WRYZ926

Good low loss coax cable, and getting a good antenna up as high as you can get is very important. The saying "height is might" holds true with UHF frequencies (GMRS) since they are line of sight. Nothing stopping you from putting up your own repeater. I will suggest going with a dedicated repeater versus trying to use two mobile radios. As @OffRoaderX said, there is additional costs for a good setup. Again going with good coax and a good antenna is important along with using a quality duplexer that is properly tuned. Most of us do not have the knowledge and/or equipment to properly tune duplexers. Depending on the terrain, you will want an antenna with either 6DB or 9DB of gain. For hillier terrain 6DB is better while flatter/wide open terrain is where 9db shines. Options are used commercial repeaters like OffroaderX is using or buying a brand new repeater that is setup for GMRS. A Bridgecom repeater without duplexer will set you back around $1500.

Did you make sure to turn on "duplex" for the channel you programmed? This is actually a common mistake when a person is new to radios and programing them. GMRS repeaters use duplex in that the repeater receives on 467.XXX MHZ and transmits on 462.XX MHZ. Your radios will transmit on 467.XXX MHz and receive on 462.XXX MHz. So you will need to make sure that duplex is turned on, that the proper 5 MHz offset is on and that you are using the proper tones.

It was a Joke, I say a joke son. ---- Foghorn Leghorn I brought up oil since the subject usually starts arguments on any and all automotive, watercraft, and firearm forums. And yes I know the importance of when and where to use the proper types of lubricant oils since I am a retired machinist and millwright. But but but,, I heard it in a YouTube video and read it on forums so it must be true! I hear rumors that the Wouxun KG-Q10H quad band HT can actually be unlocked to also work well on MURS and GMRS. But I wouldn't know anything about that.

And what kind of oil should I be using to lube the antenna mast bolts???? The cat is out of the bag as far as people using unlocked/modified radios and the different services. As long as they aren't doing anything to draw attention to themselves or causing issues for other people, then no one will know any different.

Now if you are looking for an omnidirectional antenna setup, then look into square halo antennas. I mention square halls since they are easy to build at home and are omni directional. You can stack two halos vertically to increase gain. You have to keep a certain amount of spacing between the two antennas and also make sure they are phased correctly. I just thought I would throw out a different idea for antennas. M2 Inc sells what they call a 70cm loop antenna which is a square halo or folded dipole depending on how you look at it. They also talk a little about installing two together and phasing them. It would not be hard to tune one for GMRS use. https://www.m2inc.com/FG70CMHOLOOP

Makes sure that whoever you buy the duplexer from can tune them for the correct frequencies that you are going to use. Tuning duplexers is not something an average person can do at home since it requires specialized equipment to tune them.

Having the radio plugged into the accessory outlet is a sure way to get interference in most newer vehicles. Noise could be coming from the alternator or any of the computer control modules or various sensors, etc. You could try to chase own the source and put clamp on ferrite beads on everything to eliminate the RFI. The easiest fix is to run the positive wire from the radio directly to the battery positive post and run the negative radio wire directly to a good chassis ground. Hooking up directly to the battery and chassis ground is still not a 100% guarantee on eliminating RFI but it it is still the best option.

Yes server power supplies are popular. As mentioned, they do need some slight modifications first so that you get a good 13.8 volts out of them. Now a standard ATX power supply is a different story. They can be very noisy when it comes to RF. I had to deal with that when I used an old ATX power supply to run accessories on my model train layout. I was getting some noise/interference from the power supply with my DCC command station and my DCC equipped locomotives. I will say that all of the power supplies I own (mentioned above) have not given me any fits with my model train layout and DCC system. @WSDX985 stick with a known brand that we have mentioned and you will be fine. A 30 amp power supply will run a 50 watt radio without any issues. A 30 amp power supply will handle two 50 watt radios transmitting at the same time as long as you are running low or medium power on both radios. Trying to transmit on high power with two radios can very well be too much for a 30 watt power supply.

And don't forget about DX Engineering and R&L electronics when price comparing.

@WSDE521 we all had to start from scratch and learn. Don't let "some people" ruin things for you. And don't be afraid to ask questions. Just ignore the answers that are not helpful or when someone is rude/sarcastic. Some of us started out decades ago with different radios/bands such as CB, some have experience from the military and/or their daily jobs. But we all had to learn as we go. Some people learn faster than others. Some learn by reading while some learn best by hands on. I believe that you will do just fine and are on the right path. And don't let health issues slow you down either. I am totally disabled due to arthritis, fibromyalgia and injuries from the military. My health might have slowed me down but it sure hasn't stopped me from learning new things or doing as much as I can for myself.

Stay safe with the storms. And everything will come together for you before you know it.

Most of the least expensive power supplies all seem to be made by one or two manufacturers so don't get hung up on a brand name as long as they get good reviews. The E-Ham website is a great place to read real world reviews. I will use a different analogy here. There is no need to spend the extra money on premium high octane gas for your vehicle if it runs and performs perfectly fine on regular gas. I will say that some of the cheap power supplies from Amazon or Alibaba are not going to match the quality of the better known brands. Those super cheap power supplies might also be electrically noisy too. One thing to look at is the actual RMS or continuous power rating. Most power supplies are marked and advertised by the peak amperage. They are not meant to run at the peak all of the time. Most 30 amp power supplies are only rated between 22 and 25 amps continuous. IF you are only connecting one radio (up to 50 watts) to the power supply then any 30 amp supply will work. I have several power supplies; an old Astron 30 Amp, two R&L Electronics brand 30 Amp supplies, and a Tek-Power 50 amp supply from Amazon. All have worked just fine for my needs. I run my Icom IC-2730 and Wouxun KG-1000G from one of the R&L 30 amp power supplies with no issue. The Tek-Power 50 amp runs my Yaesu FTDX10 and LDG AT-1000 Pro II auto tuner. Now if you want one of the best power supplies then stick with the more expensive linear units. If you want to save money then a decent switching power supply will work just fine.

You're welcome. Here is a link to the DX Engineering MAX400 and MAX400 UF coax cables. Either one is available in many different lengths. https://www.dxengineering.com/search/department/cable-and-connectors/part-type/coaxial-cable-assemblies?N=brand%3Adx-engineering%2Bcoaxial-cable-type%3A400max_lmr-400-uf-ultraflex

Here is a link to the Comet CA-712EFC at DX Engineering. Cost is $140. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/cma-ca-712efc I can't speak on the quality of the Retevis antenna. But you won't go wrong with the Comet CA-712EFC.

The KG-1000G and power supply combo will work well for you and make a nice base station setup. Let us know if you have any other questions or have any problems with setup. Don't forget to use a good antenna and good coax cable. Most of all enjoy your setup. If you decide to use external speakers with the radio, you will want to either use two speakers or just use one speaker for only one side. Y adaptors/splitters will not work, they cause an impedance mismatch and cut the volume levels in half if you try to use one speaker hooked to both speaker outputs on the radio. I found out the hard way by buying an y adaptor only to have the one speaker not being loud enough to hear. I decided to just use one speaker for one side of the radio. An excellent speaker is the Icom SP-35. You can get them on Amazon for $35.

With GMRS being line of sight, you will want to get the antenna as high as you can. Use a good antenna AND good coax cable with minimal loss. You are going to want to use LMR400 or equivalent coax cable. It will have the least amount of loss compared to other types of coax. I highly suggest going with the DX Engineering brand coax. They call it 400MAX and 400MAX UF (ultra flex). It is reasonably priced and definitely better than what you can find on Amazon. One of the best commercially available GMRS antennas is the Comet CA-712EFC antenna. Many of us here on the forum use this antenna. Higher antenna gain will help overcome any loss from the coax cable. I have to agree that the Wouxun KG-1000 G Plus is an excellent 50 watt radio and I use one for my base station. An excellent choice for a 20 watt radio is the Wouxun KG-XS20 G Plus. I have both. Both radios will reach the local repeater that is 21.5 miles away with ease using the Comet CA-712EFC mounted on my roof. I have also used both when we were in our testing faze. We tested the repeater antennas on simplex first to see how they work. Granted the repeater antennas are at 400 feet above ground. I had no issues reaching the tower site on simplex with the KG-XS20G Plus. My signal was stronger/louder when using the KG-1000G Plus on simplex. I was still being received loud and clear with the KG-XS20G Plus though. Good coax and a good antenna as high as you can get it will help the most.

The Wouxun KG-XS20 G is an excellent Type 95 certified 20 watt radio. Yes it costs more than a Baofeng or Retevis radio. But the price is worth it. The Wouxun is IP65 rated. I use one in my SxS. Now if you don't care about having a Part 95 certified radio, then I will also recommend the TYT TH-8600. The TH-8600 is also IP65 rated. Now I do have to use an external speaker with the KG-XS20G and TH-8600 on the SxS since it is pretty loud. The 20 watt Midland SPK100 is an excellent speaker and I can hear the radio while driving around at 30+ mph on the SxS.

I've tested my HT antennas using a Comet antenna analyzer. The SWR was all over the place on all of the antennas. The best results was when I held the analyzer up like I was using a HT. I have not used any of the 701 antennas but have a few of the 771 antennas, Half are for GMRS and the others are dual band. I did notice a slight improvement when using the 771 antennas on my Baofeng and Explorer QRZ-1 (TYT UV88). The stock antennas did as good or better than the 771 on my Icom IC-T10 and Wouxun HT's. I am sticking with the stock rubber duck antennas on all of my HT's except for my Baofeng GT-5R since I did open it up for the 1.25m/220 MHz band. I am using a tri band antenna for that.

Actually the correct way is to use a chassis ground with newer vehicles that have the BMS - Battery Management System. This is especially true with all the vehicles with the Auto Stop Start system. You still want the positive wire going directly to the battery.

There are a lot of variables that affects range. Buildings/structures, terrain, foliage/trees will all affect the range of GMRS and other UHF radios. Hand held radios will also be a little handicapped due to the low power level and short antennas. People in urban areas or hilly and heavily forested areas will have less range versus someone living in the desert or plains with good lines of sight. A few blocks to a mile or two is normal for talking between two hand held radios, rain it depends on location.

I would have fun that way when I was in the Army. The PTO driven generator on my truck mounted machine shop would totally block all radios within a 150 foot radius.

You're welcome.

I like using the Icom SP35 speaker. The best place to buy them is Amazon for $35. The SP35 is plenty loud with clear audio. I have two in my Ford Escape and two in my shack. One thing about the Wouxun KG100G is to use a separate speaker for each port. I tried using a Y adaptor to use one speaker for both ports and there was an impedance mismatch which cut the volume level way down. This happened on both of my KG-1000G radios. One can program the 1000G using the hand mic but it isn't the easiest. It still isn't as bad as other radios. I do agree that using the Wouxun software is the easiest way to program the radio. The removable faceplate is a must for me when using radios in my 2023 Ford Escape since there is not much room. Having the option to mount the face plate straight or angled up is nice. If the occasional interference is not another radio, then check all of your connections at the batter and chassis ground. I had to put clamp on ferrite beads on the power leads to my radios and I also put some on the main cable connecting the alternator to the battery. I still get an occasional buzz when I transmit (I never hear it). But it is such a rare occasion that I haven't done anything else to eliminate it.

You can also use your hand held radio with a small yagi antenna to find and pin point sources of interference. The rubber duck antenna will get you close but the yagi will narrow the search down.

I have to agree with @WRHS218 and @SteveShannon. The interference could be anything inside the building. It is common for computer monitors (and their power supplies) and unshielded network cables to cause interference. And those cheap gas station phone chargers are bad too. I had issues with unshielded network cables causing interference with my HF radio. And my some of my computer monitors cause interference with my Baofeng GT/UV-5R and Icom IC-T10 hand held radios.