WRYZ926

I bet the comments will range from sensible to totally hare brain/off the wall and everything in between. This can be a double edged sword for everyone. They might deregulate things for commercial users and broadcast services that greatly affect amateur and GMRS uses. Or the FCC could make changes that will help amateur/GMRS bands. We just don't know at this point. I have to agree that the cat is out of the bag and long gone when it comes to separating FRS and GMRS. Too many of the FRS/GMRS blister pack radios were sold over the years. And the manufacturers never really mentioned the need for a license on the packages of those blister pack GMRS radios. The license requirements were in small print in the instructions that most people never read.

That could be a really good thing or it can open up a can of worms that we don't want. I say that because we all know some people want to turn GMRS into HAM Lite. We don't have enough frequencies/channels available for linking repeaters or different digital modes, etc, etc. I would hate to see GMRS turn into what the Chicken Band (CB) has become.

The Surecom is not the most accurate but it is the simplest to use if all you are wanting to do is check the SWR. And this is normally good enough when checking the SWR on mobile antennas. I will always suggest getting a NanoVNA or a good antenna analyzer for tuning/cutting antennas. They make life easier when tuning by showing exactly where the lowest SWR is. You will know right away if the antenna is too long or too short. I have a Surecom SW-102 that I use for quick SWR tests along with a Comet CAA-500 analyzer and a Rig Expert Stick Pro analyzer. I use the SW-102 for quick SWR checks and the analyzers if I need to actually tune the antenna.

That myth has been busted numerous time. It will not hurt to loop the excess coax inside your vehicle. In fact, if you have enough extra coax then looping it can help reduce noise as it can act as a common mode choke. Most antenna mounts come with 12-16 feet of coax with the most common being 12 feet.

If all you are wanting to do is check the SWR and power output then the Mcbazel Surecom SW-102 Digital VHF/UHF 125-525Mhz Antenna Power & SWR Meter from Amazon is hard to beat for the price and for the simplicity/ease of use. You can get a NanoVNA for not much more but they usually have a steep learning curve. Antenna analyzers are great for tuning antennas along with building your own antennas. But they are usually $300 or more for a good quality analyzer. I have a Rig Expert Stick Pro and use it quite often. I make my own HF antennas so I can justify the cost of the Rig Expert. It also comes in handy when cutting/tuning VHF/UHF antennas. There is no guess work on if the antenna is short or long.

Antenna Farm was closed for a while due to the owner's health issues not too long ago. I wonder if that's why people on Radio Reference are bashing them. I've never seen Antenna Farm get bashed on other forums and they usually are one of the recommended vendors. Club members, including myself, have ordered antennas from Antenna Farm without issues. PS: the Radio Reference forum is the radio version of the Glock Talk and ARFCOM forums in the firearms world.

That will work fine as a ground plane. You are slightly below the minimum radius front to back but have more than enough ground plane left to right. The minimum ground plane is a 1/4 wave length radius which is 6 inches for GMRS frequencies. And the ground plane does not have to be solid metal either. I have one of those expanded metal cargo racks on the back of my SxS that works well with my Comet 2x4SR antenna on 2m, 70cm, and GMRS. The only concern I would have is possible interaction from the soft top cross bars. That may or may not be an issue for you. For Negative Nancy - the soft top material should not be an issue since radio waves can pass right through the material. A fiberglass hardtop again should not be an issue either.

Check local zoning laws along with contacting the airport. A friend is directly inline with the N/S runway at the local airport that is about 1 mile north of his house so he is restricted to a maximum height of 80 feet above ground.

@WSHA485 Yes the cable you have should work fine since it has the FTDI chip in it.

Especially since RT Systems does NOT even have a program for the KG-905G.

Here ae a couple of videos from Ham Radio Crash Course where he tested a bunch of different HT antennas. He tested dual band antennas on 2m and 70cm. This will at least give you an idea of how each performs. ABBREE Tacticool Ham Radio Antenna Performance Test and Review Tested! ABBREE, TWAYRDIO, Smiley, MFJ Ham Radio Antennas & QuirkQRP ZipTenna!

@WROQ359 is correct that you want menu number 11 to change the voice prompt. I am not familiar with the 905G, but if it is anything like the 935G then it will say the channel number when the voice prompt is on. And you will have to use the official Wouxun programming software to program the radio using a computer. RT Systems does not make a version for the KG-905G and the radio is NOT supported by CHIRP. Use the correct Wouxun software so that you do not take an unnecessary risk of bricking your radio.

Well good for you. Normally most people need to install the drivers first. Now and then Windows will actually choose the correct drivers. Windows has been known to pick the wrong drivers more often. In fact the instructions for most radios will tell you to install the correct drivers before plugging the cable in. And you can't use your usually line of people buying cheap/junk radios. The instructions say to install the drivers first even with Yaesu and Icom radios. And it doesn't matter if you use Yaesu or Icom CPS or RT Systems CPS.

I will second what @SteveShannon and @OffRoaderX said. You definitely want to make suer to use a good quality cable, preferably with the Silicon Labs FTDI chip in it. You also definitely need to install the correct drivers from Silicon Labs on your computer before ever plugging the cable in. Otherwise Windows will most likely install the wrong driver. You need to make sure that the cable is fully seated into the radio. Sometimes it might feel like it is fully seated when it is not. Some radios are worse bout this than others. CHIRP Next is the way to go with Windows 10/11. Avoid any cables with the Prolific chips in them. Prolific has not updated their firmware nor kept their Windows certificates up to date. And the pirated Prolific chips in the cheap cables from Amazon and eBay are even worse. I've had plenty of issues with Prolific chips and Windows. The Prolific chips flat don't work with Mac OS Sonoma and Sequoia

This is very true. But "some people" just can't behave or be polite.

He is like the toddler that acts badly to get attention from the parents that otherwise ignore the child. He has definitely earned the Negative Nancy nickname.

I see that Negative Nancy AKA MR 200 Miles is at it again with spouting off about his unrealistic range that most people will never see. I live in Mid Missouri and our repeater antennas are on a 1000 foot tower. The GMRS repeater antennas are at 400 feet. The 2m and 70cm antennas are at 900 feet. We only get a 30-35 mile coverage radius with both the GMRS and 70cm repeaters. Again this is due to the local terrain and trees. We have lots of rolling hills and river valleys that are forested. Yes the 70cm repeater does not better than GMRS even though the 70cm antennas are 500 feet higher. It's the nature of UHF frequencies. We have one of the largest coverage areas in the state with our 2m repeater and we still only have a 80-85 mile radius with it.

Again you are wrong, especially if one is using CHIRP to program their radio. You have to manually input the offset in CHIRP even when programming a Part 95 certified GMRS radio.

This is true. I would love to run my Comet 2x4SR on my Escape but it's just too tall to fit into my garage or into any parking garages. We all go with what works best for our situation. I can definitely get buy with using the SBB1 if I wanted to but I like running a dual band and GMRS radio in my car so I run separate antennas.

Nothing wrong with that at all. I like using the KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. And you did a good job of keeping your results simple and easy to understand. There are all kinds of variables that come into play. We all like to have the lowest SWR but that is not always possible. You are good as long as the SWR is 2.0 or below. I have the Melowave Shadow (same as the Midland Ghost) but I've only compared it to the Nagoya UT-72G connected to my Wouxun KG-XS20G. The Melowave does better. The SBB1 is about as tall of an antenna as I can use on my Ford Escape and it just barely clears the garage door. The Tram 1174 is a little shorter and it works well so I haven't bothered swapping it for the Melowave Shadow. I might put the KG-XS20G in the wife's car and use the Melowave with it.

I only have the Comet SBB1. My results are smilier for GMRS and 70cm but mine does better on 2m than what yours does. Using your numbering system. I would say my SBB1 is 2 for GMRS and between 2 and 3 for 2m and 70cm. The highest SWR I have seen when testing with a Comet CAA-500 and Rig Expert Stick Pro is 1.8 at 467 MHz. Everything else for 462 MHz, 70cm and 2m is 1.6 or lower. We could test several of the exact same antennas and get different results for each one. The worst antenna I have and don't use is the Nagoya UT-72G. These are not NMO mount antennas, or at least mine isn't. They attach to the magnet mount using SMA connectors. My Melowave Shadow outperforms my UT-72G. I am currently using a Tram 1174 NMO antenna that I cut/tuned for GMRS and the SWR on it is 1.4 on 467 and 1.2 on 462. I get about 30-35 miles range using the Tram 1174 and Comet SBB1 on UHF and 55-60 miles on 2m when using our local repeaters. I get around 5-8 miles range on UHF when using simplex and 18-25 miles on 2m simplex. Again it depends on the terrain around me at the time. This is not bad for short 20 inch or less antennas.

I don't want a PTT button that is hard to push in since I have arthritis in my hands. I also don't want a PTT button that is too easy to push in. I don't want to be like my brother. His hand mic slipped down onto his seat and got pushed, everyone on the 2m repeater got to hear his conversation with his wife. PS: triggering Negative Nancy is more fun than blocking him

Negative Nancy's personality is shining again. I think the whole conversation is funny as OffroaderX is giving SteveShannon some trouble all in fun.

The Queen of all that is GMRS has anointed you so. YES go forth Sir SteveShannon HERD

I agree that guy is a bit cranky at times. But he does give good information in his videos (most of the time) GMRS repeaters transmit on 462.XXX while receiving on 467.XXX. GMRS repeater transmit channels are the same as the corresponding simplex channels. So yes you can hear repeaters when on a simplex channel. You will also hear the corresponding simplex channel while your radio is on a repeater channel if you are not using a receive tone. This just how things work with GMRS since there are only so many channels available. We had one guy complaining about hearing a bunch of kids on the repeater when no one else was hearing the kids. The kids were on simplex and the guy did not have the receive PL Tone set on his radio.