WRYZ926

Quite a few of us in my local club have both licenses. And whenever any of us give the wrong call sign, the rest will give the guy trouble (in fun).

You should be able to get into the repeater just fine if you can get a good base antenna up as high as you can go with good coax. 20 miles should not be a problem with a base antenna.

I agree with that. Myself and others have occasionally gave the wrong call signs while on our GMRS repeater and while on our 2m and 70cm repeaters. It's going to happen now and then. Now if it is constant then there is an issue.

I was thinking that is was a GMRS repeater since there is enough space between 70cm frequencies and GMRS channels. As far as conversations, I hear all kinds of topics on 2m, 70cm and GMRS. If I don't want to listen, I turn the dial to a different channel/frequency.

It could be a GMRS repeater you are hearing too. Some will setup their GMRS repeaters to ID using CW (morse code). The repeater output frequency/channel for repeater channel 16 is the same as the simplex channel 16 at 462.575 MHz. One can normally hear GMRS repeater output traffic on simplex channels even with output tones set on the repeater. The band plan for the amateur 70cm band is from 420.000 MHz to 450.000 MHz. So a 70cm repeater should not bleed over into the GMRS channels. And you are correct that one cannot legally link amateur band repeater with a GMRS repeater. Please record the CW ID and post it so it can be decoded.

A NanoVNA or antenna analyzer is what you need to see where the antenna is resonant. I know not everyone has those or can afford an antenna analyzer. First check the coax cable and all connectors/adaptors to make sure they are good. I would try a different antenna on your mag mount if you can. That will help eliminate the antenna or mag mount as the problem.

I stand corrected and I need to pay closer attention to my radios. I went out and took a photo of my KG1000G Plus mic and it is labeled differently. I never paid attention to the labels when swapping the mics between the two radios. Either way it is button 6 that you use to change from frequency, channel number, or channel name.

That is the mic that came with my KG-1000G. I also have a KG-1000G Plus. The mics are identical.

I have to agree with @Sshannon. Definitely try an external antenna first. Even a mobile mag mount antenna on a cookie sheet outside is better than an antenna inside the house. If you can afford it and have a place to mount it, I will recommend the Comet CA-712EFC antenna. And getting a 200 mile range is definitely not the norm with GMRS. Most guys in the wide open desert are getting 75 - 100 miles tops. Terrain, foliage, buildings and other obstacles will affect and limit your range. GMRS is line of sight. So the higher your antenna is and that of the person you are trying to talk to is, the better.

A SWR meter will tell you if the antenna is resonant or not. And if it is not, then you will need to first check all connections and the coax cable. If all of that checks good, then you will probably need to tune the antenna.

I'm also running a Nagoya UT-72G antenna on my 23 Ford Escape. I have it towards the rear of the roof with plenty of surface area around it and no roof rack. It works well. I can hit our repeater from up to 35 miles away depending on the terrain. Here is where my UT-2G is. The antenna in middle of the roof is my dual band Comet SBB1.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier. Some mag mounts have a small SMA top connector that screws into a SO239 connector. Double check that connection is assembled correctly and tight. I've been bit before by that little connection coming loose.

The antenna should work just fine in the center of the roof barring any issues with the coax or connectors.

I see both the positives and negatives of linked repeaters. There is one node that gets linked to our 2m repeater and sometimes we get traffic from that node that is weak and mostly static. I know that is most likely on the node owner's setup.

If that is the same website I am thinking of in French, it is what we used to figure out the foot print of our GMRS repeater. Here is a map of our GMRS repeater coverage area. The antennas are 400 feet above the ground. We actually get a bit more distance than what the map shows in some directions depending on the terrain.

Having the antenna right next to that roof rack is not ideal but should still work. Try moving the antenna onto the middle of the rack and see if that makes any difference. PS: those Baofeng hand mic's aren't the best. One trick to help is to take them apart and open up the microphone hole.

Here is a photo of the KG-1000-G mic.

I agree with @Flameout. I have stuck with running LMR400 since all of my runs are under 100 feet.

I watched that video and decided not to even try that repair. I work with small N scale digital command control boards, but that is mostly just soldering 28-32 gauge wires to the boards.

Most of the local departments and state highway patrol have all gone digital around me. One sheriff's department still uses analog and all the small towns go through county dispatch.

I agree that it is worth checking the squelch and narrow/wide band setting on both radios before sending it back. I don't remember how the XS20G was setup from the factory since I always go in and set everything to wide band anyway.

I have an old Uniden analog scanner. I got a bit of sticker shock looking at the new digital scanners.

I would definitely send the radio back then.

I would contact the vendor that you bought your radio from. The XS20G should have good reception when is using a good properly tuned antenna. Now I do have to ask. How and where is your MXTA26 antenna installed? Does the antenna have a good enough ground plain? I run a KG-XS20G in my SxS with a Comet 2x4SR antenna on a mag mount. The antenna is on the metal rack on my SxS. I get great reception When talking to others on simplex and when talking on the repeater 21.5 miles away. Here is the Comet 2x4SR on the back of my SxS

It is the USB port for CAT control. I am using a Yaesu SCU-17 currently for CAT control for WSJTX/FT8. The SCU-17 was a whole lot cheaper than sending the radio in for repair.