WyoJoe

If you have a receive code set on one radio, the other radio will require that you set the same code on transmit in order to open the squelch on the receiving radio. If you turn off the receive code, then you don't need a code on the transmitting radio either. Basically, your settings are determined by the receiving radio. If a code is set, then the radio rejects incoming transmissions unless the transmitting radio is sending the code required by the receiving radio. If the receiving radio's code is off, then it should receive any transmission on that frequency, regardless of whether or not the transmitting radio is sending a code.

Something to keep in mind... A majority of passengers take radios on board with them. They're commonly referred to as "cell phones" or "smart phones." Although the format of your HT is different, it functions in essentially the same way. The TSA may disagree, but I don't see any reason why your HT should be treated any differently that a phone. As for putting radios in checked baggage, you have to be careful if they have lithium batteries. I believe they are prohibited in checked baggage and must be carried on the plane with you.

You can't set up a cross-band repeater in GMRS, because doing so requires two different bands (typically UHF/VHF). GMRS is entirely UHF, so there is no VHF band to cross over to within the GMRS band. You could set up an in-band repeater in your vehicle and remain within the GMRS band. This could be done with either the Retevis RT-97 Repeater or a custom build consisting of two radios, a duplexer, and for some builds, a controller. The second option is simply a mobile version of a regular GMRS repeater. I suppose a third option would be a Vertex VXR-7000 or some other commercial repeater unit, but it would likely be rather large for a mobile application. Any of these options would obviously also require an antenna.

The Retevis RA25 appears to be the same radio as the Anytone AT-779UV, which is available in a GMRS version. The Retevis version is about $80 on their website at the moment, so it's probably the cheapest repeater compatible mobile radio available. I have the Anytone version, and am relatively satisfied with it. The Anytone came with a programming cable, but I don't know if the Retevis does. There are much better mobile radios available, but generally not at this price point. Things I like about this model are the small size, decent output power (~20W), programmability and configurability, and the decent color screen, which is not too hard to read for my 50+ year old eyes. The things I'm not crazy about are relatively minor. The radio has a dual watch function (like a Baofeng UV-5R), but I haven't figured out how to set it up for my preferences. It's probably something I can change with the programming software, but I haven't found that option yet. The other thing I would like to change, and it may happen someday, is that you can't program it with Chirp. I've used Chirp for many other radios, and since I'm familiar with it, I'd like to use it with this radio. So far, it doesn't work (for me, at least). The "factory" software isn't as user friendly, so I would rather not have to use it. As for the receiver, I suspect that it's on par with most handheld CCRs, but it works well for me. With that said, I'm in an area with little radio traffic. For your travels, it would likely work well in those areas without cell reception, and most other areas, too. You could possibly encounter problems with the receiving capabilities in larger cities, if you're traveling through them. I haven't had mine in that environment, so I can't give a report on that. Overall, I'd recommend this radio as a step up from the low-end Midland 5W micro-mobile units, especially considering that it hits a similar price point. You get programmability with it, and the ability to program it to use repeaters. You also get more power than a handheld radio, and this one comes with a hand mic. About the only other thing you'll need is to add an external antenna, then you should be good to go. You can find inexpensive external antennas, so for two radios and two antennas, you can probably outfit both vehicles for less than $250. It would likely cost a bit more to go with the KG-805G, once you add external antennas, battery eliminators, and hand mics. For that, you may get a better receiver, but you also get lower output power.

I've posted a couple of links below to "teardown" videos I found on YouTube. I believe the second link is the one I used when I took my UV-82 apart. I didn't find anything specific to Wouxon radios, but I expect they are similar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQSUjU7-iXs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRocFQHOy0&t=24s

I don't have a KG805G radio, but I do have a KG-UV9G, and looking at it, it appears that the case does indeed snap together. I suspect the same is true of the 805. The only similar type of radio that I've disassembled is a Baofeng UV-82 that I had in a storage bin and I found that water got into it, and the radio was soaking in the water for an unknown amount of time. With nothing to lose, I took the radio apart slowly and deliberately so I could clean it up. If I remember correctly, I took pictures as I did so, for reference when reassembling it. I carefully placed the bits and pieces on a cotton towel, so they wouldn't roll around on my "workbench" (kitchen counter). Once I got the radio apart, I cleaned everything as well as I could with the things I had on hand. When I put it back together, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the radio "worked" although the audio quality was poor. The built-in microphone didn't work, but the radio did work with an external (hand) mic. Before I disassembled the Baofeng, I did find a guide online outlining how to do so. I don't recall where I found it, but it did help me know how to deal with things like the antenna jack (it needs a spanner type device to remove the "nut" that threads onto the outside of the jack). If you can find a guide like that, even if it's for a Baofeng, it will probably be similar and should be helpful to you. Also, please remember that you may not need to disassemble your radio completely, but rather only enough to blow out the debris from the display. Once you've accomplished that, you can reassemble it carefully.

That makes sense.

I suspect they are using "blister pack" or "bubble pack" FRS radios.

Good points all around. My thought of using the drop in charger would be gutting pretty much everything internal and only connecting leads to the charger's contacts, which could then be tied to the battery analyzer.

It's just a hunch, but I'm guessing you're in SoCal, somewhere around the Inland Empire???

If you have several radios of the same type, each with a drop-in charger, you might be able to repurpose one of the chargers for this application. For instance, I have several UV-82 radios, so repurposing one of the chargers I have wouldn't be a big deal for me. I question the capacity of some of the radio batteries I've bought over the years, but even more than that, I question the capacity of many of the 18650 batteries I've seen for sale. Many claim to have a 4500 mAH rating (or higher), but are priced quite a bit lower than others claiming a 2500 mAH rating. If they claim to get much above 3500 mAH, then I take the rating with a grain of salt, because that's about as high as I've seen the ratings go for the higher quality brands. In general, I've found that if the price seems too good to be true, then it is. I've also seen similar claims for the "lumen" rating of flashlights. Most of the ones I've seen on Amazon and eBay appear to be overrated. Perhaps they only achieve their rated output when powered by a 9000 mAH 18650 battery.?

Mine is the "Lite" version. Good point about the Pro version...

LScott mentioned it already, but I missed it the first time by... Diamond Antenna has a motorized mount called the K9000. It comes in a few varieties that I know about: two for luggage racks, and one trunk/lip mount. The ones I saw are about $120 at the ham radio shops... a bit more on Amazon (go figure).

I tried resetting my radio's Roger beep to on (EOT) then back to off, and it worked as it should. That sounds like a glitch in your radio.

Howdy Rob, and welcome aboard. I think you'll find, as I have, that there's a lot of knowledge on this forum, and you'll learn a lot. Again, welcome to the forum.

For the Roger beep, make sure you're turning off the "Roger" function and not the "Beep" function. The radio has both, so make sure you select the right one. Roger is Menu 09, Beep is Menu 13.

This will probably be tough to overcome from you location. Your best bet would be to use a couple of hand-held radios to check reception in the various areas you're interested in. This would allow you to find out what works and what doesn't. Putting an antenna 250 feet in the air is not very realistic. The cost to build and maintain the tower, antenna, and feedline would be significant, and even then, it would only get you even with the top of the hill, perhaps not high enough to "see" into the dip on the other side. A better solution, in my opinion, would be to build a repeater site on the top of the hill (or close to the top), if possible. If you're not familiar with repeaters, the video below explains them pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-kR1MSgr9k

The standard 120V UPSs that I've seen all use 12V batteries to supply the backup power. Perhaps you could modify one to add a 12V DC output. You would want to make sure the UPS isn't generating a lot of RF noise. The other option I've seen, albeit with some mixed reviews is to use something like the West Mountain Radio "Super PWRgate," which is a UPS device that connects between your existing power supply, your radio, and a 12V battery. It charges the battery and powers the radio when power is supplied from the power supply, but uses the battery to power the radio when the power supply isn't operating. There is also an "Epic PWRgate" that does all of the above, but also ties in to solar panels. You can see both of these here: https://www.westmountainradio.com/dc_power.php

Here is a website where you can enter two points to see the path between them. It also allows you to make adjustments for elevation of the antenna. https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ In my experience, the RF path for GMRS isn't purely line of sight. I have generally been able to get over or around small hills successfully, but not bigger hills. Your success in reaching the other side of town will largely depend upon how big the "dip" is on the other side of the high spot. If it dips down to 350 feet, you'll probably be fine, but if it dips back to 130 feet as it does on your side, probably not.

It uses a standard Kenwood/Baofeng type cable. There is no need for a special cable unless you have software issues that requires it. As for the software, I was able to download the current programming using the KG-UV9D Plus profile on Chirp. I haven't tried to write back to the radio yet, but being able to read from it gives me hope that it'll work.

On the product page for the "Pro" model, there is a drop-down selection that allows you to choose the "lite" version. It's just below the downloads box (at least that's where it is on my browser). It's the bottom box in the attached image. Select the drop-down, and you should find it there.

For those that would like to know how to calculate the wavelength, a simple way find it is to divide 300 by the frequency (in MHz) being used. The result is the wavelength in meters. For example, what is commonly called the "2 meter" ham band can be determined by dividing 300 by 146 (the middle of the band), with the result of 2.05 meters, which is pretty close to 2 meters, hence the name. Another example is for the "70 cm" ham band, 300 divided by 430 (MHz) is .697, which rounds nicely to .7 meters, or 70 cm. A quarter wavelength at this frequency would be 70 cm / 4, which equals 17.5 cm, or approximately 7 inches. At the GMRS frequency of ~465 MHz. (roughly the mid-point of the band when accounting for repeater use) the wavelength is .645 meters. A quarter wavelength at this frequency would be just over 16 cm, or about 6 3/8 inches. If you know the wavelength, you can also calculate the frequency in a similar manner. Simply divide 300 by the wavelength (in meters) to find the approximate frequency. For example, for the 20 meter ham band this would be 300 / 20, or approximately 15 MHz. The actual band is in the 14 MHz range, but this formula will get you close. The other way to think about it is that the frequency in MHz, multiplied by the wavelength in meters, should equal something close to 300.

Yes, I used the "factory" software available on the Radioddity website. I downloaded and saved the stock configuration first, then updated the firmware, did a factory reset, then uploaded the stock configuration to the radio. After I was successful with all of that, I was able to use the software to configure the DIY channels. I don't remember if I had to download again from the radio before I could configure the DIY channels, but it's possible I did that. After configuring the channels the way I wanted them, I saved the file again with a new name, and uploaded it to the radio.

On my GM-30s, I used the DIY channels for repeater programming. I have eight repeater pairs with no "privacy" (PL, CTCSS, DCS) tones selected, eight pairs with the common "travel" tone (141.3), and another eight pairs with customized tones for repeaters in my area. The other thing you can do with the DIY channels is simplex frequencies with pre-configured tones. If going to Disneyland or some place like that, you could monitor these channels to find one that has minimal interference from other users.

If you're just looking to measure the point to point distance, and you use Google Earth, you can use the measuring function (the ruler icon). It allows you to measure between two points on the map and gives you the result in your unit of choice. For me, I generally use miles, but not always.