Extreme

My 3170 has new Li-ion.. Wouxun still lasts longer.. Not a big deal. Interesting info on the AA. Neither AA packs work with Kenwood or Wouxun but they still offer them.. hmm.

I didn't kill an elk but I helped two others get theirs, one at 3pm on the last day - both 17yr. olds and their first elk. One of the father's is "terminal" so it was a very special day for them. Also, rolled my SxS getting one of the elk off the mountain. I survived w/o injury and damage to the Wolverine was minimal - lay on it's side for 48 hours, let it sit for half an hour when uprighted and it fired and ran first try. Long story but the dead radio, topic of this thread, is a minor detail of the full adventure, along with a busted Stihl chainsaw and RotoPac mount. I'm a very thankful old guy right now.. might make yet one more birthday.. Wouxun HTs were flawless (battery life longer than TK-3170) and the 880 was great 'til I torched it. Earbuds are a must for hunting.

My dealer of choice has only 8180 in 30w.

Found during a week of hunting that the Wouxun 805 battery lasts considerably longer than the Kenwood 3170. And the Kenwood AA battery pack causes the radio to malfunction with odd display.. dang.

Nope. Going back in tomorrow or Sunday for another week or so. Managed to nail down a couple cows for other hunters tho' and have a bag of backstrap for tonight's dinner. Had UTV issue to deal with and basic cleanup.. dusty mess up there.

Cardinal sin: busted the antenna off my Yamaha Wolverine out elk hunting. Didn't know it til I tried to call a buddy and got nothing but receive.. whelp, I burned up the finals so it's dead meat (great scanner though). Going to replace it with an 863, slightly newer that has the same programming and cable, or the 8180 folks here seem to like, but different programming and cable than 880/863. Hmmm??? A local to home repeater ID hit me at 50+ miles LOS when at 7000', repeater at 5500'. Unfortunately, I couldn't TX to it to try it out but suspecting I can talk to home from there, a 90 mile road distance. Good stuff when my Verizon phone has zero service from the same place. Also, from the same spot, heard some ham folks on their weekly meet from somewhere in Idaho but with no ham license and no TX couldn't chime in. All good stuff, just remember to unscrew the antenna when going thru low hanging branches.. d'oh. Thanks for listening.

..and if I'm not mistaken much less hassle to program than Motorola. d'oh.. already covered. Tried to delete my johnny-come-lately comment.

2015 Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 484B - Rules of the Road NRS 484B.165 - Using handheld wireless communications device to type or enter text, send or read data, engage in nonvoice communication or engage in voice communications without use of hands-free device unlawful; exceptions; penalty. Universal Citation: NV Rev Stat § 484B.165 (2015) 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person shall not, while operating a motor vehicle on a highway in this State: (a) Manually type or enter text into a cellular telephone or other handheld wireless communications device, or send or read data using any such device to access or search the Internet or to engage in nonvoice communications with another person, including, without limitation, texting, electronic messaging and instant messaging. ( Use a cellular telephone or other handheld wireless communications device to engage in voice communications with another person, unless the device is used with an accessory which allows the person to communicate without using his or her hands, other than to activate, deactivate or initiate a feature or function on the device. 2. The provisions of this section do not apply to: (a) A paid or volunteer firefighter, emergency medical technician, advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic, ambulance attendant or other person trained to provide emergency medical services who is acting within the course and scope of his or her employment. ( A law enforcement officer or any person designated by a sheriff or chief of police or the Director of the Department of Public Safety who is acting within the course and scope of his or her employment. © A person who is reporting a medical emergency, a safety hazard or criminal activity or who is requesting assistance relating to a medical emergency, a safety hazard or criminal activity. (d) A person who is responding to a situation requiring immediate action to protect the health, welfare or safety of the driver or another person and stopping the vehicle would be inadvisable, impractical or dangerous. (e) A person who is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as an amateur radio operator and who is providing a communication service in connection with an actual or impending disaster or emergency, participating in a drill, test, or other exercise in preparation for a disaster or emergency or otherwise communicating public information. (f) An employee or contractor of a public utility who uses a handheld wireless communications device: (1) That has been provided by the public utility; and (2) While responding to a dispatch by the public utility to respond to an emergency, including, without limitation, a response to a power outage or an interruption in utility service. 3. The provisions of this section do not prohibit the use of a voice-operated global positioning or navigation system that is affixed to the vehicle. 4. A person who violates any provision of subsection 1 is guilty of a misdemeanor and: (a) For the first offense within the immediately preceding 7 years, shall pay a fine of $50. ( For the second offense within the immediately preceding 7 years, shall pay a fine of $100. © For the third or subsequent offense within the immediately preceding 7 years, shall pay a fine of $250. 5. A person who violates any provision of subsection 1 may be subject to the additional penalty set forth in NRS 484B.130. 6. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not treat a first violation of this section in the manner statutorily required for a moving traffic violation. 7. For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed not to be operating a motor vehicle if the motor vehicle is driven autonomously through the use of artificial-intelligence software and the autonomous operation of the motor vehicle is authorized by law. 8. As used in this section: (a) “Handheld wireless communications device” means a handheld device for the transfer of information without the use of electrical conductors or wires and includes, without limitation, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a pager and a text messaging device. The term does not include a device used for two-way radio communications if: (1) The person using the device has a license to operate the device, if required; and (2) All the controls for operating the device, other than the microphone and a control to speak into the microphone, are located on a unit which is used to transmit and receive communications and which is separate from the microphone and is not intended to be held. ( “Public utility” means a supplier of electricity or natural gas or a provider of telecommunications service for public use who is subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. (Added to NRS by 2011, 3647; A 2013, 959)

Should have worded this differently "Once past the hill.." The 18 mile 2-way communication was WITH the hill obstructing, in the immediate vicinity of the mobile unit with no LOS to be had.

Mobile: Kenwood 880 HT: Wouxun 805 Simplex operation. Terrain: 500' pine timbered hill obstructing at mobile end. Once past the hill = 18 mi. LOS down hill into a valley and HT. Perfect 5x5 TX/RX both directions. Blown away that it reached.

Sorry for the delayed response. Was in Montana riding the trails. I ended up with the 880 25w unit. Got 18 - 20 mile reception from the 880 to a HT clear as day in simplex, even with a timbered hill between (on the mobile end of the shot). Was very surprised. Also worked weil with UTVs. Mobile has a 1/4 wave antenna. You should get excellent results with a repeater available.

Welcome from Spring Creek (Elko).

No. At least no mention of it on the Midland page.

Chris, I got excited for a second when I saw your repeater's new listing for Mountain Home. I always confuse it with Mountain City (Nevada), my hunting area. Thought whoopie.. here we go. Oh well, will try to shoot the 100 miles from top of Tennessee Mtn (8000') to your repeater on my Kenwood mobile (25w) next time I'm up there.. fat chance, but I know it a pretty clear shot line of sight to MH from up there. I'm hoping to get to the top of Pine Mtn also and take a shot back toward the Spring Creek repeaters.

I found it easier to program all functions of the 805G via control panel. To my knowledge, DTMF is not available on the 805 and is not mentioned in the instruction sheet. I see no mention of 'step' or 'side tone' either so those must be in the software only. Guess I could plug in and play with the software.. https://manual-hub.com/manuals/wouxun-kg-805g-01-pdf-manual/

Why not just set the radio to "SCAN"?

Pre-programmed used commercial radios (plug'n play) are available for us run-of-the-mill folks. I got mine from used-radios.com and I'll bet some ebay sellers will program as well. UR gave me excellent customer service, programmed the radios to my specs (GMRS repeater tones and button assignments included), and provide a 90 day warranty, which they honored when programming wasn't perfect, with a 5 day turnaround. Yes, I paid more than most ebay radios.

As a noob a few months ago I was heading to Midland then found this forum and ended up with a Kenwood TK-880-1 V2 mobile and a Kenwood TK-3170 HT from used-radios.com. They programmed them both for me to my specs but then I bought the correct cable and downloaded free programming software for both and have done my own programming and setup as well. All this was with a ton of help from the forum. A search here for those topics will reveal the how-to so shouldn't have to be repeated. But the folks on here are outstanding to get you on the path. I also bought a Wouxun 805-G and programmed that from the keypad but had a bit of difficulty with the cable and software on that one. Finally got it figured out with the recommended ebay cable. So, I would go the same route again, with used commercial gear. Glad I didn't spend double the cash on the Midland. Edit/Add: Kenwood 880 is available some places in the 'H' (high power) 40w model. The standard 880 is 25w but if you dig deep in the forum you'll learn that your antenna and it's placement are much more of a factor than TX power.

Asking for a friend, actually a guy on an ATV forum who's installed a dual band UHF/VHF 25 watt radio. How close is too close to the head for an antenna? I'm sure it depends on how often and how long signals are transmitted but from the looks of his photo the antenna and ball will be within a foot of the back of his head. I don't wanna be 'that guy' and bark at him but considering a suggestion. Thought maybe you guys would have something for me. I checked FCC and it's pretty vague, or at best hard to get down to the numbers. Thanks.,

Can you get parts for the 511? I've had mine 20 years it seems but due to lack of use and tossing it around I've misplaced the charger and cable. And since it's unknown when the rechargeable battery was last used, I might need one of those as well. My only complaint with this radio is the fact that the LCD clock is always 'on' and discharges the batteries when in storage. Maybe they've modified that in the new 511. Thanks.

Great outline. I give up.. what's "73"? Ham stuff no doubt.

Welcome. Eagle Rock....?

Since software is generally free... It's good to know the programming cable is the same. Don't know if or which 2nd radio I might get but good to know in advance what's compatible. Thanks.

What's the correct software for 8180K? I have a TK-880 and would like my second radio to use the same cable and software. Thanks.

You know the 805G is programmable via the control panel also..