WRYZ926

I totally missed the part about having two antennas. Not enough . Half a wave length for 70cm band and GMRS is about 12 to 13 inches. Half a wave length of 2m band is around 40 inches. I am running a Comet SBB-1 dual band antenna and a Nagoya UT-72G GMRS antenna on top of my Ford Escape. The antennas are approximately 2 foot apart (full wave length for 70cm/GMRS). I haven't had any issues with that setup. I haven't tried having the antennas any closer than that.

Yes that should work as a ground plane. I have my Comet 2x4SR with a magnetic mount on an expanded metal rack on the back of my SxS and it works just fine for 2m, 70cm, and GMRS. I modified one of those trailer hitch cargo racks to fit my SxS.

This is true. And while the MXT500 worked for me, I didn't care for how it sounded nor did I like the menu and lack of features. I ended up donating the radio to the club I belong to. We are going to install it into our emergency coms trailer alongside all the other radios. Again nothing wrong with Midland radios for those that want a simple easy to use radio right out of the box. But they aren't for me. I like to tweak and change settings, etc. This goes for my radios, computers, motorcycles, etc.

I know my test was not even close to professional since I used a SureCom SW-102. I tested a total of four radios using the same 32 feet of LMR400 going to my Comet CA-712EFC antenna. The base of the antenna is 18 feet above ground. I tested the Midland MXT500, Wouxun KG-XS20G, Wouxun KG-1000G and KG-1000G Plus. MXT500 - 35 watts KG-XS20G - 25 watts KG-1000G - 47 watts KG-1000G Plus - 48 watts I updated the MXT500 to the most up to date firmware before testing. All radios were powered by the same R & L Electronics 30 Amp power supply. I used the MXT500 and KG-XS20G while we were testing the repeater antennas at 400 feet and 21 miles away from me on simplex. I received better signal reports when using the KG-XS20G compared to the MXT500. Granted Midland radios are fine for those wanting a very simple radio. But there seems to be an issue with some MXT500's not putting out anywhere close to the advertised 50 watts. I would not complain about only getting 45 watts out but 35 watts was too low in my opinion.

Even Midland radios are made in China. When it comes amateur band radios, even some Yaesu radios are now made in China.

All I can say is "Good Luck"

@Lscott That's good information for those considering the BTech amp. 20 or 30 watts is still better than 5 watts when using a decent base or mobile antenna.

I posted the correct pinout for making a new cable along with suggesting the use of shielded cable and shielded connectors. If the cable that came with the radios isn't long enough then a custom length cable will need to be made. The pinout Wouxun uses won't match any commercially available cables unless one purchases a custom made cable. Good luck on the project.

You would be better off getting the BTech AMP-U25 amplifier from Amazon. Easier to return if it doesn't work and it will have better customer service through BTech. And it will keep you at the legal 50 watt limit for GMRS. BTech AMP-U25

Here is the pinout for the Wouxun extension cables. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-7, 6-6, 7-5, 8-8 I will suggest using a good shielded Cat6 cable along with shielded RJ45 connectors if you plan on making your own cable. The shielded cable will help keep out RFI from other radios. Again, it will work, but you will be better off getting a purpose built repeater and a decent duplexer versus using two KG-1000G radios for the reasons already mentioned.

I spaced on the desense issue if the antennas are not far enough away from each other or the need for a decent (and properly tuned) duplexer if only using one antenna. I still have too much blood in the caffeine system this afternoon.

The Wouxun KG-1000G and KG-1000G Plus do not use a standard straight through or crossover cable. The extension cable that comes with the radio works for both remote mounting the head and for connecting two radios together for a repeater. This is where a common and inexpensive RJ12/RJ45 cable tester comes in handy. Hint for you - pins 5 and 7 are reversed. That being said. There are plenty of members here that have made a repeater using two KG-1000G radios. Most, if not all, of them have since went to using an actual purpose built repeater. The reason for this is that the KG-1000G does not have sufficient duty cycle rates for use as a repeater. An actually repeater will have a 100% duty cycle and will hold up to constant use. PS: Here is a good thread explaining duty cycle https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1399-duty-cycle-explained/#comment-26152

I just noticed this old thread resurrected. I had a MXT500 and it was not putting out any where near 50 watts on high. I was also not impressed with the RX and TX sound quality. Needless to say the MXT500 was replaced by Wouxun KG-1000G that is a much better radio. Heck the Wouxun KG-XS20G did a better job at reaching the repeater tower 21.5 miles away when we were testing the antennas on simplex compared to the MXT500.

You can try to find out who it is that is causing the interference and then send them a polite letter informing them what is going on. After that, you can contact the FCC. Or you can just contact the FCC from the start.

@SignallyCurious2 we are not doubting you about what you are hearing. A properly setup 70cm DMR repeater should not be bleeding over onto GMRS channels. And the frequency in the thread title isn't even a GMRS channel or an authorized 70cm band frequency. I saw that you asked this question on the Radio Reference forum too.

As noted 462.5325 is not a GMRS channel/frequency. Now 462.575 is definitely a GMRS channel/frequency. 462.575 is channel 16 simplex and repeater channel 16 for the repeater output. It will be interesting to know what you find out.

The Radioddity UV-5G is supported by CHIRP and is what one uses when programming the Baofeng UV-5R GMRS too. I haven't bricked either of my UV-5R GRMS radios when choosing the Radioddity UV-5G when using CHIRP.

As others have stated, there is a difference in the firmware. Trying the unlock sequence that works on the regular UV-5R did not work on either of my UV-5R GMRS radios. Both of mine work as they should to include transmitting on channel 15. I bought mine on 9 Oct 2023 from Amazon.

I agree that a hand rail is probably not wide enough. A cheap metal cookie sheet will work better. I have not tried the ground plane kits so can't comment one way or the other.

Nice install. I am running a TYT TH-7800 in my Ford Escape and another TH-7800 as my base station. I have't had any issues with either.

You should be fine with that setup. The 1 3/8" top rails should be fine as long as they are properly supported. I went with 1 5/8" fence post since that is what was used for the original TV antenna and that size pipe is the same as most J mounts ( sat. dish mounts). The ground wire doesn't have to go to the top of the mast. The main thing is the mast is grounded and the ground wire doesn't have any sharp bends. Also make sure that there are not any sharp bends in the coax either. another thing is to make sure to use a good quality N to PL259 adaptor.

A repeater or radio's coverage/distance will definitely depend on location, terrain, foliage, buildings, noise floor, height of antenna, etc. We are getting about a 30 to 35 mile radius with our repeater and the antennas are 400 feet above ground here in Mid Missouri. We are using a Bridgecom repeater.

@WSAW350 20-25 miles should be doable if you both are running good antennas with good coax. The trick is to get both antennas as high as you can at each location. I can talk to a friend that is about 24 miles away on simplex. We are both using Comet CA-712 antennas, his is 30 feet above ground while mine is 18 feet above ground. We are both using the KG-1000G Plus radio and we have to use high power (50 watts). How noisy your area is (RF noise) will also make a difference.

Yes it would be the same for all linked repeaters no matter what band they use since linking is done over the internet.

This is true. But messages can be relayed between different radios if at least one base station with a good antenna up high is in the mix and can communicate with all near by radios. Relaying messages is common and we do it all the time when conducting simplex nets on 2m and 70cm bands. There is no reason why it can't be done on GMRS either.