Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
The 115 also has a speaker output, though I don't know about switching. Incidentally the Midland speaker fits above the glove box of a 60, directly underneath the unused speaker grille in the dash.
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GMRS Options?
- Thread starter PVCsnorkel
- Start date
PVCsnorkel
Lifted
I ordered a 115 and it surprisingly came in time for the Train trip this weekend. Fits nicely on the bottom of the dash and the speaker is plenty loud. I didn't have time to hard wire it yet, but that will be coming.
DouglasVB
Rising Sun Member
Does anyone have experience with non-Midland GMRS mobile radios?
It looks like there are several Chinese brands gaining market share and a variety of USA-based companies selling rebadged private level Chinese radios.
I'm particularly interested in units where I could stuff the main body under the seat and have the faceplate mounted somewhere on the dash. Or with the interface entirely in the microphone.
It looks like there are several Chinese brands gaining market share and a variety of USA-based companies selling rebadged private level Chinese radios.
I'm particularly interested in units where I could stuff the main body under the seat and have the faceplate mounted somewhere on the dash. Or with the interface entirely in the microphone.
This one gets a lot of positive reviews:
Ham Radio Outlet Product Details - Item Not found
We were unable to find a product matching that product id and/or description.
www.hamradio.com
The FTM-6000 is a HAM Radio, not GMRS
Rugged Radio has several options for GMRS
Overland and Jeep Radio Communications
Rugged Radios offers communications for any environment including offroad, UTV, Jeep, Bronco, Tundra, Tacoma, Raptor, F-Series, racing, motorcycle, dirt bike, industrial, fire, and aviation. Products include business band and GMRS two way radios, intercoms, air pumpers, GPS, helmet and headset...
www.ruggedradios.com
RDub
Trail Ready
This Wouxun mobile unit gets great reviews.
www.buytwowayradios.com
Wouxun KG-1000G Plus GMRS Base/Mobile Two Way Radio
The Wouxun KG-1000G Plus takes the GMRS experience beyond limited capabilities of the typical GMRS transceiver, and without an exorbitant price.
BritKLR
Vice Commander
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
I'm not aware of any current production mobile GMRS radios that can run a face separation kit. There may be one just not sure.
Assuming you want to stay legal by using a Type approved radio and not modify a ham radio. You could do it the way I do, which is to use an older business/public service radios that carried a GMRS approval. There are many Kenwoods, a few Motorola and Vertex Standard that are options.
In my case I have a Kenwood TK-8180 that was GMRS approved and therefore grandfathered in 2017 with the rule revision. Kenwood sold a KRK-10 kit to split the face from the body. Realize that this is not a super simple option. You will need to program the radio, so a cable and software. That's after actually finding the radio and split kit.
But if you persist it's possible to do and you will have a reliable GMRS station when you're done. There's also a couple of newer Kenwoods that might be easier to find now, the NX-800 (I think that's right, should be basically the digital version of the TK-8180) perhaps, which wouldn't be nearly as far out of production.
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This one doesn't need a removable faceplate as all the controls and speaker are in the Mic.
https://midlandusa.com/collections/mxt/products/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio
This one is 15 watts, they also have a 50 watt unit
Very happy with mine
https://midlandusa.com/collections/mxt/products/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio
This one is 15 watts, they also have a 50 watt unit
Very happy with mine
DouglasVB
Rising Sun Member
I've considered this but Google search is so horrible for me now that I've found very little info on unlocking newer radios. I've found a little on pre -2019 radios but since then only some forum posts saying it can't be done etc etc. I suspect I'm not finding the right forums that discuss this.
Yes I've considered this! It looks like a viable option for me although I haven't found much good/reliable info when googling because Google suddenly sucks for me. Can the CTCSS tones be programmed in? And repeaters, etc? Can it be setup so you can adjust repeater settings and whatnot without needing a computer (like when driving across the country)?
I've thought about getting something like that Kenwood radio as my UHF/VHF rig as well. My uncle has used one in the past with good results but only for VHF. Did they make dual band versions of these business radios?
Midland sells a few as does Woxun. There is even a CB radio with a remote face plate now. It seems to be getting more common I think because newer vehicles just don't have the room to be shoving complete radios in the dash.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
It's illegal to use a ham radio on GMRS. There is no exception to this in the FCC rules and no one in the club officially recommends doing this.
There's practical downsides with tuning the radio for the band splits necessary to cover both amateur radio UHF and GMRS, so just because you might be able to force the firmware to transmit GMRS doesn't mean the manufacturer populated the radio with the filters require to do it or tuned it during alignment for it.
Please just get a GMRS radio.
GMRS repeaters are easier to set up because the offsets are more uniform and there's only 8 input frequencies. It's really just tones that change. To that extent it can be a bit of a pain to change tones on commercial radios. GMRS repeaters are definite weak spot but it's not just with old surplus radios like this. There's not many new radios that can do repeater are all so many compromises. But also realize that GMRS repeaters are almost all private so you have to contact the owner for the tone anyway, which is unlike ham repeater owners who almost all make them open and all you have to do is search the Internet for them.
No, there are extremely few multiple band commercial radios. The ones that are use multiple RF decks, e.g. multiple radio "bodies" that one face controls. My TK-8180 can actually do that but I'd have to physically have a UHF body and a VHF body under the seat. There's two coax, two antennas usually, too.
Going with a "smart mic" radio like Ken shows would be a lot easier. Getting one that is repeater capable, that I don't know.
BTW, the radio you may be referring to is the Wouxun KG-1000. It's a dual TX GMRS radio. It's only GRMS but can do two GMRS channels at once and can split. I forgot about that one. Sorry.
Although this a case where the radio itself is probably highly capable. It receives NOAA weather, which is VHF, and can receive airband VHF AM. So I wouldn't bet against it being limited in firmware to only GMRS with other versions (at least of the base PCB) being made for other kinds of radios.
But just ticking a button or pulling off a resistor to make it wideband TX I would almost 100% guarantee won't work without changing filters on the board, too. Nevermind that making hardware changes negates it's FCC approval. You can make any changes you want in software, e.g. if Kenwood gives you the option to program a radio to TX on GMRS then it's legal to do it. Just not if it requires hardware changes or if it requires Kenwood (or Motorola, etc) giving you a software key (software "entitlements") to do it.
Introducing the Wouxun KG-1000G Professional Mobile GMRS Radio
A year ago we launched the Wouxun KG-805G GMRS radio. Its popularity confirmed for us that there is a market for high end, professional grade GMRS equipment. We\'re taking the...
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RDub
Trail Ready
The Wouxun KG-1000G pretty much checks all of the boxes. That’s why I linked to it in my previous post. It’s not inexpensive but it does a lot. I also like the idea of the Midland radios that have all of the controls in the mic.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
You did in fact. Not sure how I missed the post but you are 100% on point.
The only thing I've seen is it might not fully use all the available bandwidth allowed for GMRS. The FCC requires FRS to be narrowband, 12.5KHz, while most of GMRS is allowed 20KHz bandwidth. A lot of radios only do narrowband, which makes sense to default to the common denominator if you might be in a mixed FRS and GMRS scenario. However if you're doing all GMRS having the full bandwidth is nice to improve signal-to-noise and some repeaters won't open properly if you're overly bandwidth limited.
FWIW, if anyone wants to double check me the FCC ID for it is WVTWOUXUN20.
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I don't know anything about it. Just saw on the GMRS forums that I watch that a lot of others like it.
So trying to decide on a radio for the 250. I feel like I should go HAM but GMRS seems to be taking over the offroad crowd. Down here in my peer group it’s about 50/50 so no clear winner.
Am I crazy to go 50watts on GMRS? With the HAM it’s nice to have the option to really push out a signal if needed but rarely ever do.
midlandusa.com
Am I crazy to go 50watts on GMRS? With the HAM it’s nice to have the option to really push out a signal if needed but rarely ever do.
MXT575 MicroMobile® GMRS Two-Way Radio | Midland Radio
Get the MXT575 MicroMobile® Two-Way Radio at Midland Radio. This radio comes with a fully-integrated control microphone for vehicles with limited space.
Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
I run the 15w MXT115. I was at the top of Medano Pass and picking up my buddies getting off I-25 in Walsenburg. Granted the terrain was in my favor, but terrain that works against a 15w would work against a 50w. Just saying the 15w does ok.So trying to decide on a radio for the 250. I feel like I should go HAM but GMRS seems to be taking over the offroad crowd. Down here in my peer group it’s about 50/50 so no clear winner.
Am I crazy to go 50watts on GMRS? With the HAM it’s nice to have the option to really push out a signal if needed but rarely ever do.
MXT575 MicroMobile® GMRS Two-Way Radio | Midland Radio
Get the MXT575 MicroMobile® Two-Way Radio at Midland Radio. This radio comes with a fully-integrated control microphone for vehicles with limited space.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Communications is about having someone to talk to.
Nothing wrong with GMRS, I think it's a better fit for club runs. Technically the way most 4x4 people use GMRS is in fact not really any different than doing FM on 70cm/UHF ham frequencies instead of 2m.
However, consider that the reason most of us early 4wd ham operators became hams in the first place was to have a lot more radio people to talk to and use repeaters. I did a lot of solo travel, not just 4wd. Although this was before satellite communicators and even before there were cell towers everywhere. So these days it's of course not quite as unique. But amateur radio has a large group of people listening.
You're familiar with the Repeater Book?
https://www.repeaterbook.com
There are 114 amateur radio repeaters in Alaska. Many are in towns but not all. Same with B.C. and Yukon. It's likely everywhere you might drive or camp on your trip will have a repeater.
There are 6 GMRS in Alaska. They're clustered, two in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks, two near Palmer and on in Ketchikan.
One other consideration is legal operation.
GMRS has no Canadian equivalent AFAIK. And if you looked at the rules when you got your GMRS license you'll see that there's also rules you must follow when close to the border, which frequencies you're not allowed to use. In fact it's against the law to even try to operate GMRS internationally.
OTOH Canada and the U.S. have had an automatic reciprocal operating agreement for amateur radio since the 1950s.
https://www.rac.ca/operating/canada-united-states-reciprocal-operating-agreement/
That means your FCC license gives you authority to operate in Canada. All you have to do is keep a copy of your license with you and use your FCC call sign appended with the call sign region you're in. So "KD zero DHI stroke VE7" while in B.C., for example. You can also use "slash" or "slant" for the '/' character.
BTW you also have maritime amateur radio authority. So within 12 miles of land you could use "KD zero DHI stroke MM" for maritime mobile and in international waters (should you do that) you'd follow the rules of ship's flag. So a U.S.-flag would be the same. If the ship is Canadian you'd follow the reciprocal agreement rules. If you do want to operate on the ship you do need to get authorization from the captain. On board it's his or her domain and can say no and that would be that.
https://www.arrl.org/maritime-mobile-operation-in-international-waters
And I'll mention one additional thing about Alaska. Hams there have exclusive use of 5167.5 kHz (e.g. 5.1675 MHz, the 60 meter band) in emergencies. It's roughly the equivalent of 146.520 MHz on the 2 meter band everywhere else. Except that it's HF using upper side band and 150 watts. So will often allow contacts over hundreds of miles.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.401
Which brings up my final point. Even with just a Technician ticket you have some 10m priviledges (plus that 60m Alaska channel). But if you get your General then there's no limit to what you can try for making a contact. No need for repeaters using direct contact.
Oh, also, Alaskan hams are very prepared. They've operated an HF emergency net for decades. You can almost bank on having someone listening.
http://alaskapacificnet.org/
Nothing wrong with GMRS, I think it's a better fit for club runs. Technically the way most 4x4 people use GMRS is in fact not really any different than doing FM on 70cm/UHF ham frequencies instead of 2m.
However, consider that the reason most of us early 4wd ham operators became hams in the first place was to have a lot more radio people to talk to and use repeaters. I did a lot of solo travel, not just 4wd. Although this was before satellite communicators and even before there were cell towers everywhere. So these days it's of course not quite as unique. But amateur radio has a large group of people listening.
You're familiar with the Repeater Book?
https://www.repeaterbook.com
There are 114 amateur radio repeaters in Alaska. Many are in towns but not all. Same with B.C. and Yukon. It's likely everywhere you might drive or camp on your trip will have a repeater.
There are 6 GMRS in Alaska. They're clustered, two in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks, two near Palmer and on in Ketchikan.
One other consideration is legal operation.
GMRS has no Canadian equivalent AFAIK. And if you looked at the rules when you got your GMRS license you'll see that there's also rules you must follow when close to the border, which frequencies you're not allowed to use. In fact it's against the law to even try to operate GMRS internationally.
OTOH Canada and the U.S. have had an automatic reciprocal operating agreement for amateur radio since the 1950s.
https://www.rac.ca/operating/canada-united-states-reciprocal-operating-agreement/
That means your FCC license gives you authority to operate in Canada. All you have to do is keep a copy of your license with you and use your FCC call sign appended with the call sign region you're in. So "KD zero DHI stroke VE7" while in B.C., for example. You can also use "slash" or "slant" for the '/' character.
BTW you also have maritime amateur radio authority. So within 12 miles of land you could use "KD zero DHI stroke MM" for maritime mobile and in international waters (should you do that) you'd follow the rules of ship's flag. So a U.S.-flag would be the same. If the ship is Canadian you'd follow the reciprocal agreement rules. If you do want to operate on the ship you do need to get authorization from the captain. On board it's his or her domain and can say no and that would be that.
https://www.arrl.org/maritime-mobile-operation-in-international-waters
And I'll mention one additional thing about Alaska. Hams there have exclusive use of 5167.5 kHz (e.g. 5.1675 MHz, the 60 meter band) in emergencies. It's roughly the equivalent of 146.520 MHz on the 2 meter band everywhere else. Except that it's HF using upper side band and 150 watts. So will often allow contacts over hundreds of miles.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.401
Which brings up my final point. Even with just a Technician ticket you have some 10m priviledges (plus that 60m Alaska channel). But if you get your General then there's no limit to what you can try for making a contact. No need for repeaters using direct contact.
Oh, also, Alaskan hams are very prepared. They've operated an HF emergency net for decades. You can almost bank on having someone listening.
http://alaskapacificnet.org/
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^Back to shopping for a HAM.
As usual a thorough post. I did not read any of the GMRS rules when paying for my license. We have a pair of handheld GMRS radios so I’ll remember not to use them in Canada.
As usual a thorough post. I did not read any of the GMRS rules when paying for my license. We have a pair of handheld GMRS radios so I’ll remember not to use them in Canada.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Yeah, I think in this case GMRS is not going to be of much help. Normal Tech use will be better due to the number of repeaters. I want to say you got your General but if even not it's my $0.02 that you might consider a HF/6m capable radio that would potentially be useful.