Paul357

I didn't mean to neglect this thread, especially after all the great advice I've received. I ended up buying two Wouxun KG805G's when BuyTwoWay was running a sale. They were nice enough to throw a programming cable into my cart which I didn't notice until after I checked out. Too bad its the WRONG cable and I already have this one for my KG-XS20G. So far, these radios are great. Still a little too bulky but that's what you get with big batteries and USB-C charging. A little fatter but overall smaller than my GM-30 Plus's. Not too hard to program by hand, primitive but functional programming software, CHIRP compatible. The lock button disables the channel knob but of course a luddite can still accidentally turn the volume off. These are a little spending compared to all the other cheap radios out there but I have become a fan of Wouxun. Believe it or not, some of these people have been roaming the woods even before cellphones were invented. With guns and fire and sharp objects, no less!

Ah, so locking the radio disables the channel knob? That's good to know. We use HT's at work that don't lock the channel knob. Drives me crazy. That would be my mother.

I know there are dozens of threads asking which radio to get: best, cheapest, easiest to program, etc. What I am look for is the most fool proof radio to operate. I don't even care if its a nightmare to program, so long as it's a cinch to use. This is my scenario: Every year around this time we do a big Christmas tree cutting expedition with the family. We take 3 vehicles and around 8-10 people. We drive way up an old fire road and then hike around the forest. These are all my immediate family members so I pass out GMRS and a few FRS HT's to the group. Even if I streamline all the features and lock the keypads, these folks still manage to render their radios useless. Wrong channel, volume off, pressing the wrong key for PTT, etc. That's assuming they remember to actually carry them. The FRS radios fare the best but there have been times where the range of FRS simply didn't cut it. Radios with big batteries, big screens, lots of buttons, etc are great sometimes. But all those features make an HT bigger, bulkier, and confusing to operate. So what I am looking for is the most basic, compact, stone simple, fool proof GMRS HT on the market.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure if it's a Del Webb home. It's about 40 years old. For the most part it's a well built home. Nothing fancy. The attic over the garage is a good 7ft tall at the peak so I had plenty of room. Mostly I wanted to test the concept and these were the materials I had on hand. I got it all put together right before a local net started. I had to dodge my mother in law who wanted to chatter about what I was doing. Anyway, it seems to work pretty well. I am hearing the drive through girl at the Chik Fil A a few miles away, local highschool football coaches, road construction flaggers etc. More importantly, I can now hit a few repeaters that were out of reach with my HT. I am in a bad spot in this valley for reception otherwise. I am at the low end of the valley, right up against a curtain of mountains that block me to the East and South. You have the altitude advantage with that third floor. What kind of cable are you using?

Unfortunately there is no way to use the whole screen for one channel. Here is an alternative: Set "Channel A Display" to one display type and "Channel B Display" to the other and then tune both to the same channel. For example you could have the frequency on top and the station name on the bottom.

Hello, I set up a quick and dirty base station antenna in my attic. It's a Midland MXTA26 antenna fed by a MXTA24 NMO cable. I put a 14" aluminum pizza pan under it as a ground plane. I have about $55 into this setup. The radio is a Wouxun KGSX20G+ fed by a Pyramid 12Amp power supply. So far I think it's working well. I guess I need some adapters to test this setup with my Surecom meter but no smoke yet. Any tips or critiques appreciated. I wanted to test the attic concept before committing to more expensive hardware.