Got My New MXT500 - Not Impressed

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, gortex2 said:

Midland works fine for the intended audiance. ...I run them in all my Jeeps for that reason. 

 

Yes, as I indicated; Midland = The Jeep crowd

[SteveShannon]

42 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:

Yes, as I indicated; Midland = The Jeep crowd

Well there goes the neighborhood...

Be careful you don't snap your neck putting your nose in the air.

[OffRoaderX]

As someone that has recommended a few radios to a few people in my day, i have, and still do recommend Midlands to "regular people" that just need simple vehicle to vehicle comms; ie; The Jeep Crowd.

Radio Dorks and latent hams will require something with more bells and whistles, but MANY normal people are more than satisfied with the simplicity and performance of the Midland mobiles. 

Choose the radio with the features that are right for you, and ignore the online "experts" that look down on you for not being the same kind of socially reet-ard-ed know-it-alls that they are - it's difficult, becuase there are a lot of them right here in this forum.. Even in this thread..

[marcspaz]

While I was not initially impressed with the radio, after spending time using it, it became 1 of 2 radios I recommend for an OTC purpose built radio.  I recommend the KG-1000G for those who want the bells and whistles and like to play with tech, and I recommend the MXT500 or MXT575 for people who just want it to work out of the box and simple operation. 

 

Everyone has their opinions. There are plenty of good radios on the market for varying prices, but the Midland radios are definitely a good brand with quality options.

[gortex2]

13 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Yes, as I indicated; Midland = The Jeep crowd

My parents are both in their 70's. They dont go on jeep events but wanted a radio to talk on my repeaters. The Midland is perfect for that. Why would I buy a crazy complicated CCR to put in there vehicels that they would totally baffled about. I mean I still can't get my father to swtich from his flip phone and holy crap when someone sends him a text and the "darn thing beeps at me".

You also dont realize the amount of farmers that use midland. I've installed a dozen repeaters (LMR) for farms that are using Midlands in all the tractors and equipment on the farm. They are simple and last. 

If your using GMRS as HAM lite then your right there are better choices. But for simple communications they serve a purpose and will sell more than all the other vendors combined this year and next year. 

[WRYS709]

4 hours ago, gortex2 said:

My parents are both in their 70's. They dont go on jeep events but wanted a radio to talk on my repeaters. The Midland is perfect for that...

Let me ask you one question: YOUR repeater: is it set to wide band or narrow band?

[gortex2]

14 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:

Let me ask you one question: YOUR repeater: is it set to wide band or narrow band?

The repeaters my parents use are set to narrowband. They function just fine with the midland 275, and 500

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, gortex2 said:

The repeaters my parents use are set to narrowband. They function just fine with the midland 275, and 500

Exactly! 

The next time a 70 year old farmer/jeep driver, whose son operates a narrowband repeater; asks for a GMRS recommendation, I will recommend a Midland radio!

Other than that subset of users, I will recommend the user come to myGMRS and read one titled thread after another criticizing Midlands before they make their decision; for example: 

“Got My New MXT500 - Not Impressed”

 

[gortex2]

We get it you don't like Midland but thousands are fine with them. You recommend what you want and I'll recommend what I feel is an appropriate radio for the user. Additionally Midland will sell thousands and continue to fill a void in the service for true simple devices that work fine. 

[nokones]

Just for giggles, I decided to test my Midland MXT500 that has the latest Firmware update with 128 channels to see how much power I am putting out.  I normally let my friends use the radio as a loaner when they are radio-less when I am on a Driving Tour with one of my car clubs or one of my Jeep Clubs on a Trail Run. This is a great radio for that purpose.

I ran my tests with my recent recertified Bird 43 Watt Meter and a recertified 100 Watt 200-500 MHz slug and a brand spanking new 10 Watt 400-800 MHz slug to check the reflection.  I also used two 12" test leads with N Connectors to connect the radio and an EMR Corp. 0-1 GHz 125 Watt Dummy Load.  The first phase of my test was transmitting into the dummy load and the results were, on 462.550 MHz was 52 watts and transmitting on 467.725 MHz with a result of 51 watts.

The second phase of my test, I connected the radio to a Midland MXTA25 3 dB Phantom Antenna with a Midland Mag-Mount and cable sitting on a cookie sheet and I measured the VSWR at 1.4:1 at 465.000 MHz with a RigExpert Antenna Analyzer.  On 462.550 MHz I measured 52 watts with .6 watt reflected and on 467.725 MHz I measured 51 watts with .7 watts reflected.

I had my Midland MXT500 radio powered by a Powerwerx SPS30DM Power Supply set at 14.3 DC Volts and the power draw results for both frequencies on transmitter keyed are as follows:  462.550 MHz 8.61 AMPS at 13.59 Volts; and 467.725 9.71 AMPS at 13.51 volts.

I guess I can't complain about the RF Output Power with this radio.  However, I do have some minor complaints with this radio such as, no Talk Around, Monitor (PL Defeat), Zone/Bank of Channels features, and the absence of some CTCSS tone freqs.  Other than that its not a bad GMRS radio.

 

[marcspaz]

@nokones great test results. The current draw, voltage and power readings all agree, which is good, as it shows common efficiency, too.

 

BTW, what model repeater is that vertex? I get a kick out of seeing rack mount equipment on a home work bench. My kinda people. LoL

[nokones]

25 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

@nokones great test results. The current draw, voltage and power readings all agree, which is good, as it shows common efficiency, too.

 

BTW, what model repeater is that vertex? I get a kick out of seeing rack mount equipment on a home work bench. My kinda people. LoL

Vertex Standard EVX-R70-G7-40 Repeater using an EMR Corp Duplexer connected to a Laird FG4605 5 dB Omni Base Station Antenna with Times Microwave LMR400 Cable with a Polyphaser and the antenna tip is at 30' AGL

[WRYZ926]

I know my test was not even close to professional since I used a SureCom SW-102. I tested a total of four radios using the same 32 feet of LMR400 going to my Comet CA-712EFC antenna. The base of the antenna is 18 feet above ground.

I tested the Midland MXT500, Wouxun KG-XS20G, Wouxun KG-1000G and KG-1000G Plus. 

MXT500 - 35 watts

KG-XS20G - 25 watts

KG-1000G - 47 watts

KG-1000G Plus - 48 watts

I updated the MXT500 to the most up to date firmware before testing. All radios were powered by the same R & L Electronics 30 Amp power supply. I used the MXT500 and KG-XS20G while we were testing the repeater antennas at 400 feet and 21 miles away  from me on simplex. I received better signal reports when using the KG-XS20G compared to the MXT500.

Granted Midland radios are fine for those wanting a very simple radio. But there seems to be an issue with some MXT500's not putting out anywhere close to the advertised 50 watts. I would not complain about only getting 45 watts out but 35 watts was too low in my opinion.

[marcspaz]

@WRYZ926  The MXT500 having low power out of the box was the biggest let down.  I had hoped that Midland fixed the issue since then... but I guess not.

 

The only upside is, there is almost zero difference between 35w and 50w, from a real-world use standpoint.  You can measure a difference, but likely wouldn't see an extra 10 feet in range.

[WRYZ926]

22 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

The only upside is, there is almost zero difference between 35w and 50w, from a real-world use standpoint.  You can measure a difference, but likely wouldn't see an extra 10 feet in range.

This is true. And while the MXT500 worked for me, I didn't care for how it sounded nor did I like the menu and lack of features.  I ended up donating the radio to the club I belong to. We are going to install it into our emergency coms trailer alongside all the other radios.

Again nothing wrong with Midland radios for those that want a simple easy to use radio right out of the box. But they aren't for me. I like to tweak and change settings, etc. This goes for my radios, computers, motorcycles, etc.