Bombahook1

For the acronym dictionary...
FPP = Front Panel Programming. The ability to set radio configuration parameters without a computer or programming software.

I have a couple of KG805Gs and so far I think they about perfect for my application which is basic family communication. The price was right and they are better than my Motorola Talkabout radios which are pretty good in an of themselves. 

B 

I guess this was the culmination of what started with just a couple of Baofengs UV-5R back in 2013ish...
 
So, couple of days ago I finally bit the bullet and got my first XPR7550e, been eyeing those for a long time, form factor and performance, I've even programmed a couple for a friend, but never really tested them.... But now this one is mine... my own, my precious.... hahaha, and I just cannot even begin to describe how amazing this radio is. I ran every possible test I could think of, high RF noise, no antenna, ... everything short of an ISOTEE test (since the 7550e doesn't have an SMA connector)... and the 7550e beat every other commercial grade radio I own by an ample margin. Including EVX-539 portables, XPR6550s... and it utterly humiliated the garbage China radios... it demolished all those CCRS even harder than the EVX/6550 did...
 
We did a 1 watt range test, on foot, one XPR6550 at home, ground floor, and the XPR7550e, along with a few other radios on us. Remember, terrain around here is very hilly, not flat, this is Madison WI, where you won't find a flat piece of land anywhere... So, we walked exactly 1.89 miles distance on 1 watt, ground to ground, before the XPR7550e was the only radio left standing, the only one able communicate with the 6550 at home. Measured RSSI Signal strength on the 7550e screen was -118 dBm @ 1.89 miles. Considering this radio would still produce audible (and intelligible) digital audio all the way down to ~ -129 dBm, I think it still had, at least, 1/4 mile of range left on it...  The XPR7550e was using the PMAE4070A antenna, and all other radios used PMAE4048A antennas, except for the GD77 which used a Vertex Standard UHF antenna since it uses the sticking out SMA (female)...
 
At that distance, 1.89 miles, even my best-tuned EVX-539 portable, with a really good Motorola GMRS antenna PMAE4048A, the RX light was just blinking but no audio could be heard. The XPR6550 was about the same as the EVX-539... the light would  blink, but no audio heard either.
 
All those LMR radios stopped communicating at about the same distance, or around the 1.5 miles mark, and at 1.6 miles the digital robotic/breakup made voice communication 100% unintelligible on all those. 
 
We also tested the following China radios on DMR:
Alinco MD5 (made by AnyTone)
Baofeng BF-1801Radioddity GD-77
Retevis RT-52
 
The Alinco MD5 was the best of the pack, it performed similar to the EVX-539/6550, and also used the same PMAE4048A antenna, but at 1.89 miles the light would simply randomly blink and no audio could be heard.
 
Then the BF-1801, the GD-77 and the RT-52... all those stopped receiving audio completely at about .5 miles from the house, that's right, these cheap pieces of utter crap weren't able to communicate with a Motorola XPR6550 after just 0.6 miles... and you wonder why you don't have any range with these CCRs?...  
 
I think its time to stop wasting money, start saving up for a 2nd hand XPR7550e, just like I did... mine is used, it has a couple of small scratches on the screen...  but those scratches on the screen certainly didn't stop it from demolishing the "mint condition" RT-52 and all these pieces of China garbage...
 
Yes, I know, you need the CPS, you need a cable, heck, you need to actually invest some money to field a XPR7550e... I know, I know it quite well, b/c I also started with x2 Baoturd UV-5R CCR radios... but looking in retrospect I should've gone directly with an XPR7550e, I can safely say that it would've saved me a lot of money, a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out why my radio range was measured in tenths of an inch rather that in tens of miles....
 
G.

I don't know how many will care about this but I built a box and thought I'd post it.
 
For the woodworkers here, please ignore the joints.  I used the miter corner "tape trick" instead of clamping and the thing blew up on me during glue up and I had to scramble for clamps.  Didn't get my usual, clean corners.  I was also too lazy to route the edges.
 

 

 
 

 

I understand where you are coming from. Let me share one of my favorite sayings, believed to be coined by Albert Einstein... 
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
 
While I don't know that he said it, the statement is still applicable to humans and our capacity to think. LoL It sounds like you're fortunate and have a knack for this stuff. Maybe the others that don't, Google gave them us.

Glad you figured it out. The manuals for the GMRS and amateur radios less than optimum.
 
Michael
WRHS965
 
 
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Greetings!  New to the forum.  I've had my GMRS license for about 9 months and I'm also an amateur radio operator.
 
I recently purchased a Wouxun KG-805G HT, which is Part 95 type accepted for GMRS. It comes pre-programmed with the GMRS channels, including the repeater channels. The repeater channels are identified by number and repeater designation ("RPT20", for example). This makes things a bit unwieldy, because you have to remember the channel number and its relationship to the repeater frequencies you wish to use and then you have to manually go in and set the CTCSS or DCS tones every time you use that channel for a different repeater.

Mostly out of curiosity, I checked CHIRP to see if I could identify other unprogrammed channels in the radio. My objective was to program specific repeaters and their tones and names in those unprogrammed channels, if they existed. I found that CHIRP does not identify the KG-805G as a radio which it can program; however, I also found that if you use the program for the Wouxun KG-816, it does, in fact, allow the uploading and downloading of data from and to the radio. Doing so revealed that the KG-805G has quite a few unprogrammed channels. I put in my favorite GMRS repeaters into the CHIRP programming matrix and then successfully uploaded them to the KG-805G. I also stopped scanning on the pre-programmed channels in the radio and allowed scanning on the channels I had programmed, so now I can scan my favorite repeaters.

This may already be known to other KG-805G users, but I thought I'd put it on here in case someone didn't know.

Incidentally, I really like the radio.
 

Ok thanks for clearing that up for me. There are lots of things to learn when you are just starting out. :-)
 
B