OffRoaderX

Just FYI - Prepare yourself for all the "experts" that are going to tell you that antenna location "won't work".. Just ignore them. It is true, that location wont work "the best it can be", but it will work just fine for trail comms. On both my jeeps i have the antenna mounted just about a foot to the left and I can get 30+ miles simplex and i have hit a repeater at 93 miles - that should be plenty "good enough". When mounting on the tailgate like that you should run a grounding strap (not a 'wire') from the antenna mount to the tub of the Jeep - make sure the connections are metal to metal. You can use any UHF coax - try to keep it as short as possible but if you have a foot or two extra, just loosely coil it up. Ignore the "experts" that tell you this will make your antenna/radio "not work". Be aware that the Diamond NR7900A is not a GMRS antenna - unless you are also planning to transmit on the ham bands, I would recommend getting an antenna made/tuned for GMRS antenna - I use the Midland MXTA26 You will probably also need an NMO mount to connect the antenna to the bracket, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Assembly-Connector-Adapter-Connect-Vehicle/dp/B0BLMHJ338/ You may also need some kind of SMA to SO-239 connector to connect the BoofWhang to the antenna cable - something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Bingfu-Antenna-Adapter-Coaxial-Kenwood/dp/B083D5TMKG/ But check the gender on both ends to make sure you get the right one for your radio - and get a couple of them because they tend to wear out. I'm sure i'm missing something, but this should get you started.

We are all very impressed! .... Now try to answer after actually reading what he posted/asked for.

I have and SDS200 scanner that downloads everything from RadioReference.com's database and I am able to pick up a LOT of VHF traffic.. Mostly things like forestry service and several other federal agencies, public service traffic, some ambulance service companies and the California Highway Patrol.. On UHF I am also able to get a couple of police departments, the Los Angeles County Sherrif's department and a couple of fire departments, but all the others are encrypted.

If only the biggest GMRS Radio YouTuber would make a video showing exactly how.. oh well, I guess we'll never know. EDIT: Since you never told us WHICH Baofeng radio you have nobody will be able to help you anyway.. Baofeng makes a LOT of radios.

^ that.. And, for clarification, UHF (GMRS) is line of site. If you cant see it, then you are bouncing your signal to it - and more power helps to do that.

Necroposting is a new and emerging trend!

I used to complain about off-topic comments but i've decided that instead of fighting the tide, i will just embrace it like everyone else apparently does.. and for an added bonus I decided to be nice to the n00b... I think i'm turning over a new leaf...

Both the $26 radios and the $226 radios have the exact same farz and there is not a huge difference between them. For most people the value boils down to build-quality, features and customer support. If you dont care about those things thing stick with the less expensive radios or whichever radio has the features you care about.

There is no setting on that radio that would reduce the power output when set to high power. BUT - i would try a full reset anyway as that is probably the first thing that BetterSafeRadio will have you try.

No, it doesn't have anything to do with it.

Are you transmitting on the same channel as you were when you were getting 4W? The output varies on most of these radios depending on the frequency.

What did BetterSafeRadio Support say when you contacted them about this issue?

Since wildly straying off-topic is now the "in" thing to do, I'll jump in: Is it the 50W GMRS radio or the 50W HAM radio? Makes a HUGE difference when programming.

Did you try downloading it from the Manufacturers software download page... here? https://tenway.com/download/

Whew! Thats ONE in a row!

The GM15 is a "GMRS" radio, correct? If that is the case then it already has 8 channels (23-30) with the offset built in. Just find the channel that corresponds to the frequency of the repeater and enter & save your TX tone. You wont need to set or worry about the offset. To use additional repeaters you will have to create a "DIY" repeater channel. You cannot use a repeater directly or in VFO mode - the only way is to create and save the repeater info as a new channel or use one of the preset (ch 22-30) channels. If my memory is failing me and the GM15 is not a "GMRS Radio", then please just disregard everything I've said.

Using two radios like the KG1000G is not a great solution. It is a good way to learn about how stuff works, but it is not good, long-term option especially if you want many farz - its also fairly expensive. I would recommend getting a used commercial UHF repeater like a Vertex 7000 or something like the Retevis RT97 - both will perform better than two KG1000Gs and will cost less. Unlike many of the other responses you will get, I have actually used all 3 of these setups - The Vertex works best with a max range of about 70 miles.. The Retevis RT97 gets about 40 miles and the KG1000G setup, even though it has more power than the other two struggled to get ~20 miles... There are many technical reasons why the two KG1000G setup does not work as well that I wont get into, but trust me, and others will confirm, its not a good solution. The RT97 will be much easier to run on a battery and solar power than any of the others. I have also done this, and the RT97 lasts far longer because it uses much less power.

Thats exactly how its supposed to look... So, you do not have File|Edit|View|Radio menu options in the far, upper-left of your screen? (SCREEN, not WINDOW) ? Like this?:

For clarification - does the .ZIP file not open? Or, does the Zip file open, but then the application wont open? For either response, what happens? Do you get any errors? If so, what do they say?

It does help to make online experts think twice before they tell people completely wrong information. If that makes me douchy, then I'll drink another glass of vinegar...

Correct. He has no idea what he is saying so he can be safely ignored. Make sure you are downloading the MacOS version - go here: https://trac.chirp.danplanet.com/chirp_next/next-20231031/ As mentioned it *might* need Python installed but IIRC, that is not necessary with the new "Chirp Next" version.. But I could be wrong. If so, you can safely ignore me.

All repeaters use two frequencies and all GMRS radios have special repeater-channels just for this - so all you have to do is figure out which channel coincides with the frequencies, and use that channel.. GMRS repeater channels & frequencies are all standard so Google is very helpful with this. If you are trying to do this with a ham radio instead of a GMRS radio, then I can see that you are in for a difficult time. DPL, DTC and DCS tones are all different words for the same thing. CTC, CTCSS and PL are also all words for the same thing - they do the same things as DPL, DTC, and DCS, but slightly differently. None of this has anything to do with split-tones, which is simply one tone or type of tone on the transmit frequency of a repeater and a different one on the receive frequency.

Many people, myself included prefer CHIRP but many people also prefer the simplicity that comes with most manufacturer's software, as many people find CHRIP to be confusing.

1) I dont really know what you mean by "base mount" or "base antenna" - I am assuming you mean a large antenna designed to be mounted on your roof. So assuming both antennas are properly tuned for GMRS then the base antenna would be better, but not by huge margins 2) Shorter coax, especially if it is low-quality coax is better than longer coax, assuming you do a good job of putting a new connector on it - But the amount of improvement is probably minimal/negligible. If it was me, I would not bother.

All the people that pre-ordered got theirs shipped and now everyone that didnt pre-order gets to wait again... Pre order one (when the website allows) if you ever want to touch one.