WRYZ926

There is also LMR400 Ultraflex which is a bit more flexible. You can use some quality RG8X if the jumpers are say 6 feet or less. There won't be much loss at such short lengths.

Yeah I do NOT suggest using the only (or good) cookie sheet. You don't want upset the spousal unit.

Here is a novel idea @Socalgmrs, if you don't have anything positive to add to a conversion, maybe you should just NOT reply. No one likes a Negative Nancy @RayDiddio hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer.

We get it that some will bad mouth Wouxun radios every chance they get. @FishinGary I have never used the Channel Wizard with my KG-935G. I either program the channel individually and then save it to an empty memory slot or use the Wouxun programming software. I haven't had any issues.

A pizza pan or even a 9x13 cookie sheet will work fine.

I have to agree. Especially if you keep your runs 100 feet or less. And most people will not have a coax run over 100 feet. I would just stick with LMR400 or equivalent. I did the calculations for LMR400 at 467.600 with an antenna with 6 dBd of gain at 50 watts. You are only looking at a power loss of 18% over 30 feet. But you make that up and more with a 6 dBd gain antenna. which gives you an ERP (effective radiated power) of 164 watts. I like using https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ to figure out cable loss. Let's say you have another 20 feet of coax to get from the radio to where the coax comes into the house. You are still getting an ERP of 144 watts.

Here are the instructions from the manual. That should work. Most other radios will have a TDR setting to go from dual to single channel display. But I could not find any reference to TDR in the GM-30 Plus manual. https://radioddity.s3.amazonaws.com/Radioddity_GM-30_PLUS_User_Manual_2024_08_02.pdf

ABR Industries will make just about any cable you want and their prices are reasonable. https://abrind.com I have a few cables and jumpers from them and they are good quality cables.

While 3M Scotch Super 33+ is more expensive, it does hold up to UV exposure.

Standard heat shrink tubing will not be very waterproof in a location that gets a lot of rain year round. The marine grade heat shrink tubing will work but it will be messy when trying to remove it since it has heat activated glue inside to ensure it is waterproof. The self fusing rubber tape wrapped with good electrical tape for UV protection works the best. That combo has been used for a long time for sealing coax connections for amateur radio, CB and TV.

Most will use self fusing rubber tape and then a good quality electrical tape over top of that for UV protection. Scotch Super 33 is about the best electrical tape to use overtop of the self fusing rubber tape. Here is the self fusion tape that I use. Proxicast Pro-Grade Extra Strong 30mil Weatherproof Self-Fusing Silicone Rubber Sealing Tape

It's most likely NOT a Wouxun issue. The negativity is getting old. @WSFR966 What antenna are you using with the KG-1000G? And how far away are you when you try to use the HT? Do you have a clear line of sight? I run a Wouxun in th shack and vehicle along with Wouxun HT's and don't have any problems. I am running a Comet CA-712EFC base antenna, a Tram 1174 on my vehicle and the stock rubber duck antennas on my HT.

I checked mine and it was under 2.0 on GMRS channels. I don't remember the exact numbers though. The first time I checked I did it inside the garage which gave horrible SWR reading on GMRS. Once I pulled my vehicle outside the SWR readings were fine.

CHIRP will normally input the correct frequencies when you choose the offset. For GMRS that is a positive offset of 5.000 MHz Did the radio loose its programming? And did you save the CHIRP file after making changes and before uploading to the radio? If so, then you should be able to re-download the file to your radio.

@SteveShannon thank you for that information. I use CHIRP or RT Systems software on my 2018 Mac mini. I have found that the RT Systems software is better than the Icom provided software. I have a Windows 11 computer for software that is only available for Windows 10/11. This includes the Wouxun programming software and quite a few of the programs I use for my N scale model trains. I still wonder if it is an issue for @WSEM624 if he is using Parallels.

@SteveShannon are you running an older Intel based Mac and Boot Camp or a newer ARM based Mac and Parallels? Again I don't have any experience with ARM based Macs and Parallels. But I wonder if that could possibly cause some issues since most Windows drivers are written for Intel/AMD CPU's. @WSEM624 which Mac are you running, Intel or ARM? And yes I am still running my 2018 Mac mini with the Intel CPU. I have not upgraded to Sequoia yet. I'm waiting to see how it does on the Intel Macs.

Ah now that is starting to make sense. That could be what's causing you issues. I won't be much help then. I haven't ran Windows on a Mac in years. Last time was on my Mac mini 2010 and Windows 7.

I think most will agree with you on that. I am running the Midland mag-mount for my Comet SBB1 dual band and Tram 1174 antennas on my vehicle and another one with a Comet 2x4SR on my SxS.

Did you make sure to have the USB menu set to ON? There should not be any reason why it is not connecting to Windows 11. Double check device manager to make sure the port is showing up and what port number it is. Also you do need to make sure that you have the correct version of the programming software for the firmware version your radio is running. If you try using the wrong software version then the computer will not recognize the radio. I made that mistake when trying to use version 2.01. Version 2.01 would not recognize the radio until after I updated the firmware.

@WSEM624 did you go into the menu in the radio and then go to menu #13 USB and turn it ON in order for it to talk to the computer. If 13 is not turned ON then the USB port will only act as a charging port. And the Midland software is only compatible with Windows. And it works fine with Windows 10 or 11. Herre is the link for the official programming software and firmware updates. https://midlandusa.com/pages/mxt-500-programming-firmware?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADAFdQj9kgFROWjIMyrnhmvq_SZ35&gclid=Cj0KCQiA57G5BhDUARIsACgCYnw2rfAYItoZ3yBGLZxVjONPKoGIcyJiHNS6mRP9quodjJfH5Q-6EZkaAmpuEALw_wcB Make sure you get the correct version for your radio. And remember. The USB port defaults to OFF every time you restart your radio. You must turn in ON each time before connecting it to your computer.

Just how many linked repeaters are there in your area? Are all 8 repeater channels in use? If all 8 repeater channels are already in use then you will just cause interference issues.

I have that spring kit installed. But that won't save the antenna if I forget to fold it with 7ft garage doors.

Yes the Comet 2x4SR works well for 2m, MURS, 70cm, and GMRS when it has a good ground plane. I run one on the back of my SxS and the mag mount is attached to a metal plate that is secured to the expanded metal rack. I get a SWR of 1.8 or less across all those bands. The only reason I don't use the 2x4SR on my Ford Escape is height restrictions since I park in the garage. I'm worried that I would forget to fold it once and tear things up.

Coverage maps like you see on MyGMRS maps and repeater book are just good estimates. The only real way to determine coverage area is to get out and test. Our MGRS repeater antenna is on a local radio station tower at 400 feet above ground. We have a 35 mile radios coverage area. But local terrain and forested areas can and will make a difference on if you can actually get into a repeater. Several of us drove around and tested our repeater's coverage area before opening it up to public use. Our 70cm repeater has about the same overage area even though its antennas are at 900 feet above ground. Our 2m repeater antennas are also at 900 feet above ground and we get close to a 80 mile radios of coverage. Just to show the difference between VHF and UHF. The 70cm and GMRS repeaters are putting out 30-35 watts after the duplexers while the 2m is putting out around 45 watts after the duplexer.

The only time I have had issues with programming cables are the cheap cables from Amazon that have the Prolific chip. That has caused issues with Mac and Windows 11. Cables with the FDTI chip work with any operating system.