OffRoaderX

there is a tiny torx/allen screw inside the hole.. just loosen it and you can then unscrew the antenna. If you are certain there is no setscrew there, then you should be able to just unscrew the antenna. Ive done it with both my GM-30 and my Tidradio TD-H5 which is basically the same thing.

Doesnt seem like a horrible idea! My only question would be how does the shrink-wrap affect your transmission audio quality - usually the mics are pretty small and not very sensitive, so a layer of thick plastic could reduce your audio level .... ??

To the OP: It is purely my opinion, but, on your list of worries when running a GMRS repeater, this should be at the bottom of your list. I run a GMRS repeater that has about 900 square miles of coverage, and this is not even on my list of concerns. Pigs flying into my antenna is higher on my list..

And how, exactly, would that ever happen?

I use the Midland MXTA26 mounted on the talegate. The nice thing about this antenna is that it is perfectly tuned for GMRS, right out of the bag - no cutting required. Note that the rear-talegate is not the best location as it does not have an optimal groundplane, but it works very, very well based on my (extensive) real world testing - even though all the radiotards proclaim that "it wont work at all" ... Ignore the radiotards.

Everyone on the repeater would keep saying "what did you say? I cant hear you please talk louder!" ... There is also the issue of not being able to have multiple repeaters on the same frequency with different tones.. .. again.. many radios do this, are wideband, and cost less.

The main, simple disadvantage is that unless you are standing next to the person you are talking to on the radio, UNLESS they also have a narrowband radio, or are in narrowband-mode on a wideband radio (99.8% of all GMRS radios are wideband), the other person won't be able to hear you very well and will keep saying "what did you say? please talk louder!" ... IMHO, unless your friends are also using narrowband radios, it is not worth it... There are MANY other radios to choose from, all of which are Wideband, and in many cases, cost less. ...but..what do i know....

Yes.

I built a KG-1000G repeater a few months ago and had the opposite issue - by default there is no squelch tail/kickback and IIRC the only way to turn it on was in the software (could not do it on the radio). Are you sure it's the tail that you're getting and not something else?

Can you give a little more detail on exactly what you mean by "unusable" ?

I recently built a 50W repeater with two Wouxun KG-1000G radios.. It worked pretty well, but because the radios are not well-shieleded I got a lot of "desense" so my range was not as great as I'd hoped - It wasnt "cheap" either. I then got a used "real" repeater - a Vertex VXR-7000. You can find them from $400 to $1000 depending on the options, age/condition.. It works GREAT.. I live at the top of a hill so I get a huge coveragare area, about 40-60 miles in each direction. Bang for the buck, a good used "real" repeater might be the best bet.. although, I will be testing the Retevis RT97 soon to see how it compares.

A box will be heading your way next week Lou..

The only Palomar GMRS repeater I know of is on 700 - it is also "private, for business use" and I have heard the owner get on several times and try to chase people away that were using it.. I have never heard any actual business use on it. Up my way (just a bit north) .550 is used by MANY repeaters, and several often have non-english speakers so I wonder if that is what you are hearing?

Up reflection, and after re-reading the post, I do believe you are correct. ...935G is STILL my favorite!

Using CHRIP Build 20210830 I'm not able to get it to work with my 935G using the KG-816 (or any) config - Even though I have to use the horrible Wouxun software, its still my favorite radio.