WRHS218

That is pretty amazing. I made a 2m simplex contact at about 77 miles several years ago. There was a scout troop on top of a 9,000+ft mountain peak. I was across the valley at 750ft and we had direct LOS. They gave me their GPS coordinates which showed 77 miles. You definitely win Ytechie! The 905G is a nice HT.

I have made the same point in some of my other posts. I use the radio as a tool, to get a message from point A to point B in the shortest, most comprehensible method. Started doing that on a sound powered phone aboard an aircraft carrier, continued in private industry and as an LEO. I never have been a chatty radio person on the HAM side or GMRS. The purpose of the post was the anecdotal result of my curiosity, a new radio, and a long trip.

This may be a stupid question as I don't have a GM-30 but I do have several Wouxun radios: Have you tried simplex with no codes on all of the radios?

From what I can tell from the manual the TM-321A transmits and receives only on the 220 MHz range (Amateur 1.25m frequencies). If that is accurate it will not receive or transmit on the GMRS frequencies (462-467 MHz). Sean

The nice thing about both GMRS and HAM is you can put as much effort into it as you want and enjoy radio. I got a HAM license years and years ago and upgraded to General. I recently got into GMRS because my family can get involved and don't have to take the test. There is not much traffic on GMRS where I live. I still listen to 2m and 70cm via local repeaters. I also still listen to SW. Enjoy whatever part of the radio world you choose to use. These days there are a lot of good resources on the web. Sean

I purchased the Wouxun KG-UV9G Pro (SHTF) radio at the beginning of June and received it July 16. I had a couple of days to play around with it and change the programming a little before leaving on a long road trip. I have seen some comments asking why anyone would want all of the channels programmed with the Pro model. I am in California and live in the area of the Creek Fire last year. While CalFire does a great job, we don't get a whole lot of information when we need it. I had programmed a scanner with all of the Fire frequencies, all local and state LEO freqs, County public works, Utility company, Air, and Cal DOT freqs. During the fire (over two months) I kept the scanner on and my HAM radios on listen to local repeaters. I could hear the pilots of the helos and fixed wing aircraft that were making water and retardant drops as well as the pilot of the air control plane that was flying overhead and directing the drops as well as ground units. Many times I could information from what I was hearing before it was made public during two daily briefings. We were evacuated from our home for a week during which I could listen to see if the fire was near the house. We were some of the lucky ones who did not lose our house. When we returned I kept listening. The more frequencies you have to listen to the more information you can get. On to the radio. Obviously I appreciate the scan functions and the scan types. I scanned all GMRS simplex and repeater channels plus some repeaters I had added to the programming during my trip. I had it sitting next to my KG-905G which was scanning the same frequencies just to test the two radios. When we swapped drivers I would scan the raildraod frequencies that came programmed and heard a lot near large rail yards. I enjoy listening to that type of thing. The UV9G comes with AM Air frequencies programmed but I couldn't get anything on the radio even when I was in a hotel near the end of a runway of a major airport. I didn't take time to look up and program other known airliner frequencies. I will do that later and try again. I did scan all 800+ channels that were programmed at times and didn't hear much. As a GMRS radio the RX and TX are good. I need to do a little more testing but on simplex it seems almost as good as my KG-905G. I was able to hit the same repeaters on the UV9G as I could get on the 905G. Audio reports were good. I really like the level of water and dust resistance. The menus are somewhat complicated with a slightly steep learning curve to learn what the abbreviations mean but it is the same convention as the 905G so I already knew most of it. I like the size of the radio as it isn't too big or too small. The supplied antenna seems to work well. The 3200 mHa battery that came with the radio as well as the extra 3200 mHa battery I purchased both had no issues with the belt clip installation as reported with some of the batteries. I scanned for over 70 hours with about a half hour of TX on my trip and never had to change batteries. Some of the pre-programmed channels are probably not needed, but then again, when there is an emergency or the SHTF you don't really know where you will get good info. I purchased the radio and spare battery from BetterSafeRadio.com and they were great to work with. On their homepage they kept a running message of what order range they were working on which was much appreciated. Five weeks after I ordered the radio I went ahead and ordered the spare battery and after talking to them via email they made sure both orders were in one box so I would get it all together in time for my trip. The Wouxun programming software is minimal for the KG-UV9G like the software for the KG-905G but is sufficient. The same programming cable works for both radios. I am very pleased with the radio and BetterSafeRadio. For my needs/wants it is definitely worth the price I paid. Sean

A note on battery life: I purchased the 3200 mHa battery and have used it off and on for a month. I charged it up before a 10 day, 4000 mile road trip. I scanned for over 70 hours and transmitted for about 30 minutes on the trip and still had 7.9 volts with the battery meter at half at the end of the trip. The regular battery has a long life but the 3200 is pretty amazing at this point. I guess time will tell how long the battery lasts cyclewise. Sean

I just got home from my return trip which was about 2000 miles total. I took the Northern route from Southeast Texas, up to the Dallas area, and then north and west to highway I-40 through New Mexico, Arizona and finally back to California. I had my KG-905G and a KG-UV9G on and scanning the whole time. I scanned all GMRS channels and repeater channels as well as many specific repeater channels found on MyGMRS.com and the Repeater Book app. I heard a couple of people talking GMRS simplex in the Dallas area. In Albuquerque I heard a repeater but it wasn't one I had access to. Outside of Gallup, NM I heard a lady on a repeater although I didn't have the codes and was driving so I couldn't search for them. A man responded to her telling her to give her call sign because she was on HAM frequencies and then a minute later corrected himself realizing he was on GMRS. I heard some back and forth on the highway from folks using what sounded like bubble pack radios caravaning. In beautiful, scenic Boron, CA I was able to access a repeater but received no replies. The rest of the trip was quite. I think I heard Chick-fil-A in one city. I was also scanning 2m on my VX-6R along the way. I hit a couple of repeaters in the Amarillo area and heard some radio traffic in the larger cities. So there you have it. My anecdotal experience on a two part 4000 road trip. I am pleased with the over all performance of both GMRS radios. I had both radios on for close to 70 hours of scanning and maybe 30 minutes total of transmitting and never had to change batteries in either one. The Yaesu had to have a fresh battery once a day, although my batteries for that radio are very old.

Good choice on radios. I have enjoyed my KG-905G. It was a good choice for me.

Hey Bishop, are you planning a permanent install or something you can remove easily. I have had both with HAM equipment. I did the temporary in my Jeep and eventually welded a box to keep the radio in between bars on an aftermarket roll cage with the antenna mounted to a top rack. That worked well. After two transmissions cratered in the Jeep I got a used Toyota FJ and got the nerve up to install an NMO mount with a spring at the base of the antenna on the roof. That set up has been great. I have been drooling over the KG-1000G. Let us know how things go when you get yours.

Time was a concern so we took the 10. I am neither encouraged or discouraged, this is just anecdotal information. I was surprised I didn't hear more in the Phoenix area both on GMRS and HAM. To me, radio is a tool, I have no emotional connection. I have had an amateur general ticket for years and had experienced the lack of use on long trips before. This is the first time I have had a chance to listen on GMRS. But, I am part of what is wrong with the HAM experience (at least that is what I have been told), as my use of the radio spectrum is utilitarian. I do enjoy the research, installation, and use of two way radios just not the way a lot of people do. Now I have brought my lack of chattiness to the GMRS realm. I'll be scanning on the return trip.

I just drove from Central California to the Texas-Louisiana border. I did the 1900 mile drive in three days. I had my handheld GMRS radio on and scanning for the whole trip. I heard one person talking on a repeater west of Phoenix, AZ. Somewhere in New Mexico I heard a couple of people talking car to car. I was stuck on I-10 in Houston for three hours due to an accident four miles in front of me and heard nothing. I also had a 2m/70cm handheld on, scanning, and heard very little traffic. Both radios, KG-905G, and Yaesu VX-6R, work perfectly. Interestingly enough, when I reached my destination I found a juvenile detention facility using GMRS radios. The facility is several miles from where I am. I was surprised I didn't hear more traffic on either the GMRS or the HAM bands. I will reverse the trip next week and will keep the radios scanning. As an aside, the 3200 mHa battery in the KG-905G lasted the whole trip scanning 12 hours a day for three days and is still showing over 8 volts.

OffRoaderX, You sound like one of my favorite youtube hobos. I am his favorite youtube watcher, he told me so. He also has a calibrated couch. Good advice, by the way. Unless nerding out on building antennas is your "thing" let someone else do the work and enjoy offroading.

Hasaf, I have a 2m mounted in my FJ. I took the head liner down enough to use marine epoxy to a attach a piece of hardwood 2x4 to the roof and install an NMO. I put the headliner back up and mounted the radio mount to the 2x4. The radio has been mounted that way for 9 years of pretty heavy off road use. I never thought about under the passenger seat. Which brings up another point: It is disturbing how clean it is under your seats! Sean

Very cool map. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for elaborating, Michael. I assumed the KG-905G worked like this but since the manual it isn't as clear as it could be and I had not tried it I didn't want to state it as fact. Also, good point about proximity to the TX radio for repeater operation. Sean

You have to initiate the scan while receiving a signal. If the signal stops the scan will start again when/if the signal is received again. When you start the scan you can watch on on the screen as the tones are scanned. It will stop when it finds the tone. You can set up the radio to save these scanned tones to memory. The signals I have scanned have all been on simplex. I can't answer if it would work on a repeater as I haven't been close enough to a repeater when I had time to scan.

One that serves many. There is a list of supported radios on this page: https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

In a nutshell: CHIRP is an open source radio programming tool that in many cases is better than the manufacturers programming software. The software will program a lot of the more popular radios. Newer radios will normally be added to the list, but sometimes takes a while. Use your favorite search engine to lookup CHIRP.

The pros for me are: The build quality is great. I need a radio that is water resistant and dust resistant. I carried Motorola radios for the last 40 years in my jobs and the 905G feels almost as solid as those. The radio is simple to use. I have had a HAM license for decades and when searching for a GMRS radio I wanted something simple to use. Repeater ready. Very easy to use on repeaters. I like the channels groups and the ability to scan groups. CTCSS scan. A function I find useful that I didn't think I would use. Audio quality is very good. The cons: You can only add repeaters having the same tones into a group via the computer. I like that you can build other groups for repeaters, but, not from the radio end. I wish the screen would accommodate "Name" "Frequency", and "GMRS channel number" at once. I understand it would take a bigger screen and I will eventually learn the channel numbers. Coming from the HAM side I am just so used to it all being about the frequency. I have tried other GMRS radios of lesser price but the quality just wasn't there for me. I was going to get the 805G but when I saw they were going to come out with the 905G I waited and I am happy I did. Sean

I prefer to use screen protectors on all my handheld and mobile screens because I spend a lot of time in dusty environments. Do anyone make their own? I guess I could cut down an old cell phone screen protector to fit. Any DIY screen protector ideas out there? Sean

I live in a mountain area a few miles from the South gate of Yosemite. Most of the listed repeaters in my area are no longer active. One nearby repeater is still active but I can't hit it from my house. The gentleman that owns the unit told me to keep it in my radio and use it if I am in the area which is nice. I cannot see the highway from my house due to trees but I can hear traveler conversations for less than a minute at a time. I use GMRS with extended family and for traveling. I have several 2m HAM repeaters I use occasionally but I don't enjoy talking about weather, radio brands, and new medications so I don't talk much. I got my Amateur license over 20 years ago so I would have reliable comms when a group of us went off roading in the Mojave desert. I have moved to GMRS for that now as a lot of people aren't interested enough to take the test. Can't blame them. This is a good forum to learn from.