WRYZ926

Unlocking the TYT TH-9800 and TH-7800 radios is super simple when using the official TYT programing software. It is only a matter of pressing a key combination on your keyboard and then typing in a password. I seriously doubt that the radio is bricked by unlocking it through the TYT software. I agree that seeing a config file or even a screen shot will make it easier for us to help the OP. CHIRP will add the correct offset and I am pretty sure the TYT software does too. It's been a while since I used the TYT software. With RT Systems you have to manually put in the offset and offset frequency yourself. I had to do that when programming my different Icom radios using RT software.

If you are transmitting on 467 and hearing on 462 then you are getting into the repeater. Double check the tones. I would also try turning your radio's RX tone off.

That is totally normal since the output frequency of the repeater is the same as the corresponding simplex channel. The repeater output frequency for the repeater is 462.550 and the simplex channel 15 is also 462.550. When using a repeater, you transmit to the repeater on 467.550 and you receive the repeater's transmission on 462.550. And YES you will hear a repeater's transmission on the corresponding simplex channel. Having tones set on your radio does not keep other radios without tones from hearing your transmission. All the receive tones on your radio do is keep you from hearing transmissions from other radios that are not using tones. If you are hearing yourself on simplex with a different radio then it sounds like you still don't have the tones set correctly on your KG-1000G when you transmit on the repeater channel. Turn off your receive tones on the KG-1000G and also double check your transmit tones.

Most people are happy with the Retevis mobile GMRS radios. Retevis does make a 40 watt GMRS mobile if you want more than 20-25 watts. Now if you want a 50 watt radio, I will recommend the Wouxun KG-1000G Plus. Yes the KG-1000G is more expensive but it is a much better radio than anything from Baofeng/B Tech.

I have a Comet GP9 dual band and a CA-712EFC. Neither needed tuning so I would say that the CA-GMRS does not either. Even though it says that, you best double check it with an antenna analyzer. I know the Tram 1174 I have stated it was good for GMRS, I did in fact have to cut/tune it for GMRS. It was tuned more for 70cm even though it was labeled as a GMRS antenna. You really can't go wrong with one of the GMRS antennas from Comet. Even some of their 2m/70 dual band antennas will work pretty good for GMRS, again always double check the SWR first.

You should be fine with that as long as it is good quality LMR400. Using the loss calculator that I linked earlier, you will still get an ERP (effective radiating power) of 117 watts out when using 80 feet of LMR400 and an antenna with 6 dBd of gain. EDIT to add: the ERP is when using a 50 watt radio on high power.

My coax run going to my GMRS antenna is only 30 feet. Now if the coax length was 100 feet or more, then I would definitely consider LMR600 or Heliax if I could afford it. I would say that LMR400 (and equivalent) coax is a must for runs under 100 feet for GMRS and 70cm. Using the wrong type of coax effects 2m frequencies too. I had to say something to a friend that lives close by when I found out he got his coax cables mixed up and had RG58 hooked up to his 2m radio and 2m antenna. He was wondering why his receive and transmit was horrible. He put a 160 watt amp in line which overloaded my radio really bad. We are only 325 yards apart. I found out he had the RG58 hooked up to his 2m rig when I called him to ask that he stopped using the amp.

Another thing to take into consideration is how manufacturers advertise the gain of their antennas. Most will state the gain in dBi which is always higher than dBd.dBI is the gain measured in free space while dBd is more realistic to what you will see in reality. Don't worry, it is easy to convert dBi to dBd. Just take the dBi and subtract 2.14 from it to get dBd. We will use the Comet CA-712EFC and Tram 1486 as examples. The Comet is listed as 9 dBi which equals 6.8 dBd. Buy Two Way Radio lists the Tram 1486's gain in dBd at 6.5. Comet antennas generally do not need to be tuned while Tram antennas do need to be tuned. Another choice if you need a shorter antenna with lower gain is the Comet CA-GMRS. It is listed at 5.5dBi which equals 3.36 dBd and it is only 42" tall. https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/base-antennas/gmrs-base-antennas/gmrs-omni-directional-base-antennas/comet-ca-gmrs-base-antenna-detail Now onto coax. First hear is a good online coax loss calculator that I use. https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ Most people will use LMR400 for lengths of 100 feet or less. It will also be cheaper than LMR600 and Heliax. LMR400 Ultra flex will also be easier to work with since it is more flexible. Again get the best quality coax that you can afford. I can recommend DX Engineering 400MAX. Don't skimp on the coax with the el cheapo stuff from Amazon. It will not have a good shield and will have higher losses. What ever you do, do not use RG8, RG8X, RG58, or any other coax meant for HF. It will have a lot of loss with GMRS frequencies. Heliax, sometimes called hardline, usually requires special tools to install connectors. Where one can install connectors on LMR400/600 with regular tools. Another thing to consider is that Comet GMRS antennas have a N type connector while the radio has a SO-239 connector. So you will need to order a cable with a Male N type on one end and PL-259 on the other, change on PL-259 to a N Type or use a SO-239 to male N type adapter.

That's weird and you should not have had to do that.

Glad you got it figured out. That being said. All of the Wouxun programming software from Buy Two Way Radios is Windows 11 compatible. I have never had any issues with the Wouxun software for the KG-XS20G, KG-1000G, KG-935G, and KG-Q10H when using the Wouxun programming cables from Buy Two Way Radios. All bets are off when using third party cables from Amazon, especially if they have a copied/pirated Prolific chip in them. The Wouxun two pin cable also works well for other brands of radios with the 2 pin Kenwood plug. I've also not had any driver issues with the Wouxun cables in Windows 11 Home or Pro version 23H2. I have yet to upgrade to Version 24H2.

Sounds like you are either trying to use a simplex channel and/or you don't have the transmit tone set correctly on your radio. Make sure you are using one of the repeater channels that corresponds to the repeater you are trying to reach. Then make sure you have the correct tones set to match the repeater's tones. You can leave the RX tone turned off on the radio and you will still hear the repeater. But if the repeater is using tones then you must have the correct transmit tone set on your radio.

Yes the general rule of thumb is to quadruple your power in order to make a noticeable difference. But just doubling the power output can sometimes make a difference. For the OP, he would be quadrupling his power output going from a 5 watt radio to a 20 watt radio the using a base antenna with both radios. He will definitely notice a difference going from 5 watts to 50 watts. I know HF is a different animal compared to UHF. With HF you really don't notice a difference until you quadruple your power say going from 100 watts to 400 watts. Most won't notice a difference on SSB going from 100 watts to 200 watts.

This is also true. And the same goes for mobile antennas too. A 9 dBd antenna will work better in a more wide open and flat area where a 4-6 dBd antenna will work better in hilly/mountainous areas. The higher the gain is, the flatter the radiation pattern is. The simplest way to explain the effects of gain is to use a beach ball. Lower dBd will have a more rounded radian pattern. The higher the gain is, the flatter the pattern will be. Yes you can get out farther with 9 dBd of gain but the pattern will be narrow compared to 4 - 6 dBd. The advantage of lower gain is the pattern is more spread out and has a chance to get around some obstacles. In my case, I was getting into that repeater 50-55 miles away with 20 watts. But other people had a hard time hearing me due to noise on my signal. Switching over to my 50 watt radio made the difference and everyone could hear me clearly. I have another repeater the same distance away in the opposite direction that I can hardly hear let alone get into. The difference is the height of the two repeater antennas and the terrain in-between us.

I agree when everything else is the same when it comes to antennas and coax. My own experiences have proven that.

This is true. We see people go cheap with Amazon chinesium coax or the wrong type of coax. Or they buy the cheapest (and lowest quality) antenna they can find on Amazon. No amount of power out of the radio will overcome lossy cable and/or a craptastic antenna. I had to say something to a guy that lives 300 yard down the street one time about this subject. He accidentally swapped his coax cable on his HF and VHF antennas. He had the RG58 hooked up to his VHF radio and wondered why it wasn't working like ti use to. So his answer was to hook up a 160 watt amplifier. All the amplifier did was cause me grief since we are so close to each other. I told hm that ne needed to swap the coax cables back around. But I have no idea if he did it or not. At least he isn't running the amplifier anymore.

I can give one example where 50 watts helped compared to 20 watts. Otherwise I have to agree with everyone that antenna height and quality coax makes more of a difference. My shack setup as far as the antenna goes is; Comet CA712-EFC with the base at 22 feet above the ground, 30 foot of LMR400 from antenna to the wall pass through and a 15 foot LMR400 jumper inside. There is a repeater that is 50-55 miles away. I can get into it with my Wouxun KG-XS20G but there is quite a bit of noise in my transmission. I get in to that repeater and am heard clearly with the extra 30 watts from my WOuxun KG-1000G. Going from 20 watts to 50 watts did not change how far I can talk but it did make it so that I am heard better at the longer distances. Now getting my antenna up another 10-20 feet and away from all the trees in my yard would make a big difference over actual output power of my radios. To answer the original question. YES you will see an improvement when going from a 5 watt radio to a 20 or 50 watt radio. You are quadrupling the power going from 5 watts to 20 watts. This is when everything else is equal such as connecting both radios to the same antenna and coax.

While I do not have a metal roof to deal with. I do have main power lines on three sides of my 1/2 acre lot along with two transformers. The neighbors power runs above ground on the fourth side. Granted the main power lines are across the streets from my property, but there are the phone and cable lines along my property line on one side. I do not have any noise/interference issues with my VHF/UHF radios. I occasionally will get some noise from one or both transformers during a heavy rain storm on HF.

I will agree with what he said. As long as the mast and antenna cannot come into contact with power lines then you will be fine. I am using 1 5/8" fence posts coupled together for a total of 22 feet. The bottom has a couple that fits on the old pipe from the TV antenna mast. I have a wall clamp at the peak of the gable along with a couple on the wall. I also ran three guy ropes from the mast right below the antenna. Two go to eye bolts in the gable and the third goes out to an extended fence post at the edge of the yard (15-20 feet from house). I also have a 10m inverted V dipole hung on the same mast a couple of feet under my vertical antenna. I haven't had any problems with snow, ice, or high winds. Yes I over did things with the three wall mounts and guy ropes. But it's better to overdo things than have the mast fall over..

But is the center conductor of the antenna making good contact with the center of the NMO mount?

The antenna should still screw on far enough that it seals completely against that rubber washer.

I grabbed the only NMO mount I had handy which is a Melowave magnet mount. Here is what they should look like. So far I have only used the Melowave and Midland NMO magnet mounts and I have not had any issues with my antennas fitting correctly.

Yes that is a problem. You want the antenna to sit down all the way onto the mount.

Reminds me of watching some of the Project Farm videos on YouTube. That guy talks fast.

I've tested hand held radios in different rooms that are next to each other without issues. Normally a wall is enough to keep two hand held from defensing each other. If not then get more distance between the two radios. If more distance between the radios and/or turning the RX tones off does not help, then you will want to double and triple check the settings on the two radios and on the repeater.

I agree.