WRYZ926

You will want your radio to TX on 467.625 and RX on 462.625. You will use the correct repeater channel which will be listed on your radio as either repeater 18 or some radios list it as channel 26. Either way make sure to use the repeater channel so that your radio is transmitting on 467.625 and receiving on 462.625

The UV-5R GMRS radios for $30 is a good deal. And they are perfect for handing out to family and friends or when you are doing something that you might worry about dropping/breaking a radio. I have a set of them myself and while not the best radios, they do work as intended.

I agree that you will be happy with the KG-935G Plus. I have one that is my goto hand held for GMRS use. Best wishes on your treatment. I hope everything goes well for you.

While you definitely have loss with RG-58 at UHF/GMRS frequencies, a good antenna with enough gain will help overcome any loss from the coax. RG-58A has a a loss of 11 dB or 92% loss at 100 feet for 467 MHz. You are actually looking at a gain of 1 watt (with a 5 watt radio) for a total of 6 watts out when using 19.5 feet of RG-58A coax with an antenna with 3 dBd ( 5.15 dBi) of gain. So if your antenna has a good ground plane and at least 5 dBi/3 dBd of gain, then I wouldn't worry about shortening the RG-58 coax. Roll any excess up in a nice circle and it will act as a 1:1 balun which helps keep RF from running down the outside of the coax and into the radio. Here is the coax loss calculator I like to use. https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/

I can't answer about the differences between the 9800D and 9800 Plus models. And yes the 9800 can be unlocked following the instructions found online. In fact the TH-9800 unlock also works for the TH7800.

Any mag mount will work. You will need a SO239 to SMA female cable. SO239 to SMA female cable

How do you have the radio connected for power?

I have not noticed anything like that with my Wouxun KG-Q10H or KG-935G when comparing them to my Baofeng,, Icom and QRZ-1/TYT HT's. In fact, I pick up more noise interference with the Baofeng, Icom and QRZ-1/TYT radios than I do with either Wouxun radio. It is hit or miss on my getting into the GMRS and 70cm repeaters with aa HT from my house since I am 22 miles from the repeater tower. I normally don't have any issues getting into the 2m repeater at that distance.

While repeaterbook.com does list GMRS repeaters, their list is a bit outdated. This website is a lot better when it comes to having an up to date repeater list for GMRS repeaters.

That is what my local club is using for our GMRS repeater. It works fine and has handled everything we have thrown at it. We tested it for about two months before opening it up to the public. The duty cycle is fine for a lot of traffic.

I have to agree with others that you might want to contact B-Tech about the issue. Sounds like there might be a problem with the duplexer. You are using good coax and a good antenna. How high is the antenna above ground and is there any obstructions such as trees or building near by?

I'm not going to argue with you. It is a well known fact that RG8 and RG8X has high loss on UHF frequencies. Here is one of the better loss calculators I have found. https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/ I suggest doing your own investigation. You will find that RG8 and RG8X are not good for UHF frequencies.

@WSBT338 I would definitely go with a different type of coax cable. RG8X has a lot of loss when used for GMRS frequencies. You are looking at a loss of 8.4 dB for a 100 foot run of RG8X, that equates to an 86% power loss. Let's say you are using 100 foot of RG8X, you would only be putting out 7 watts at the antenna with a 50 watt radio. Now let's say you are using 50 foot of RG8X with a 50 watt radio. You will have a loss of 4.2 dB which is a 62% loss with only getting an output power of 18.9 watts.

Those type of roll up j pole antennas definitely work. The faraday clothe j pole antennas will roll up into a smaller package and are pretty easy to make. The guy that made the video I posted earlier also sells them built for 2m and 70cm. You could definitely make your own and tune it for what ever band you want. https://vfcomms.com/product-category/antenna/ I have to agree that BNC connectors will be better than using the SMA connectors. There are quite a few YouTube videos of guys using those faraday cloth j poles and they are generally using them at 20-30 feet high in trees. And there are many ways to get your string up to pull the antenna into the air. Either type of roll up j pole will serve well in an emergency situation to get your antenna as high as you can to get more farz out of a HT.

There are instructions online for making 2m and 70cm roll up J Pole antennas using faraday clothe. It would not be that hard to modify a 2m faraday cloth j pole for MURS or modify a 70cm faraday cloth j pole for GMRS. You would need some way to get the antenna up high along with some coax cable to connect it to your HT. There is usually a solution or two for every problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7K6DNLD9Wo&t=3s

Nice view from your front door @GreggInFL But yes you are correct, all that will affect both VHF and UHF unless you can get an antenna above all the trees.

I can't wait to see the reviews. I would like to see how both of those radios compare to the Wouxun KG-Q10G also.

Knowing that information would definitely help. Using the best antennas and best coax cable that you can afford is very important and makes a big difference in performance.

I would like to see a CB radio tested on FM since that would be a closer comparison to MURS and GMRS. GMRS and MURS are FM frequencies. And yes I have been looking into getting a CB radio with AM, FM, and SSB capabilities.

I was wondering how long it was going to take before someone mentioned that the FTM500 is a amateur 2m/70cm radio. Yes the FTM500 can be MARS modded. But they would still make a poor repeater. Plenty of people have used two mobile radios as repeaters, but they never work as well as a dedicated purpose built repeater. Mobile radios just can't handle the higher duty cycle like a repeater can.

I know the Wouxun KG-XS20G is probably the most expensive 20 watt GMRS radio but it is an excellent radio. And most have found that they are actually putting out 25 watts on high power. I went with the XS20G since it is IP65 rated for dust and water. A radio with a good IP dust/water rating is a must when installing a radio in a SxS or other open type off road vehicle.

I have a couple of Nagoya 771 antennas. I have them for my dual band and GMRS radios. They make a slight improvement when used with my Baofeng hand held radios. I don't feel like the improvement is worth the cost or having to deal with the longer antenna. The Nagoya antennas were no better or even worse than the stock rubber duck antennas on my Icom, Explorer QRZ1, and Wouxun hand held radios. I don't have any experience with the Smiley or Signal Stick antennas.

The TYT TH-8600 and Anytone AT-788UV are both amateur band radios which are not Part 95 certified for use with GMRS. That being said, yes they work quite well on GMRS when opened up. If you are wanting to stay with a Part 95 certified radio then I will suggest the DB20G or Wouxun KG-XS20G. If you aren't worried about Part 95 then the TH-8600 and AT-778UV are good choices once they are unlocked. PS: No need to argue about using Part 95 certified radios versus using unlocked amateur band radios. That horse has been beaten until pulverized into ground meat.

I am going to suggest a Bridgecom repeater if buying brand new. Or look for a used Motorola repeater that can be programed/setup for GMRS. For the best results, you are also going to want to use a separate/external duplexer versus the small duplexers that are built into repeaters. Our club is using Motorola repeaters for 2m and 70cm and a Bridgecom for our GMRS repeater. We use external duplexers on all of our repeaters. I know there are the portable repeaters from Retevis and Midland, those are fine for temporary use or only covering a small area since they are low power. I would also stay away from the BTech GMRS repeaters until they work all of the bugs out. Bridgecom has sales all of the time and their sales prices are lower than what the BTech repeater costs. A few of us tested the Bridgecom repeater out for about 2 months before opening it up to the public. We put it through its paces and tested the duty cycle. The Bridgecom passed and is working well for us.

I have to agree that using a dedicated repeater with a quality duplexer is the way to go. Our club is using a Bridgecom repeater setup for GMRS and we went with a separate duplexer that one of our members tuned using the proper equipment. Mobile radios just can't handle the high duty cycle like a repeater can. Plus here is the defense issues with having antennas and radios close together. Using a cheap duplexer and cheap/wrong type of coax cable will make the problem worse. @OffRoaderX tried using two Wouxun KG-1000G radios and he went to a dedicated repeater since he was having issues when using two mobile radios. He can definitely give you insight on this.