WRYZ926

From what @MarkInTampa just posted, I would say that the Comet GP-6NC will work great for you. A SWR of 1.8 or less is just fine for any band/frequency. Sometimes people get hung up on chasing after the perfect SWR. Most of us are guilty of that. But anything 2.0 or less is fine.

I will throw out one other option if you don't mind using a mobile antenna for your base station. The Comet 2x4SR mobile antenna will cover all of the MURS and GMRS frequencies. The down side to using a mobile antenna is that you will need to install it onto some type of metal ground plane for the best results. A large cookie sheet works well for this. Comet 2x4SR-NMO $69 The 2x4SR is only 40" long. It is listed at only going to 465 MhZ but I can tell you from personal experience that it works fine on GMRS repeater channels (467 MHz). I am using one on my SxS and the SWR is 1.8 at 467 MHz and 1.2 at 462 MHz. There are other options from different brands that list 465 MHz. I can't tell you how well they will or will not work since I have not tried any of them.

It was a tight squeeze to get two radios under the driver's seat in my 2023 Ford Escape. I detached the control unit on both radios and they are mounted on a Lido seat bolt mount. I definitely had to run an external speaker for both radios. I couldn't hear either radio with the base under the seat. Here is the remote heads for my Wouxun KG-1000G and TYT TH-7800 on the Lido seat bolt mount.

Here are a few options I found that does both MURS and GMRS. Comet GP-9NCA $210 Comet GP-6NC $150 The GP-9NC is 16' 6" long and the GP-6NC is 10' 2" long. For comparison the Comet CA-712EFC is 10' 5" long but is not tuned for MURS There are other antennas but most are listed at only going up to 465MHz.

And it does so with less power required.

It is very common for amateur radio and GMRS users to start with an HT and using a magnet mount antenna on their vehicle. It is definitely an improvement over trying to use the rubber duck antenna inside the vehicle. Here are some good antennas for GMRS that I have used with a HT and mobile radios. The Nagoya UT-72G, Tram 1174 and Comet 2x4SR. The Nagoya and Tram are under 20" in height while the Comet 2x4SR is 38" tall. I did have to trim the Tram 1174 and Sean antenna analyzer to get it right. The Nagoya and Comet were good to go right out of the package. I am using the Tram 1174 and a Comet SBB1 for my GMRS and dual band radios in my Ford Escape sue to height restrictions and they have worked well with HT's and my 50 watt mobile radios. The Comet is on my SxS and works well with HT's along with my 20 watt water proof GMRS and dual band radios.

I have to agree that the only way to know is to try a different antenna. You can try a different antenna if you want to or stick with what you have if it is meeting your needs. You are already using a good repeater and good coax. The Comet CA712EFC is an excellent antenna. The CA-712EFC has 9dBi of gain which will be more of a pancake radiation pattern. That being said. I run my CA-712EFC with the base at 20 foot above ground and have no issues with RX or TX with people close to me. A couple of friends are also running the CA-712EFC. One is at 40 foot and the other at 60 foot. Neither one has issues with radios that are close to their antennas. To keep things simple when it comes to dBi versus dBm, just subtract 2.15 from the dBi value. So for an antenna with 9 dBi of gain that equals 6.85 dBm of gain.

A lot but not all GMRS repeaters use CW to identify.

I stand corrected on the KG-935G. It is a direct conversion SOC radio. It still outperforms the Icom IC-T10. The KG-Q10H and IC-T10 are close to the same price. The Wouxun KG-Q10H and KG-Q10G (GMRS version) are $220 and the Icom IC-T10 is $240. If I had to do things over, I would not have bought the Icom IC-T10 and instead stuck with the Wouxun KG-Q10H or KG-UV9D for a dual band hand held radio. And the Wouxun KG-935G is probably one of the best hand held GMRS radios. I ended up replacing my Midland MXT500 before I realized I could send it in to be fixed for the low power issue. Otherwise I might have kept the MXT500. I have been pleased with the Wouxun KG-1000G and KG-XS20G mobile radios.

One can't always got by the name on a radio either. I have an Icom IC-T10 hand held and it is not much better than my Baofeng hand held radios when it comes to picking up noise/RFI. The IC-T10 is a SOC radio. Granted the IC-T10 is Icom's entry level hand held. Where the IC-T10 does better is on RX/TX and rejection of adjacent signals. Plus the IC-T10 feels like a real radio versus a child's walkie talkie from the 1980's. My Wouxun hand held radios are both superheterodyne and do better than my Baofeng and Icom hand held radios. Neither one picked up the RFI like my Icom or Baofeng radios. The front ends also do not get overloaded like the IC-T10 or GT-5r/UV-5R GMRS radios do. The Wouxun hand helds I own are the KG-935G and KG-Q10H. The Explorer QRZ-1 fall in between the Icom/Baofeng and the Wouxun radios. The QRZ-1 is a rebranded TYT UV-88 hand held with a custom firmware. My testing for RFI was far from scientific. What I did was walk around the house with all of my hand held radios tuned to both VHF and UHF frequencies. Every radio except for the two Wouxun's picked up RFI on UHF inside the house. The biggest culprits of the RFI source is my computer monitors and TVs. Sorry for being long winded here. This goes to show that you can't always go by the brand name either. As far as mobile radios go, the Wouxun and Midland GMRS radios are hard to beat. Neither brand is perfect but they perform better than the cheaper brands. One can always go with Kenwood or Motorola radios if they can afford them or find used radios at a decent price. In the end, go with what you can afford and has the features you like.

Every vehicle I have owned with the battery monitor system and auto start/stop system has been this way. I have seen as high as 15.2 volts and as low as 12.8 volts with my 2023 Ford escape. Most dc power supplies used for radios have two output settings. One is for a constant 13.8 volts and the other is variable voltage. I leave all my power supplies on the constant 13.8 volt setting and they are all very consistent at 13.7 to 13.8 volts.

I tried a couple of different power supplies and they all put out 13.7 - 13.8 volts according to my Fluke multimeter.

While that is very true, one expects at least 45 watts out of a radio rated at 50 watts by the manufacturer. And as noted by myself and others, Midland knows there is an issue with the MXT500 being underpowered. Now in places like I live, that extra power can and does help punch through the trees, etc. We have lots of forested areas in between the farm fields. The forested areas are all old growth hardwoods and eastern cedar. I have been in areas where I can get out fine with my KG-1000G at 45-50 watts while I struggle with the KG-XS20G at 25 watts. Same goes with my 70cm radios too. The 50 watt radio does better than my 25 watt radio in the same locations. Sometimes one needs all the power they can get with UHF frequencies.

I don't have access to a Bird monitor. I tested with a couple of different SWR/power meters into a good dummy load and also with the antenna inline. I am using a tuned Comet CA-712EFC with a 32 foot run of LMR400 Ultraflex coax with Amphenol connectors. There was a slight difference between my Surecom meter and my more expensive meter. But the Midland was still only putting out 38 watts on high into the dummy load and connected to the antenna. The two Wouxon KG-1000G radios were a steady 46 to 50 watts and the KG-XS20G was 25 watts. The only differences in my tests were the radios, everything else was the same in each test. While I did not use high end testing equipment, I did make sure to keep everything as consistent as possible.

I know a few people in different industries that deal with Chinese manufacturers. Most Chinese manufacturers will make what ever you want and to the specifications you require. You can't always go by the country of origin to determine the quality. It is what specifications the customer wants and how much they want to pay per item. And Midland radios are made in China also. Even some Japanese companies are having radios made in China now days, this includes some Yaesu models and some Alinco models. Like most people, I did my research before buying any radio. First hand reviews by actual end users are important. I take most reviews on Amazon with a grain of salt and look for more independent reviews. I had a Midlands MXT500 for a while. But I was not happy that my particular radio was not putting out anything close to the 50 watts maximum (35 watts on high). Otherwise it was a nice radio and easy to program through the radio itself. The Wouxun KG-1000G radios I have do put out between 46 and 50 watts as advertised. And the KG-XS20G actually puts out 25 watts versus the advertised 20 watts.

I have to agree that the Wouxun KG-XS20G and KG-1000G radios are great choices. I own both and they work well. I am using one KG-1000G as my base station with a Comet CA-712EFC antenna and another in my car with a short Tram 1174 antenna. The KG-XS20G is in my Honda Pioneer 500 with a Comet 2x4SR antenna. While I am not a fan of Midland mobile radios, they are hard to beat for their simplicity and ease of use. I haven't heard a lot of positive reviews on the Baofeng/B-Tech mobile radios. This goes for their GMRS and amateur band mobile radios.

As stated, there are a few reasons why one would want to put a loop in the coax right below an antenna. Though it is not necessary if the coax is attached to the mast/tower so that there is no strain on the connectors. I personally put a loop in the coax on all my vertical antennas just so I don't have to undo any of the cable clamps/supports if I don't have to. Yes a few manufacturers to include Comet, Diamond, and Tram recommend a loop.

The purpose for the loop right below the antenna is incase you ever need to remove the antenna from the mounting bracket. The loop gives enough slack to pull the antenna out of the mount and disconnect the coax. And you definitely want a drip loop in the coax where it enters your home to keep water from running down the cable and then inside.

A lot of people on limited budgets or just dipping their toes into amateur radio and/or GMRS will use a hand held radio connected to a magnet mounted antenna in their vehicles. While a 5 or 8 watt hand held won't reach out as far as a 20 - 50 watt mobile, radio, it still works well with an external antenna. I ran a magnet mount antenna with my Baofeng GT-5R hooked to an external antenna in my car for a while and had no issues getting into the local repeaters. That allowed me to save up for and research what mobile radio I wanted.

A NanoVNA will work for showing if you are high or low on your SWR and if you need to shorten or lengthen the antenna. And NanoVNA's can be bought for under $100. There is a bit of a learning curve with them but it isn't that bad.

Go with what works for you. The main thing is to be 1.8 or less on 462 and 467. An SWR of 2.0 will still work but 1.8 or less is better.

It is way easier to shorten an antenna versus lengthening one. This is where a cheap NanaVNA or an antenna analyzer comes in handy. You really need to know if the antenna is resonant above or below where you want it. I had to trim my Tram 1174 antenna. Before I made a single cut, I measured the SWR with an analyzer to see if it was high (short) or low (long). I made small 1/8" or less cuts testing the SWR after each cut. I did this until I was happy with the SWR. Remember to test at 467 MHz and at 462 MHz. You might get it spot on at 1.0 - 1.2 at one but be around 1.8 on the other. Or you might get both really close. I got my Tram to 1.3 at 462 MHz and 1.5 at 467 MHz. You will be fine as long as you are 1.8 or less on both 467 MHz and 462 MHz. Remember to cut just a tiny bit and test after each cut. If your lowest SWR is above your target frequency, then the antenna is too short. If the lowest SWR is below the target frequency, then the antenna is long and needs trimmed.

That is the easiest and fasted way to correct the issue. It would not cost much at all in the cost of redesign or materials to do that.

I finally bought a KG-Q10H. I've been happy with it so far. It works well on 2m and 70cm. I have only been able to talk to people within a few miles on 6m but it works and sounds good. I have yet to try out 1.25m since no one around uses that band. It definitely performs better than the Icom IC-T10 I have.

@marcspaz you're welcome. We are getting about 30- 35 mile radius from the repeater which is pretty good considering the terrain and forested areas in Central Missouri. Again the GMRS antennas are at 400 feet. We have about the same coverage area with our 70cm repeater even with its antennas at 900 feet. valleys and red cedar trees mess with UHF. Most of the dead spots I find on GMRS are the same for 70cm when I am mobile.