Wouxun KG-905G - Any experience to share now that the radio backorder are filled?

[MacJack]

As an owner of a 905G for several months, want to hear the experience of the new 905G owners.  Any features you like as you compare with other radios.  

It goes without saying, if you have any questions ask away as we all can learn from the question and answer from many mentors.

MacJack

[MozartMan]

I like OEM programming software for 905G the best compare to 805G and UV9G.

[MacJack]

1 hour ago, MozartMan said:

I like OEM programming software for 905G the best compare to 805G and UV9G.

Thanks for your comment...  My only issue is copy/paste channels into a group I like...  I'm using the OEM software on an old XP.  

Looking for help on that...

MacJack

[WRMH343]

On the pluses: I like the CTCSS scanner, that is handy when working with bubble-pack radio users.  Build quality seems sturdy, range is good, and audio quality is great.  I like being able to swap out antennas.  Sometimes I even connect it to my large exterior j-pole, and it works great (even though the j-pole is tuned to Ham bands, GMRS is "close-enough").  I like the large channel capacity, including enough space to store every repeater I could conceivably connect to in my region.

 

On the minuses:  The programing software is poor, I wish Chirp would support this radio, as it has a much more polished GUI.  I also wish it had FM broadcast and NOAA weather support (this is due to a UHF-only design).  I have a KG-UV9P as well, so that makes up for those two missing items (and it also has a flashlight).  Ironically, the one thing the KG-UV9P misses is GMRS TX (it can RX it though), so for full coverage, I have to carry both radios.  Lastly, I'm annoyed that it uses a different charger than nearly every other Wouxun radio, so I can't share car/USB charging accessories.

[WRHS218]

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

[billahertz]

Just got mine yesterday. Took about 6 weeks from time of order. I agree with above post about the build quality. Seems on par with Motorola or Vertex that I use for work. Good sounding RX and clear display. The user interface is a little archaic and clumsy but some of that could be user error and being new to the hobby as well...

[marlin39a]

I installed the software on my windows 10 laptop.  Used the XLT programming cable, and it set it all up.  I programmed in 4 repeaters in my travel area.  I can hit one about 25 miles from home, without a problem.  I’ve been listening mostly.  I hear a lot of “hellos”.  I’m going to go out and try other repeaters this weekend.

[djxs]

On 7/2/2021 at 1:24 PM, WRHS218 said:

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.

 

I understand this feature, however, I was wondering. If the radio has this kind of scanning feature to be able to pull a CTCSS code and/or DTS code, can the same be said for repeater channels to find out what they are on? Is that even allowed?

[WRHS218]

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. 

[mbrun]

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. 

You can scan any frequency your radio is actively tuned to. If it is tuned to a simplex frequency that is what gets scanned. If it is tuned to the repeater output frequency (same as simplex) that again is what gets scanned. If you want to scan for the code being used to activate the repeater then you have to be close to the person that is actively talking on the repeater AND you have to have your radio configured to Rx that repeater’s input frequency.

Some radios have a function (called ‘Reverse’) that makes switching to the repeater input frequency easy thus making scanning for the code easy. It is pretty common on amateur radios, but not on GMRS.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[WRHS218]

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

[djxs]

On 7/16/2021 at 2:33 PM, mbrun said:

You can scan any frequency your radio is actively tuned to. If it is tuned to a simplex frequency that is what gets scanned. If it is tuned to the repeater output frequency (same as simplex) that again is what gets scanned. If you want to scan for the code being used to activate the repeater then you have to be close to the person that is actively talking on the repeater AND you have to have your radio configured to Rx that repeater’s input frequency.

Some radios have a function (called ‘Reverse’) that makes switching to the repeater input frequency easy thus making scanning for the code easy. It is pretty common on amateur radios, but not on GMRS.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

So is this a way of "hacking" into someones repeater without permission?

[mbrun]

So is this a way of "hacking" into someones repeater without permission?

I can see how you would look at it that way. Knowing what the code is and using to gain unauthorized access are two very different things however. The code to access a repeater is not private, nor is it encrypted or allowed to be encrypted. In fact it is transmitted in the open, just like you must do with your voice and your callsign. You merely have to be within ear-shot of the transmitter sending it to learn what it is.

For those that may read this post and not already know it, All Repeaters are private property. Even though you may know what the code is, and even though the repeater owner may publicly identify their access code (like a good number do on this site for example), you do need the owner’s permission to use their equipment. Most repeater owners expect you to contact them directly to gain permission (phone, email, or via this site). Others may give carte-blanche permission by public notice within a public disclosure about their repeater such as “All licensed GMRS users are free to use the repeater. Be courteous, identify and keep your transmissions brief”.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[djxs]

3 hours ago, mbrun said:

I can see how you would look at it that way. Knowing what the code is and using to gain unauthorized access are two very different things however. The code to access a repeater is not private, nor is it encrypted or allowed to be encrypted. In fact it is transmitted in the open, just like you must do with your voice and your callsign. You merely have to be within ear-shot of the transmitter sending it to learn what it is.

For those that may read this post and not already know it, All Repeaters are private property. Even though you may know what the code is, and even though the repeater owner may publicly identify their access code (like a good number do on this site for example), you do need the owner’s permission to use their equipment. Most repeater owners expect you to contact them directly to gain permission (phone, email, or via this site). Others may give carte-blanche permission by public notice within a public disclosure about their repeater such as “All licensed GMRS users are free to use the repeater. Be courteous, identify and keep your transmissions brief”.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

This information helps alot! Thank you @mbrun. However with that said, if you do not have a tone scanning radio option and you know you are within the vicinity of a repeater (because one is able to hear traffic), and the repeater is not registered... short of knocking on the door of the repeaters location, there would be no other way to ask for permission.

[mbrun]

This information helps alot! Thank you [mention=3409]mbrun[/mention]. However with that said, if you do not have a tone scanning radio option and you know you are within the vicinity of a repeater (because one is able to hear traffic), and the repeater is not registered... short of knocking on the door of the repeaters location, there would be no other way to ask for permission.

If the repeater is currently only being used by members of a single family under a single license, the only call sign heard during conversations should be that of the family’s call sign, either verbally or in CW (morse code). If you have that call sign, you can get the name and address from the FCC database. https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp. If it is a physical address you can visit them, send a letter, or do a public records search to get the phone number and call.

If the repeater is being used by any party not a family member of the licensee, the repeater is required to self identify every 15 minutes of use. Then repeater should be giving out the licensee’s call sign in English or CW. Again, once you have the call sign you can look them up as mentioned earlier.

In neither case above do you need tone scanning. Having a code is never required to listen to a repeater nor any simplex GMRS communication. If you have tone squelch disabled on your radio (factory default on all GMRS radios I know of) you can listen to everything on that frequency and, by extension, every call sign used on that frequency.

If the callsign is being given in morse code you can either learn morse, or you can download an app for the smart phone that will translate it for you. ‘Morse-It’ is what I use.

If neither the repeater users nor the repeater identify as required per the rules, well that is going to be far more difficult. I do not have any practical advise for you on that one. That may require some serious fox hunting and stalking. I would leave well enough alone there and seek the use of legal repeater alternates.

Hope that helps.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[WRMH343]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:39 PM, WRHS218 said:

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. 

The trick with this radio, since it doesn't have a VFO mode, is one needs to pre-create the repeater input channels.  Once those channels are created, then the CTCSS decode function can be used to determine a repeater's input code.

[mbrun]

The trick with this radio, since it doesn't have a VFO mode, is one needs to pre-create the repeater input channels.  Once those channels are created, then the CTCSS decode function can be used to determine a repeater's input code.

You are absolutely correct.

A technique that I and others have used is to leave the factory programming intact, including the factory repeater channel combinations. Then add a range of pre-configured repeater pairs or your own for all standard repeater pairs. (For example, my radios have the standard 30 channels assignments from the factory, plus 8 channels preconfigured for each of the 8 possible repeater pairs. They are labelled 550A through 550H all the way up to 725A through 725H).

Using this pattern I can, on the fly, dedicate any of those preconfigured pairs to a valid repeater by assigning the tones and naming the channel in the field.

So far that has worked very well for me.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[haneysa]

After having my 905-G for a month, I am very happy with it, with one exception-the speaker volume. I will admit that my years as a Mortar Man have damaged my hearing, but when I compare the HT volume of the 905-G to the 805-G, and the KG-UV7D, the 905 is not as loud. This also occurs when an external speaker is attached, so it must be the sound amplifier in the radio.

[Roadrunner74]

Mine is scheduled for delivery Saturday and because of this thread I feel as though I am already familiar with this radio... good stuff, keep it coming.

RR

[WRHS218]

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