RCM

The Kenwoods can be programmed for high or low power per channel. The standard low power setting on the 25 watt radios is 5 watts, which makes them legal on channels 1-7. Channels 8-15 are 0.5 watts max, as you pointed out. The Kenwoods and most other mobiles won't go that low. As for narrow band on 1-7, not only are most blister pack radios narrowband; the Midland Micromobiles that are so popular are also narrowband. Going narrowband on those channels also makes you fully compatible with those. For the 16th channel, I have an idea: if you look at Crescent Valley on the MyGMRS Map, there is an open repeater that uses a different tone than the standard travel tone I suggested earlier. You might consider adding that one as your 16th channel. Lots of sellers on ebay have the Kenwood power cable for less than $10 each. Sometimes much less. That's what I use, because they work well and the radios are already set up for it. In fact I might start converting some of my ham radios to that system.

Yes, PL (Private Line) is Motorola's name for CTCSS. Kenwood calls it QT (Quiet Talk). PL is the most common generic term for it. The simplest way is to just program the correct tone for transmit and don't use a tone for receive. I don't recommend it, though. Much better to also program the receive tone and use the MON button to toggle the receive tone on and off. Lifting the mic from the hanger also turns off the receive tone so you don't inadvertently double with someone else on the channel. It's nice to not have to listen to any noise that happens to be on the frequency. Having receive tones also makes scanning work much better.

It does.

https://zello.com/product/push-to-talk-app/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zello

Only for business accounts. Personal accounts are free with no time limitation.

You're welcome. Btw I would also ask for the front panel programming to be enabled when they program it. It won't work unless the resistor is removed, but if you ever decide to remove it, the FPP function will become available without having to reprogram it. The service manual also details which resistor to remove and how to access it.

Hey Shaine! I'm on GMRS-Chat right now. As you know! Here's the $60 10 Meter radio I was just describing: https://amzn.to/384L8YE

The keypads are interchangeable. Also, they are readily available as replacement parts. The 880 V1 will program just fine from the same Windows program that works on the V2. You will just get a notification that any V2 only functions will not load into the radio. I have both V1s and 2s and use the same cable, software and data file for both. Download the service manual, too. It goes into a lot more detail on programming. Yes, I would recommend getting 1-7 and 15-22 programmed. I would ask for 1-7 as low power, narrow bandwidth, simplex. I use 67 Hz PL TX and RX. This is to make it compatible with the widest range of handheld radios, including cheap, old FRS-only radios. 15-22 I would program as repeater pairs, high power, wide bandwidth, 141.3 Hz PL TX and RX. That gives you the best chance of being able to get into a repeater if you need to. I would have the buttons programmed as follows: left up/dn = volume. Right up/dn = channel. MON = CSQ toggle. A = TA. B = Scan D/A C and D = group up/dn and SCN = scan. I would in fact probably put 1-7 in one group, 15-22 in a different group. So, here's how that works: Unless your group has the PL tones set the same as yours, keep it set to monitor (MON will appear in the display). That allows you to hear all traffic on the channel, regardless of tone or lack thereof. Keep TA set to on (TA in display). That makes all channels simplex, whether they are set as repeater pairs or simplex. I would have the scan set to "multi" so it will scan all programmed frequencies as opposed to just the group/bank you are on. If there is something on a channel that is a nuisance, just press the B button while it is on that channel to lock it out from scan. That function will reset when you cycle the power. TK-880 can be programmed from the front panel, but first you have to remove a zero ohm resistor and enable that function in software. By default, that function is not available.

You're right about 25 watts being sufficient. The primary differences between 25 and 50 watts is that the latter will suck your battery dry twice as fast, the radio will get hotter, and the RF burn if you touch the antenna while it is transmitting will be worse. My understanding is that the TK-863G has more/newer trunking functions than the TK-880. You won't be using those functions anyway, so either will work fine.

Downs bought the 1225, for substantially less than that and without the cable. The Kenwwood is better in terms of finding the proper software. Also has more channels. For your use, either is good but the Motorola is more compact and maybe a little simpler to operate. But if you do get a Motorola, it's probably best to pay a shop the $25 or so to program it, or buy it from a shop (used-radios.com for example) that will program it for you.

Wow, I'm glad I'm not a member of that group. I stay logged out most of the time because I don't want my phone randomly talking at all hours of the day and night. But, I like to log in sometimes when a net is scheduled or something.

Agreed. If a quarterwave antenna has a problem, you can see it just by looking at it.

Connecting to an NMO is even easier, if you can solder at all.

Here's the connector (with cable) you need for the clamp you linked: https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/pctel-maxrad-bmatm3-1155 In the drop-down menu, select the option for PL-259 connector because that's what the TK-863G has. It doesn't have an N connector. Steve has some good ideas for improving the ground. I don't think you will have any problem. But, I have another idea for your consideration. Get about a 15 inch piece of solid copper wire, like one conductor out of a piece of house wiring. Bend and crimp with pliers a small loop in each end (so it doesn't scratch anything/one), then bend and crimp a short (1 inch or so) stub in the middle. Now when you attach the clamp to the rollbar, capture the center stub between the clamp and the rollbar so you have 6+ inches of wire sticking out both forward and aft. Might be good to rough up the inside of the clamp at the pinch point, for better electrical contact. Now if you can, use zipties or tape to secure the ends of the wire so they don't catch on anything. I don't think you will have to do any of that, though. In a offroad vehicle, unity gain is good. Look at it this way. Say your group is headed up a mountain trail, and you are near the top. An antenna with some gain will probably give you a stronger signal into a repeater that is 50 miles away on the horizon, sure. But, it does so by taking away signal from other members of your group who are farther down the mountain and at a different elevation. So your signal to them will be weaker or maybe nonexistent, where an antenna with no gain might work pretty well.

I do that sometimes with an Alinco DR-605. I find a clear frequency between 433.000 and 435.000 MHz. That segment is listed in the band plan as "auxiliary and repeater links."

A 32" antenna is 1/2 wave on 175 MHz or 1/4 wave at the bottom of the FM broadcast band, or about 87 MHz. Neither of those will work on 462 MHz GMRS. Wavelength affects whether or not the antenna will work at all on a given frequency. Antenna length is related to wavelength. Don't worry about gain, especially for offroading. Gain isn't free. To get gain in one direction, you have to give up signal strength in other directions. It's best to just use a 1/4 wave or 1/2 wave antenna. And I would (and usually do) just use a 1/4 wave because it is small (6 inches), works well and is naturally self resonant and therefore dirt simple. Offroad, simple is better. The power limit for a GMRS (not FRS) radio is power to the antenna, not ERP. So even if you do have some gain, even if you brought along a portable high-gain Yagi beam (single-directional) antenna just to see how far you can reach from a mountaintop, you can still legally feed it the full 50 watts.

This looks like a good choice for your application: https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/pctel-maxrad-muf4502s-8347 A 1/4 wave off either the vertical rollbar or kayak rack will be fine, too. If you go that route, just make sure the radiator is not too close to or obstructed by the rollbar. Have you seen Jeeps with CB antennas mounted on the back? They certainly don't have actual ground planes. The equivalent of a 12 inch diameter piece of metal under a GMRS antenna would, on CB, be 17 feet in diameter. Yet those antennas are still usable with 4 watts output and no real ground plane.

You actually only need 15. The 467 MHz interstitial channels (GMRS/FRS Channels 7-14) are not legal for the mobile radios, nor do you need them anyway.

They don't have "sub channels," that is marketing code for CTCSS/DCS tones that reduce interference. If your radio doesn't transmit the correct tone, you can't access a repeater that uses tone squelch (which is most of them). You can also set up your radio with a receive tone so you won't be bothered by interference. When you lift the mic to transmit, tone squelch is deactivated so you can hear everything on the frequency. That's so you don't transmit on top of someone who is using a different (or no) tone. Those Kenwood radios have all of the tones, and are far more flexible in their setup. For example, transmit one tone and receive a different one. What's more, with 256 channels you can set it up with all GMRS frequencies many times over, each with a different tone set for any repeaters you happen to encounter. Then scan all of them if you like. Or, you can only program as many channels as you need. If you only need a handful, that's fine too. Bottom line: the TK-863G is an awesome radio for GMRS. And used-radios.com will program it to your needs if you buy one from them. Win/win. If you ever do decide you want to be able to reprogram it yourself, both the cable and software are readily available and cheap.

Just solder, sometimes. Feedline disconnects, indeed feedline itself is at best a necessary evil. Why mess with it in applications where it is not necessary? For example, pop the cover from your radio and see what the board connection looks like. The fact is, the only time connector impedance really matters very much is when it is actually somewhere along the feedline. At the ends there is an impedance bump regardless of what connector you use. I've been known to build radios (uhf included) that don't even have what most people consider an antenna connector.

I don't always even use RF connectors - or for that matter, RF feedline - at HF. And I've even been known to not use RF connectors as high as 927 MHz!

No personal attack intended. I value your opinion and agree with a lot of what you say. But, I remember seeing some comments from you in the past when someone mentioned firearms. It's hard to find any thread on this site that doesn't drift if it gets much attention at all. So again, why even bring up the 2A mention when it is probably not even 1 percent of the thread drift? Maybe you don't have an anti-gun bias. But from previous posts I've seen, that does seem to be a trigger for you. If I'm wrong, I apologize.

Nobody was "discussing" the Second Amendment. But since you bring it up, with all the threads that have started as a simple question and been turned into Chinese radio bashing threads, why is this the one you decided to charge into and complain about "thread drift?" Nevermind; I'm pretty sure I know why. Marc listing his qualifications for legal discussion and mentioning in one brief sentence his work in support of the Second Amendment, and one line in my post thanking him for that work, does not constitute a Second Amendment discussion. It's exactly the same as if someone in a discussion mentions the radios he uses as a firefighter, and someone else says "Thank you for your service."

Marc, I don't necessarily agree with everything you said here. But you have obviously put a lot of thought and study into it, and I respect that. And especially, thank you for the work you are doing in support of the Second Amendment!

Happy New Year!