only works with the MXT500 with 127 channel slots. When you download the firmware update tool there are two folders with the firmware update .spi files. One is V1_149_2021_5_11 and the other is V1_172_2023_03_23. If you are fine with only 30 channel slots then use the V1_149 .spi file to update your radio and then continue using the V1.04 programming software. If you want to have 127 channel slots then you must use the V1_172 .spi file. WARNING: if you use this file then V1.04 programming software will no longer work for your radio. You MUST use the V2.01 software to now access your radio and program it. Again if you update the firmware using the V1_149 .spi file then you must use V1.04 programming software. If you update using the V1_172 .spi file then you must use V2.01 programming software. Updating the firmware using the V1_172 file does give you all 127 channel slots and the V2.01 software must be used. Midland makes things difficult since the Readme file doesn't say anything about this. Hopefully this will help others that have the MXT500.

I definitely pay attention to the people that have done this already. Plus my local HAM club has lots of knowledge for if/when we setup a GMRS repeater.

Yes I did read the Readme file. And there was two versions but the one will change the radio and say it is a different model.

@Sshannon I did watch a lot of his videos. I will also agree that people do focus on power too much at times. But the little 10watt repeaters would not be my choice for a wide area repeater simply because low power radios don't have the range of higher powered radios. Yes a good antenna up high definitely helps.

I saw the yesterday and will be watching closely.

The only 50 watt mobile GMRS radio with a removable face is the Wouxun KG-1000G. And the only 50 watt radio with all controls and screen in the mic is the Midland MXT575, all others are either 15 or 20 watts. The Wouxun KG-100G is currently out of stock.

I used what ever the version is when clicking on the MXT500 Update firmware tool download button on Midland's website The spi file is: MXT500 V1_149_2021_5_11.spi

Well that didn't seem to work. I updated the firmware on my MXT500 and still only have 30 channel slots

I will have to look into that. I just bought mine a few weeks ago.

Use good antennas and get them as high as you can. Also remember that if you use a single antenna and a duplexer that your transmit power will be cut in half. Take the Retevis and Midland repeaters that are advertised at 10 watts. You are only getting 5 watts per RX and TX. Same goes with using two 50 watt radios with a duplexer and a single antenna, your RX and TX will only be 25 watts.

There really won't be much difference between 20 watts and 50 watts in flat/open terrain or if you are top of a hill. 50 watts can make a difference if you are in the woods or trying to picket fence off of obstacles. One thing I do not care about with the Midland radios is that you can't add a bunch of different repeater channels to them. You are limited to just a few where the FRS channels would normally be. The other thing is that Midland radios come from the factory set to narrow band and you have to go in and change each channel to wide band. It is hard to buy anything that is not made in or uses components that are made in Chine now days. That includes everyone's computers, tablets and cell phones no matter which brand they are. I will buy CCR's from US based companies knowing that I can get support from them and most of the money stays here.

Midland makes the MXT 500 and the MXT575. Both radios are 50 watts max. The MXT575 has everything built into the mic. I am running the MXT500 as my base station and a friend has the MXT575 in his truck. While I would really like to find the Wouxun 1000G in stock since it has a removable control, I'll probably go with the Midland MXT575 for my vehicle since I will have a 2m/70cm radio too.

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of GMRS mobile radios with removable control units. like there are for HAM radios. I am in the same situation looking for space in my 23 Ford Escape right now. Midland does make a couple of models where the screen and all controls are built into the mic which will make installation easier as you can stack the main body just about anywhere. There are a couple of cheap Chinese GMRS radios that are made the same way. the CCR's are only 20 watts while you can get a 15 was or 50 watt from Midland. There are also quite a few 20-25 watt GMRS mobiles that are pretty small too. So you do have options. I am concentrating on getting a HAM radio installed in my Escape first then see what direction to go with a mobile GMRS radio. I will be using a 2m/70cm radio with removable control unit. I currently have a Midland XTS500 as my GMRS base station and a Wouxun XS20G (20 watt) that I might see if I can find room for in the car after I get the HAM radio installed. Otherwise the XS20G will go in my SxS.

I found out at the last club meeting that quite a few of the members do have their GMRS license so I think it will be an easy push to get a GMRS repeater up. Being in rural central Missouri, there are no GMRS repeaters up and running. Our proposal was met with enthusiasm. As @WRXB215 said, there is no reason to limit yourself on the available communication tools out there. My local club does participate in emergency communications and having GMRS and all the amateur bands available is a plus.

I recently got my technician's license and also got my GRMS license while waiting for my amateur call sign. I treated studying for the technician test just like anything else. I read the book a couple of times then started taking practice exams' And when I would miss questions, I went back and reread the book. I did that until I could pass the practice exam with a 90% or better. I am currently doing the same as I study for the general test. A family member pushed me to get my tech license knowing that I have been considering it for a long time. He told me to stop procrastinating. He also got his GMRS license at the same time I did and we are now talking to the amateur radio club we belong to about GMRS. We presented the idea of getting a GMRS repeater going on the local 900 foot tower where our 2m and 70cm repeaters are located. We also told them that GMRS might be a good way to get people interested in getting licensed for GMRS and amateur radio. Plus we stated that using GMRS along with amateur radio frequencies could be beneficial during an actual emergency. The more frequencies available the better With the right approach both GMRS and amateur radio can work together to get new people interested in the hobby. And that is the approach we are using to get more amateur radio operators within the club to get into GMRS and also get new people into the hobby.

I need to get the old 10m radio and antenna setup so I can at least use 28.3 to 28.5 while studying for my general.

It depends on your location within the US. Guys on the west coast will pick up the far east better while the east coast will pick up Europe better. Guys have been getting Argentina really well here in the midwest.