Ordered a couple of new radio mounts from Lido Radio.  I'm not sure which I'll end up using, or what parts I might mix and match to make it work but I got:

• Lo-Pro Mount
• Heavy Duty Cup Holder Mount with Speaker
• An Extension to clear the Jeep's gearshift

I've been working on my comms setup in the Jeep, replacing my old faithful Yaesu FTM-350AR with a new Yaesu FTM-300DR.  Mounting the FTM-350AR in the Jeep had been problematic, with no good place for the radio head and the wife's prohibition on anything "stuck, glued, or screwed" to any part of the dash or console, and nothing blocking the vents.  That left the cup holders or a beanbag mount.  I hate beanbag mounts (wife loves them for her GPS when she drives the pickup), leaving the oversized Jeep cup holders that proved to be larger than the cup holder mount I had.  Sticking it into a foam can cozie did the trick though and I used it that way for many years, with the radio body stuck in the driver's seatback pocket and plugged into the 12vdc socket in the console, and a Tram glass mount antenna back on the rear side window.

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I'm still using the same antenna but the new radio needed a new mount.  After a few huge headaches from Lido Radio outright lying about shipping my order and then only giving a refund after a very heated phone call with the owner I built a new mount using parts from Akron.com and a few others.  I still need to find my old speaker from my previous truck and mount it under the dash (or pair the Bluetooth on the radio with the Jeep's sound system), and I have a slightly better attachment point for the head that I'll be making when the key parts arrive tomorrow but otherwise, it's done until I decide to run power from the fuse block under the hood.

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Dug out my "Emcomm Case" filled with HTs and radio repair gear and started the process of cycling all the batteries on the various chargers/conditioners and ordering replacements for ones that failed, something I do annually.

Not sure if this belongs under comms or transportation but I think comms is the better fitting choice.

I'm adding ditch light brackets with very focused pod driving lights to the Jeep.  I already have a glass mount VHF/UHF antenna on it that handles my amateur band radio but I want to install a GMRS rig so I bought a bracket that bolts to the ditch lights and provides a mounting point for an NMO mount.  For that I'm using a Midland low-profile NMO antenna connector and will have a Browning 450-470mHz spring-loaded antenna on it.  A nice, inexpensive yet sturdy setup.

I'll post pictures when it's all installed.

Ordered a Wouxun KG-1000G GMRS radio for installation in the Jeep prior to my trip this coming July.

Reconfigured the Kia from VHF rover configuration to "normal" ham use.  Only a week afterwards...

Quote from: NT2C on June 16, 2023, 11:36:16 AMOrdered a Wouxun KG-1000G GMRS radio for installation in the Jeep prior to my trip this coming July.

And... I ordered the wrong model.   

It arrived today and it's the regular "G" model, not the "G+" version that I wanted.  My fault entirely.  And I will not be doing business with this company again.  I contacted them via the chat function on their site and spoke with an agent named Stephen who had to be the most unhelpful and dismissive customer service rep that I've dealt with in many years.  He absolutely refused to answer any questions regarding getting the replacement shipped back to me overnight (at my cost) and just kept telling me to fill out the RMA form.  Then, on the RMA form there was a mandatory box asking if "the package" was opened or not.  Which package?  The shipping box or the product package?  The product package had no seals or anything, so do they mean the shipping box?  I tried to ask Stephen but he refused to answer, just said, "There's a comment box on the form."  Bitch, this is a required entry on the form.  I can't submit it without filling out that entry, so which package are we talking about??

The dude pissed me off so much I'm just going to return it for a refund.  I don't need to do business with folks like this.

Spoke with the supervisor and worked out a deal.  The radio is headed back to them, UPS overnight and will be exchanged, and the new one overnighted back to me.

And... they still managed to fuck it up.

They got the radio Wednesday.  Wednesday afternoon I get a UPS notice that I have a package coming from E-Com Solutions for delivery Tuesday.  WTF?  The place I ordered from is in South Carolina?  About the right weight though (5.9lbs vs 6.1), and they were supposed to ship it back overnight.  They were very insistent that I include a letter telling them what it was being exchanged for, what card to charge it to, and how to ship it, so I had that on top of the radio box inside the shipping box.  Maybe this is the distributor they buy from and they screwed up on the shipping?

Okay, so I'll still have most of a week to install it.

Then I get a voicemail today (my cell phone was off) that they just refunded the radio I sent back and was there another radio or something that I wanted?  Double WTF?  Triple WTF?  What the hell is coming from Wisconsin?  Did they just ignore the letter?  Why did they wait two and a half days?

I finally contacted someone there who knew what he was doing and the replacement radio, a Wouxun KG-1000G Plus, is being immediately shipping UPS overnight - Saturday delivery.

Still no idea WTF is coming from E-Comm Solutions.

Damn GMRS radio install is kicking my ass.  I ran a new power lead for the ham radio all the way to the fuse block using silicone-insulated 14ga. wire but now I'm having trouble running power for the GMRS to the same location because I'm running out of wire.  I also still haven't managed to get the antenna cable run.

Then, to top it all off, mounting the two radio heads is proving to be a fucking bear.  There are industry-standard mounting bolt patterns and screw sizes.  Does either radio head use them?  Fuck no, but I need to mount both to an aluminum "universal" mounting plate that only has those patterns.  The plate is also several inches too long, which means it blocks the only other cup holder up front.  What I really need to do is make a smaller mounting plate but I don't have the materials.

It... lives.

It's even kinda nicely done.  Just needs some more tidying up at a later date, and a place to hang the second microphone.


Now... how to add an HF rig...? 

Jury rigged a 80 foot flagpole as a vertical for Field Day.  

Downloaded all repeaters within 100 miles of home, programmed up the mobile radio and checked them from various locations. 

Ordered a bunch of UV-5R handhelds to use for next Field Day and/or as emergency response kit. 

Realized yesterday that I must have borked my APRS settings while in Idaho so I reloaded everything from the micro SD card and got it working again.

Ordered the parts to replace the glass mount antenna on the Jeep with an NMO mount on the hood.

One of my FRS walkies has an issue and has for a while [might be a bad speaker]. I was looking at buying another set of two on amaz0n but then decided to go GMRS set of two, but when searching for that a bunch of Baofengs came up and I saw a couple sets of two UV-5R's at OK prices/deals.

The only thing was they were the UV-5R's [isn't that an older version. I have some UV-5RV2+'s and a BF-F9V2+ and thought they were the better model.] One set was $38 and another was $56 [which I just now found for $52 see link below] but that set came with the 15" whips and programming cable and two PTT mics AND were listed as 8 watt. None of which were selling points for me 'cause I already have a bunch of accessories for them, but I put both deals in my cart and a set of 4 Baofeng GMRS radio's in there too and closed the window and thought I'd figure out the UV-5R vs other models thing later and to avoid an impulse buy.

Couple days later I'm getting something completely different on amazon. Something that I 'really' needed. And noticed that the first set of UV-5R's was on a lightning sale for $32, fifteen minutes to decide  . I hadn't looked into and compared the model versions yet.

TL:DR I ordered them. $38 might not have been a deal but $32 for two HAM's is IMO, hopefully they're not counterfeits, says from Baofeng Store.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4KFTNHG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-3800mAh-Battery-Rechargeable-Handheld/dp/B0894TLF23/ref=sr_1_26?crid=1W127KL0MWGT8&keywords=Baofeng+UV-5R&qid=1693499539&s=electronics&sprefix=baofeng+uv-5r+%2Celectronics%2C102&sr=1-26&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc



  amaz0n lightning sales!

Quote from: MacWa77ace on August 31, 2023, 11:54:41 AMOne of my FRS walkies has an issue and has for a while [might be a bad speaker]. I was looking at buying another set of two on amaz0n but then decided to go GMRS set of two, but when searching for that a bunch of Baofengs came up and I saw a couple sets of two UV-5R's at OK prices/deals.

The only thing was they were the UV-5R's [isn't that an older version. I have some UV-5RV2+'s and a BF-F9V2+ and thought they were the better model.] One set was $38 and another was $56 [which I just now found for $52 see link below] but that set came with the 15" whips and programming cable and two PTT mics AND were listed as 8 watt. None of which were selling points for me 'cause I already have a bunch of accessories for them, but I put both deals in my cart and a set of 4 Baofeng GMRS radio's in there too and closed the window and thought I'd figure out the UV-5R vs other models thing later and to avoid an impulse buy.

Couple days later I'm getting something completely different on amazon. Something that I 'really' needed. And noticed that the first set of UV-5R's was on a lightning sale for $32, fifteen minutes to decide  . I hadn't looked into and compared the model versions yet.

TL:DR I ordered them. $38 might not have been a deal but $32 for two HAM's is IMO, hopefully they're not counterfeits, says from Baofeng Store.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4KFTNHG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-3800mAh-Battery-Rechargeable-Handheld/dp/B0894TLF23/ref=sr_1_26?crid=1W127KL0MWGT8&keywords=Baofeng+UV-5R&qid=1693499539&s=electronics&sprefix=baofeng+uv-5r+%2Celectronics%2C102&sr=1-26&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc



  amaz0n lightning sales!

In my obsessive research before I bought my set. The only advice I found was that most (if not all of these Baofeng radios) are basically the same. Many of the reviews for the UV-8 etc. for example. Which are supposed be 8 watt radios. Are really just 4 or 5 watt radios. I was very interested in a higher watt version. But in researching everything from facebook groups, to amazon reviews, to hobby websites it seemed to make little difference which one you bought. So I just stuck with the UV-5s from the Baofeng Amazon store. I think mine were $19(?) Each. So you got a good deal.

In my entry level emergency comms kit thread below I came across what I believe to be the most knowledgeable guy on this subject. Now that you've gotten your radios. Do yourself a favor and check out his reviews and recommendations of additional gear to go with your radios.

He basically puts together a two UV-5 set. Which includes all the batteries, chargers, cases and programming cables you want and why. As well as where to get them. 

https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=1285.0

Thanks for the reminder.
I've had Baofengs for a few years and have a bunch of accessories and have my CHIRP setup so when I get new ones I just hook 'em up and program 'em with all the channels and repeaters and preferences.

My next project is to have them connect to a military headset/mic with a U94 jack. But I'm not doing that until i buy the relatively expensive headset and that's not in my immediate budgets. So I have a workaround setup now that uses the standard jacks connecting thru a PTT speaker/mike and splitting into a Walkers sound suppressing / amplifying headset. But its not waterproof. So the PTT speaker mic is the mic and the headset is the speaker. It works.   

the 5R's are supposed to be 5 watts / 1.1 watts @ (2m/70cm), my BF-F9 is power selectable (1W /5W) or H and L on the display. I don't have any HP's or tri powers.

ETA: just messed with the BF-F9 and the power selector button ['#'] displays either H M or L for High Medium Low? Its not in the manual. Is this a tri power? Maybe that's the '+' in the BF-9RV2+ model number

Had another of these bad boys delivered.

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Got one for $20 on woot.com but it had a defective battery pack so they sent a replacement and said keep the other one.  Works fine on C batteries, and I can fix the battery pack. I just bought a third to give as a gift.

I got my two pak. They look legit.





Took all of 5 minutes to program both. And only was 5 minutes because somehow I 'effed up my computer's BIOS after programming the first one so it wouldn't read the second one. Normally I have the radio off and plug it in and turn it on, but for the second radio, the radio's screen went wacko when I did that, so I had to have it on on and working and THEN plug it in. That took a minute to figure out. I thought it was a virus at first because I had lost my wifi connection also and couldn't re-establish it. I just finished programming the second one and then I restarted my computer 'cause of wifi issue, and got a BIOS message that it had repaired my BIOS. And the wifi worked again.


Please no hate on the old laptop I use for CHIRP. THX


The main noticeable physical differences are there is a 'band' button in the front for switching bands on these two UV-5R's. Not that once you're programmed up you will need to do that. You can change the bands on the V2+ and BF9's thru the menu, but its a three step process. The antennas are different but are labelled Baofeng. And they don't have that metal speaker grate. Another little difference is there is no welcome message displayed on 'radio on', I usually put the model radio in the welcome. And then the UV-5R has two different FM radio bands. 65-79khz and 79-107khz. I think the range is 65-107 on the other two models, but not 100 percent sure as there's no broadcast under 88khz in my AO, but I can key in 65+.


Left: New UV-5R Middle: BF-F9V2+ Right: UV-5RV2+
The UV-5R's come with only two channels programed as seen on its screen.

The quick keys I use the most are also the same on the UV-5R as the other two types.
The batteries only seem to charge to 8.0v where all my other batteries charge to 8.4v. Maybe the radio's voltage reader only reads to 8v. I haven't switched them to the other radios to read the voltage yet.

Now I'm looking at these FRS radios because I still didn't get dedicated FRS radios.  amazon flash sales.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DM7AEY4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AIHFP4MVXMM7V&th=1