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If your radio uses a battery which matches one of the ones mentioned here, this battery may work: Wouxun 2600mAh USB-C Battery Pack

I'm fine with the linking so long as it is only consuming one of the 8 repeater frequencies in an area. Some of these folks are handicapped or retirement home types who cannot get out and this social life is good for them. And even with 20 or whatever repeaters linked together most of the time they are still not being used 24/7. And I kind of wish people were more outgoing about these conversations. I'd be fine with "Hi I am XYZ. Anyone want to talk about <topic>?" Mostly it's just comparing weather and such. On the local non-linked repeater there are a number of tradesmen talking their craft going to/from work, which is kind of fun to listen to if you are into home repair or such. As for the original topic here, ID requirements and the need for a pause to let people jump in seems to take care of most of it.

When repeaters are linked to 20 others then it almost seems like the intention is to be more social, and not so much only about short comms with family and close friends.

(Monitoring two channels?)

In my case, the thin cable goes right underneath the hood, and the connector is sealed in a layer of elec tape, sealer tape, then more elec tape. I like that the bitty Midland mag mount is almost unnoticeable, and I can tuck it under the hood and cowl if i won't use it for a while. It's one of those Jeep compromises, see. By the way, that cable routing you mentioned whenever ago worked well.

On my mobile I did as Uncle Yoda suggested, and cut the 20 feet of thin RG-174 from the mag mount down to just one foot in length, then adapted it into RG-58 for 6 feet, then into the radio. If the mag mount comes with 20 feet of RG-58, that can be 2db, and so it may be worth cutting it back to what is actually needed.

You can also use a handheld for a base station. Add a thin coax adapter going to thick coax going to a base station antenna near a window or up in the attic, and also add a plugin speaker microphone. This allows you to place the antenna in a position which works and move the handheld to the desk, and the speaker microphone allows you to talk without tugging the handheld against the coax. 5 watts with a 3dbd antenna from a second story window gets me 30 miles to a repeater, no problem. You may have to move the antenna a few inches here or there for best reception. And you can use this antenna with a base unit later. The only thing is if you use this heavily then it will be worth getting a base radio so you are not wearing out the handheld battery all the time.

Once saw the room for proton beam radiation therapy. Foot thick concrete walls and a bank vault style door. I don't know what an MRI uses but shielding should be part of the design. Perhaps some contractor cut corners when it was constructed.

Try saying "Wxxx000 listening" and someone may answer.

Naaa, the REAL arguments are about antennas! Also got a mobile unit for offroad, but didn't find many people to talk with. But around home we have three good repeaters, so plenty to do. I also got repeater-capable handhelds for camping use, and also use one at the home w/ a base antenna positioned in the room for best reception.

Several sizes of stick-on steel discs

I have a Wouxun SMO-002 speaker microphone, which works well but sounds "small", i.e. small speaker. By way of comparison, the speaker in the handheld KG-S88G radio sounds "boxy", lots of midrange but less highs. Each is of sufficient clarity. And I realize that there are audio band limits to these transmissions anyhow, so there is only so much audio quality you can get from GMRS. Has anyone compared these $20-$30 speaker microphones, available in many brands, with something costing two or three times as much, such as the Kenwood or Impact brands? Water proof and Kevlar cords are of limited benefit for me so far, but I would like something with more presence and clarity than the $20-$30 units, but more easily handled than a desktop microphone.

The attic may do.

By the way, the MXT-275 comes with a small antenna with 20 feet of thin coax. The antenna is fine, and I use it because it works on my vehicle's hood without getting in the way much, but the coax is a problem. Either get a better antenna, or shorten the coax with a new connector to the length you require, or shorten it to a foot or so then use better coax the rest of the way. Having said that, once the coax is addressed, the little 6" antenna works fine. But it's much easier to spend a little on a better antenna and coax to begin with. The 575 comes with a better antenna and coax, but again it would help to shorten the coax to whatever you end up needing. If you live in an area with a lot of repeaters, or you routinely travel and want to use many repeaters as you drive, it would be worth it to get a radio with storage for lots of repeater combinations. The Midlands store only one repeater per channel, and do not have repeater names on the displays. But they are great for hiding the unit away in the dashboard with all the controls on the microphone.

Newer MXT275 units with the USB-C port now come with wide band for the repeater channels, although some leftovers are still coming with narrow band. If a USB-C 275 has narrow band, you can mail it in and have them convert it to wide band. I did so and it works fine. If it's an older 275 without the USB-C port then it'll be narrow band only. (And I wish companies would change model numbers when they change major features.) The 50-watt 575 may be of some use if you have to push the transmission through a lot of trees or buildings, but you still cannot receive any better than the 275 with the same antenna. My 15-watt 275 hits a repeater 30 miles away through suburbia using a 6" quarter wave on the hood. The 575 may have a few more features such as wide/narrow selection. A 15-watt radio with a good antenna is much better than a 50-watt radio with a lousy antenna.

Well I finally got a chance to experiment with the handheld while listening to a long conversation. The dropping audio problem turned out to be the squelch, and once I turned on the receive DCS for the repeater then the squelch behaved itself and the dropping audio problem went away. With DCS off the audio was coming and going. So I suspect a programming or audio circuitry error in the Wouxun KG-S88G, but here is the workaround.

I was wondering about wind turbines as well, but this is suburbia, so I doubt it. And it's two copies of the radio, just different colors. The mystery continues.

The FRS radio is fine. No loss of audio while at full signal. And it also receives weaker signals better w/o squelching them, although that may be squelch programming itself.

New issue: Strong signal from a repeater. Reception audio goes in and out about once per second while signal strength is solid full scale and steady. Both Wouxun handhelds do this, using basic antenna or 15" whip or 44" base antenna. The FRS radio audio stays steady. Overloaded?

To get back to the original question, one person's take is at: GMRS Radio Range Chart

FRS is 2 watts now. In suburbia I get .75 to 1 mile, or 1.5 to a mobile unit with its better antenna. Going to 5 watts GMRS with a half-wave antenna goes a bit further.

Found a specific place to put a base antenna near a window. Again, a few inches either way makes all the difference, but at the moment everything is good. RG-8 for 12 feet, and an 18" thin cable adapter for the handheld.

Currently trying a base antenna near the window. A few inches left or right seems to make a big difference. Aluminum siding, and so I have signals bouncing all over inside this big house-sized box. Maybe the attic will be better. Some day. But for now I found a good spot for the antenna with good reception over all channels.

GMRS on linked repeaters sometimes starts to sound like ham. GMRS does have the offroad crowd adding to its overall popularity and the corresponding equipment demand, which is probably a good thing. And Midland may not be everyone's favorite but at least they're bringing people in, and their everything-in-the-mike units sure are nice for many vehicles, although I wish they also had named channels and such.

A month or so ago I heard the result of two repeaters on the same frequency. Northern Indiana while I was passing through. It didn't work out too well. FM chaos and conflict as people on each repeater were trying to figure out who the other repeater was. The people on one repeater were not identifying. A few folks located such that they could hear both could hear each other talking about the other.