WROQ359

Depends on what you are looking for...... If you want a simple to use radio with not a lot of bells and whistles, no color screen then go with the Wouxun 905G. Solid radio easy to program and use. If you are looking for something with more color and options then the Wouxun 935G is a popular model.

Most women and kids likely do not have the desire to use the radio as there is no need. Everyone has a cellphone in thier pocket and they can "connect" to whomever they want with their contact list by phone or message. When you can talk around the world with a cellphone but only a few miles with a radio that tends to limit interest. It may be easier to get the ladies and kids involved if doing an outside activity (hiking, fishing, camping, etc.) where everyone in the group will be in the same area and cell coverage may be less than adequate.

Personally for me I don't care. I know some licensed GMRS users get butt hurt when some unknowning new user uses a GMRS channel without a license. Most people go into Wallmart or some other store buy the radio and start talking without knowledge of the difference in channels. I have heard people using the GMRS channels like FRS, and I just let them be. I think the FRS/GMRS channels are a great asset to the community for the ease of use and ability to get on the air with your family friends or whatever group you are with. Where I live there is zero activity on either GMRS or FRS other than once in a great while kids playing with the toy radios. More activity in the larger cities and more grumbling about non-licensed users. I would have liked to seen MURS included in the FRS channels (dual band radios) just to give everyone more options without having to buy a second radio for 5 channels. With that being said I think there are probably more people using GMRS/FRS/MURS using a Baofeng UV-5R (or some other variant) than there are users using the proper FCC certified radios.

The Wouxun 905G is a solid-performing radio for GMRS. It is by no means the "best" radio out there, that term is very subjective depending on your criteria. It is very easy to program, plenty of accessories available, battery holds a charge for a lot of use, price is very reasonable, simple no BS display, I could go on and on. I have owned one for several years and have no complaints. I have had some other less expensive radios that I no longer have due to they have stopped working and it wasn't worth replacing them.

Not so much info to learn about the trunking systems, but an almost complete listing can be found here for your local area https://www.radioreference.com/ There is a forum as well like here with plenty of info on the radio systems in use and tips for programing your new toy.

What exactly is the end goal of this? Being able to sit at home and talk to some random person also sitting at their home using a radio? I am pretty sure ham radio has accomplished this with the many link systems in place. This can also be accomplished using Zello alone, no radios, no GMRS licenses needed just an app on your cellphone or PC and you can talk to as many random strangers as you want.

I don't believe the 905G will do the announce for the channels, my Baofeng will but the Wouxun doesn't. There is a voice option #11 I believe that will give you voice prompts for the menu items but it doesn't do so for the channels. Also no support for the 905G from RT Systems, the 935G yes but not the 905G.

I think your home would more likely be burglarized due to mail/newspapers piling up in an obvious area, trashcans unattended, or lack of vehicles/activity seen at the home more so than someone hearing your call sign and doing the research to figure out where you live and making arrangements to steal your belongings. Just because you and your wife are away from home doesn't mean that there isn't someone else living there that would be home at the time of your absence.

You can also buy an inexpensive laptop to program the radio. The Wouxun software is fairly simple to use and can easily run on a laptop running Windows 10 maybe even earlier versions. I've seen older laptops with Windows 10 already loaded for less than $100 and if you're getting into the radio hobby, having a capable way of programming the radios other than by hand is very practical and a worthy investment.

Just sad to see such a great resource go to waste, but maybe its time for the repeater owners to implement stronger protocols for repeater usage to keep the knuckle draggers off the air.

Yeah I heard the dumb@$$ on Shaw Butte as well. Wouldn't be surprised to see Shaw Butte and Towers 600 going the same way that Towers 575 went because of the socially defunct moron. On a side note I saw there is a new 575 repeater on Signal Peak heading out toward Globe.

Use repeater section of the site to locate repeaters near you. Keep in mind you will likely find more repeaters that you can hear than you will be able to make contact with. Also check and see if there are any clubs in your area. Most importantly just have a good time and try not to let the knuckleheads ruin it for you.

Yep we get the same BS here.... A bunch of HAM guys get on the GMRS channels just so they can talk about HAM radio. I don't get it either, there are A LOT more ham repeaters in the area than GMRS and A LOT more HAM repeaters on different bands that are active. Now why in the world they would want to use GMRS when they can use one of the available digital modes or even the analog modes available on the HAM repeaters completely escapes me, but im not a HAM and haven't been for X number of years so maybe I just don't understand it. And here to we get the HAM jargon on the GMRS channels too, QS-whatever, 73's, and other nonsense. With all of that I do feel that everyone that has a GMRS license is equally entitled to use of the GMRS repeaters even the HAM's, but they are two different services and which is why there are separate licenses and call signs.

The GM-15 Pro is the same radio as the Radioddity GM-30 and uses the same software (free to download). As far as communicating with other radios do not rely on Ch #..... rely on the frequency. Some of the bubble pack radios have different frequencies for each channel and while you think you are communicating on the right frequency you are on two different frequencies. If you are trying to communicate through a repeater make sure you have the correct tones (ctcss or dpl) best to contact the repeater owner directly if possible and not count on info posted online as it can be out of date.

A lot of the schools here in Arizona have subscribed to one of the several DMR systems in the area, good coverage and quality radios. This allows them to have on campus radios as well as for the bus operations. If your school doesn't have the ability to do something like that, I know a lot of schools have funding issues, why not try Zello? Just about all of your staff members likely have a cell phone, and as long as there is good cell coverage at the school the using Zello would be free. You can setup as many channels as you need and no worry about anyone listening in or having access to the system that isn't authorized.

Why is there a problem with the 905G software? I will admit it is not as feature rich as say the RT Systems software (which doesn't support the 905G) but it works. At least Wouxun has software for this radio, I bought a Baofeng GM15 Pro and they specifically tell you to download the Radioddity GM30 software......

Have you tried the Towers Mtn 575 ? Towers Mtn is up in Crown King but has a very large coverage area, Shaw Butte 725 also has fairly good coverage in the valley but can be hit or miss depending on your location. Both free to use. I am in Apache Junction.

I have the 905G, 16 banks with 16 channels each all can be setup with custom channels.

When I started looking into getting a GMRS license I too learned that your address that you have to provide to the FCC is online for anyone to find. I don't necessarily think I am some sort of "wacko" maybe a little crazy but still didn't really want that information available to the general public. I rented a PO Box before I applied and listed the box # as my address. One cool feature the post office has started doing is allowing you to use the physical address of the post office and your box # as the "suite" so you can now receive packages not only from the USPS but UPS, Fedex, and others as well. I have all of my online purchases sent to the PO Box so I don't have to worry about my packages being taken before I arrive home. The PO Box is less than $100 a year and serves two purposes, works well for me.

I have the squelch at 1 and it doesn't seem to help. I'll look into a different antenna maybe and see if that improves anything. Thx

Bought a new 905g, loaded it up with some local repeaters and have been trying to figure out why it will be picking up a particular conversation between two other users and then all the sudden the signal will drop and nothing is heard. I know antenna and location play a big part in reception, so I have been testing the reception in different areas and still seem to have the same results. So here is more of my question, is the stock antenna not worth using and need to upgrade to something better? Are there settings on the radio itself that need to be changed for better reception? I programmed it with the Wouxun PC-Write software that is available to download on the buytwowayradios website, everything looked rather straight forward but now thinking I may have missed something given my situation. Looking forward to your insight

Did the application online, paid the fee and two days later the license was approved. Just bought a used Kenwood TK-370G on Ebay, auction said it was a tested radio but the battery is as-is to be expected being a used battery. Any suggestions on where to buy the programing cable, software, and other Kenwood accessories such as a new battery and antenna if needed? Not looking for the cheap junk batteries from China, been down that road with other purchases in the past. Initially when I was looking into getting my license I was planning on buying a Wouxun KG-935G from the reviews I saw, but when I went to purchase one it was saying out of stock and I could only find one seller buytwowayradios.com. Like to many other people I have had experiences with the Baofeng radios and not really impressed (but what do you expect for $20). I thought that going with a Kenwood radio would be a better choice and better chance of getting it repaired if needed. I will say I was quite frustrated that some of the big radio names have not produced a GMRS radio like they have for HAM..... With GMRS all I could find was either the standard 2pack radio's or the Chinese made models, unlike HAM where ICOM, Kenwood, Yaesu, and others are commonplace. So with those options and the KG935G being out of stock anyway, I decided to go with what I hope is a better choice.