New member here and also very new to radios and GMRS.
Anyway, I wanted a radio that would be useful during hurricane season with family and SHTF scenarios, as well as NOAA Alerts. Naturally I did some searching on YouTube and ended up buying a Wouxun KG-935G Plus (which was also on sale!).
Now I feel like these are stupid questions, and they probably are however my curiosity will not let this go, so here we go.
I understand I can transmit on Channels 1-7, with a Transmit Power Limit of 5 watts. Now the Manual for this radio says I can set the transmit power to Low (0.5 watts) or medium (not clear what wattage this actually is) for 1-7. Can I not just set this to High? What is 0.5 Watts? To add, I am sure the actual output is at or under 5 watts, no?
Or, should I just use Channelâs 15-19 (20 is typically local emergency, yes?)
Also, is the point of using channels 8-14 (0.5watts) for close communication and to limit how far out your transmission goes out, so less people can snoop in? Trying to understand the purpose of these.
I also saw this in the manual: âThe KG-935G Plus will automatically adjust the power to the FCC limits.â - so perhaps they cannot even be adjusted? However the manual also talks about the ability to set the Transmit Power. Maybe Iâm missing something here.
I understand I can transmit on Channels 1-7, with a Transmit Power Limit of 5 watts. Now the Manual for this radio says I can set the transmit power to Low (0.5 watts) or medium (not clear what wattage this actually is) for 1-7. Can I not just set this to High? What is 0.5 Watts? To add, I am sure the actual output is at or under 5 watts, no?
The chart of Default GMRS Simplex Channels and Frequencies on page 105 of the manual lists the maximum power level you can set for channels 1-7 is Medium. This is because High power on the KG-935G Plus maxes out at 5.5 watts, which is above the maximum power allowed on those channels by the FCC. The actual wattage on any power level may be at or below the rated wattage for each level, but may fluctuate somewhat based on the frequency you are using and/or the strength of the battery output at the time, since battery power may decrease as it is drained.
Or, should I just use Channelâs 15-19 (20 is typically local emergency, yes?)
You can use channels 15-22 as desired. There is no official emergency channel for GMRS, although some acknowledge channel 19 as the emergency channel, depending on who you talk to.
Also, is the point of using channels 8-14 (0.5watts) for close communication and to limit how far out your transmission goes out, so less people can snoop in? Trying to understand the purpose of these.
I also saw this in the manual: âThe KG-935G Plus will automatically adjust the power to the FCC limits.â - so perhaps they cannot even be adjusted?
What that means is the radio automatically presets the maximum allowable wattage for each channel. If you are on channels 8-14, the maximum is Low power and cannot be changed. The other channels can be adjusted to whatever their maximum power is. For instance, channels 1-7 can be set from low to medium and channels 15-22 can be set to low, medium or high.
Thank you very much for all the great info. That video was also quite helpful.
So aside from the Watt Limitations, are there any other differences to be aware of or perhaps a reason why you would choose: 1-7 over 15-22? Judging from the video, I would think 15-22 take priority as they were once exclusive to GMRS?
8-14 I would probably just avoid, unless I am trying to communicate with someone on a low watt FRS Radio.
Ok. You haters get ready to hate on me. The reason your radio has a âHIGH POWERâ setting is because, THATâS where you should always run it unless your battery is low⌠0.5 watts is one half of one watt. You may be able to talk to your neighbor on a half watt if your lucky. If you have a radio that automatically sets the power, throw it away. The FCC dont give dam if you run a half watt or 10 watts and anyone who says they can tell the difference, is a lying.
I have been a general class ham over 60 years and have worked every band including freebanding.
What you do if you were trying to hit a repeater with a 5 watt handy talkie and you cant hit it but maybe 8 watts would. Would you turn your radio up to 8 watts and hit the repeater� Dam right you would. High powered radios do the talking. Low powered radios do the listening. PERIOD. Any the rookies will say, OH, but thats not FCC approved. Well, I dont approve of the FCC.. So we"re even.
OK, Iâll bite. If you have reserve power available, and need people to hear you and do not care about the legal aspects, then go ahead. Use maximum power and more people will hear you. In an emergency, I get it. Normally though, people have a choice on pressing the button to speak back. So what you say is more vital for communication success than power.
I am in the UK, we have always had limits on comms and I did some research a while back on prosecutions. While we fine people for playing music, or being annoying, I could find no cases of unlicensed operation in an emergency going to court. We dont have here the notion of preparing for disasters, itâs a cultural thing and it just doesnât exist here bar a few people who are considered very odd. Of course we have idiots, in the ham bands, on marine occasionally, and on CB and our PMR446 free system. OFCOM, our version of the FCC leave the hams to police themselves, and pay no attention to anything bar pirate radio on 88-108 and marine, for safety reasons.
Oddly, we also dont have people who treat the law with contempt. Society tends to isolate these people, because they also are people who shout loudly. In the past 45 years I have known a few licence âfloutersâ and all that happens is they shout very loudly, and get angry because nobody ever answers them. When they join conversations, people just sign off and leave tje, alone.
Communications content and quality gets better results than power.
On a purely technical level, mismatched power is also pointless. The extra distance power actually generates is not reciprocal. It turns you into a broadcaster, because you cant hear the other part respond. I sell marine radio primarily and its always a surprise people do not get any further when they insist on buying a new higher power radio. The distance to the horizon doesnt change!
Well, it has been proven time and time again that a few watts isnât going to make much of a difference. A five watt HT and an 8 watt HT arenât going to perform that much differently. Your antenna system is where performance is improved.
Good point. I remember, but have failed miserably to find it, a web site that had a graph of signal strength plotted against noise. It showed that at the very limit of reception little changes in level produced by antenna, or power at the transmitter had a big impact, but this point was fleeting. Add just a little bit more and noise dropped very quickly. Effective comms always takes place in the signal level range where changes to level make hardly any difference. If your comms path requires you to stand on a chair, hold the radio above your head and wave a leg in the air to create a better ground plane, then a teeny bit more power the transmit end might do some good. Once you are in the good area, then jwilkers is correct, power is almost irrelevant, and we have plenty of evidence to prove it. Half a Watt got me to an astronaut, yet going up to 60 Watts from 5W wont get me to a workplace from my office, despite being one post code away! My own sort of rule, is that if a signal is so weak I cannot quite understand what is being said, then if they are on low power, going to high is worth trying. 3 to 5, or 5 to 8 is hardly worth swapping the radio. 1 to 10 might be detectable, as jwilkers correctly points out. dBâs are a good way to think it. If you cannot make more than 2dB difference, dont bother!
