About to buy a pair of Midland GXT67’s. Have one question then it’s a buy.
Are the preset privacy codes used on channels 23 to 50 identical on both a GXT67 and a GXT1000x? Are they compatible on those channels, straight out of the box?
Hi, welcome to the forum!
Any easy way to figure it out is to download the user manual for both the GXT1000 and GXT67 Pro located under the downloads tab from the product pages on our site and compare the GMRS frequency charts on each.
The easiest way is to simply refer to our blog article How Midland’s “Extra Channels” Work (Updated!), which lists the extra channels and the tone or code each channel uses. It was updated again last month to accommodate the GXT3000 and GXT67 Pro.
The short answer is yes.
Yes, they do match, that makes perfect sense. Why would Midland lose compatibility across it’s brand? Was actually kind of a stupid question, of course they match.
So next is to check interoperability of codes across brands. I checked your recently updated (Thankyou!) midland codes against the Wouxun KG-805G manual.
I spent an hour going down the forest path and concluded that with extensive work I could get the wouxun’s codes to match the midland, but I’m not going there. They do use the same tones on both brands, but tone #23 will match tone #37 on the other. So if everybody else on my team is using midland, then I’m stuck with midland.
Interestingly Wouxun talks of “standard” CTCSS and DCS tones but Midland does not. I would bet that Wouxun is using a tone chart with higher compatibility across brands, and at least attempting to use a standardized list, while midland is doing the opposite, creating a moat between it’s products and other brands.
You may be making this a lot more complicated than it is, because it isn’t. The tones and codes are standard across all analog radios, whether they are Midland, Wouxun, Motorola, Kenwood, or any other brand or type. The only difference is the numbering assignments of each tone or code across the brands.
Most user programmable radios for business, ham and (these days) GMRS don’t assign the tones to a number in the radio, you just program the code into it via software or from the radio itself and you are good to go. Some of the higher end Midland mobile GMRS radios are also programmable this way.
It’s primarily entry level consumer radios that assign a number to a tone or code, and this is for simplicity of setting it up in the radio. This is why the charts exist in the owners manuals, so that you can resolve them between models.
In the case of Wouxun, the tones and codes are not assigned a number, they are simply assigned from a list in the radio. For instance, in your example, the tone numbers #23 in the Midland list and #37 on the Wouxun tone list are irrelevant for the Wouxun. The number on the chart next to the tone or code on the Wouxun list is simply there for counting purposes, so you know how many there are and where they are positioned on the list. All you need to do is scroll through the tones themselves in the Wouxun radio menu to find tone 146.2 (#23 on the Midland list) and set it.
For example, if Midland Channel 50 is assigned to DCS code 025 (number 2 in the radio), all you need to do is reference it on the chart that it is GMRS channel 2 and DCS code 025, then go to channel 2 on the Wouxun radio and assign DCS code 025 to that channel. You don’t need to touch the Midland radio at all, just add the tone or code it is using to your Wouxun radio, which is basically a two step process of choosing the DCS item in the radio menu and selecting that code.
As for Wouxun “standard” tones and codes, those are the tones and codes that all radios use. However, Wouxun radios also support what are called “non-standard” tones and codes, meaning that you can program other customized tones and codes into the radio as well.
For instance, most Wouxun GMRS radios support both positive and negative DCS codes, which doubles the number of supported codes. However, most consumer grade radios don’t have that flexibility. It’s not something that is commonly used, but the radios do have that ability for a power user who wants it.
In short, channels 1-22 are the same on the Midland as the Wouxun, and those channels can be configured with any of the tones or codes available. To keep it simple, choose the same channel on each radio, set the same privacy tone on each radio and go. For instance, Use channel 18 on both radios, set it to CTCSS tone 1 on the Midland, which is 67.0, then set the CTCSS tone on the Wouxun to 67.0. That’s all there is to it.
You are again correct. I’m making it more complicated than it has to be.
I thought it would be difficult to set codes per channel but there is a feature I was unaware of…
Wouxan has CTCSS/DCS tone scan. I just transmit the code from the Midland, and the Wouxan learns it. I will have to set each channel seperately, but there is no need to match tables between the two brands. I was also wary of entering numbers into the KG-905 without a numerical keypad.
My group is never going to bother setting codes on channels below 23, so I only need to match the midland preset codes on CH 23-50. I can probably set that up in about ten minutes. Quoting the ad: “The KG-905G makes it easy to find and configure tones and codes to match existing radios in your group.”
Now I’m getting two KG-905 (currently 10% off) for less than the price of one GXT67, and other benefits.
Swappable battery. USB-C chargeable. Both of these are huge upgrades compared to GXT67
Hard-to-turn volume knob. I think I’m gonna love this feature since at least once a day I find that I have mistakenly turned down the volume, which in my job could conceivably be a life-or-death situation.
I like the case better. The case with the GXT67 is far, far too large.
Ability to get a better antenna.
Negatives:
Possibly battery pops out when dropped on the correct edge?
Lower waterproof rating. IP66 vs IP67
I have to spend ten minutes programming each wouxan.
Did I mention my company gives us GXT1000’s?
When I first came here all I wanted was a GMRS that transmits on the full five watts, and a superheterodyne receiver. Now I feel I’m getting so much more, including 200 extra bucks because I was going to get two of the more expensive models.
I’m a very happy man. Thankyou.