Sbsyncro

Reviving this old thread with some new info. One good solution is for the trail leaders to have fixed Wouxun KG-1000G radios and all the participants with bubble pack radios. The KG-1000G can simultaneously operate on two channels so the “a” side could be set to communicate with the bubble pack radios and the “b” side to just the leader, tail gunner, and other trail leaders. I believe the bubble pack radios can operate on channel 1 for example, without a license (low power frs) and the fixed radio operators would need GMRS licenses to be able to operate on ch 1 at higher power and then also have something like Ch 16 at 50w for leader comms. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aha. You’re the guy I blame for spending $320 on an “Ocean” radio instead of just being satisfied with my Baofeng BF-F8HP HT and a mag mount antenna. . Seriously your GMRS vids are great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve decided to keep it and just use a small remote mic/speaker I already had. That solves the issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you other users of this radio noticed the same issue with lo Tx volume unless your mouth is literally touching the mic port?

FWIW, according to Midland, the MXTA26 does not require a ground plane. But its probably not 6db gain without it. I'm running one with a Wouxun KG-1000G and so far I've been impressed. My area is hilly and there are no repeaters here so I'm looking forward to getting out in the desert and testing it in more open country. The SWR on it out of the box was very good at between 1.1 and 1.3 depending on the channel.

I wonder if there is a setting somewhere for adjusting the power. I did see something where you can adjust the "medium" power to be a couple of different settings, but nothing specific to the repeater channels. To Michael's point, this isn't really a true test of power (it will read low with the cable & antenna versus a dummy load). But based on the other readings, it seems like a big drop. I'm just too cheap to spend $40 on a dummy load.

I just noticed today while doing some SWR testing that the unit powers down to 40w for repeater channels, but appears to be putting out darned close to its rated 50w on the GMRS channels (and about 5.5 on the FRS channels)

Well I finally just got around to testing my Setup with the MXTA26 antenna and I found some interesting results that I don't know enough to be able to explain... First the results: Given than 80% of my usage is on Channel 15 or 16 and the SWR is reading around 1.3, its "good enough" but I suppose it could be improved upon. Not sure if its worth the effort. What is puzzling to me (probably just due to ignorance) is why the SWR reads a near perfect 1.09 at 462.5625 but on either sides of that frequency (462.5500 and 462.5750) I'm getting an SWR of 1.3. Is it that GMRS just doesn't behave like a CB when it comes to antenna tuning? (I remember in the old days one would tune a CB antenna by taking measurements up and down the channel scale and then adjust either longer or shorter based on those readings). In addition, I'm showing "perfect" 1.00 SWR when on the repeater channels (467.xxx). I find that suspicious. I also notice that the radio is dropping down to 40 watts from 50 watts on the repeater channels. (Trying to remember if that is a legal requirement or not...) Radio is a Wouxun KG-1000G and the test equipment is a Surecom SW-102 The mount is a home-made aluminum mount attached to a roof rack cross bar. I have not tested for ground, but according to Midland, one is not required for this antenna.

The fridge only draws about 45 watts for 2-3 minutes every 30 minutes in "normal" conditions (75º daytime temps/40's at night). That equates to about 200 to 250 watt hours per 24 hour day, so I can go about 2 days without a charge before its flat dead. That gives me some cushion if the weather isn't ideal. but under normal operating conditions, the panel will produce 65-75 watts, even in mid winter and not angled at the sun properly, which tops it off from the night before within a couple of hours. Usually by the time I break camp.

A 500 watt-hour lithium battery that runs my Dometic CFX50 fridge on a slide in the back of the Jeep. In good weather even in the winter I can run the fridge indefinitely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just finished my Wouxun KG-1000G install with a Midland 6db antenna. Fabricated the mount from 3/16" aluminum and used an existing attachment for my 100w solar panel. I already had a CB mount from Quadratec,, and so far it passes muster with my co-pilot since this radio is smaller than the CB it is replacing. I had to run new power straight from the battery to supply the 15 amps and a new ground to the chassis. Mic Mount is a $6 workman plastic clip with some VHB tape to a leftover Ram ball mount I already had. I may get a longer arm to get it down out of the way a bit more...

OK I'm jumping in on this bandwagon. I tend to go overboard when I learn new stuff, so technical aspects don't worry me. What does worry me, however are things like: 1. Requires a windows PC to function properly (I'm a Mac guy). PITA drivers to install, com ports to configure with USB emulators with poorly written drivers, etc. 2. Requires 10 hours of study to accomplish a task I will perform once or twice a year, and thus I will have to repeat that 10 hours of study every year because I can't remember the details from the last time. 3. Expensive recurring costs of ownership like annual subscriptions or costly maintenance updates. 4. Spending more than I needed to because of some whiz-bang feature I'll rarely or never actually use 5. Requires babying and constant "re-tuning" or calibration before using (spend as much or more time tweaking as using) (and yes, I regularly do all of these things, but I try now to avoid them!) I had just ordered a Surecom SW-33 Mark II and then came across this thread, so I cancelled the order while I ruminate a bit. I like information, and love data. I love to optimize stuff. But I don't see myself getting to the point where I'm going to have a bench with a bunch of oscilloscopes and soldering irons. (that was my Dad, who built Heathkit radios and TV sets when I was a kid back in the 70's) Given all that, I feel like spending $50 on the Surecom SW-102 or $60-$70 NanoVNA seems like a reasonable step up in price from the $45 Sw-33 given the extra functionality. Though looking at the video tutorials for the NanoVNA, it seems like overkill for me (violates rules 1, 2, 4, & 5 for me) ​I guess the real question is which of those options is most compliant for what I need (which I think is similar to the OP's original question). "Which one is "good enough" in terms of accuracy, usability, and features? There definitely seem to be some strong opinions, and if you spend time on forums, this sort of thing isn't uncommon (nor is it anything but well-meaning usually). It's sorta like the following exchange: ​OP: "Whats the best way to get from LA to NYC on a budget?" Reply 1: "Citation X - it's faster than a Gulfstream G-650 and less than half the cost" ​Then a debate rages about the differences between the Gulfstream and the Citation, with the inevitable person saying "Hey, you guys don't know what you're talking about. The Falcon 7x is a much better aircraft.. blah blah blah" Then the original poster comes back and says "I was wondering if Greyhound was cheaper and faster than taking the train..." Its all about relative perspective... :-) Oh, PS - after some thought and a bit more reading, I went ahead and purchased one of the Surecom 120 units. I'll bet it will do everything I'm likely to need for the couple of VHF/UHF radios I have.

If you're talking about a typical mobile (with antenna connectors that look like the old CB radio type), for the SW-33, you need a set of UHF to SMA adapters like these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQNJVMT For the SW-102, it depends on where you source it. Some options come with a pair of UHF adapters, but they both appear to be UHF Female "SO239" (antenna connector side) like these: If you get one that comes with those adapters (like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Mcbazel-Surecom-Digital-125-525Mhz-Antenna/dp/B01D86IKIQ/) then you still need one to go to the radio side (N Maile to UHF Male) like this one: https://smile.amazon.com/DGZZI-2-Pack-Coaxial-Adapter-Connector/dp/B06ZZRL2C9 Here's a diagram that I hope is correct and makes sense: The other option is to use a jumper cable like this:

Maybe I should start a completely different thread for getting the #*($&*&^ programming cable to be recognized by Windows computers. I keep an ancient (WinXP SP2) laptop just for programming radios and other windows-only stuff, and for the life of me I cannot get it to install the drivers for the programming cable. It fails trying to install one of the .inf files (can't remember which one off the top of my head). Luckily just about everything can be done via FPP as far as I know, though creating new custom channels and scan groups is a bit tricky with the rapid time-out.

I have one of these radios and in my testing I have found that the mic is very sensitive to distance. If you hold it more than an inch away from your mouth there will be virtually no audible transmission. The other person will hear the mic key up but then just silence. I like everything else about this radio given it’s price point, but the dullness of the mic may be a deal killer for me to put it into regular use or to have it as a spare to hand out to people. It’s almost as if they have a noise cancelling algorithm that is not properly calibrated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. I ended up just fabricating a mount from some 3/16” x 2” aluminum stock I had. Just drilled a 3/8” hole and it worked great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After posting to someone else's thread and realizing I hijacked his thread about scanning, I figured I'd start a new thread with cool "tips and tricks" that people have discovered with their new KG-1000G radios. Perhaps we can also use this thread as a "does anyone know how to..." for the KG-1000G. It will also be an interesting read for anyone considering this radio, since it will hopefully eventually contain a lot of detailed info about how specific features are implemented. I'll start with this one (cross-posted from the other thread - if someone can tell me how do delete that other post, I will be glad to do so!): Quickly adding a "privacy tone" that others are using on blister pack radios My Jeep and I were in a parade over the weekend for a couple of WWII vets that were celebrating birthdays (97 and 100!). The organizers were on GMRS/FRS HTs and I asked what channel they were on. "Channel 7 with privacy channel 35" he told me. Not knowing which brand radios they were using nor remembering off the top of my head which frequency corresponds to "privacy code 35" on most radios, I was able to use the Menu [41] "SC-CTC" option (which I've programmed to Key C) to "grab" their PL frequency and then save it to my radio on channel 7 within about 30 seconds. Super handy if you're needing to inter-operate with people on Motorola, Midland, or Cobra radios and using "privacy channels". Note: If you want to be able to RX and Tx with the tone, you need to also change the default setting for Menu [40] "SC-QT" from DECODER to ALL. Pretty neat feature that saved me the stress of having to manually look up possible tones and then program them via FPP while the parade was starting...

—-[Moved to another thread]—-

Did lots of searching and honestly found nothing useful.... (mostly all just about drilling a 3/4" hole in the roof, which is not my application) I guess even though the Midland product description says "works with both 3/4" and 3/8" I guess it doesn't actually work with 3/4" mounting holes....

OK, I'm feeling like an idiot... I'm sitting here holding a 3/4" NMO mounting bracket in one hand and the Midland MXTA24 cable+mount in the other and cannot see how these two work together. If I unscrew the base plate (the 1-1/8" threaded ring with o-ring) from the Midland cable, what I'm left with is a 3/8" stem with a plastic collar sitting on it which is 0.614" diameter (about 1/8" too small). It slops around in the 3/4" mounting hole and the whole assembly won't screw down tightly. Should I just go with a 3/8" mounting hole and fab up my own bracket? Or am I missing something really obvious....?

Ah... a veteran of the Photobucket debacle. BTDT myself. It’s why I now use a paid service. A free forum is probably no more likely to persist image storage in perpetuity than a free photo hosting service.. at least that’s my assumption. Back to the OT: For remote mounting the mic with a Cat6 extension cable, this might come in handy (Cat6/RJ45 bulkhead mount): https://www.amazon.com/Installerparts-Shielded-Industrial-Bulkhead-Coupler/dp/B01D0N79K2 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you can paste the url in a browser and have it show up it should work. Make sure you’re using square brackets. [ and ] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, worked. I typed “img” enclosed by square brackets followed by the url for the image. (https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*0KFB17_NGTPB0XWyc4BSgQ.jpeg) Then closed it with “/img” enclosed in square brackets The trick is you need a photo hosting service. I use image shack (paid subscription) but there are free options as well. As long as you can get the url of the image you can use this method. You just can’t control the sizing of the image as it is displayed in the forum. It’s a bit tedious but this method generally always works on forums! And now back to the original topic. I have a KG-1000G on order and will definitely use this method as I am in a Jeep JKU but all my usual mounting options for a remote transceiver are taken and my wife won’t tolerate a footwell installation on the px side. I may end up with the transceiver mounted somewhere way in the back... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aha, something I can contribute to on this forum! As long as the topic shifted to “how to post pictures” I can contribute this: There are generally two ways to put pictures in a forum post: 1. Uploading to the forum itself 2. Linking to photos hosted elsewhere #2 usually always works and is done either using a “button” on the forum editor where you copy in a URL or you can “hand code” it by using tags Tapatalk is using a hybrid method I think where they host the images and then create the tagged reference. Method 1 has to be enabled by the forum and is less common because it costs money to store everyone’s photos. Here’s a test at hand-coding (even though I’m using Tapatalk) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FWIW the only currently available Midland GMRS radio capable of split tones is the MXT400, and that is only possible via PC programming. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk