Extreme

Been using it on low power to talk with the various repeaters here in the Tucson area.  At first was using medium power, but tried low, and it's clear and nice.  So why not give the electrons less of a workout.  I'm very satisfied with the radio and antenna.

I for one have always had in the back of my mind an emergency situation where a GMRS radio would save the day.  But, as we all know, traffic is slim and folks monitoring for emergency calls is minimal.
So, my Offroad club does volunteer/pro-Bono vehicle recoveries.  Got contacted by a guy who was stuck at 8500' but lucky enough to have cell phone coverage due to the proximity of a large but remote mine, end of the road, 50+ miles off pavement.  We got him recovered after a 2 hour drive to get to him 5 miles off the main dirt road.  But that's not the story.
The story is: while in route to recover #1 we're chatting on Ch. 16 truck to truck (my Kenwood 8180 and 2 of my 905G I hand out to my compatriots).  We're many miles from anywhere gabbing away on the trip when I hear an unfamiliar voice.  I ask who it is, he says his name and tells me they've slid a Toyota Sequoia off the road and need help.  I asked how he got us and he said he put his Baofeng HT on scan and heard us chatting.  Told him we'd get him on the way out from #1.  This Toyota was at the top of the Ruby Mountains, Harrison Pass at close to 10k feet elevation, 30 miles of dirt then 6.5mi in,  4wd/Low Range for 6.5mi.  They'd walked out 8 miles from their rig to their camp (muzzle loader deer hunt).
Without giving you all the details of the recovery (didn't get it done last night with 3 capable Jeeps with winches and recovery gear in darkness; he's since hired a pro and they're in route as I write).  Anyway, just a little story on how screwed these guys would have been and how lucky they are to have had a radio and someone in range.  I suggested they hit the slots; even tho' their luck was bad getting stuck, they got good luck just getting out of there.  No telling how long they'd been there with no comms.  They spent the night in a local motel since the Toy is there only rig.

You can use this to calculate the RF exposure. It's now required by the FCC.
 
RF Exposure Calculator (arrl.org)

I for one have always had in the back of my mind an emergency situation where a GMRS radio would save the day.  But, as we all know, traffic is slim and folks monitoring for emergency calls is minimal.
So, my Offroad club does volunteer/pro-Bono vehicle recoveries.  Got contacted by a guy who was stuck at 8500' but lucky enough to have cell phone coverage due to the proximity of a large but remote mine, end of the road, 50+ miles off pavement.  We got him recovered after a 2 hour drive to get to him 5 miles off the main dirt road.  But that's not the story.
The story is: while in route to recover #1 we're chatting on Ch. 16 truck to truck (my Kenwood 8180 and 2 of my 905G I hand out to my compatriots).  We're many miles from anywhere gabbing away on the trip when I hear an unfamiliar voice.  I ask who it is, he says his name and tells me they've slid a Toyota Sequoia off the road and need help.  I asked how he got us and he said he put his Baofeng HT on scan and heard us chatting.  Told him we'd get him on the way out from #1.  This Toyota was at the top of the Ruby Mountains, Harrison Pass at close to 10k feet elevation, 30 miles of dirt then 6.5mi in,  4wd/Low Range for 6.5mi.  They'd walked out 8 miles from their rig to their camp (muzzle loader deer hunt).
Without giving you all the details of the recovery (didn't get it done last night with 3 capable Jeeps with winches and recovery gear in darkness; he's since hired a pro and they're in route as I write).  Anyway, just a little story on how screwed these guys would have been and how lucky they are to have had a radio and someone in range.  I suggested they hit the slots; even tho' their luck was bad getting stuck, they got good luck just getting out of there.  No telling how long they'd been there with no comms.  They spent the night in a local motel since the Toy is there only rig.

I for one have always had in the back of my mind an emergency situation where a GMRS radio would save the day.  But, as we all know, traffic is slim and folks monitoring for emergency calls is minimal.
So, my Offroad club does volunteer/pro-Bono vehicle recoveries.  Got contacted by a guy who was stuck at 8500' but lucky enough to have cell phone coverage due to the proximity of a large but remote mine, end of the road, 50+ miles off pavement.  We got him recovered after a 2 hour drive to get to him 5 miles off the main dirt road.  But that's not the story.
The story is: while in route to recover #1 we're chatting on Ch. 16 truck to truck (my Kenwood 8180 and 2 of my 905G I hand out to my compatriots).  We're many miles from anywhere gabbing away on the trip when I hear an unfamiliar voice.  I ask who it is, he says his name and tells me they've slid a Toyota Sequoia off the road and need help.  I asked how he got us and he said he put his Baofeng HT on scan and heard us chatting.  Told him we'd get him on the way out from #1.  This Toyota was at the top of the Ruby Mountains, Harrison Pass at close to 10k feet elevation, 30 miles of dirt then 6.5mi in,  4wd/Low Range for 6.5mi.  They'd walked out 8 miles from their rig to their camp (muzzle loader deer hunt).
Without giving you all the details of the recovery (didn't get it done last night with 3 capable Jeeps with winches and recovery gear in darkness; he's since hired a pro and they're in route as I write).  Anyway, just a little story on how screwed these guys would have been and how lucky they are to have had a radio and someone in range.  I suggested they hit the slots; even tho' their luck was bad getting stuck, they got good luck just getting out of there.  No telling how long they'd been there with no comms.  They spent the night in a local motel since the Toy is there only rig.

I for one have always had in the back of my mind an emergency situation where a GMRS radio would save the day.  But, as we all know, traffic is slim and folks monitoring for emergency calls is minimal.
So, my Offroad club does volunteer/pro-Bono vehicle recoveries.  Got contacted by a guy who was stuck at 8500' but lucky enough to have cell phone coverage due to the proximity of a large but remote mine, end of the road, 50+ miles off pavement.  We got him recovered after a 2 hour drive to get to him 5 miles off the main dirt road.  But that's not the story.
The story is: while in route to recover #1 we're chatting on Ch. 16 truck to truck (my Kenwood 8180 and 2 of my 905G I hand out to my compatriots).  We're many miles from anywhere gabbing away on the trip when I hear an unfamiliar voice.  I ask who it is, he says his name and tells me they've slid a Toyota Sequoia off the road and need help.  I asked how he got us and he said he put his Baofeng HT on scan and heard us chatting.  Told him we'd get him on the way out from #1.  This Toyota was at the top of the Ruby Mountains, Harrison Pass at close to 10k feet elevation, 30 miles of dirt then 6.5mi in,  4wd/Low Range for 6.5mi.  They'd walked out 8 miles from their rig to their camp (muzzle loader deer hunt).
Without giving you all the details of the recovery (didn't get it done last night with 3 capable Jeeps with winches and recovery gear in darkness; he's since hired a pro and they're in route as I write).  Anyway, just a little story on how screwed these guys would have been and how lucky they are to have had a radio and someone in range.  I suggested they hit the slots; even tho' their luck was bad getting stuck, they got good luck just getting out of there.  No telling how long they'd been there with no comms.  They spent the night in a local motel since the Toy is there only rig.

Yup. The question was already answered. If there is going to be a standard highway/road channel, where one has been proposed and used for a while, we should stick with it. Trying to establish another one just confuses people and likely guarantees nether get used much. Unless there is a very good reason to change it I don’t see the point trying to establish something different.

Why not just set the radio to "SCAN"?

50 is my personal best, over land.

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What you really want to know is which type is it.
TK-8180-K1 (FCC ID's K4437313210 and K4437313110)
TK-8180-K2 (FCC ID's K4437313220 and K4437313120)
You can check the detailed FCC certifications by typing in the above FCC ID's into the following website, then click on search.
https://fccid.io/
The difference is the "band split", the frequency range over which the radio is specified to work. The -K1 type is either a 450 MHz to 512 MHz or a 450 MHz to 520 MHz model depending on if its the lower or higher power model. Both are FCC Part 95 certified, legal to use for GMRS. The -K2 types are only certified as Part 90 radios.
Both types will do wide or narrow band FM.
Before buying a radio I normally do a search for the manufacture's sales brochure. They are a good source to see what the general features and the technical specifications are for the radio in question. In your case look here. This saves a lot of time asking for info.
http://www.swscomm.com/kenwood/TK-7180_8180.pdf
When buying a used radio make absolutely sure you look at a photo of the radio's name plate, which shows the exact model type, FCC ID and serial number. It's not uncommon for sellers to screw up the description, in at least one case for me a deliberate case of misrepresentation, the seller shipped a radio that did not match the name plate on the one in the ad photos, different band split which was totally useless for my needs, I did get a full refund through eBay. In another case the radio was not FCC certified, no FCC ID, it was an European type that required a different version of the software to program it, which was hard to find. That radio works fine but is an odd ball in my collection. The code plugs from the US and European types of the same base model are not interchangeable so I have to maintain two versions for this one.
One more thing about buying used radios, passwords. Almost, if not all, commercial radios can be password lock preventing the radio contents from being read out, which almost nobody really cares about, and the second prevent the radio from being reprogrammed with a new code plug. If you get a radio with a write password, and you don't have a version of the programming software with an "Engineer's" level install key, you can't load a new code plug in the radio. Your only options is find somebody who has the software to bypass the password or take it to a radio shop, or Kenwood service, pay a ridiculously high bench fee for the tech to do 5 minutes of work clearing out the old passwords. I've had a few radios like this that where I have the software to bypass the passwords for those models. The seller may not even know if the radio is password locked or not. You can ask before purchasing and see if they know for sure or not.
 

KPG 49 > 880
KPG 89 >8180
I suggest you read the radio first
8102 > KPG 70D
8160 > KPG 99D
all of these "should" run in Win 10.

I have a few 8180s in the 30W  version and it worked fine for all.  axorlov is correct, the 'H' is high power and K1/K2 is the firmware edition probably. The manual for all the 7180/8180 series is the same and software is shared.  I've had no issues using 49D software on any of mine and once one is done I simply upload from that one then download configuration to a new one so they're identical.
Run with it and don't sweat.

I'm sure 8180 owners and experts will chime in, but for now:
The "H" means high power, 45W in case of 8180. From programming standpoint 8180H and 8180 should be identical.
"K" - I have no clue, but with my Kenwood 3170 "K" is a regular one, and "K4" is with 12-key keypad. I would follow the advice and chose 8180H if your radio on hand is 8180H-K.
Safe download - now this is a longshot these days! hamfiles.co.uk considered to be reliable. I just download from the radiosoftware.ru, I like to live dangerously.
Kenwood software for Windows works in Win10. I personally have KPG-49D and KPG-101D working fine.
Firmware update does not seem to be required (with my 880 and 3170).

The software is free. Get version KPG-49d v 6.30.
 
JG

There are only eight high-power channels, seven 5W channels and seven 0.5W channels. Any half-decent radio can scan them all quickly. And from your mobile you can't legally use 467.xxx5 (because 0.5W), so why to worry about them. If there is an open repeater in vicinity, it's most likely will be on 462.675 with tone 141.3.

Thank you MacJack!
I was having a hard time trying to get the KG-905G programed and then got it figured out. Self teaching is the only way for ol' dogs to learn anything.
BTW, Nice Jeep! The green Jeep is my old 2010 and the gray one is my newest. Both have a blower but the 3.6L is a much better power plant.

Welcome, I am new to the GRMS world as well, just installed a KG-1000g in my Jeep and will be using a 905g as the handheld with the Jeep. Mine is 2019 JLUR

The KG1000g with the 1/4 wave antenna is working much better than the HT I've been using.  But that goes without saying.  While driving to and from work, I have had no issues with conversations through the Lemmon 650 repeater.  But I'm only 25 miles due south of Tucson, and Lemmon is on top of the mountain.  Also a really powerful machine.  However now, I can use the Tucson 550 machine with little noise for my whole commute.  I've also been able to reach out to the  Sierra Vista, and Benson machines while driving up box canyon.  Dual channel monitoring is a huge plus, with monsoon season starting soon, I'll be able to have the county flash flood alerts on channel 2 while working the repeaters or direct comms on channel 1.  I did follow the advice on the KG1000 tips thread, and made button C scan tones.  Makes it really easy to listen in to the pecan orchards and other local chatter.
 

Ok, short update. Got the radio mounted nicely. Pulled headliner down a little, so I could knock a 3/4” hole, and got everything installed. And I’ve got to admit. This radio is fantastic! I have no trouble hitting the local, and kind of distant repeaters. Radio checks come back loud and clear. The more I use this thing, the more I enjoy it. The 1/4 wave antenna is perfect. No clearance issues on the lifted truck. I mounted the radio where the useless cupholder used to be.

GMRS is not ham radio. If you want to use APRS get your ham ticket and enjoy. I for one dont want to listen to data burst all over the GMRS band. We only have limited channels to use now. Adding more to those doesn't help.

Okay,
I’ll bite here.  I own a repeater (Rugged 575) in Naperville, IL at 300' receive / 250’ transmit.  It’s on a commercial site with other UHF and VHF radio systems as well.  Not only have I spent nearly 5 figures setting this up correctly but I monitor it as if it was my baby, cuz, you know, it *IS* my baby.  I built it with no financial help from anyone else.  Of course there was other help I received by LOTS of other commercial repeater owners (Those of you that are reading know who you are) as I’ve come a long way in the last year and some change here.  I have my repeater system set up for several different private family usage cases and I also have a tone for public which I closely monitor as well and others that are out there do use it.
 
As a repeater owner I’m super happy to turn my radio on and hear other people using it.  As a matter of fact just yesterday some other licensed GMRS users were using my repeater and I needed to use it with my wife as I was at the grocery store and I broke in and said, “hang tight guys, I need to talk to my wife for a minute.  I’ll let you know when I’m done”.  Anyways, I flipped to our tone, talked with her about the particulars, then went back to the public side and said “Carry on guys!  Glad to hear you out there using the machine”.
 
That being said, mine is set to “Ask permission” as well because as others have mentioned, I want to know who is using it to verify their license and location because it’s my system and it’s my responsibility to make sure it’s up to par on the commercial shared site.  I have sent an email back to EVERY! SINGLE! PERSON! As well welcoming them with the tones to use it!  I haven’t had the need (yet) to ever reject anyone from using my repeater but I still keep a tab on who has access to it as in my opinion, it’s my responsibility to do so.
 
Not only that, but I have my custom verbiage I send back with every request as well stating that this is a family repeater as well and to aid to traffic on the other PL tone.  Heck, I’ll paste what I send you can see where we are coming from with this:
 
“The tone for my repeater is XXXX (left blank) (N – normal, not inverted).
 
When you key up for the first time please identify yourself using your call sign and call for ROB.  I am regulating who is using my repeater as it is being used for my family as well.
 
I have received an exceeding amount of requests to use my repeater.  Originally this was set up for family only use but seeing as the range is far better than expected, I have opened it up on an as-requested basis to any licensed GMRS operator.  PLEASE NOTE:  ALL TRAFFIC MUST YIELD TO MY FAMILY.  The tone for public use is different than family so if you see your radio lighting up receiving on 462.575 but no audio is coming through on your radio it's because my family is talking so please do not key up until that traffic has cleared.
 
Thanks and I hope to hear you on the air!”
 
 
That being said, sometimes users don’t understand what a multi-table is either so I will say this too:  When you first use a new repeater you should ALWAYS call out for a radio check IMO because you don’t know how that repeater is set up and should NEVER assume anything!  I was in Iowa once and I made contact to the owner on the traveler tone (I was travelling) and he told me that it’s linked to another repeater in California!  NONE of this information was posted on mygmrs.com and upon googling I couldn’t even find it either!!!  It was good to know that I was keying multiple machines too and me and the owner had a nice long 30 minute conversation and he was glad I keyed up and shouted out!
 
To sum up further as a repeater owner:  *MOST*, but not *ALL* repeater owners don’t mind you using their machine I’ve found.  Now I’m in the Midwest mind you, so again, no assumptions would be made for other machines that I’ve never used, but around here most repeater owners are very happy to have you on their machine and it brings a great smile to their face to know that they are serving the public with a reliable communication system and growing the hobby as well!
 
Remember that GMRS isn’t HAM and HAM isn’t GMRS.  A *LOT* of people out there want GMRS for family use under one license and that’s what I’m doing but I’ve decided to open it up to the public as well as the coverage is fairly decent.  I looked at getting a business license and could have easily done it too but I like the idea of being able to chat with my family *AND* other GMRS users so here we are!
 
Thanks!

Well, everything is here except the antenna from antenna farm.  And I'm going to wait for that to show up before I go hog a hole out in the roof of the truck.  Impatience leads to sloppy installs.    That said, I seriously can't say enough good things about the antenna farm.  I ordered while working overnight using my work computer, so the companies IP address (which shows as somewhere in VA).  And while driving home after getting off shift at 7:30am, I received a phone call from them.  He was concerned about the IP being from VA, but the shipping being out to AZ, and wanted to make sure there wasn't fraud.  I explained that's work's IP, and everything is good.  What a pleasant surprise.   I'll be ordering everything from him from now on to be sure. 

Wow, that's terrific performance for ~5 watts!  It certainly proves the claim that "height make right..." 

I have one of these operating up on a remote mountain side here in Alaska. It uses a SLA battery that is solar re-charged. I get a range of around 25 miles or so when coupled with handhelds such as Vertex VX-231s and/or Motorola PR400s. It probably can go further but I run into the inlet and can't test it further.
 
Out at 25 miles it starts to get a bit noisy in the signal but the message is readable. I attached a photo of looking in out from where it's located at.

Not in Texas.  I'm about 25-30 miles due south of Tucson, AZ.  I believe the repeater for Lemmon 650 is around 9'000 ASL.