i have the same exact set up radio and antenna. It works great. im about 200-300 ft above the rest of my valley. I can talk 40 miles no issues. Even with a 5 watt HT attached to that antenna.
This is one of the best demonstrations of a proper GMRS setup. Your full quieting at 20 miles was impressive. This shows you that with the proper power and height UHF communications can be completely usable and sound like a professional setup. Keep up the good work. I’d like to see that base antenna performance with a handi-talkie like the BTech GMRS Pro.
Power makes little difference . Hight makes a lot of difference . GMRS is line of site from antenna to antenna . I can talk on my repeater with 1 watt from my HT 16 miles away in the middle of town . Thou 3 watts is better at full quieting .
I am using a KG-1000G on an Ed Fong GMRS antenna.. I also have a Retevis RT96S repeater I will put a Slim Jim antenna up in our Oak tree for. I got into GMRS because I was a block captain organizing patrols here in Minneapolis during the aftermath of the death of George FLoyd. Because I am an Early Election Judge for the City, I was also recruited to be an operator for the emergency satelite 311 center for two weeks after the unrest. Going to organize a GMRS Neighborhood Watch organization here in Minneapolis. What I discovered while organizing my neighborhood is that running into the woods with a backpack isn't going to help you in a disaster. But your neighbors will. Community is your best protection.
Fantastic test results. I just received a KG-1000G plus, samlexpower sec-1235m power supply in progress of setting them up. I hope people appreciate all the work you do in providing info for all of us. Thank you 😊
I concur with the Yagi suggestions here in the comments. Collinears, like the one you showed at the house, offer _elevation_ gain along with an omni azimuthal pattern, which is often highly desirable, but if your primary objective is a point-to-point circuit (as opposed to mobile-to-fixed, or some other scenario), then directional Yagis on both ends would be prudent. 73 de AB3ZI
For what it's worth we have a repeater at 280ft AGL that reaches from coast to coast here in Central Florida, Highlands county. Mobiles regularly make contact from Ft Pierce, Yeehaw Junction, Tampa, Sarasota and other places within 60-80 mile range. And it's narrow-band!
Hi David, I've been following you for some time now and have learned much from you, thank you. I just noticed your avatar pic after all this time, lol. Love it, GOD's Covenant👌🙏 Happy Holidays from Los Angeles, GOD BLESS.
Thank you Joseph. Yes, Noah was the "first" prepper. The rainbow shows God's covenant to all mankind. It is funny on occasion I'll get a Christian screaming at me and using bible references saying I'll go to hell because I'm showing the "gay rainbow". If they really understood their scriptures they would understand the importance of Noah's rainbow.
A very good test and demonstration, even though it was primarily flat terrain. I still strive to utilize GMRS in my hilly Kentucky terrain from my cabin halfway down a ravine. My KG-1000G Plus is still struggling. It's definitely all about height. WRC-951 ... 73
In my experience when it comes to distance make the Antenna your first priority. Cable is second and Radio third. 25 watts for me and I get 30 miles easily but I went with a good high Antenna, good cable, and only 25-watt radio
I find if you stop like with the old CB. the signal is much more clear.. And lower bumper mounted antennas don't ground playing very well.. Good video. I get 20 mile offshore on a 5 what with A 7DB gain antenna.. Radiates about 20 .. RT97 repeater.. That's with a hand handheld..5 watt..
I use a repeater that just over 82 miles away. I'm in the East Bay area of California, and the repeater is located in the Sierra foothills. My radio is a KG1000G as well, connected to a $45 Ed Fong antenna.
I had one of those radio things and it would go 100 miles if it was all down hill and the wind was at my back. I used a UPS with a double hump directional yagi antenna that was welded to my garage door. And I had a ton of 7/8 inch coiled Low Density Foam transmission line on a spool wrapped counter clockwise with the large end on the outside of the spool. Finally I sprayed all the inside of the transmission line connectors with WD-40 to reduce the power resistance. I must be some kind of GENIUS!
40 miles is impressive. My family is only 16 miles away. I setup a repeater at my daughters house and connect to it using my MARS modded 578 (34 watts on 467.600) and a Diamond X300A (144-148 MHz 6.5 dBi / 70 cm 435-450 MHz 9.0 dBi) mounted at a mere 12'. Probably could go further but I don't want to talk to anyone else. My parents are only 2 miles from her so they connect with a Wouxun KG-935G. When needed I can set the 578 up on crossband and use my MARS modded 878's on low power from inside the house to my shop and then on to the repeater. It's a slick setup. I should do a video on it. All solar powered too.
Good afternoon, you probably already know, but GMRS requires an FCC license, FRS doesn't, an FRS user can legally talk with a licensed GMRS operator, as long as they're actually using an FRS radio, it's a neat advantage to have if needed. Just a thought for back up communication. Good video by the way.
I wanted to know the same thing ,not once did I hear any call sign being used at all on a Repeater , suppose to have license and give out your call sign every 10-15 mins between talking on a Repeater , I even use mine on Simplex to , hope there's no hard feelings on this only trying to keep you safe from the FCC Rules & Regs on GMRS use , thanks WRYH989
My first HAM Contact was from st george utah to black foot Idaho 500 plus miles via linked repeters 3 days ago. I was using the yeasu ft-60r with a dimond antenna KK7KLD Roger From richfield utah. I'm also WRQZ243 Gmrs
get that tram attached to the side of the building, above the peak of the roof! Also for those new to radio, moving stations (in a vehicle) perform worse than stationary ones. If you can stop your car to transmit, you may get much better performance.
I didn't want the video but my Wouxun uv9g HT already does 27 miles at 5 watts. With a 50 watt you should be able to do 50-70 miles. This is using a gmrs repeater.
You need to be 6 feet away from metal structures for best performance. Try moving it a little further away from your building to see if it helps reception. It would still act like a reflector at a 6 foot distance. Good video.
The power ratio/gain between the 50 W and 15 W radios is a 3.33:1 or 5.23 dB. So, swapping radios and upgrading the vehicle antenna will yield a difference. I prefer to do changes one at a time. I also, am curious about the receiver qualities of the two radios. If one has a better receiver, that can make a difference as well. If you could bring a third radio into the experiments & connect it to the trucks antenna, you could use these to radios on the base station vertical antenna to discover the difference in receive quality.
Have you thought of adding a 4 or 5 element yagi beam since you seem to transmit in a general direction, southwest? You can add an antenna switch to go from omni to directional.
I was going to add, your friend setting up that Coms Corridor' might want to try a 7 Element Yagi to light up that commute. They tend to be cheaper than the 1486 but obviously concentrating the gain into a specific area.
How far from the antenna is the mobile unit? I’m curious as to the maximum length of cable that considered ok to use. I’ve always heard the shorter distance the better but I’m brand new.
@@rockytop441 Not so different as you might think. Plenty of folks use UHF connectors and RG-58 or 4X for both 2m and 70cm (not the best choice of coax I agree) because their dual band rigs have an SO239 on them (again, not the best choice but a rather common one). From what I've seen - and I don't have a bunch of experience with GMRS - many of the GMRS mobile rigs also have SO239s on them (the Midland line comes to mind) while the handheld units have SMA connectors just like many 2m/70cm handhelds - though to be fair some very successful one have used BNC connectors (another not really good choice.) Add to that the 70cm band runs 420 - 450 MHz, which is just below the GMRS allocation. Not sure about 2 different game plans. Witness the profusion of dual band 2m/70cm rigs - which are UHF and VHF from the same radio. They seem to be similar enough to coexist quite nicely in the same radio. Yes, there are compromises in every radio installation (coax, connectors, antenna, etc.) but the ones made for that combination do not seem to present significant adverse effect. The point of the exercise would be to compare the propagation aspects of similarly equipped radios over the same terrain to see if there were any discernable differences. Given that the frequencies of GMRS and 70cm are close I would expect no difference in performance, while 2m may have a very slight difference. Again, this would be mainly an academic exercise. I think that all 3 bands would be able to get the job done, and the ultimate choice of which to use would take into account the user's unique circumstances and requirements. I'm not advocating one band over another by suggesting this comparison.
@@charleswells9682 Charles being an electronic tech with several licenses and training if you sit in front of an analyzer or an oscilloscope you can see the difference. Charles if you buy a new in the box puzzle and put it together it will give you a beautiful finished picture on the other hand if you have an old worn puzzle with missing pieces you get a different outcome agree? Buy the PL259 to N connector converters makes a big difference. When I do anything I want the very best performance most people just get by but do it right and in a fringe area this is what makes the difference. Thank you for your reply but give it 125 percent and have a good outcome and grounding and antenna position is a whole other area so many easy tricks and in closing. Charles always run heavy power wires directly to the battery with fuse protection do not use cig lighter or other and use good number 12 or 10 wire it makes a difference hook your power meter to your output you will see have fun. We are building a GMRS USA CENTRAL HUB with talk group 1 soon will be up an running I will get back to you when its hot, you can talk the whole USA and beyond have a good day my friend.
You could achieve much more height/distance if you used a tripod mount on the roof with a couple of sections of fence post. The current antenna setup is a waste of resources in my opinion.
most mobile options in 5watt land have physical radial distance 2.5km with last overlap in point to point 5km in terms of 10-80 watt over uhf in general is a 2 radio static repeater.. for distance comms you are looking 40-120 feet up in the air with a clear line of sight you be good for 20-40km, due to trunking nature of uhf based services if you can hit a repeater 200-400km relay could be done under hf u good for 1000-1500 km with the right conditions
I have one of these radios and I believe in a straight line of site these radios will go at least 60 miles I'm going to try a 75 mile range later this summer and I'm sure that I will be able to do this easily from up on the mountain side so elevation will be the key. I say this because was listening to guys on the radio last week one was in a mobile by Red Lodge, MT and the other in Billings through a repeater made it 62 miles and he sounded really clear. So I also have a hand held UV-5G 5 watt and I could activate the same repeater 30 miles away while inside the truck I was driving and that is with the antenna that came with the radio...I was impressed. I also talked with my daughter through that same repeater clear as if she was sitting next to me 14 miles walkie talkie to walkie talkie though that repeater she was in side the house I was in my work truck. So with clear line of site these radios are very impressive. Good luck
NEWS FLASH: If you use the best coax low low line loss you have to do the math and research and if you also use a very high very high gain antenna and if you get the lowest swr's and if you position the antenna in the right place you can get 50 or 60 miles. Most people do not sit down and do the math to get the most out of their radio this is important with any radio. IT IS extremely important in the UHF range extremely important you should only use ""N "" connectors not PL-259 loss is too high do some reading and you can improve even more ask any Ham Radio operator about line loss and coax.Grounding is as important as the antenna.
My cb antenna (102" whip) i mounted to the back of my cab with 12" protruding above the cab reflected into the wall of the cab and destroyed my swr ratio. Careful when using a building to reflect power because it reflects back into your antenna as well.
Wait, you went from a wide band radio to a narrow band radio and the world didn't end?! (Surprised the know-it-all-internet-masters haven't told you that you imagined all of this...)
Love your info. I learn a lot. But still to intimidate to purchase gmrs equipment even though I really want to for family emergency communications. I need more GMRS for dummies.
If you live on the west coast (or East coast) a 25 watt VHF Marine 2way radio on 156 MHz to me, would be a good emergency communications option that should be getting more attention in emergency communication preparedness videos. In my area, they are everywhere equipped in hundreds of local boats. garage sales, Pawn shops and 2nd hand stores unlike CB radio which fell out of favor decades ago. I live on Vancouver island Canada, GMRS is not practical here since 2 watts is the maximum legal power in Canada using short range pocket handheld talkies, little better than FRS.
I am going you give a big tip from my CB days if put that pole in a bucket of water you with get out like nobody's business or if you a you have chain link fence you attach it to the fence post and the fence will act as a ground
your operating on ,line of sight on simplex mode, you also need to get the base antenna UP higher than what it is, you need 50 ft of tower and 20,ft of solid mast pipe then your range will increase on ,tx-rx for your base operation. Higher the antenna is the better,.
Setting up a inexpensive base station here in Tendoy ID..Lots of hills in the lemhi valley... So couldnt a guy just mount the actual antenna on the roof line? Sorry new at this..Great vid
Sorry to inform you this but you know you said that the metal building acts as a reflector that's not true the antenna is above the building so the building acts like a ground plane being that it's metal if it was sitting in front of the building or on one other side of the building that would be more like a reflector but above the building like you have it set is not a reflector just to show tell you that you got it wrong on that now if you put that antenna above the peak which looks to be another 5 ft higher it would reach out better and I would recommend a yagi for directional talking
I think I've watched some of your videos before running peltier based refrigeration etc right? I just subbed you. I'm LDS over in Europe. Just picked me up an ft-817 so I can listen to ham bands. It amazing what can be heard if all you have tried is VHF UHF before. Picked up a guy from NY the other night!
Wow !... good job , I use to watch this channel years ago . I watched all of your rain harvesting videos when you were still in Huston . I too have been doing GMRS now for 2 or 3 years . I have a backyard repeater at 70' with a 30 mile range to a mobile in my hilly terrain . When conditions are good I have talked to a mobile 56 miles away and a base station 60 miles away . It's mostly line of site from antenna to antenna , power has little to do with it . I'm using a CA712 EFC antenna on the repeater and an Ed Fong on my base station with a Nagoya NMO 200C on my mobile .
QRP School youtube channel has a video titles "Output Power vs. S-Units" which really shows that you need to quadruple your power to really have any effect. With GMRS 50W is it, there really isn't suposesed to be anymore used.
@@joewoodchuck3824 CAN do as much ? no But in some situations yes . IF you need to force your signal through close trees more power can help, as trees absorb RF . But if the trees are thick with no path through then not even 100 watts will work .
Use the vk5dj yahi calculator and make a 5 ele yagi,it will work alot better and being directional is also better and ur friebd wuth the ht on a external antenna is loosin his tx owr in the coax
I know you work with battery's alot So this is a link to battle born batteries They are an American company from Reno NV. I've watched some Amazing reviews.
@@jhutch1470 my post sounds miss leading okay the video is Missleading my repeater is A arizona repeater and it's over 7000 feet I ping my repeater everyday from 40 plus miles From a handheld and Max distance I have hit it is 127 miles away from a handheld on high power as well as a 50w Mobile on low Power with no issues.. your comment is Miss leading
If you go ham, the amount of available power is enormously bigger. Just a matter of money. Ham licenses are easy to get, and much more can be done with it.
@@ramrod175 Hams can only talk to hams? True, but the same can be said about any radio service category. With CB you can only talk to CBrs. With GMRS you can only talk to those licensees, and so on. Take a test? Junior High School level at best. Any ages can and do qualify. Then there's the freedom, even encouragement, to experiment and modify for improvement. There's no other service than ham that I know of that can cover long distances WITHOUT any intermediate infrastructure either. If you like what you have for your purposes that's fine. But I wanted you to be aware of the vast differences and advantages.
@@larryhaney6608 There is no interoperability between any of the licensed radio services. Not just between those two. The FCC doesn't even want fire personnel to communicate with cops.
Not to rain on anyones parade here, but does anyone know if there was a Band enhancement during this test ? For the uninitiated, Radio Waves are subject to atmospheric conditions ! Some that can extend your communication range, well beyond their normal boundaries ! For this test to satisfy Scientific protocol, it would have to be repeatable several times over ! For anyone new to Radio, it would be easy to believe these long distance contacts can occur all of the time ! When in fact, they may not ? ( Fair Warning ) 🤔....? Just Say'n !
I may be preaching to the choir here, but I couldn't help but notice the large amount of small coaxial cable in a ball, and running to I believe you said a 15 watt Midland ? A couple things come to mind here ! First in an effort to receive a presumably weak station, you should open the squelch all the way, until you can hear the rushing noise from the speaker, known as, " White " noise ! Too, many of today's radio's have a Monitor button, that essentially does the same thing, as opening the squelch ! Difference being, the Monitor feature allows a quicker means, and can be utilized at the push of a button ! Secondly, the small coaxial cable connected to the small mag mount antenna, is extremely lossy at these UHF Frequencies ! Essentially turning your 15 watt radio into one with much less power at the antenna ! Also attaching the antenna to what appears to be a Cookie sheet, can help, caveat being you need to pay attention to where you place the antenna ! As radio frequency aka. RF, can be steered to some degree ! As RF follows ground ! So placing the antenna, say at the back end of the cookie sheet, may allow you to point in a particular direction, and enable you to make a contact, that otherwise may not have been possible ? It takes a good deal of experimenting, especially at these UHF Frequencies, as sometimes, even a couple inches can stand in front of you from being heard, and hearing another station ! Having had Two of the Wouxun KG 1000 G Plus 50 watt radios, I noticed your DC power cord was shortened for proximity to the power supply ! Reading many comments about this supposed, " 50 " watt radio falling short, and typically delivering around 38 watts as an average, after much hair pulling, I discovered that with the provided 12 vdc wire harness, it was never going to allow enough current to be supplied to the radio, for full 50 watt operation ! Too, one of my Two radio's, began to turn on and off on it's own ! Traced to the connecting plug, as the contacts were poorly made ! Other than those discoveries, it seems a solid performer ! Didn't mean to run on here, but wanted to share some tips, I hope you and others will find useful ! Thanks and Best Regards !
The KG-1000 is a good radio. Midland tends to be good but with fewer bells and whistles. I bought a midland for my wife's vehicle so it was simpler, and for base station I use the KG-1000G+. Both good radios. My only real complaint about Midland is they call the filter codes "privacy" codes which they are most definitely not. The way people tend to think radio then antenna then coax. The actual order of consideration should be, in most but not all cases, antenna, coax, then radio. Get a good antenna with the best coax you can afford then you can plug just about any radio into that and it will work. You would also be surprised that in most cases 5W vs 50W is not that big of a difference. At distance it will matter. It all comes down to knowing your radio system, its limitations and strengths. GMRS is UHF so its very line of sight. On the other hand you can reflect it off things so that may be useful depending on situation. As to repeaters, find them and use them. mygmrs.com has a pretty extensive list. Where I am, we have a really active repeater that reaches out to about 90 miles or more radius. If you can reach it, it will get out there. But, look into what the repeaters are in your area. Dig into how the repeaters you use are setup etc. My primary repeater is backed by generator power with a few days availability. Many repeaters are just equipment that people make available to people and are not backed with any backup power etc. So if you plan to use your radios in emergencies, keep in mind the emergency that affects you may be affecting that repeater. There are quite a few yt channels that will help you learn gmrs. Some rather infamous. You will know which ones. Affiliate link below...
i have the same exact set up radio and antenna. It works great. im about 200-300 ft above the rest of my valley. I can talk 40 miles no issues. Even with a 5 watt HT attached to that antenna.
This is one of the best demonstrations of a proper GMRS setup. Your full quieting at 20 miles was impressive. This shows you that with the proper power and height UHF communications can be completely usable and sound like a professional setup. Keep up the good work. I’d like to see that base antenna performance with a handi-talkie like the BTech GMRS Pro.
Power makes little difference . Hight makes a lot of difference . GMRS is line of site from antenna to antenna . I can talk on my repeater with 1 watt from my HT 16 miles away in the middle of town . Thou 3 watts is better at full quieting .
I am using a KG-1000G on an Ed Fong GMRS antenna.. I also have a Retevis RT96S repeater I will put a Slim Jim antenna up in our Oak tree for. I got into GMRS because I was a block captain organizing patrols here in Minneapolis during the aftermath of the death of George FLoyd. Because I am an Early Election Judge for the City, I was also recruited to be an operator for the emergency satelite 311 center for two weeks after the unrest. Going to organize a GMRS Neighborhood Watch organization here in Minneapolis. What I discovered while organizing my neighborhood is that running into the woods with a backpack isn't going to help you in a disaster. But your neighbors will. Community is your best protection.
P.S. My Great Grandmother Mary Ann's family name was Gilmore
Very tought provoking. Thank you for your comments!
Truth here. All truth
Fantastic test results. I just received a KG-1000G plus, samlexpower sec-1235m power supply in progress of setting them up. I hope people appreciate all the work you do in providing info for all of us. Thank you 😊
I concur with the Yagi suggestions here in the comments. Collinears, like the one you showed at the house, offer _elevation_ gain along with an omni azimuthal pattern, which is often highly desirable, but if your primary objective is a point-to-point circuit (as opposed to mobile-to-fixed, or some other scenario), then directional Yagis on both ends would be prudent. 73 de AB3ZI
When going for distance, other factors being more or less equal, it really only comes down to antennas and their placement.
with my set up on a mag mount antenna I do 20
and my antenna is 150 ft off the ground in the apt.
Nice set-up. That metal building reflecting a lot I bet.
On multiple occasions I've got comms using reflection when a direct line of sight didn't work. I'm basically using the Yagi concept.
I have used my body to bring in weak signals when using my handheld.
@@WillW7WRPMe too, and turning around like I'm a Yagi for best transmission and reception! 🤣
KG-1000G is an awesome radio. I run one in my Durango and it is a great radio even right out of the box!
For what it's worth we have a repeater at 280ft AGL that reaches from coast to coast here in Central Florida, Highlands county. Mobiles regularly make contact from Ft Pierce, Yeehaw Junction, Tampa, Sarasota and other places within 60-80 mile range. And it's narrow-band!
Which repeater is this?
What repeater? I'm in Sarasota Bradenton area
I'm in Florida and hear people in Texas everyday on gmrs repeater
@@ronrico2620 It can't be linked by iP. I call bullshit.
Why would it be narrow band when GMRS is wide? Why would you even do that to yourselves?
Hi David, I've been following you for some time now and have learned much from you, thank you.
I just noticed your avatar pic after all this time, lol. Love it, GOD's Covenant👌🙏
Happy Holidays from Los Angeles, GOD BLESS.
Thank you Joseph. Yes, Noah was the "first" prepper. The rainbow shows God's covenant to all mankind. It is funny on occasion I'll get a Christian screaming at me and using bible references saying I'll go to hell because I'm showing the "gay rainbow". If they really understood their scriptures they would understand the importance of Noah's rainbow.
A very good test and demonstration, even though it was primarily flat terrain. I still strive to utilize GMRS in my hilly Kentucky terrain from my cabin halfway down a ravine. My KG-1000G Plus is still struggling. It's definitely all about height. WRC-951 ... 73
In my experience when it comes to distance make the Antenna your first priority. Cable is second and Radio third. 25 watts for me and I get 30 miles easily but I went with a good high Antenna, good cable, and only 25-watt radio
Great video showing how antenna is more important than power. i've been thinking about getting that 15w mini Midland unit for my off-road Jeep.
I find if you stop like with the old CB. the signal is much more clear.. And lower bumper mounted antennas don't ground playing very well.. Good video. I get 20 mile offshore on a 5 what with A 7DB gain antenna.. Radiates about 20 .. RT97 repeater.. That's with a hand handheld..5 watt..
Your Kenwood will TX on GMRS. A 5 element Yagi will work better for long distance on GMRS.
I use a repeater that just over 82 miles away. I'm in the East Bay area of California, and the repeater is located in the Sierra foothills. My radio is a KG1000G as well, connected to a $45 Ed Fong antenna.
That is impressive on simplex radio to radio communication with so many mountain's in the way 16:32
I had one of those radio things and it would go 100 miles if it was all down hill and the wind was at my back. I used a UPS with a double hump directional yagi antenna that was welded to my garage door. And I had a ton of 7/8 inch coiled Low Density Foam transmission line on a spool wrapped counter clockwise with the large end on the outside of the spool. Finally I sprayed all the inside of the transmission line connectors with WD-40 to reduce the power resistance. I must be some kind of GENIUS!
40 miles is impressive. My family is only 16 miles away. I setup a repeater at my daughters house and connect to it using my MARS modded 578 (34 watts on 467.600) and a Diamond X300A (144-148 MHz 6.5 dBi / 70 cm 435-450 MHz 9.0 dBi) mounted at a mere 12'. Probably could go further but I don't want to talk to anyone else. My parents are only 2 miles from her so they connect with a Wouxun KG-935G. When needed I can set the 578 up on crossband and use my MARS modded 878's on low power from inside the house to my shop and then on to the repeater. It's a slick setup. I should do a video on it. All solar powered too.
Good afternoon, you probably already know, but GMRS requires an FCC license, FRS doesn't, an FRS user can legally talk with a licensed GMRS operator, as long as they're actually using an FRS radio, it's a neat advantage to have if needed.
Just a thought for back up communication. Good video by the way.
Side note, try a beam antenna.
I wanted to know the same thing ,not once did I hear any call sign being used at all on a Repeater , suppose to have license and give out your call sign every 10-15 mins between talking on a Repeater , I even use mine on Simplex to , hope there's no hard feelings on this only trying to keep you safe from the FCC Rules & Regs on GMRS use , thanks WRYH989
Still nothing beats a TUNED old CB & 102' Whip with a little heat under the seat but I run GMRS but hills & valleys an AMPED CB gets it done
My first HAM Contact was from st george utah to black foot Idaho 500 plus miles via linked repeters 3 days ago.
I was using the yeasu ft-60r with a dimond antenna KK7KLD Roger
From richfield utah. I'm also WRQZ243
Gmrs
Getting the Wouxun KG-1000G today. Looking forward to seeing how far it goes on Simplex. Central Florida near Sea World
In central florida you are basically in a flat land . The range depends on how high your antenna is .
get that tram attached to the side of the building, above the peak of the roof! Also for those new to radio, moving stations (in a vehicle) perform worse than stationary ones. If you can stop your car to transmit, you may get much better performance.
I have the Kg 1000G and love it...great radio, well built...
I didn't want the video but my Wouxun uv9g HT already does 27 miles at 5 watts. With a 50 watt you should be able to do 50-70 miles. This is using a gmrs repeater.
A 50 watt UHF contact at 40 miles......completely believable.
Looking to build a system that will cover 25 miles. This setup is perfect. Great video. I will be doing some ordering this evening
You need to be 6 feet away from metal structures for best performance. Try moving it a little further away from your building to see if it helps reception. It would still act like a reflector at a 6 foot distance. Good video.
The power ratio/gain between the 50 W and 15 W radios is a 3.33:1 or 5.23 dB. So, swapping radios and upgrading the vehicle antenna will yield a difference. I prefer to do changes one at a time. I also, am curious about the receiver qualities of the two radios. If one has a better receiver, that can make a difference as well. If you could bring a third radio into the experiments & connect it to the trucks antenna, you could use these to radios on the base station vertical antenna to discover the difference in receive quality.
Have you thought of adding a 4 or 5 element yagi beam since you seem to transmit in a general direction, southwest? You can add an antenna switch to go from omni to directional.
Height is might and terrain and antenna nice and high
I'm new to your channel and finding everything to be informative and helpful. Thanks for all the videos
I was going to add, your friend setting up that Coms Corridor' might want to try a 7 Element Yagi to light up that commute. They tend to be cheaper than the 1486 but obviously concentrating the gain into a specific area.
How far from the antenna is the mobile unit? I’m curious as to the maximum length of cable that considered ok to use. I’ve always heard the shorter distance the better but I’m brand new.
Interesting tests
An interesting comparison would be to try the same on 2m or 70cm. I would anticipate similar results. GMRS is a great tool for communications.
Charles VHF and UHF are 2 different game plans, different coax and " N " connectors for UHF very high loss
@@rockytop441 Not so different as you might think. Plenty of folks use UHF connectors and RG-58 or 4X for both 2m and 70cm (not the best choice of coax I agree) because their dual band rigs have an SO239 on them (again, not the best choice but a rather common one). From what I've seen - and I don't have a bunch of experience with GMRS - many of the GMRS mobile rigs also have SO239s on them (the Midland line comes to mind) while the handheld units have SMA connectors just like many 2m/70cm handhelds - though to be fair some very successful one have used BNC connectors (another not really good choice.) Add to that the 70cm band runs 420 - 450 MHz, which is just below the GMRS allocation.
Not sure about 2 different game plans. Witness the profusion of dual band 2m/70cm rigs - which are UHF and VHF from the same radio. They seem to be similar enough to coexist quite nicely in the same radio. Yes, there are compromises in every radio installation (coax, connectors, antenna, etc.) but the ones made for that combination do not seem to present significant adverse effect.
The point of the exercise would be to compare the propagation aspects of similarly equipped radios over the same terrain to see if there were any discernable differences. Given that the frequencies of GMRS and 70cm are close I would expect no difference in performance, while 2m may have a very slight difference. Again, this would be mainly an academic exercise. I think that all 3 bands would be able to get the job done, and the ultimate choice of which to use would take into account the user's unique circumstances and requirements. I'm not advocating one band over another by suggesting this comparison.
@@charleswells9682 Charles being an electronic tech with several licenses and training if you sit in front of an analyzer or an oscilloscope you can see the difference. Charles if you buy a new in the box puzzle and put it together it will give you a beautiful finished picture on the other hand if you have an old worn puzzle with missing pieces you get a different outcome agree? Buy the PL259 to N connector converters makes a big difference. When I do anything I want the very best performance most people just get by but do it right and in a fringe area this is what makes the difference. Thank you for your reply but give it 125 percent and have a good outcome and grounding and antenna position is a whole other area so many easy tricks and in closing. Charles always run heavy power wires directly to the battery with fuse protection do not use cig lighter or other and use good number 12 or 10 wire it makes a difference hook your power meter to your output you will see have fun. We are building a GMRS USA CENTRAL HUB with talk group 1 soon will be up an running I will get back to you when its hot, you can talk the whole USA and beyond have a good day my friend.
You could achieve much more height/distance if you used a tripod mount on the roof with a couple of sections of fence post. The current antenna setup is a waste of resources in my opinion.
I really like the 1000G radio, I purchased 3 of them during the Christmas sale.
External antennas at height are necessary for distance communication without repeaters
OR with repeaters . You need height to overcome the curvature of the earth .
most mobile options in 5watt land have physical radial distance 2.5km with last overlap in point to point 5km
in terms of 10-80 watt over uhf in general is a 2 radio static repeater.. for distance comms you are looking 40-120 feet up in the air with a clear line of sight you be good for 20-40km, due to trunking nature of uhf based services if you can hit a repeater 200-400km relay could be done under hf u good for 1000-1500 km with the right conditions
I have one of these radios and I believe in a straight line of site these radios will go at least 60 miles I'm going to try a 75 mile range later this summer and I'm sure that I will be able to do this easily from up on the mountain side so elevation will be the key. I say this because was listening to guys on the radio last week one was in a mobile by Red Lodge, MT and the other in Billings through a repeater made it 62 miles and he sounded really clear. So I also have a hand held UV-5G 5 watt and I could activate the same repeater 30 miles away while inside the truck I was driving and that is with the antenna that came with the radio...I was impressed. I also talked with my daughter through that same repeater clear as if she was sitting next to me 14 miles walkie talkie to walkie talkie though that repeater she was in side the house I was in my work truck. So with clear line of site these radios are very impressive. Good luck
"Your Radio Is Only As Good As Its Antenna".
Hope this helps you and others as well. Wouxun is pronounced as “O-sheng” as in ocean, not "woo-song" and the like.
Nice setup 👍
Thank you. I'm excited to try the setup with the new mobile antenna.
NEWS FLASH: If you use the best coax low low line loss you have to do the math and research and if you also use a very high very high gain antenna and if you get the lowest swr's and if you position the antenna in the right place you can get 50 or 60 miles. Most people do not sit down and do the math to get the most out of their radio this is important with any radio. IT IS extremely important in the UHF range extremely important you should only use ""N "" connectors not PL-259 loss is too high do some reading and you can improve even more ask any Ham Radio operator about line loss and coax.Grounding is as important as the antenna.
My cb antenna (102" whip) i mounted to the back of my cab with 12" protruding above the cab reflected into the wall of the cab and destroyed my swr ratio. Careful when using a building to reflect power because it reflects back into your antenna as well.
Wait, you went from a wide band radio to a narrow band radio and the world didn't end?! (Surprised the know-it-all-internet-masters haven't told you that you imagined all of this...)
Love your info. I learn a lot. But still to intimidate to purchase gmrs equipment even though I really want to for family emergency communications. I need more GMRS for dummies.
If you just want a hand held. I recommend the Wouxon 935G from buytwowayradios great radio and easy to use.
If you live on the west coast (or East coast) a 25 watt VHF Marine 2way radio on 156 MHz to me, would be a good emergency communications option that should be getting more attention in emergency communication preparedness videos. In my area, they are everywhere equipped in hundreds of local boats. garage sales, Pawn shops and 2nd hand stores unlike CB radio which fell out of favor decades ago. I live on Vancouver island Canada, GMRS is not practical here since 2 watts is the maximum legal power in Canada using short range pocket handheld talkies, little better than FRS.
I am going you give a big tip from my CB days if put that pole in a bucket of water you with get out like nobody's business or if you a you have chain link fence you attach it to the fence post and the fence will act as a ground
your operating on ,line of sight on simplex mode, you also need to get the base antenna UP higher than what it is, you need 50 ft of tower and 20,ft of solid mast pipe then your range will increase on ,tx-rx for your base operation. Higher the antenna is the better,.
Theres nothing like having a good 10 meter radio like the Galaxy DX94HP. Way better than your short range gmrs radios.😊
Setting up a inexpensive base station here in Tendoy ID..Lots of hills in the lemhi valley... So couldnt a guy just mount the actual antenna on the roof line? Sorry new at this..Great vid
Sorry to inform you this but you know you said that the metal building acts as a reflector that's not true the antenna is above the building so the building acts like a ground plane being that it's metal if it was sitting in front of the building or on one other side of the building that would be more like a reflector but above the building like you have it set is not a reflector just to show tell you that you got it wrong on that now if you put that antenna above the peak which looks to be another 5 ft higher it would reach out better and I would recommend a yagi for directional talking
The antenna isn't above the building
@@Gruuvin1 haha 😄 he was so convinced he was right and so excited about telling someone else that they were wrong. Way to bust his bubble.
I agree @Keithbowman8492
Remember folks, he's advertising for a radio reseller.
Why lock in to limited channels when you can use Ham radios for GMRS and more? Serious question.
I have the browning 450 antenna but I lost the cutting chart can you tell me how much I need to cut for GMRS Channel 19?
Great content; thanks for sharing.
Thank you. Good video.
That was fun to listen to
I think I've watched some of your videos before running peltier based refrigeration etc right? I just subbed you. I'm LDS over in Europe. Just picked me up an ft-817 so I can listen to ham bands. It amazing what can be heard if all you have tried is VHF UHF before. Picked up a guy from NY the other night!
Why is the word "switching," part of the power supply name? I've always wondered what the "switch" part is.
Another term for switched mode power supply.
@@kg5radio716 What is it switching between?
Wow !... good job , I use to watch this channel years ago . I watched all of your rain harvesting videos when you were still in Huston . I too have been doing GMRS now for 2 or 3 years . I have a backyard repeater at 70' with a 30 mile range to a mobile in my hilly terrain . When conditions are good I have talked to a mobile 56 miles away and a base station 60 miles away . It's mostly line of site from antenna to antenna , power has little to do with it . I'm using a CA712 EFC antenna on the repeater and an Ed Fong on my base station with a Nagoya NMO 200C on my mobile .
QRP School youtube channel has a video titles "Output Power vs. S-Units" which really shows that you need to quadruple your power to really have any effect. With GMRS 50W is it, there really isn't suposesed to be anymore used.
The amount of power does make a difference depending on the amount of change.
@@joewoodchuck3824 Some but very little
@@larryhaney6608 So you think 1 watt can do as much as 50 watts then?
@@joewoodchuck3824 CAN do as much ? no But in some situations yes . IF you need to force your signal through close trees more power can help, as trees absorb RF . But if the trees are thick with no path through then not even 100 watts will work .
I use a midland mxt400 in my house on a 35' tower. My jeep has the mxt500 in it with a tuned antenna. Works great to 20 miles. I'm going to try a yagi
Great video. I couldn't find the followup to show us how the new mobile antenna worked on your friends truck. How did that go?
👍👍 ...Alan in 🇨🇱
Use the vk5dj yahi calculator and make a 5 ele yagi,it will work alot better and being directional is also better and ur friebd wuth the ht on a external antenna is loosin his tx owr in the coax
I know you work with battery's alot
So this is a link to battle born batteries
They are an American company from
Reno NV. I've watched some Amazing reviews.
Love this channel
Thank you very much. More to come.
Qsy to Taylorsville tells me your probably a ham radio operator.
I have hand helds that go 40 plus miles with no issue The Thumbnail is Very Miss Leading
What repeater are you using, and how high is the repeater? Your post sounds very misleading.
@@jhutch1470 my post sounds miss leading okay the video is Missleading my repeater is A arizona repeater and it's over 7000 feet I ping my repeater everyday from 40 plus miles From a handheld and Max distance I have hit it is 127 miles away from a handheld on high power as well as a 50w Mobile on low Power with no issues.. your comment is Miss leading
Can this unit be mounted in a vehicle for mobile use?
Where is the updated version of this promised?
If you go ham, the amount of available power is enormously bigger. Just a matter of money. Ham licenses are easy to get, and much more can be done with it.
Ham license is no good on GMRS . WRFC958 / KI5GKS
Most people do not want to study and take the Ham Test, with Ham you can only talk to other Hams.
@@ramrod175 Hams can only talk to hams? True, but the same can be said about any radio service category. With CB you can only talk to CBrs. With GMRS you can only talk to those licensees, and so on.
Take a test? Junior High School level at best. Any ages can and do qualify. Then there's the freedom, even encouragement, to experiment and modify for improvement. There's no other service than ham that I know of that can cover long distances WITHOUT any intermediate infrastructure either.
If you like what you have for your purposes that's fine. But I wanted you to be aware of the vast differences and advantages.
@@larryhaney6608 There is no interoperability between any of the licensed radio services. Not just between those two. The FCC doesn't even want fire personnel to communicate with cops.
@@ramrod175 It's a 35 question test. LOL
Use 5/8 tuned antenna on mobile
Pronounced O-shon like ocean
So how much power does each radio actually put out power wise?
Does this radio require a FCC license?
Yes but there is no test associated with it. Just a administrative fee.
One $35. license no test! your family can use that one License.
Not to rain on anyones parade here, but does anyone know if there was a Band enhancement during this test ?
For the uninitiated, Radio Waves are subject to atmospheric conditions !
Some that can extend your communication range, well beyond their normal boundaries !
For this test to satisfy Scientific protocol, it would have to be repeatable several times over !
For anyone new to Radio, it would be easy to believe these long distance contacts can occur all of the time !
When in fact, they may not ?
( Fair Warning )
🤔....?
Just Say'n !
I may be preaching to the choir here, but I couldn't help but notice the large amount of small coaxial cable in a ball, and running to I believe you said a 15 watt Midland ?
A couple things come to mind here !
First in an effort to receive a presumably weak station, you should open the squelch all the way, until you can hear the rushing noise from the speaker, known as,
" White " noise !
Too, many of today's radio's have a Monitor button, that essentially does the same thing, as opening the squelch !
Difference being, the Monitor feature allows a quicker means, and can be utilized at the push of a button !
Secondly, the small coaxial cable connected to the small mag mount antenna, is extremely lossy at these UHF Frequencies !
Essentially turning your 15 watt radio into one with much less power at the antenna !
Also attaching the antenna to what appears to be a Cookie sheet, can help, caveat being you need to pay attention to where you place the antenna !
As radio frequency aka. RF, can be steered to some degree !
As RF follows ground ! So placing the antenna, say at the back end of the cookie sheet, may allow you to point in a particular direction, and enable you to make a contact, that otherwise may not have been possible ?
It takes a good deal of experimenting, especially at these UHF Frequencies, as sometimes, even a couple inches can stand in front of you from being heard, and hearing another station !
Having had Two of the Wouxun KG 1000 G Plus 50 watt radios, I noticed your DC power cord was shortened for proximity to the power supply !
Reading many comments about this supposed, " 50 " watt radio falling short, and typically delivering around 38 watts as an average, after much hair pulling, I discovered that with the provided 12 vdc wire harness, it was never going to allow enough current to be supplied to the radio, for full 50 watt operation !
Too, one of my Two radio's, began to turn on and off on it's own !
Traced to the connecting plug, as the contacts were poorly made !
Other than those discoveries, it seems a solid performer !
Didn't mean to run on here, but wanted to share some tips, I hope you and others will find useful !
Thanks and Best Regards !
I am looking for the follow up video.
Flat land for the most part. Are you in Ammon, Shelley, or Iona?
Where is that map link please ?
Its pronounced Woux Un and Its actually Pronoucrd OceAn hope the info helps
Licensed call sign for GMRS?
He used his call sign in the video. Who are you, the fbi ?
@@bulldogbrower6732 I heard 1 call sign in how long is the video? No call sign from the mobile
I value my license. You must not
@@charlierumsfeld6626 Yea, your license, not everybody’s. Mind you own business.
@@bulldogbrower6732 keyboard warrior, eh?
Can I use this radio on. 2 meters
lost me at LDS. get ready to burn
Wouxon is pronounced ocean
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Hello Fren.) From Los Angeles, With Love Brother))) 🙏👌
Martin Edward Walker Kenneth Thomas Anna
Yagi
Checkout Meshtastic and it will forever end your gmrs obsession :)
The KG-1000 is a good radio. Midland tends to be good but with fewer bells and whistles. I bought a midland for my wife's vehicle so it was simpler, and for base station I use the KG-1000G+. Both good radios. My only real complaint about Midland is they call the filter codes "privacy" codes which they are most definitely not.
The way people tend to think radio then antenna then coax. The actual order of consideration should be, in most but not all cases, antenna, coax, then radio. Get a good antenna with the best coax you can afford then you can plug just about any radio into that and it will work. You would also be surprised that in most cases 5W vs 50W is not that big of a difference. At distance it will matter. It all comes down to knowing your radio system, its limitations and strengths. GMRS is UHF so its very line of sight. On the other hand you can reflect it off things so that may be useful depending on situation.
As to repeaters, find them and use them. mygmrs.com has a pretty extensive list. Where I am, we have a really active repeater that reaches out to about 90 miles or more radius. If you can reach it, it will get out there. But, look into what the repeaters are in your area. Dig into how the repeaters you use are setup etc. My primary repeater is backed by generator power with a few days availability. Many repeaters are just equipment that people make available to people and are not backed with any backup power etc. So if you plan to use your radios in emergencies, keep in mind the emergency that affects you may be affecting that repeater.
There are quite a few yt channels that will help you learn gmrs. Some rather infamous. You will know which ones. Affiliate link below...