IanM

Curious how you set up a calling function—that's something I'm particularly interested in. I know this is not FRS and we are serious radio operators here (?), but that would be incredibly useful to me, absent the usual 'call' button bubble-pack radios usually sport. In my usage, there is a member or two of my calling party that will turn the volume down inadvertently or stuff the HT in a bag, and being able to hail them short of screaming over the air or kerchunking with the roger beep on would be very useful. All I've been able to do so far is set off the SOS alarm on the 905 by some combination of random DTMF presses whose sequence escapes me.

From what I understand with these Chinese radios, the DTMF is actually (well, intended to be) used for paging and selective calling, like Motorola Quik-Call. I believe some older Kenwood systems used DTMF, and Wikipedia has a short article section on it. I just haven't been able to figure out in the least how to get it to work between two different Baofeng models and two Wouxun models. The 905 seems to be able to decode and display DTMF on screen but doesn't emit any type of page tone. Long-pressing PF1 makes it dial whatever is in CALL ID1 followed by the ID-EDIT field, it seems. The other radios don't do anything with it. Can't figure out what the Baofengs send when PTT-ID is switched on... The 905 has the ability to use DTMF squelch instead or in conjunction with tones, which has interesting (if useless) possibilities. I'll be interested to play with this more when my 935 comes in tomorrow, though the manual (and the parent model UV8H manual, as well as other Wouxun manuals) are clear as mud on it. So far, all I've been able to do is set off the alarm with a bunch of random key presses from a Baofeng. All that said, in contrast to what wayoverthere said, I'd politely disagree and guess this is more to do with vestiges of a LMR dispatch system than autopatch and repeater control of ham systems. PTT-ID is very useful with dispatch software to identify a unit, but at least on analog in the US, MDC1200 became the standard. Maybe DTMF paging is still widespread in China? As an aside to further readers: CHECK RPT15'S FREQUENCIES. For some reason one of them is programmed off-channel to 46x.500 out of the box—don't remember if it was TX or RX, but I had a heck of a time trying to hit my local repeater until I dug into the program and saw. Creating a new config file in the software doesn't have this problem, it seems it was just limited to what was flashed to the HT itself.

The Wouxun KG-UV9P was mentioned, and I wanted to echo some of their other offerings. No GPS, but some of their models are pretty rugged for the price with a claimed IP66 rating. the KG-UV8 and 9 series seem to be TOTL from US distributors. the UV9 series also receives AM as well. But what's mostly of use to you is that there is some software floating around out there that unlocks the frequency limits if you do some searching. CHIRP may also, but don't quote me on that—I don't have a sold-as-a-ham-radio Wouxun (but the unlocker could read/write to my 805G, I just don't know what the hardware is capable of). That would give you UHF/VHF/MURS/GMRS capabilities at least.

You all are making me very impatient! I never got an order confirmation email on mine, so I called last week and spoke to someone who said they did in fact receive my order, and a few more shipments were going out thurs/friday. Unfortunately I don't believe mine was one of them! I'm taking the technician license exam tomorrow on a whim this week so I almost wished I'd got the parent model, the KG-UV8H, but I believe that one is locked down to not go higher than 450MHz.

Very excited for it, we have a ton of repeaters in my area including a very active one covering the entire Seattle metro. That, and I enjoy even just listening whatever other chatter I can pick up. I was listening to a few local Ham repeater nets as well, at least until my Baofeng decided to self-immolate on the charger (it's going back and an 805 is now taking its place)... Re: the ham ticket, not yet, but I'm on it; planning on sitting the test soon. Less interested in chatting on it than doing various radio related experiments, and figured I needed a good challenge as The Big Dark sets in here in western Washington.

I'd give it a shot again with at least one transceiver out-of-doors. You should be getting some reasonable range. I'm in a very urban area and have no problem hitting and being heard on some of the in-town repeaters with the 905 and stock antenna. And I'm on the ground floor of a aluminum-clad apartment that is a black hole for cell reception. Up on the 6th floor roof deck, I easily pick up a few repeaters 20+ miles away. @DeoVindice, the 805 and 905 are both superhet so there should be good reception. I find that indoors with mine, said 20+ mile, 50W repeater comes in just fine, but nobody can hear me. SO OP should at least be getting some reception. I'm guessing it's on the architecture of one or both locations. An apartment even up to 6 stories or so could be wood-frame construction, but a commercial building at that height almost certainly has more steel in it, either structurally or with interior studs and cladding. That said, envious of your commercial radio collection—very tempting to drop the bucks on one of those FPP Motorolas eBay keeps wanting me to see, but the Wouxun are working fine for me. Hope the OP gets better results in different conditions.

Thanks for the review—it convinced me, and I'm very antsy for it to ship, hopefully next week. I picked up a handful of GMRS-V1s and UV-5Gs and am finding them not really worth the limitations, either in hardware or software. I love the idea of dual-channel/dual display on the V1; for hiking and beyond-cell-service outings, it's nice to have my group channel on one and listening to a repeater on the other (there's a lot where I hike). The other limitations make it a bit of a non-starter, not the least of which is durability. The 905 being able to scan AND listen is even better. Already picked up the 905G and love that it's very easily 'handable' to a non-radio geek. My only beef is that, like a lot of overseas electronics that aren't designed primarily for the US market, is the atrocious typeface. That's something the Baofeng's have an edge on. You've got all this resolution, why use a single-pixel serif font? (actually, I do know the answer: they're loaded with a Chinese typeface meant to look good on dot-matrix that usually has a very basic Latin character set as a backup)

Agreed, but on some of these CCRs I think a lot of it comes down to editing the firmware for better functionality. I'm thinking of the OP's first few points—TX locked to specific channels and blanket codes across channels. I bought a whole handful of different CCR HTs to test for my purposes, and the GMRS-V1 and UV-5G are good examples of this. They're based on the UV-82 and UV-5R, both fairly capable radios (if the hardware leaves a lot to be desired). As many of us know (and I discovered the hard way), the V1 is locked in and can't add additional TX channels in the memory. The 5G originally shipped with pre-programmed and unchangeable tones. We know that fixing these isn't a matter of re-engineering a new device, and, for the 5G, a new firmware set was released unlocking those limitations. It's entirely possible, and it's still a ~$30 radio. But I agree that work is not free, and for GMRS I don't think there's a huge impetus for it—if things are selling well, why change it? I think we have to keep in mind that the use for the vast majority of GMRS sets is just basic communication between a pair of them, i.e. the bubble-pack sets. And then there's the tinkerers who don't really care, and just want something throwaway for a limited use. That said, I'm also really impressed with the Wouxuns so far for my purposes—solid hardware, fairly capable software and a decent user guide, well worth the premium. It sounds like, at the very least, distributors like BTWR.com are listening to guys like Randy, and Wouxun is listening to their distributors.

And subsequently, if you want to use a different repeater with different access tones, you must reprogram the channel and can't add a new one.

I'm with you, nearly lifelong Mac user and avoid anything Windows related. But I have a few niche applications that require it, and they're pretty lightweight so I don't need a full BootCamp install. But no need to buy a whole new computer. VMware Fusion Player works if you have Catalina, but I don't (long story short, I'll lose a lot of compatibility if I update), and Oracle VMBox is also free and runs Win10 just fine. With either, just install the software, download a copy of Windows, and install it while telling it you don't have a product key. Alternately, if you have a public library nearby, chances are they also use virtual machines that wipe themselves clean after use, and sometimes will allow software installs. I've had no issues doing that at my local branch. As for a cable, FTDI chipset based ones are the way to go (Wouxun's own, for example) but I have the Retevis that seems to be an authentic Prolific chip. (Believe me, I know, I had one heck of a headache connecting a serial printer through a counterfeit one once.)

Works out for me; my 'business use' would be coordinating movements while working as a vendor at shows/fairs, and my assistants/'employees' are my SO and immediate family members, so I take it that's in the clear, and nice I can use the same hardware rather than buying some MURS or 900MHz sets for one specific and rather occasional use. The regulation doesn't restrict business use, but just doesn't license businesses, only individuals + family. Whether that's by quirk of legal precedent or intentional, it does work out for low-traffic uses, like you say, a small family business. As an aside, I was browsing Amazon and amazed at how many preprogrammed, commercial-style UHF radios are out there with reviews like 'I run security at a nightclub, these worked great out of the box!' Don't know what frequencies they're preprogrammed to, but I feel bad for any licensed businesses nearby unfortunate enough to get stepped on...

Also new around here but not new to radio in general—hope I can answer a few questions. As for why others chatting might not hear you, they're likely using a tone (CTCSS, DCS, PL, you name it) to block out anyone not TXing on that code. Especially if they're using a set of FRS radios; all but the cheapest seem to be 'privacy code' capable and have them on by default. The newer FRS radios can use all channels, but people with those cheapies tend to stay on the lower ones—think just keep clicking up from 'channel 1' until you find a clear one. Or, if it's one of the upper GMRS channels (15-22), they could be on a repeater—in which case not only might they be filtering you out with a tone, but you might not even be close enough for simplex (radio-to-radio) reception. The morse code you're hearing is probably a repeater identifying itself by call sign occasionally as required. Again, that suggests whoever you're hearing is communicating through said repeater, and you're not. You need to be on a duplex/repeater channel and using the tone code that it's listening to, to transmit to it. That's what's great about this forum is finding repeaters and being able to contact their owners for access info. On a GM-30, you'd have to go into one of the RPT channels and set a TX code at the very least, and maybe an RX code depending on the repeater and if you want to filter out other chatter on that channel. With a handheld connected through a repeater, you should be good to go. I can easily pick up one 30 miles away. Transmitting on it is a different story. Little side note—you said "I assume any one on the radio is willing to chat or why would they have a radio." Not necessarily (I don't—I primarily use it for outdoor activities and short-distance comms outside cell service); would you and your 4x4 friends want someone butting in to shoot the breeze when you're out? It seems, on here and other boards, I occasionally see people getting irritated by business users, RVers, families, etc using the channels. Remember this is a utility band—'Family Radio Service' and 'General Mobile Radio Service'. It also shares some frequencies with the older dot-code Business Band. For most users, it's just a tool and not a hobby, unlike Ham, where the fun is in the equipment, talking to strangers, and talking to strangers about equipment. Depending on where you are, you might find the GMRS band less exciting than the CB and amateur bands for connecting with strangers—'rag chewing' as it's called. Where I am in Seattle, we have a number of repeaters in the greater area, but many of those are reserved for emergency preparedness or neighborhood communications. There's one open repeater for chatting with an absolutely huge range across the whole metro area, but it really only sort of perks up in the late evening. YMMV depending on where you are.