Wouxun KG-UV9GX ham band transmit mod?

[WRZH281]

I just received my Wouxun KG-UV9GX and I'm wondering if there is a mod to allow TX in the two meter and 70cm ham bands.  I realize that doing so would likely void the GMRS certification for this radio. 

[WRUU653]

Not that I am aware of. There is for the KG-UV9PX, the ham version. If I remember correctly it was through Chirp. 

[back4more70]

And you would need a new antenna.

[AdmiralCochrane]

65cm is damn close to 70cm.  My antenna is under 1.8 swr all across both bands. 

[WRXB215]

I have used both the Abbree 771 and the 771G with no noticeable difference between the two although you can see a slight difference in length.

[SteveShannon]

I tried to use the Midland MXTA26 antenna for one of my Radioddity DB20Gs, which I reconfigured for use on VHF and UHF Amateur bands, but not GMRS.  As expected it worked okay on 70 cm.  But it failed miserably on 2 meters, not even communicating five blocks down a straight street. For that radio I switched to a Comet SBB5.

 

[WRXB215]

@Sshannon Is this the one? I'll have to keep that in mind. I do want to upgrade to a better antenna some day for mobile.

Another question about it: it appears to have that "fold over" feature. I've seen complaints(not necessarily that antenna) that it will sometimes fold down when getting up to speed. Have you experienced that? Thanks.

[SteveShannon]

13 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

@Sshannon Is this the one? I'll have to keep that in mind. I do want to upgrade to a better antenna some day for mobile.

Another question about it: it appears to have that "fold over" feature. I've seen complaints(not necessarily that antenna) that it will sometimes fold down when getting up to speed. Have you experienced that? Thanks.

That’s exactly the one.  It doesn’t fold over, at least not accidentally.  It may be that they changed the way the folding whip works since someone complained about it, but it requires a very deliberate action to fold it.

One other thing. I bought mine used from a person and saved $10 (I thought), but I didn’t have a decent analyzer at the time.  It worked on 2 meters (better than the Midland) but once I got my RigExpert I discovered that SWR was higher than it should be.  It looked like the whip was too short.  So, I wrote in to the US Comet representative and he immediately identified it as a failed capacitor in the loading coil section immediately above the mount.  He sent me one for a price, so by buying used from a private party I cost myself some money.  I suspect I could replace the capacitor if I could figure out how to take apart the coil assembly, but I haven’t yet.  The factory rep said it couldn’t be done without destroying the coil.  

Of course you’ll need a mount as well.

[WRXB215]

15 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

The factory rep said it couldn’t be done without destroying the coil.

Not surprised. The way a lot of electronics are packaged (or packed) these days helps to protect them from physical damage and also from the elements. Unfortunately, it also sometimes protects them from us. 

[WRUU653]

1 hour ago, Sshannon said:

I tried to use the Midland MXTA26 antenna for one of my Radioddity DB20Gs, which I reconfigured for use on VHF and UHF Amateur bands, but not GMRS.  As expected it worked okay on 70 cm.  But it failed miserably on 2 meters, not even communicating five blocks down a straight street. For that radio I switched to a Comet SBB5.

 

I also tried the MXTA26 when I switched my mobile to an Icom 2730A and 2 meters SWR was through the roof. I ended up with the same Comet SBB5 and very happy so far. 

 

1 hour ago, WRXB215 said:

@Sshannon Is this the one? I'll have to keep that in mind. I do want to upgrade to a better antenna some day for mobile.

Another question about it: it appears to have that "fold over" feature. I've seen complaints(not necessarily that antenna) that it will sometimes fold down when getting up to speed. Have you experienced that? Thanks.

You have to pull up on it pretty good to get it to fold over. I have had no issues with it. I think one of their larger antennas had this issue and they changed the design to a locking nut but I don't recall which one that was.

[AdmiralCochrane]

I'm sorry I don't remember the model of the Diamond antenna on my vehicle.  It is a fold over, but it has a locking collar that has to turn 3 full turns to release. Basically impossible to be folded by road wind.  I did have some trouble with the cheap coax end on the coax that came with it, it was slightly undersized and if I hit a tree branch the whole antenna fell off the truck.  Until I replaced it with a proper end, I kept a safety string attached to the antenna so when it decoupled, it was still where I could find it.