mbrun

Here is some added insight into behavior of the Wouxun KG-1000G when the priory channel scan is enabled. First, the radio does not scan the priority channel at all when the radio is in scan mode. Undesirable IMO. Second, the radio does check the priority channel when the radio is sitting idle, even when the radio is tuned to a different channel. This is desirable IMO. The radio will reproduce audio from the priority channel which is a good thing, however… Third, when the radio detects a signal on the priority channel there is no friendly way (I can find) to cause the radio to stay on (or switch to) that channel so you communicate back. One has to manually tune to the priority channel (which can be a time consuming effort). It would be more desirable (IMO) if pressing the PTT briefly button would briefly cause the radio to pause on that channel so as to allow immediate talk-back communications. Fourth, when priority scan mode is active and you are actively receiving a signal on a different channel, the channel you are listening too will be interrupted for 1 second every 4 seconds, while the radio scans the priority channel. This will cause you to miss portions of the conversation you are engaged in, even when no activity on priority channel is present. Fifth, there is no way to establish what the priority channel is on the radio without a computer. Undesirable IMO, as in my case, my priority channel is probable to change depending upon where I am and how I am using the radio. Thought I would shed some more light on the subject. Perhaps BTWR is listening and can take action with Wouxun to resolve the issues. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Although it can be turned on, priority scan feature does not work on my KG-1000G radio either. Radio seems to also lack the ability to establish the primary channel from the radio controls. Definitely undesirable for a GMRS radio. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Yes, You need to separately set Tx and Rx tones. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Yes. But in reality it is not that big of a deal (IMO). I am both a licensed amateur and GMRSr. Because of the large volume of amateur repeaters in my region, I did find it helpful to be able to download all of the area repeaters from repeater book via Chirp and the organize them for my radio. But 1/2 of them have no published tones, so I can’t use them unless I contact the owner. In contrast, the number of open-to-the-public GMRS repeaters in Cincinnati and Dayton is about a dozen, and 1/2 of them are not in any public GMRS database. Regardless, in about 15 minutes or less I can program a radio for them. Not a big time investment. I also developed a pattern for programming all my GMRS radios to make it simple to add new repeaters on the fly to handle those that may exist in a city I travel to. That technique involves creating a series of several dozen place holder memories pre-configured for standard repeater pair frequencies (labeled 550A-G through 725-A-G). If I travel to say Columbus or Cleveland, I already have plenty of empty repeater pairs in my radio. All I need to do is enter the CTCSS/DCS tones via radio FP controls and I am good to go. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Welcome to myGRMS Jeff. Enjoy your time here. Be certain to pass on your knowledge of GMRS as it grows. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Good Morning Grant. Are you setting the tones via the factory configuration software or front panel? If you are setting the tones via front panel there are some behavior things you need to be aware of. The ‘Menu’ doubles both as a function Menu button as well as a setting Save button. When you go into the function menu by pressing the ‘Menu’ button while in the VFO or Channel Mode, you need to press ‘Menu’ again to Save each and every change that you make that you want written to memory. Conversely, you need to press ‘Exit’ if you do not want to commit your change. But also, you never what to hit the ‘Exit’ button unless you do not want to change the active memory, even if you technically did not make a change. If you are activating the function menu, going to a tone menu, setting the Tone and then pressing ‘Exit’, your new setting is not being saved. You have to press ‘Menu’ again to commit it. Also, there is an interaction between the various tone menus that are not explained in the menu nor are intuitive/familiar to understood. There are two separate tone menus for Tx and two for Rx. One for CTCSS and one for DCS. These are mutually exclusive. You cannot have a non-zero (off) value in both at the same time. Saving a setting in the Tx-CTCSS menu clears the value in the Tx-DCS menu and vice versus. He are some examples of what you could be doing that is causing the issue. 1) You activate the function menu, go to one of the Tx tone menus, scroll to the value you want, then press ‘Exit’. If you do this, your new setting is not written to memory. Gong! 2) You activate function menu, go to the Tx-CTCSS menu, scroll to the value you want, then press ‘Menu’. Great, your new setting is saved. Yeh! However, if you now go to the other Tx-DCS menu, see that it is Zero (or Off) and hit ‘Menu’ again even though you made no change you are also clearing the Tx-CTSSS menu. Gong! While the user interface design for this is very, very poor and counter intuitive, it is learnable. Let me know if this helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Generally speaking, GMRS repeaters have no impact on which repeater capable radio you may purchase, with two notable exceptions. If a repeater uses split tones (one tone for Tx and a different tone for Rx) then you will need a radio with split-tone capability. If the repeater uses non-standard tones, then you need a radio that supports non-standard tones. I will admit I have not personally encountered any that used non-standard tones. The highest majority of repeaters using single standard tones. If you purchase a radio that supports both, you are golden. Current and previous generation Midland radios do not support split tones, at least from the front panel. One model can support split if using software. All Wouxun GMRS radios support split tone. Two models support custom tones via the front panel controls, two do not. One additional one I believe will support custom tones via software only. I do not know if there is a way to download repeaters from this site. Never had need to. Hope this helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Welcome to myGMRS. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Good Morning Don Because you combined split-codes and simplex into the same question one might assume you are envisioning you have need to use split-tones while using simplex. That could be a wrong interpretation of your real question. If so, please clarify. While split-tones have their place for repeater use, split tones are rarely (if ever) needed when operating simplex. If a tone is used when operating simplex, all radios in the group that are expected to be able to communicate with one another would typically all use the same tone and this would be used for both Tx and Rx in all radios. In this scenario everyone in the group would be able to communicate with everyone else in the group. Everyone transmits the same code, everyone’s squelch opens up when they receive a signal containing that code. While there may be some edge/esoteric or “just because I can” reason, I can think of zero practical day-to-day reasons why someone needs (or wants) to run split-tones on simplex. If they are used, it would create a situation where only two radios could effectively communicate. Because the Rx tone on one radio would be aligned with the Tx tone on the other. Both radios are therefore are programmed differently. If you added a third radio, it then would only able to communication with one of the other two radios. Not a viable thing when communication is your goal. If you had a large group of radios programmed this way, then only one person would be able to hear all other radios and communicate with all others. Think circle/start configuration with one radio in the middle and all others on the perimeter. The person in the middle could communicate with everyone on the perimeter. Those on the perimeter could not communicate with each other, but could communicate with the person in the middle. If you are thinking that perhaps if you used split tones that would somehow make your communications between two radios private, that would be incorrect. Tones provide zero privacy. Tones provide a mechanism to keep the squelch closed on your radio until you receive a signal containing that tone. They provide a means for you to ignore (not have to listen to) others that are not part of the group you want to listen to. I hope this helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Hey Mac, Congratulations. Glad to hear you and you GD got you ticket. Welcome to the amateur radio community. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Love the Airplane movie reference. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

When I hear roger beeps, I immediately think of kids playing with toys and cheap radios, sort of like clipping playing cards onto one’s bicycle to rub on the spokes and make noise while you ridding. Fun for the person making the noise, annoying to everyone else. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

No. You can tweak some settings of the memory once it has been created via the software, but you cannot configure a preset from scratch via the radio controls. Basically, the front panel controls lack the ability to pick, save and change frequencies using at a memory location. Things like tones and power can however be changed after the fact. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Welcome to myGMRS Frank. I highly recommend you put your 805 on scan, without Rx tones, and listen for any activity that includes morse code or other automated station identification announcements. If you hear such things that is a good (but not perfect) indicator you are listening to a repeater. Once you have identified the call sign, you can do your detective work to track down the owner and ask permission to use their equipment. You need to be able to receive the signal from the repeater before you will have any practical chance of getting into it to use it. Buying a radio with more power will not help you hear a repeater any better. In fact, the 805 receiver is rated slightly more sensitive than the KG-1000, so odds are that if the 805G does not receive it, the 1000 will not either. The next most beneficial thing you can do is focus on antenna. Everything you do to improve reception will benefit transmission range as well. Once you have an antenna at an appropriate elevation that allows you to receive the repeater well (or any other simplex site you want for that matter) then you have a chance of communicating back to it. The extra radio power of another radio will merely make you sound less noisy to those listening to you. Hope that helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Agreed. For an issue like this, I believe Wouxun should provide a replacement battery to each user that received a defective one. That is the right thing to do and the kind of customer service that endears a manufacturer/vendor to a customer. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

The community benefits from this info. I would certainly take the issue up with the supplier. The issue could be a simple as too long of screws being shipped or it could be the metal inserts in the case are flawed or there is plastic flash in the screw holes. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

You know, that really does not bother me though. I truly do not expect to find (nor do I attempt to find) open repeaters along my route when I am traveling. While in-route I really only care about comms with whomever I might be caravanning with, which is very infrequent now. However, I may look to see if there is something open near my destination. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Scanned for 20 hours on recent trip. Only heard sporadic bubble pack radios probably totaling a few minutes. Could not tell if the were in cars or on foot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I second the part 90-95 clarification. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very, Very Nice. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Do share what cheap spectrum analyzer you used. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Nice Job! And your are correct, Tx on 8-14 is not allowed from a mobile unit per the FCC regs. Now time to enjoy the radio. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I agree with Lscott. It depends. The fewer the connections the better. Also, at UHF frequencies at which GMRS operates at, any adapter you put in line with a SO-239/PL-259 connector is a candidate to skew your numbers. That is absolutely my experience when measuring things with both a VNA and a standard SWR meter. While my radios may have the SO-239 on them, I try to stick with N-connectors for everything else. Adding barrels, right-angles, etc... does not skew the results to the same negative degree as the 239/259 products. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

By ‘monitor option’ are you referring to the ability to manually open squelch and monitor the frequency regardless of tone settings? If so, the radio does have that. The small button on the mic, located below the PTT button, does just that. Regarding SWR, SWR values change based on the frequency used for the test. Based on the tuning of the specific antenna, the best SWR reading may be obtained higher or lower in its operational range. A key point however is that SWR has zero to do with the radio being used and everything to do with the antenna system (coax/feed-line and antenna). So if you are using an inline SWR meter (the typical type) between radio and your antenna system, the SWR should not change whether you are using a $50 radio or $1000 radio so long as both of them are outputing the same frequency for the test. In repeater mode your radio is transmitting on 467.xxxx frequencies. In simplex mode your radio is transmitting on 462.xxxx frequencies. If you have better SWR on the simplex channels then your antenna is better tuned to those frequencies. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

You’re right about getting burned. The average consumer only has what the supplier claims for capacity and knows no better. Nowadays you can count on many trying pull a fast one on you. The meter I have can be powered by the battery it monitors or it can be powered externally. If an external power supply is used, it needs to be 10-30vdc. I use a 12vdc supply. I forget what the cutoff voltage is when using the monitored battery to power the unit but I vaguely recall 8 or 9vdc. It looks like the majority of this class of meter is designed for solar, marine and RV applications. The hobbyist gets to benefit from their low cost availability so that is nice. I may just have to create a jig that allows me to check the various radio batteries now in my arsenal to see how they fair. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM