DominoDog

I just like playing with radios. I don't really ever talk on them, simply because I don't have anyone really to talk to. Most of my friends are well outside of any repeater coverage, several hundred miles actually. I don't know many people locally, certainly not any that are interested in two way radios. So I just play with radios. I don't really like "making contacts" or even checking in to nets very much. I have a little Retevis repeater for when I am out camping with friends and family, we'll play with radios more then but as for normal day to day operations, I mainly just listen a lot. Most of the time I don't even use a repeater, we'll just use simplex from car to car if/when we are ever on a multiple vehicle venture. But most of the people in my area use GMRS just for radio checks and signal reports. Not too many "hey neighbor can I borrow the chainsaw this evening?" going on that I can hear. Radio checks and "How am I makin' the repeater?" every week they do a "net" which honestly is just a roll call. Nothing interesting on there, just a roll call and that's it. So for me, I just like playing with radios, way more than actually talking to people on them.

Very similar to my ham corner. Maybe one day I'll have a shack. or a room. or maybe a wall... a radio wall would be nice.

According to buytowayradios.com you can program the KG-1000G from the keypad. You might not even need a PC although you can use one and it might make things more convenient. But to program using the keypad you use menu options 30 and 31, it seems. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2022/11/wouxun-kg-1000g-plus-programming-and-menu-options.html This link is for the KG-1000G+ but I think they are pretty similar to the KG-1000G Another thing you could consider is renting a cheap laptop for a weekend, downloading the appropriate programming software, and knocking it out. Rent-a-center or Aaron's would probably rent you out a laptop for pretty cheap and as long as it isn't a long term rental they aren't too bad. Don't rent to own though unless you like getting ripped off! EDIT: AM radio is menu options 45 and 46 it seems. See that you found that option, you likely tune using the VFO mode. The radio has a pretty decent receive range. I don't have a KG-1000 so I'm not super familiar with it but many of these radios have similar menus. Someone who has one and is more familiar should be able to correct me if I am mistaken on any of this.

Well these are the radios I have and not the radios I would have if I were made of money, but I have a Yaesu FT1XD for amateur band 2m and 70cm, and a Wouxun KG-935G+ for my GMRS lifestyle. I have a SDRPlay RSP1B and a Moonraker discone for playing radio at home.

If you tune to the nearest weather frequency and activate the monitor function do you hear signal? static? Perhaps squelch too high? Perhaps a tone is set? Perhaps you do not have sufficient antenna or bad location?

I have been looking at the UV-8H for a while but haven't pulled the trigger. I know this is odd, but I honestly think I might have enough handhelds. My main ham band 2m/70cm radio is my Yaesu FT1XD and my main GMRS handheld is a Wouxun KG-935G+ which is the GMRS version of the radio you're looking at. It does great, I really like it. I would not think it would be any different on ham bands.

The "experts" on my local repeaters ignore them expertly. For real, they are some wizards when it comes to dealing with people. It is a large regional 2m linked system with repeaters that reach into four surrounding states. So with a network that large you are going to have some knuckleheads. Surprisingly few, though, but there are some. Best thing to do is literally ignore them. Sometimes I will hear someone come on and give their "Callsign, monitoring..." and that shuts them up some times. Guess if they feel like the frequency is being monitored, that sounds awfully official and they scram. The best way to get the FCC to take a look at it, in my humble non-expert non-accredited poor-boy opinion, would be to make sure your offending party is a commercial entity not always easy to do when it is just some riff-raff. But if you can convince them to become a commercial entity

You can pick up a Sonim XP8 off of ebay for a decent price. They run an older version of Android, but this doesn't need to be a new slick speedy device. They are built like a tank, as they are decommissioned first responder devices. Like a rubberized brick. I have tried to get DroidStar running on it, but I honestly just have not had any luck at all. There is also the Sonim XP10 which is an upgraded version.

Echolink is pretty neat if you have internet data access. I have an old Sonim XP8 that I have dedicated as a ham radio toy and it is my go to echolink device. Has a built in PTT and everything, works great. You can even get a handheld speaker/mic for them. Echolink will let you talk and hear all across the world, but it does have its limitations. The app is sorta sluggish and cumbersome. It does work, though. But the greatest inconvenience is the hang time it has and the repeater has to be completely silent before echolink users will get the "Transmit" button available. It's greyed-out any time there is activity and most RF users can jump right in but echolink users have to wait. Works good on repeaters that are not busy but on a busy repeater you might have a hard time getting in. Unless they specifically remember to give extra time for echolink ppls

Yeah well my rights are not only my rights when it suits the government's whims. We have gotten way off base in this regard. If I want to go door to door with my little ham radio helping people I do not see that it is the government's job to tell me not to. I want the government to keep the roads paved and the parks open and the screw worms at bay. That's really all I need or want from them, certainly not any "thou shalt not go door to door in an emergency" nannified trash that they have become way too good at lately.

Governments are quick to step on people's rights when they get an opportunity to use their favorite word - emergency. My rights are not only my rights when things are calm and peaceful. EDIT: I'll go one step further to claim my rights are not only my rights when I follow all their rules. I am not interested at all in this country they are trying to shape things in to.

Screw what the state emergency mismanagement agency thinks. People were on the ground going door to door helping people before EmErGeNcY MaNaGeMeNt even got out of bed. I do not care what is allowed or what is authorized. If people are needing to get in touch with their families then me and my radios are going to help. EDIT: Hang on. They were actually telling people they could not use ham radio to check on people? Because we need to stop and talk about that. Here. I can not even describe how uninterested I am in what is authorized or allowed. I am not seeking authorization in the first place.

If you have "that many" (as in a lot) of requests, then you might be in a position to help your community. Assuming you have a good location for the repeater. You might have lost interest in it but maybe the inrush of "new blood" will renew your interest a bit. It certainly has changed from what you ol' timers in GMRS saw back in the day, but the new people seem eager to learn. Apparently there is nothing wrong with starting a club and crowd funding new repeater hardware if the system you have in place now is not up to the task of changing frequencies. I don't understand the "hams" getting upset at someone else using the frequency. Hams have their own frequencies. A GMRS frequency is certainly not "theirs" in any shape, form, or fashion. Yours is also not a new repeater in the area, and you have every right to bring it back to active use. The repeater being used may bother others, but it would not be you who is stepping on anyone's fun rag chewing net. It would be your community, who has a lot of weight to collectively throw around as far as who gets to use a public frequency.

I am hearing some of this today. I'm a pretty low retained knowledge technician ham (hahah) but I did not think GMRS would be so affected since it is such a high(er) frequency. But today I am tuned to 675 just because I keep hearing blips here and there of mid-conversations and I am completely stationary. I know there is a lot of solar activity right now. The repeater(s?) I keep hearing are outside of my equipment's typical reception range.

Sounds to me like you should spend more time in a book learning how radios work before jumping down someone's throat for having a question. This whole "hams vs gmrs" thing is the dumbest stuff I've seen in a while. It's perpetuated by certain individuals that like to use the phrase some people to stir the pot for engagement and clicky-clicks, but for the rest of us it's getting pretty stale.