WRYZ926

You did a good job on the presentation and making things easy to understand.

That can be said about a lot of different products from radios to audio amplifiers or even generators. Most manufacturers will advertise the peak power rating instead of the continuous running power rating. And I have to agree that using a meter will tell the true story. We have seen different radios be below the stated power and some above the rated power.

Here is a tri band 2m.1.25m/70cm Nagoya antenna. https://www.amazon.com/Nagoya-NA-320A-2M-1-25M-70CM-144-220-440Mhz-BTECH/dp/B01K10B9XK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tri%2Bband%2Bantenna&qid=1700346610&sr=8-1&th=1

It's always good to have both GMRS and amateur radio to use. We are getting our amateur club to install a GMRS repeater so that we have an addition method of communications for emergency situations.

The tests aren't hard to pass. I took the technician test in October and am currently studying for my general. Here is a link showing what bands each level of license can use. http://www.arrl.org/frequency-allocations If you want to use all of the allocated HF bands then you will need a general or amateur extra license.

I am very familiar with making and using network cables. I just tested the Wouxun KG-1000G connection cable and it is not wired the same as a standard network cable. For those interested in making a custom length cable for their Wouxun KG-100G here is the pin outs. 1 - 1 2 - 2 3 - 3 4 - 4 5 - 7 6 - 6 7 - 5 8 - 8

First welcome to the forum and to GMRS. @WRZE995 brought up some good points. You can get started on the cheap with a Baofeng hand held, from there the sky is the limit. I will say that an outside antenna on your vehicle will help any HT (hand held) have better range versus trying to use the stock antenna inside the vehicle.

@WRUZ229 That is good to know for those that own the MXT575. I asked because a lot of radios with remote head units use a different pinout for the connection cable.

Well since I started this thread asking about antennas, I should post a photo of them. Does the Midland use the standard Cat5 pinouts or did you have to swap any wires?

For those with unlocked radios, you can use CHIRP to turn TX off on individual channels by turning duplex to off.

I am interested in the KG-Q10H and KG-Q10G so I will be watching this thread. Right now I have a Baofeng GT-5R dual band and an Explorer QRZ-1 dual band along with a couple Baofeng GMRS HT's and am looking into getting better HT's.

I am not trying to validate myself or over-complicate things or trying to show everyone how smart I am.

Here is a good video explaining window pass throughs using bulkheads for those that are interested. Hopefully this will explain things for everyone to understand. And No I am not trying to show my intelligence or being a smartass either.

Yes the CA-712EFC is tuned for GMRS frequencies.

https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-db20g

Plus most magnet mount coax cables average 1-12 foot in length. So there won't be a lot of loss in that length versus 50 or 100 foot of coax used for most base unit installations.

Channels 8-14 are the low power channels at only 0.5 watts and you won't be able to transmit on those channels with a mobile radio.

I finally received everything needed to mount my 2m/70cm radio and GMRS radio in my Escape. My stuff took the scenic route thanks to the ever efficient USPS. I am using a Comet SSB1-NMO antenna for 2m/70cm and a Tram 1174 NMO antenna for GMRS, both are on magnet mounts. I found a spot along the main wiring harness under the dash to pass the power wires through. Positive wires are to the battery and ground wires go to chassis ground. The Comet is in the center of the roof while the Tram is towards the back end of the roof. Both radios are mounted under the driver's seat and the remote heads are mounted to a Lido seat bolt mount. I did have to go with an external speaker for the 2/m70cm radio which is mounted to the bottom of the dash close to the door. I will have to wait and see if an external speaker will be needed for the GMRS radio since it has two speakers on the main unit and a good speaker in the hand mic. I am using a TYT TH-7800 dual band radio for amateur frequencies and a Wouxun KG-1000G+ for GMRS. Here is a photo showing both head units on the seat bolt mount.

I stand corrected and I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. I overlooked all of the FRS channels that can use 2W and was going by the ones that are locked out on all GMRS mobile radios (channels 8-14).

If you end up using a window pass through bulkhead, you can have a piece of 1/4" all thread sticking out both sides. This allows you to ground the bulkheads and coax to an outside ground rod. And on the inside you can also ground all of your radio chassis to the bulkhead if you want. Old homes should still have a service ground so you will want to bond everything to it too. Here is the 40" j mount that I am currently using for my GMRS antenna. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GBWLMQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 And the pipe is 1 5/8" in diameter so you can get some 1 5/8" fence posts to extend it if needed and use these 1 5/8" couplers to connect them together. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCFTBL4H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Just remember that if you go much higher than the j mount you will most likely want to guy the mast. With a light weight vertical antenna, you can use the proper guy rope. I didn't add any more pipe to my j mount so I did not need to guy it.

I know talking about grounding everything can and does cause arguments. The PDF that @Sshannon posted is a good read and simple to understand. NEC and local building codes will determine what is needed for grounding everything. Grounding rods and 6 gauge grounding wire is cheap enough and worth the protection. I grounded both my masts to ground rods. I also have a ground rod right below the bulkhead where my cables attach and go through the wall into the house. All of those groups are also bonded to my service ground. I still need to add lightning arresters to the cables. The lightning arresters also help discharge any static electricity too. I put a ground rod right at the base of the taller mast that my 2m/70cm antenna is since it is on the far side of the house from my shack. The GMRS antenna is right above the shack and bulkhead so I used one ground rod for that mast and the bulkhead. My service ground is half way between the two so I ran 6 gauge wire between the two ground rods to the service ground. Sorry for the derailment of the thread but safety is important.

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.