FreshPrincex21

I grew up around CB radio, my grandpa and cousin used to use it around town and when they used to go hunting. I got introduced to GMRS when I got my rig and started wheeling with friends and they told me to purchase a couple Midland radios. Wasn't a fan of how quickly the radios I got were dying and how poorly they were receiving/transmitting so I started researching other radios. I came across @OffRoaderX YouTube and after watching a couple of his vids I decided I needed to get my GMRS license since I wasn't aware that I needed one and upgrade my HT's.

Welcome! Relatively new myself to GMRS but this forum has been great, bunch of helpful people and tips.

Thank you! I'm going to get as familiar as I can with those PDFs before my radio arrives. It should be here Tuesday, I just received the cable from Blue Max 49ers today

Good review, I enjoyed the read. I've had this radio in my saved for later section on Amazon. Might just have to move it to my shopping cart..

Haven't had that experience yet, but I'm planning on venturing out to other wheeling groups just to gain new experiences. I'm sure I'll come across a few people like that. How infuriating would that be for a bubble pack user not being able to understand the comms clearly , especially when it's coming from the trail leader.

You are awesome! Cant wait to get my hands on the radio so I can get it programmed and throw in my rig. I've been watching that tracking link like a hawk Sweet! I'm going to spend some time while I wait for the radio to arrive, looking up how to navigate the programming software. I'm assuming it's a bit different than Chirp or Wouxun programming software.

Thank you for the tip and the SJ-180 programming software! Hopefully the radio I purchased doesn't come with the passport firmware. If not I'll be scouring the internet/forums to see if anyone knows where I can get a copy of the LTR firmware file for mobile. If I have to go that route of updating to the LMR firmware, after I update the firmware then I'll be able to go back and program all my channels/repeaters with the KPG-89 programming software correct? I ended up going with the TK-8180 and ordered a cable from Blue Max 49ers. However, I may pick up the high power version later on in the future as a base station. You nailed it on the head, the group I wheel with are rocking Midland HT's and bubblepack specials. With a mobile unit in my rig, I look forward to not having to charge my HT's as much.

I'm considering the 30 watts cause its also cheaper lol. Still hoping I can get the people I off road with to switch channels I just saw the prices of a LMR license and if I had to get one I would but glad I wont have to. Not much of a long winded talker so shouldn't be and issue but the sun light exposure is a concern. I think I saw on this forum that someone said there is a kit to be able to mount the face plate and store the body of the radio somewhere else. Might try to see if I can find that kit and use it instead of mounting on the dash. According to the listing both radios are on the 450-520 band split, maybe they meant 450-512 band split for the 45 watt? Checked both through the link you sent, thank you for that and both are Type 95 compliant. Appreciate all the links and the programming software, you're making this real easy for me to pull the trigger on one of these bad boys

I'm recently new to GMRS and after several purchases of HT radios, I've decided to make the leap to getting a mobile radio for my Land Cruiser for my off roading adventures. After watching a couple YouTube videos, scrolling through the forums here on myGMRS.com and reading a couple Reddit posts. I've decided I want to go with a Kenwood mobile radio, specifically the TK-8180 line. I found two refurbished radios, the TK-8180 (30 watts) and the TK-8180H (45 watts). Like with most of my purchases I was going to full send on the 45 watts version till I came across a post where they stated that the 45 watts version only goes down to 10 watts on low, versus the 5 watts on low that the 30 watts version can do. Again I'm relatively new to the GMRS world so apologies if I get this wrong but seeing that the 45 watts version doesn't go down to 5 watts, that would mean I wouldn't be able to transmit on the channels 1 - 7 correct? Why is that an issue you ask? Well the group I usually go off roading with they like to stay on channel 5, they say that it's the channel that has the "least" amount of traffic on it. Despite my requests to move to a channel in the 15 - 22 channel range, I get out voted every time.. I know that there isn't a big difference from a transmitting and receiving standpoint between the 30 watts and 45 watts versions. I also know that the antenna and positioning of the antenna play a bigger role than the power levels. However is there any other differences between the two versions? Would I be missing anything if I went with the 30 watts version? The only reason I wanted the 45 watts version was for that extra bit of punching power if I ever needed it. Would I need to worry about heating issues with the 45 watts version? I plan to have it mounted on my dash since the previous owner already drilled holes for some type of radio or monitoring device. Seeing that the 8180 is a commercial radio, would I need to get my LMR license in order to legally use it? Even if I plan to use it only for GMRS purposes? I look forward to some of the answers I get and/or feedback. Either would be greatly appreciated.