WRYZ926

FRS is limited to 0.5W so no mobile radio can transmit on FRS 0.5w channels. The lowest that mobile radios will go is 5W. Midland doesn't even program the FRS channels into their mobiles and Wouxun has them programs but for receive only. The FRS 0.5W channels are channels 8 through 14.

As stated, going with LMR400 will help. Also having a good antenna as high as you can get it helps tremendously. And to answer your question about a 5W HT versus a 20W or 50W mobile as your base, yes the more powerful mobiles will allow you to transmit farther (depending on your location).

The standard J Mount works well for radio antennas. You will get better reception if you can get the base of the antenna higher than the roof. I bought a 40" tall j mount from Amazon for mine. For one the KG-100G is superheterodyne while the Midland is a SOC. I can tell a difference between the two. Plus I like the ability to mount the head separate from the main body in my vehicles and on my desk top. Plus I am just not very impressed with Midland radios after using the MXT500.

Right now I am using my Midland MXT500.

If you decide to use your KG-100G as a base station, look at the Comet CA-712EFC antenna, that is if you don't have to deal with any restrictions on antennas. I have the Comet CA-712EFC and have been very pleased with it. I have it mounted to a j mount on the top of my roof so the base is 18 foot above ground level and I have no problem talking to people 20 miles away with rolling hills and lot of woods between us. I can talk to guys using an HT at that distance depending on the terrain between us. According to USPS, my KG-100G and seat bolt mount are out for delivery so I will be busy installing everything tomorrow. I am going to the VA for a couple of appointments today.

The menu reset (#40) will not unlock the radios to transmit on other frequencies outside of GMRS frequencies.

The Wouxun radios are easy to program from the front panel or mic. The XS20G Plus was easy enough and very similar to the 935G Plus I helped program for a friend. My next purchase will probably be the KG935G Plus or I might splurge and get the KG Q10G.

I should get my KG 1000G Plus tomorrow according to USPS informed delivery. I'm still waiting on my seat bolt mount for the car so I can install my 2m/70cm radio and my KG 1000G Plus.

Yes repeater channels must be enabled in the menu. That being said, one radio set to narrow band will be hard to hear by others when farther away as my friend and I found out when he had his MXT575 set to narrow band, which is how all Midland radios come from the factory.

I find that new members frequently do not bother reading FAQ's or pinned threads on most of the forums I on. This goes for forums on many different topics from vehicles, firearms, model trains, two way radios, etc. That being said, a FAQ can be useful to have and point out to new members.

Some Baofeng radios can't be unlocked. The standard trick of holding down buttons while turning the radio on works with standard Baofeng UV-5R and GT-5R radios but will not work with the Baofeng UV-5R GMRS. I do not know if the unlock will work on the UV-5G or UV-5X GMRS radios. The UV-5R GMRS will have an orange label along with a small sticker that says GMRS. I have not found any information stating that the UV-5R unlock actually works on the GM-15 Pro.

Check to see if you have your radio set to narrow band or wide band. Most Midland radios come from the factory set on narrow ban. You want to change all channels to wide band. I don't know if that is your exact problem but using wide band will help. I have the MXT500 and a friend has the MXT575. I changed the settings on my radio to wide band but my friend did not. I could hardly hear him on any channel until he changed his radio to wide band. We were about 17 miles apart at the time.

And if you get your GMRS License and technician (or higher) license then you can double the costs since you will be looking at radios for HAM and GMRS. Yes I fell down that rabbit hole.

The Nagoya NA-771G is definitely a popular choice. I have the 771G for my GMRS HTs and the 771 dual band version for my 2m/70cm HTs. I do notice better reception when using the longer 771/771G antennas versus the stock rubber duck antennas.

Baofeng radios use a SMA female antenna. As mentioned by others, most HT's will have a SMA connector. Some brands use SMA male on the radios, such as Baofeng, while others use a SMA female on the radios, such as TYT. The last time I saw or used a BNC type connector was years ago on a CB HT.

Tropospheric ducting definitely effects how far radio waves travel. I was picking up a GMRS repeater this morning that is 33 miles from me but that I normally can't reach due to terrain. I was getting a very weak but clear signal this morning.

@jas you still could have been bouncing signals off of things without realizing it.

That is known as picket fencing in the HAM (amateur) radio world. And yes just moving a little bit in a different direction can help get around obstacles.

Yes a good antenna with higher gain will make quite a bit of difference. I am limited to a maximum of 16" for antennas for daily use so that I can still get my Ford Escape into the garage without damaging the antennas or tearing up the garage door insulation. But I will get longer antennas too.

That is what I was trying to explain in my earlier reply but was drawing a blank on proper terms. Even the Explorer QRZ-1/TYT YV88 while still direct conversion are both better than the Baofeng radios when it comes to front end overloading. Yesterday was a prime example with traveling in a convoy with others and also doing tower work. The BaoFeng GT-5R and UV-5R GMRS both suffered from front end overload while my Explorer QRZ-1 and the other higher end radios did not have issues.

I can say that there is a difference when it comes to HT radios. The Baofeng's are more sensitive and more susceptible to noise/interference when two radios are in close proximity (50-100 feet). I have noticed it with my dual band 2m/70cm Baofeng GT-5R and my Baofeng UV-5R GMRS. More expensive radios won't have that issue. I will keep my Baofeng radios around but they will get replaced with better radios. I find it hard to justify HT radios that cost $175 or more but am willing to spend $100-$125 for a good HT. Sound quality can be subjective depending on the individual's hearing. I can also say that others can hear me better on my more expensive HT's versus my Baofeng HT's. It is also easier to access the 2m repeater that is 21 miles away with my better radios versus my Baofeng radios. Only you can justify if a more expensive radio is better for you versus a cheaper radio.

Going with advice read on the forum, I suggested to the club to invest in a Bridgecom repeater or better versus trying to run two KG100G's for our repeater. We already have Motorola repeaters setup for 70cm and I'm not sure what the 2m repeater is. We lucked out and the tower is 900 foot tall. Plus there are some abandoned antennas as either 400 or 600 feet that will work great for GMRS. We tested the antennas and hard line and got a SWR of 1.3 on GMRS frequencies. We did a test yesterday using a MXT500 and MXT575. I am 21.5 miles from the repeater and the base of my Comet CA-712EFC is about 18-20 foot above the ground. We had no issues talking to each other on simplex and low power settings.

This hobby is like any other hobby and can get expensive if you don't watch it. I bought a Baofeng GT-5R first for 2m and 70cm to listen on while waiting for my technician license. I also bought two Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios once I received my GMRS license. I Also bought the Explorer QRZ-1 radio through QRZ and Giga Parts for new technicians. I also have two TYT TH-7800 dual band mobile radios along with a Midland MXT500 and Wouxun KG-XS20G. I ordered a KG-1000G Plus and am waiting for it to ship. One of the TYT mobiles and the KG-1000G are going in my vehicle and the XS20G will go into my SxS. And I am looking at better hand held radios for both GMRS and dual band. I will echo what others have said. Get two separate HT's. For starters, separate radios will keep you compliant with regulations. I know some don't care about that but it is what it is. Also as others have mentioned, the SWR could be off for one or more bands unless you want to swap antennas constantly. I recommend getting the Explorer QRZ-1 kit through QRZ for new technicians. It is a better HT than Baofeng HT's.

CHIRP operates the same on Mac and Windows, the only difference is the layout. I have CHIPR installed on my 2018 Mac mini and a one year old Dell laptop with Windows 11.

I have downloaded from one radio and made changes and was able to upload to that radio and a second radio of the same make/model without any issues. Both radios have to be the same make and model to do that. So I am going to say that it is quite possible that @Tiercel did not have the programming cable installed correctly or the radio was not on. I have two Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios and do this all the time with them. When working with two different makes and/o models then I download from both radios and copy/paste what I want to change.