mbrun

GMRS offset is 5MHz. Perhaps that is the issue. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Hot is truly relative. The hotter the ambient temperature, the more insulated the enclosure and the more you transmit the higher the temperature around the radio (and the radio itself) is going to get. I can tell you that the 1000G is warm just sitting idle but the radio gives off somewhere around 75 watts of heat locally when transmitting at full power. 75 watts will heat up that compartment quite nicely if transmitting with a high duty cycle. Perhaps some experimentation is in order to satisfy your curiosity. I personally would be looking into ways the enclosure could be ventilated. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Your results sound completely normal for two radios operating simplex, antennas at 4-7’ AGL, and with loads of obstructions. Midland’s lure of “38-Mile Range” is worse that saying “You too could win the lottery”. In the real world you are more likely to win the power-ball lottery 6 times before you would ever experience 38-mile range with their walkie talkies. Obstructions are the enemy of range in radio communications. Never underestimate how much they negatively effect range and don’t accept any statements to the contrary. Two GMRS handhelds will have a range of 6-miles if used on row boats over smooth water until the earth (water) becomes the obstruction and the signal is lost. That assumes both people are standing in the boat and holding radios at 6 feet AWL. If both people now sit in the boat, range will drop to about 3 miles until the earth becomes the obstacle again. Do an internet search on ‘Radio Horizon’ to see how this works. Also, here is a simple calculator to see what your best case scenario is: https://www.everythingrf.com/rf-calculators/line-of-sight-calculator. As you will learn, the earth is an obstacle that blocks your signal quite dramatically. If there are hills between the two antennas, same thing. Hills are an earth obstacle. Now, if you go into a heavily treed area, or an urban area with lots of buildings everyone of these attenuates your signal to some degree too. All of these add up to reduce your range further. Mix distance, hills and other obstacles and range is squashed. You will hear over and over phrases such as “Height is might”, “Height is King” and “Height is everything”. This is true for a couple of reasons. First, as each antenna goes up in elevation the radio horizon gets further and further way, so your theoretical maximum range on earth increases. Second, when you raise the antennas up, often the number and density of obstacles between the antennas drops too so your real-world range increases. My simplex HT to HT range and HT to Mobile ranges mimics yours. However, when I use mobile to base communications with base antenna at 40’ I loose communications at around 4 miles. When I raise it to 56’ I loose all communications around 8 miles. Yet with both my base and mobile rights I can communicate with repeaters 22-50 miles away because the repeater antennas are so much higher than mine are. Higher antennas mean fewer obstacles, thus increased range. Hope this helps Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

It depends. Height is king when it comes to UHF frequencies. The higher the antenna and the fewer the obstructions between transmitter and receiver antennas the further the usable range. While there are exceptions, your worst enemy is generally the earth. Put a hill (earth) between two antennas and odds of reception go way down. Trees, houses, barns etc… are obstacles too. Each contributes to signal reduction which translates into loss of range. So while you will likely get 50 miles and more range between higher power radios and two antennas that can literally see one another, that is seldom the case in the real world. I live southeast of Cincinnati Ohio in a location that is in the top 90+ percentile of elevation for the region. I estimate my area is 60% trees plus a mixture of homes, fields, farm land and light commercial. Terrain is flat to slightly rolling. With my base antenna at 56’ and with 50w of power I can achieve reliable communications with a mobile unit out to about 4 miles after which reliability falls off. Beyond 7-8 miles all communication is lost. If I lower the antenna to 40’ that range is cut just about in half. Through that same base antenna at 40’ AGL I can communicate reliably through a repeater 50 miles due north of me. That is because that repeater’s antenna is perhaps 500’ higher in elevation than mine and there are no significant hills or stands of trees in the path between the antennas. Based on my experience, and in my estimation, if you are heavily wooded you are likely going to need to get your main antenna well above the trees to achieve the 10mile reach you desire. Here is a website you can use to predict coverage for your specific site. https://www.ve2dbe.com/english1.html If you give it accurate transmit and receive facts it should give you the best opinion of what you are likely to achieve in the real world. Hope this helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

One thing I would like to point out. Some equipment supports use of non-standard codes (CTCSS and DCS alike). If a repeater is capable of and is actually using non-standard codes but your radio only supports standard codes this means you may not be able to use the repeater well, if at all. Also, the CTCSS and DCS scan function of the radios I am familiar with only scans standard codes, not all possible codes. While it is most likely that standard codes are actually being used, it is also possible that non-standard codes are be used. If so, perhaps this is being done to limit which folks can reliably use the repeater. Just food for thought. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

By Integration, do you mean having Chirp add the ability to download repeaters in my area from myGMRS in much the same way it can be done from the other site it supports? If so, yes that would be a nice feature. More importantly though is the need to support all the radios that are being used for GMRS. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I will be running 50w UHF and VHF, 50w GMRS. I will let you know once it is operational. I may not have it installed for two weeks. I do expect some desensitization of the listening receiver while I am transmitting on the other service, but nothing that I expect will affect my operations. I will have ferrite chokes on the GMRS feed-line to cut down on the noise and reduce ingress from the 2m/70cm since that line will be running parallel to the amateur antenna. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Leave it unchanged and off. If you turn that on you radio will starting sending out DTMF (dial tones) when you press and/or release your PTT button. It has its purpose, but it is not practical for most of us. When used as part of a fleet of radios and software it is used to identify who is talking. In some cases, it is also used as an alternative to, or in addition to, tone squelch. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

When I cut vinyl siding years ago for a building of mine, I used a fine tooth steel saw blade made for plywood and installed the blade backwards in both a table saw and chop saw. This configuration melts through material rather than cut it. Also used the technique when I had to cut a piece of old plexiglass down for a hobby project. Just had to run a deburring tool immediately after the cut to clean it up. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Create an account on myGMRS.com. Login and then go to the following URL (https://mygmrs.com/repeaters). Enter your search criteria to see repeaters. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

It would seem that BTWR has caught up on all their backorders and they seem to be getting new units in weekly. I would expect if you got your order in now it would likely ship when they receive their next lot. Last night and this morning I believe it still said “In Stock”. That is a good sign. I don’t think their site shows that until all prior orders have been filled and there are extras to put on the shelf. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Function menu 033 ‘SCAN-ADD’. Toggling the value of this function between ON and OFF determines if the current channel will be scanned or not. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Thanks for for the input. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

You can count on all the Wouxon software being crappy, inconsistent, non-professional software. No, behaviors are not consistent between models. Worst software I have used since the 1980s. What you can count on is that you can program your radio faster using the manufacturer’s software than you can manually. Just do not expect an Excel-like editing experience. If you want a professional software experience you will have to pay for it from RT-Systems. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

C4FM and System Fusion will be my mark my native voyage into digital comms once my 991A arrives. I did not pick the digital format, I picked the radio because it is a multi-band shack-in-a-box. The side benefit is that there are a lot of current SF repeaters in the area and more are known to be on the way in my area. Others have reported that audio quality on SF is better than the rest. We will see. My only experience with other digital formats is P25 communications from area public service agencies and a scanner. Having a professional audio background, the quality of comms I was exposed to was enough to dampen any personal interest in spending money specifically for a digital radio. We will see if the 991A changes that. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Welcome to myGMRS. Glad to have you here. Enjoy! Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Welcome to the forum. Glad you are here. I too have had the GXT1000 radios for 10+ years now and keep them loaded with charged batteries just in case. There are some nice repeater capable radios on the market now. You will appreciate the step up when your ready. Regards. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

In your case the ‘Enc’ should be your Tx code and ‘Dec’ should be your Rx code. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I agree, that is a nice haul. 6-weeks and I am still awaiting my FT-991A. I think it is going to be August or September before it arrives. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Typically a repeater will ignore signals that do not contain the code (a.k.a. Tone) it requires for activation. If you are on the fringe of the repeaters pickup range it is possible that you may open it briefly but your signal is not strong or consistent enough to hold the repeater’s attention. You can verify that by getting close to the repeater to confirm if operation improves. I am not familiar with the RT97 menus so I cannot tell you what they are called on your model, but what you are looking for is the option to set the Tx code on your radio to match what the repeater requires, and the Rx code on your radio to the code that the repeater sends out. If you radio has two menus, one referred to as Tone and the other as Tone Squelch, my first guess would be that ‘Tone’ refers to what your radio sends out (the Tx code), and ‘Tone Squelch’ would refer to what code your radio must receive to open its squelch (Rx code). BTW, make sure you have permission from the repeater owner to use their equipment. Repeaters are private property. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Configuring scan groups is a function of the factory software. You have 10 scan groups available. Each group can have a single contiguous range of memories associated with it (e.g Channels 1-20, 20-100, 5-20, etc.). Each group has a group number. From the radio you can pick which group you want to scan. That is what the scan group menu allows you to do, select which of those groups you want to scan. You also have the ‘All’ option, which allows you to scan all channels programmed into the radio. Note that you can designate each channel memory to be scan-able or not scan-able. That setting you can change on the radio. The manual for the KG-1000G is light years above every other Wouxun manual, but it still falls short of the ideal. In fact, the distributor had to write it themselves since the manufacturer is not qualified to write an english manual for one of their products. Hope that helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I am so glad to hear that you have had such a great success. I feel your excitement. Feels pretty good when a plan comes together doesn’t it. Welcome to GMRS, and enjoy! Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Glad you like it. I sure do. I just completed the side-arm mount for attaching an amateur radio dual band vertical antenna at 30’. Once it is in place I will post photo(s) in another thread. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

That is the risk one takes when using a different model in Chirp to program a radio. Doing so can result in irreversible bricking of a radio. Go to the BTWR website and download the factory code plug. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-805g.html Look for it under the Download tab. Upload that code plug using the factory software. That should fix it. If not, reach out to MACJACK. I believe he has a code plug that may get you operational again. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Truly would not be surprised if you hit an unlisted one. There is no law that says a repeater must be coordinated and listed. Based on the repeaters that are listed in myGMRS and RepeaterBook some codes seem to be very popular. Perhaps if the repeater self IDs you can capture it to find out who owns it. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM