Tiercel

Again, this worked perfectly on my UV-9G. And it worked perfectly on a UV-9R if you go back one page.

I apologize if it seems like I am trying to butt in and steal my thread back I have zero restrictions at least no obvious ones. It is not clear to me how long this antenna is. It seems I am seeing different specs, maybe the site I am on is mixing specs from Ham vs GMRS

OK, I passed my tests so that is behind me. I also attended my first meeting and joined the local club. I did not find the study or the testing to be a pleasant experience. It might be because I tried to cram too much into my old brain in a short time. In part it is because I was annoyed that the even though I was told the practice test questions, and quiz questions came for the current updated question pool, but several did NOT. Fortunately there was considerable overlap which enabled me to pass. The other somewhat annoying thing is that there were 8 or 9 guys sitting around shooting the breeze 8 or 10 feet from me while I was testing which does not mesh with my personality. I like quiet when I am thinking, but it all worked out.

I have 4 days to prepare for my HAM test and I am only halfway thru the General material so I have to knock out 4 lessons a day. I think the Technician test is in the bag however and I can live with passing only that test. Bottom line is you wont hear much from me until that test and my first Ham meeting is behind me. I am honestly not sure I would do this if I knew what I know now back when I started with the Ham prep. From what I have learned and experienced with GMRS I think I would be quite happy with a good GMRS setup. Since I am this far in however, it is now a quest like going to see Marty Moose Once I have my Ham license it gives me options so that makes it worth the effort to me. Time will tell what if anything I will do with the Ham license once I have it. I do have two cheap Baofeng UV-5Rs but we will see what that develops into. If nothing else I can be a Sad Ham when I get bored. Back to studying. Fortunately my father repaired radios, and TVs when I was a kid so Ohm's law, diodes, cathodes, multimeters have all been part of my life and years as a Computer Services Manager with the Dept of Justice all give me a little bit of a base to build on. I am primarily using a paid site "HamRadioPrep.com" but I have also spent time on HamStudy.org.

I have absolutely NO clue what you just said.

WRZ926, I don't consider any discussion of proper grounding as hijacking the discussion whether it is my setup or that of others. I have yet to the study the document Sshannon provided but I am anxious to do so. I have to jump on some Ham test study ASAP however. My PA house was built before most public utilities (1878). While my service box(s) are grounded, most of my circuits are two wire ungrounded circuits. The exception is my kitchen. I have put ground fault receptacles on some of the other two-wire circuits which complies with local code. My point is that my electrical situation is less than ideal. I will definitely get the antenna higher than the roof and at least some of the antenna (if not all) higher than the chimney. I will study the provided article to see what I can learn. I clearly understand the difference between V and A. Amps kill not volts (a difference I first learned when playing jokes on friends with an ignition coil condenser as boy on the farm). Later, working over very high voltage/amperage transmission lines in my 20's I observed arcs and fireballs trailing powerlines that remain vivid in my memory. My thought about the 220 volts was not to suggest to anyone that 220V at ANY likely amperage is not dangerous because it is. I could be wrong on this but my point was that it was unlikely to cause any RF interference on an antenna over 10ft away since it seems to cause none on my mobile antenna that is right inside the window about 4 feet away. If I am wrong on that point, please speak up. I am interested in this comment Is this a real concern in the short term if I am 5 ft from a mobile antenna or is it a theoretical or perceived danger. We are all bombarded by RF ever second including cell phones, WIFI routers sitting 2 feet away, and every signal a multiband receiver can pick just to name a few. I think about the houses I know that live very close to commercial broadcast transmission antennas that make 50 W look like a joke.

I just looked at the Comet CA-712EFC and was surprised that it only weighs 3 pounds. It seems I could mount a J-pole antenna mount on the attic window/vent frame and a support bracket on the fascia. I could run the coax in the attic so it would not be visible. Those power lines are only a 220V insulated wires and would be more than 10ft from the base of the antenna so I am thinking there would not be an RF issue. My mag mount antenna is on a file cabinet right inside the window much closer and it seems to cause no issue. I think it is obvious that I have to ground this antenna. I am guessing this is done by bolting a copper ground wire to the mast and bolting the other end to a conductive metal stake driven a few feet into the ground. Is this known to protect equipment or just save me from being fried? my guess is the latter and it is best to disconnect during a storm.

I appreciate recommendations on a base antenna. I have no restrictions other than how much I want to climb around on the roof of a two story house. My base will be in my upstairs office/study just below the attic window. I can open the window facing west and bend out and reach my stone chimney so an antenna mounted would only need 25ft or less of coax. Issues: Not crazy about climbing around on the peak of the roof even though I used to be a climber that contracted with the power company to top trees over power lines. I trust a rope and saddle climbing rig but I am not crazy about ladders. I am also not crazy putting straps around my stone chimney. I have no experience ridge mounting an antenna and I also wonder if I ridge mounted it near the chimney if the chimney will create a shadow blocking the signal. I have considered whether it is possible to rig some sort of a mast that extends from the attic window and upward a little higher than the chimney. I have also considered whether it would be feasible to to mount on my back porch roof in the corner and extend a mast up from there.

I was not aware there was more than one book. Is it a continuation of the same events? It could make a good movie. I am surprised if I has not been done. I have considered getting a top end scanner /radio that was in the $600 range. That's a lot for a receiver but it had rave reviews. I think it received almost everything from HF to SSB etc. I don't know much anymore about scanning first responders since I think many have encoded transmissions. I do have a power supply. I got Tekpower 30A power supply for $100. I saw some positive Youtube reviews on a couple Ham channels so I took a chance on it. Right now I have the KG1000-G Plus hooked up next to my desk with a Midland Mag antenna on a 4 drawer metal file cabinet on the second story of my house..

Its like Christmas. My I get my Wouxun KG-1000 G Plus Mobil Today. It is out for delivery. The only issue is that my play time is reduced because I have several irons in the fire including my upcoming Ham tests which I have not studied for recently. I just inherited a WWII Mauser my great uncle brought home from Europe after the war so I am cleaning and researching. I am trying to sell some estate property, and my son just sent me the book "One Second After" which is a pretty riveting and interesting book so not enough hours in the day. I am not complaining, It could be worse. I will start by setting it up as a base just so I can get used to it without sitting in a car and have it next to my PC for programming. I do have a laptop however so that is not a big issue.

1. What is the proper name of the connector on the end of an HT antenna that enables it to connect to the HT? I am thinking an RG58 because I have a couple RG58 to SO239 jumpers but when I look up RG58 it seems to be coax rather than the connector. 2. Do all HT brands and models use the same type and gender connector or does it vary? A Baofeng HT has what I would call a male connector even though the threaded portion is female. I need a couple adapters and jumpers and I am just trying to make sure I have the terminology straight. I also need to order a couple jumpers and gender benders.

Thanks to everyone. Those were great, straight-to-the-point answers that put it in perspective.

I have watched your videos both on and off of your medication and I respect you either way so you will get no guff out of me.

I have bought 2 of the cheapest ($20) HTs made Baofeng UV-5R. I bought 2 UV-9G ($43). I am not totally cheap. I think I bought about the best GMRS mobile units made ($400). I did so in part because I wanted the detachable face option. Here I see a GMRS HT for $170.00. What in the name of Zeus does the extra $130 get you that the UV-9G does not provide. I read the description and much of it read like nonsense. Such as: "The KG-935G Plus transmits on all 15 high powered GMRS simplex channels, 8 low powered simplex channels and all 8 GMRS repeater channels at up to 5.5 watts of power, with no special programming needed. It has dual receive capability on both UHF and VHF bands, ..." My $20 HT does that. Why bother to mention it????? I listed a every thing I cold find where it might excel ( and a couple where it does not measure up to the $43 UV-9G Please tell me why I would want a more expensive HT. Don't tell me because Baofeng is crap. Back it up with proof. Keep in mind a guy can go through four UV-9Gs before he pays $170.00. Don't give me vague sales jargon. Don't tell me that it has a stop watch. That is something you would tell a 8 yr old. My phone has every clock and timer known to man (on and off the grid). I am not being obstinate or combative here. I actually want you to convince me to buy something in this price range because I want to have $130 more awesomeness than I have. I want to be able to bounce signals over mountains and have rare practical, useful features if they exist. I just don't see it in the description below. Thanks for indulging me. If you have owned $40 HTs and this or another $170 GMRS HT I would like to hear from you _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ a built-in stopwatch is included with the KG-935G Plus. So what's new? How about Favorite Channels, a customizable Area Message, improved text entry via the keypad and PF Key Quick Guide so you can view a list of all the active PF key assignments at a glance. Each of those is definitely a plus! plus incoming caller ID. It has four display color themes, plus 6 additional themes for even more customization, for a total of 10 themes! a brighter built-in flashlight (Wow) It has complete protection against contact with dust, and can take water projected from any direction in powerful jets (So what? The $43 UV-9G is totally submersible ) As for programmability, the KG-935G Plus introduces the Channel Wizard, a revolutionary feature that allows you to quickly program a simplex or repeater channel into the radio directly from the keypad with amazing ease! The Wouxun KG-935G Plus includes a 2600mAh rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack with a USB-C charging port,

That qualifies as straying off topic like parachuting naked into a packed stadium qualifies as straying off of a nude beach But, he is a confused guest so he deserves some extra consideration.

With my two HT's, the transmit light would not come on. If you press the Push-to-talk button and the transmit light comes on I think there is at least a 99% chance you ore fine.

Hats off to both of you. Based on the success LiguidJS83 had, I downloaded the file WRZE995 shared. It was very late last night, and I was tired. So, I might have failed to follow the high-speed video correctly, but I did not get it to push to the radio, so I followed my instincts and went to bed. This morning, I gave it another go. My first step was to realize I had another loose Baofeng cable plugged into my PC. Maybe that caused me to pselect the wrong port last night. The bottom line is the file uploaded to the Baofeng UV-9G fine. I disconnected the HT and cycled it off and on. It now seems to work perfectly, receiving and transmitting on channel 15. I am now going to do the second UV-9G. I now have (2) fully functional UV-9Gs that I got for half-price plus my hassle. I wonder how many have a Baofeng with this issue that don't even know it? I tried to give both of you a "Thanks" button, but the forum told me I could not give any more reactions today. It is the first I touched the PC today unless I was on right after midnight. Apparently, I am too overreactive. I have to subdue my appreciation. This topic is a valuable resource to many looking for a fix to this.

While I am still not certain what the issue was, it is resolved. After trying several times, confirming the radio was on and properly connected, I decided to click on one of the menu items that were not greyed out. I closed all files and clicked "Upload from Radio". It did upload the file. I turned the scan off on NOAA frequencies and clicked on "Download to Radio," and it worked perfectly. Thanks for the ideas and help.

I used CHIRP to program a repeater into my Baofeng UV-9G and change a few channel names. Then, I Downloaded the programming from the UV-5R. I modified it by adding NOAA stations and about 75 repeaters from Repeater Book (thanks to Randy's video). I also added GMRS channels for monitoring. When I was finished I cloned the file "up" to the UV-R5. I did have to erase a few frequencies because I got a "Frequency out of radio Range." I unplugged the radio to check it, and all seemed well, except I wanted the scan to skip the NOAA stations, so I made a small change to the file in CHIRP. I was going to re-clone the modified file up to the UV-5R again, but under the "RADIO" menu all options were available except "Upload to Radio." That option was grayed out. I exited CHIRP, restarted it, and reloaded the file. The "Upload to Radio" option is still greyed out. Does anyone know how to activate the greyed-out "Upload to Radio" menu option

I hope this is not considered inappropriate or against forum rules. I certainly have zero financial interest in Raddioddity. I do not know a lot about the brands they carry. They seem to handle their own brand (probably made in China) and Baofeng (definitely made in China), maybe other brands as well. What I do know is that I have never found better customer service from a company. That is saying a lot because I worked in technology for 30 years dealing with major computer manufacturers and data management vendors daily. Radioddity customer service responded to my dead channel 15 on a pair of Baofeng UV-9Gs by: 1. immediately offering a return pick up with the promise that they would replace the units with 2 confirmed working UV-9Gs 2. Or give me a full refund if I prefer. 3. Upon my suggestion that they return refund 50% and let me keep the units, they immediately agreed. They followed up to confirm that I got my refund and were beyond pleasant every time we made contact. It is hard to find a customer-oriented business these days, but Raddioddity is one. If I ever need any product they handle, I will be prone to deal with them.

Thanks for the feedback. That's a good diversity of opinion. I have loaded CHIRP and used it for my UV-9Gs. From a user point of view, I found it very easy, BUT I have a computer background. There might be some issues related to two-way radio terminology that I still have to learn. I have some UV-5Rs I decided to keep. I guess I will use CHIRP on those. By then, I will probably just stick with it when I get my Wouxun mobile.

Is it generally agreed that IF CHIRP is compatible with a radio, especially an HT, that CHIRP is preferable to using the manufacturer's specific software? For one thing, if you have radios from various manufacturers, using one familiar software would illuminate the learning curve over using 3 or 4 different ones.

You assumed correctly, AND if you would not bother to shorten the cable, then I sure as hell am not going to bother. I am sure when I get my Wouxun 1000G Plus 50-watt mobile, that a shorter cable won't matter much since up to now I have been using 4 - 5 watt UV-9Gs hooked to the mobile antenna and I was slightly impressed.

Thanks! I saw on your video review that the only way to get one was by pre-order, so I did that on 10/31. They ran the charge on my credit card and sent me an email confirmation. I'm not sure if I was too late for the 11/3 shipment or if that is running late. Hopefully, I will be "in the mix" whenever they ship. I am just whining like a little baby waiting for Christmas. Currently, I have to be satisfied playing with (2) UV-9gs with inoperable channel 15 and (2) UV-5Rs that I decided against returning (in spite of the disparaging remarks). The ability to unlock them makes them worth the few dollars they cost just for temporary loaners and emergencies.

I have a Wouxun 1000G Plus mobile on order that will probably get here sooner or later. 1. If the location of the antennas were the same, how much would I sacrifice using an MXTA on a magnetic mount (with a ground plane) over some other specific GMRS base antenna? 2. The one Midland base mount I have has about a 25' rather flimsy coax cable permanently wired in. On my vehicle mount, I could get buy with half of that. Would it improve transmission if I cut 12' out of that wire and put on a new end connector, or would it be negligible?