WRYZ926

Well you do you. I have had Midland and still have Baofeng radios and they do not compare with Wouxun radios when it comes to quality, performance, etc. The Midlands are all gone and while I will keep the Baofeng hand held radios around, I will not buy another Baofeng again. Sometimes it does good to head the old saying "buy once, cry once"

I never received any messages.

I was only recommending a very good and reliable radio. And I would take that over any Midland Baofeng, or other cheaper brands. But that is me. If the OP is on that tight of a budget then getting a replacement mic is his best option.

This is all covered by the NEC (national electric code). It is worth looking the regulations up and reading them. As mentioned your coax shield is grounded to your radio which in turn is grounded to the home ground at the outlet. That is why one should use lightning arrestors on the coax before it enters the structure and also to have everything grounded and also bonded to the service ground. That gives the electric a shorter path to ground. And the lightning arrestor should also keep the electricity overload from entering the structure. Grounding can be a touchy subject and people will always argue about it. I prefer to be safe than sorry and have ground rods at each antenna mast/tower along with a ground rod right at the wall passthrough where my coax cables enter my house. They are bonded together and to my service ground..

If you plan on replacing your radio then look at the Wouxun KG-XS20G Plus 20 watt mobile. It is a lot better than a Midland radio. I have one mounted in my SxS connected to a Comet 2x4SR antenna and get great signal reports from everyone using the repeater that is 21 miles away.

As mentioned, you transmit and receive with your radio set to a repeater channel. Make sure you are on a repeater channel and also that you have any tones set correctly.

You need to be transmitting on the repeater channel on 467.575. GMRS repeaters receive on 467 and they transmit on 462. And yes you will hear the repeater on a simplex channel, that is normal.

Getting the offset wrong will drive one batty. You can't always go by what repeater book says either.

Good for you for getting your amateur license too. To answer your question about the Comet CA-712. It comes tuned for GMRS and is an excellent base antenna. I have one mounted to a satellite dish type j mount at the peak of my roof and am using LMR400 cable from it to my radio.

The area is a mixture of river/creek valleys, gentle rolling hills and flat farm ground. But I can get into the GMRS repeater at 400 feet with a HT better than I can get into the 70cm repeater at 900 feet. Getting into the GMRS and 70cm repeaters in my vehicle with 50 watts radios is about the same, it depends on the terrain and trees. The thick rows of red cedar that grows along the roads here really messes with UHF signals.

The need to use plain language without attempts to decieve also goes for amateur radio too. And no new digital mode for amateur radio can be used without first making it public per the FCC. Business bands and public service band fall under different rules than amateur and GMRS bands.

I found that video pretty informative. I also own an Icom IC-T10 along with the KG935G. Both are very good radios even being SOC. I know there is a difference when it comes to VHF compared to UHF. But I can use the IC-T10 inside my house and still be understandable by others when talking on the repeater 21.5 miles away. It is sometimes hit or miss with the KG935G inside the house. I can forget about getting into the 70cm repeater with an HT though. All three repeaters use the same tower. The 2m and 70cm antennas are 900 feet above the ground and the GMRS antennas are 400 feet above the ground - all of them are on the same tower.

I have a few Abbree 771 and Nagoya 771 antennas for 2m/70cm and GMRS. The 771 antennas do make an improvement on my Baofeng and Explorer QRZ-1 (TYT UV-88). But I did not see any improvement with those antennas on my Wouxun KG935G or Icom IC-T10.

I haven't had any issues with my CCR radios either. In fact I got rid of all my Midland radios and replaced them with Wouxun radios. The Wouxun radios are built better and work better. And even the top Japanese radios either built with Chinese parts or built in China. And I guess everyone's Apple or Android phones must be junk since they are made in China too.

The KG935G is my favorite GMRS HT.

I have to agree. I hold both and don't want to see GMRS turn into HAM LITE. The Elmers around me are more than willing to help anyone no matter if they hold an amateur license, GMRS license or both. I too am happy to help others. We have one member of our amateur radio club that is happy with just having his GMRS license for right now. We have been helping him get setup for mobile and a base station.

It does depend on what part of the country you are in. 2m and 70cm is pretty active here in Missouri. But no one uses 6m or 1.25m (220MHz) around here. There are weekly nets on different repeaters within a 100 mile radius of me on every night except Friday and Saturday nights. Plus there are the rag chewers on all the time too.

Thank you for that info. Maybe someone more local to you (or the repeater) can help you out.

@Sheldon what is your location, or the location of the repeater you are trying to use?

20 to 25 miles can be a stretch for handhelds on GMRS and 70cm bands. Our club's repeaters are on a tower 21.5 miles away. The 2m and 70cm repeater antennas are at 900 feet and the GMRS repeater antennas are at 400 feet. I can get into the GMRS repeater with a handheld when outside but not while inside my house. I can't get into the 70cm repeater at all on a handheld. And it is hit or miss getting into the 2m repeater inside my house but is no problem outside.

Hopefully I was helpful and you get your radio working.

You want to set the tones and talk on the repeater channel. Repeater channel 6 is setup with the correct offsets whereas Channel 20 is not since it is a simplex only channel.

The IC-5100 is another one that can be modded. I know guys that have done it and the mod works fine.

I am running my Comet CA-712 with a 32 foot run of LMR400 Ultra flex. The base of my antenna is about 18 feet above ground.

There are a few Icom radios that can have the MARS Mod done which will allow them to transmit on GMRS. The IC-7300 is NOT one of them though. I will let others discuss the actual legalities of doing such modifications.