bobthetj03

Had reservations about mounting the antenna there, but seems to be working fine. Swapped out the GMRS unit for a dual band. I like the small footprint. Not much room in a TJ.

I have both and prefer the GM-30 over the UV9G. The UV9G requires a charging cradle to charge the battery. The GM-30 can be charged via a "C" port like your cell phone has, so charging it is convenient. Since the UV9G is water resistant, the K port takes its own proprietary cable. GM-30 uses the standard 2 prong K port for accessories and programing cable. Unless you need a water resistant radio, the GM-30 is a better choice IMO.

I think you can unlock that DB-20G to TX on the 2M and 70cm bands with some shenanigans, so it could double as your GMRS and HAM radio.

I haven't tried 80 miles, but my CCR successfully has made understandable contact to a repeater 50 miles away, and that's not LOS across a body of water.

^^^This would be a great starter kit for you. I have the GM-30. It was my first GMRS HT, and is easy to program, either on the fly, or with the software. When I sold my Midland MXT-275 out of my Jeep, I needed a small footprint mobile unit, so the DB-20 looked like a good choice. I ordered Anytone's version of it, (which is a twin to the DB-20G). I ended up going a different direction with my mobile, but I still think this is a good starter kit for you. Just my 2 cents.

Do you want a radio that has the same features as the Midland HT's you have now? Do you foresee using repeaters to extend your communication range? Do you have any repeaters in your area?

I've had the best luck using a BNC female to SMA to attach to the HT, then get a jumper cable from BNC male to your 400. The 400 will be way to stiff to connect direct to the HT. The BNC adapters typically swivel, which is what you want to relieve the tension to the HT antenna imput. I mounted a JPole antenna on a 10' tall pipe on my deck railing and cable it to my HT.

I have this radio as well. It is my #1 go to GMRS radio. If I had any complaints about it, it would be the PTT button is hard to keep pressed in if you are a long winded talker, as I've been known to be guilty, and the channel changing knob up top is easily bumped when using it in the field. I wish the knob was harder to turn so as not to bump it off channel.

Ok, I'll bite. The list isn't profound, but it's enough I can justify it in my head at least. The 935's pros, vs the GM-30: The display is light years better, cleaner, and easier to read, and has I think 3 different color options. For dual watch display, I like the icon that tells you what main channel you are monitoring to TX, vs a tiny arrow on the GM-30. The 935 also leaves you a little clue when a RX is received on that channel. The options on the screen are in different colors, so it's easier for me to to pick them apart vs the monochrome screen of the GM-30. In addition to the arrow keys on the keypad, the 935 also lets you change the channels on a secondary knob next to the volume control. This feature is a double edged sword IMO, as it has been easy to bump the knob and change the channel you are on by mistake when using the radio in the field. A tighter turning knob would improve that drawback. It's IP66 rated for weather and dust. That is important while using on jeep/outdoors activities. It has 2 (P1,P2) function buttons below the PTT button that are programable, which is handy. I can store up to 999 channels for scanning, or adding repeater channels in my area, or outside of my area that use the same frequency but different tones. I can program the radio in the field without hooking it up to a computer, and name the channels on the fly. GM-30, I only get 3 banks of 8 DIY channels to do that, and can't name them without the software and a computer. The 935 has a 3200 MaH battery and last 3 times as long as the GM-30's 1500 MaH battery. The factory installed rubber duck antenna on the 935 seems to receive a bit better, but I'll leave that as subjective to my environment. I can program my call sign on the display, which I think is cool, but not all that useful. The owner's manual is much easier to understand and read. The speaker appears to be of better quality, as I've received clarity reports while transmitting with both radios. I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting, but those are a few off the top of my head. I'm guessing you are going somewhere with this questioning, as I've seen you post a few times questioning the claims of the so called "cheaper radios", so please make your point.

As a fellow Jeep owner, I too became victim to Midland's marketing monster. Having a TJ, room is even tighter than your JKU, and having a radio hanging out in plain sight during top off season made me nervous, so I thought the 275 would be a great replacement for my old CB radio. Being new to the GMRS world, I dove in, got my license, bought the 275, and went to town. It didn't take me long to find the 275's shortcomings, especially since one of our local repeaters used split tones. It wasn't 6 months later that I sold the 275 to a fellow jeeper that just wanted a radio to communicate on jeep runs. I went head first down the rabbit hole, did some research, and ended up with Wouxun's KGXS-20G mobile. 20 watts, so more power than the 275, a very small chassis, so I was able to mount it in front of my console. The mic had controls for the radio, and a speaker in the mic, which proves super handy when traveling with the top down, or a noisy soft top. The dual watch display is super clean and clear, just so many more features to choose from, and room to grow as a GMRS radio nerd to be. And, at $219, while a bit more pricey, if it were to get stolen, I wouldn't cry too much vs. $400-$500 options. I usually just unscrew the mic and toss it in my security drawer under the seat when I'm in a sketchy neighborhood. I liked this radio so much, I bought it's HT brother, the KG935G. It has almost identical features to the mobile, is Part 95e only, no silly computer programming shenanigans to try to make it work as a radio it's not, and the quality so far has met my needs. I now have 3 HT's, 2 different antennas at home and work to use as a base for the HT, and enough coax fittings and coax cable options to choke a horse. I also now host a weekly GMRS net locally to grow community awareness to GMRS, so yeah, I've got the bug pretty bad!

I purchased the KG935G recently. It does everything I want it to do that the GM30 could not. It's almost 4 times the cost though.

Just another example of my newbness in this hobby. Thanks for clarifying that. Makes sense.

If the FCC would open up channels 1-7 to 50 watts, it would be logical for folks to use one of those channels for a travel channel. That way you aren't wiping out the repeater channels with simplex traffic, and you aren't limited on HT power in your mobile unit. Let's face it, how much range can you expect from a mobile unit while traveling anyway? Exclude those who have gone full retard and have 5 antennas and the corresponding radios in their vehicle, talking on all kinds of bands.

The latest firmware update should give you 24 DIY channels in which you can program repeaters or simplex TX channels. If you use them as added repeater channels with different tones you basically get 3 banks of 8 repeater channels to store. Other than that, you are limited to what the radio is, a $40 radio.

I live in a bit of a unique geographic location. Basically a fish bowl, as I joke about to some. It's a large lake with mountains surrounding the lake. Only way in or out is over a mountain pass. A good portion of the county is national forest or BLM land. The past 5-7 years has been rough, as we have experienced devastating wild fires pretty much every summer. As a result of this, some amateur radio operators have developed alert nets in and around the surrounding mountain areas. This alert net has recently included GMRS. a small group of Hams have established repeaters on various mountain top regions of the county. Being new to the radio hobby, and GMRS, I have developed a working relationship with some fellow Hams, who are also GMRS operators, and have added an alert net for a portion of the county for coverage. We hold a net once a week to develop awareness and practice coms. During the summer months we monitor the county for smoke and fire alerts. It has come in handy a few times over the past few years. We also get PSPS outages during the fire season, so cell tower operations can be spotty, so having GMRS and Ham for backup has be invaluable. Not everyone wants to spend the time or money getting a Ham or GMRS license, so organizing a neighborhood and handing out cheap FRS radios has been helpful. They organize neighborhood groups, then have the non-licensed users on FRS relay check in's to a group leader that is licensed, who then can relay that via the repeaters. It's a good exercise, and brings neighborhood folks closer together as an effective team.

One more thing I'd like to add about the 935, the channel selection knob at the top needs to be harder to turn. In the field, I found it annoying that if it hit against something, my hand, belt clip, setting it down, whatever, my selected channel would change. Ok, two things, the PTT button is hard to keep pressed in. If you are TX'ing any longer than 15 seconds or so, your thumb gets tired quick. I'll solve that one with a hand mic accessory. Everything else with the radio has been stellar.

Doesn't bother me either, but just wasn't sure what it meant, or if it's just a glitch. I really don't care about the whole PTT ID stuff, so if that is what it's about, I'll just ignore it.

I've only had the radio for a week or so, but I have a long winded operator that will talk until he TOT's out, then continue talking. That's usually when I notice a number sequence. It's happened 4 times, and the number sequence has been different each time. I haven't got into the menu to investigate.

A random set of numbers display on the channel display after listening to a transmission lasting more than a minute. Not sure what it means. If I hit the exit button, the channel ID comes back. Any ideas?

We can pick on Midland twice as much now? Lol!

Then why in the heck does a simplex user, non-geek GMRS'r need 50 frick'n watts of transmit power just to turn the radio on and talk to their buds? At a $400 price tag, with simpleton features? I just don't get it! I got into this hobby with a Midland MXT275. I liked the simple operation, and the mic features as I have it in my Jeep, which is room deprived. my taste for GMRS evolved, and I quickly outgrew the Midland for its lack of features. Bottom line, It's nice to see Midland making an effort to produce a radio that checks some GMRS boxes, but at that price tag, I will take a hard pass.

Is the TX tone and RX tone the same? How far away is that repeater from you, and what terrain is in the way between you and the repeater?

Just checked your setup. I considered mounting it there, but couldn't come up with an elegant way to route the coax. How did you run it so that you don't have to mess with the coax every time you open and close the back?

Noticed you ran the coax into the cowl. Where did you route it from there to get it inside the dash?

It didn't take me long to out grow the MXT275 I had in my Jeep. We have a repeater in my area that uses split tones, so when I found out I couldn't communicate well with that repeater, I moved on, sold the Midland to a Jeep buddy that just wanted a simple GMRS radio, and purchased a replacement that had many more features. Having to break out the manual to look at which frequency was which channel # and then which tone was which become tiresome. Other than it's limitations, plus narrow band only, it's a solid feeling radio and feels rugged.