WRTC928

I wanted a radio for my truck which I could put somewhere unobtrusive, meaning I needed all the controls in the handset. There aren't a lot of options and the 9900 is the least expensive of them. YouTube reviews were mostly positive, and online reviews were generally not complimentary. Not knowing what to make of that, I rolled the dice and ordered one for $109 on sale from Amazon. For reference, I was previously using a Baofeng f8hp with 10' of coax to a Nagoya NMO-HDG GMRS-tuned antenna. With that rig, I could communicate through the only repeater in my area from about 35 miles away over urban terrain on a good day. I could only get that distance from southeast of the repeater, otherwise it fell to about 15 miles. Upon arrival, the radio itself seemed solid enough with an (apparently) aluminum housing and the microphone/control head has a reasonably solid feel. It appears to be reasonably moisture-resistant with the data and external speaker jacks covered tightly by a door held in place by two tiny screws. Be careful not to lose them. You have to pay for the company's programming software, but fortunately it's Chirp-compatible. The first hiccup occurred with programming. The included cable doesn't work with Windows 11 drivers. Chirp directed me to a site to download legacy drivers which wasn't too much of a hassle and worked just fine. When I downloaded the radio to Chirp, I noticed that the frequencies corresponding to FRS 8-14 were blocked and you couldn't program them in at all. Not that it matters very much, but I like to be able to listen on those frequencies when I work some public events. However, when I cut and pasted the programming from my f8hp into Chirp and uploaded it, they appeared. I had "duplex off" on those frequencies and that transferred too. Note: Even if you have reprogrammed the radio in Chirp, when you download it again, it will show those frequencies blocked. I tested them with an FRS radio and I could hear just fine. Maybe it has something to do with FCC type certification? Regardless, the workaround was easy. The handset screen is reasonably visible, although it washes out quite a bit in bright light. Since it's inside the cab of the truck, that isn't much of a problem. It has the capability to monitor three frequencies at once (!) which I immediately disabled. I set it up with 3 channels I use frequently and can toggle through them using the button on the lower left. Of course, you can punch in any frequency or any channel you have programmed from the keypad, if you want. Interestingly, programming software only gives you the option to select high or low power, but from the handset you can choose low, medium, or high power. At present, I don't have any way to test power, but reviewers have noted that on GMRS frequencies, you will probably obtain somewhat less than the rated 20 watts. Setting volume is a bit of a pain if you follow the instruction manual, but some reviewers found that if you short-press the "power on/off" button which kills the squelch, you can then adjust volume using the "up and down" buttons on the handset, and indeed that worked for me. Some reviewers have reported that sound through the speaker/mic isn't very good, but in my experience, it's on par with most of the other speaker/mics out there. There is the capability to use an external speaker if you prefer. The mic wouldn't reach easily from under the seat to where I wanted it, so I got an aviation radio 8-pin extension cable, and it works just fine. At least one reviewer reported that in use, the radio got really hot, but I haven't had that experience. It gets warm to the touch, but certainly nothing excessive or concerning. As for performance, it seems a bit better than the f8hp but not leaps and bounds better. Of course, power comes in no better than third after terrain and antenna in terms of distance, but depending upon where I am, I get maybe 2-5 more miles over the same terrain and with the same antenna. I do seem to get slightly better clarity both transmitting and receiving, so that's something. Only slightly, but I'll take it. Overall, I'm satisfied. It's not dramatically better than what I was using, but it's a lot more elegant and convenient than a HT bumping around in the cab and the ability to toggle channels from the handset is definitely an improvement. It's not by any stretch of the imagination a high-end Ham or GMRS radio, but what do you expect for the price? If you understand what you're buying and don't expect it to be something it isn't, it might suit your needs.

Interesting thread. I've had my license for about 3 years but when I lived in Alaska, there were good strong repeaters in the area I usually traveled. I now live in Oklahoma and there's only one repeater (NE of me) I can access about 30 miles away. I can hit it just fine from my house but not in any other part of my small town, at least as far I've found. I've toyed with the idea of putting up a repeater but at present, I'm not sure it would avail me much. My house is on the second-highest point for miles around -- which is probably why I can hit the repeater 30 miles away. Unfortunately the highest point for miles around is about 1/2 mile due west of me and is definitely high enough to block my signal. Most of the town is southwest of me, so maybe it would still be useful. It certainly would be useful to people east and south of me but not if they wanted to talk to someone further west. Someday I may get together with another operator and have them drive around and see where we can get simplex service to my house. That should give me a rough idea what the coverage would be, I think, although if there's a better way, I'm open to suggestions.