Wouxan KG-905G impressions

FRS / GMRS Radios
#1

Recently received my KG-905G and love it. Super nice radio. I will be ordering another and adding these to my family’s emergency bags. (Also adding a Midland MST275 to my wife’s 2012 Forester. Woulda gone higher wattage, but need the display on the mic due to space limitations on the dashboard for display visibility. But I digress.)

The KG-05 is a terrific hand-held radio and, with several repeaters in our area of MA, I think I can finally get my family into a bit of coms! Our friends own a farm where we visit frequently and there is zero cell signal there. The dads are all ham licensed and carry HT’s. Now, however, I have something for the rest of the family to use there and keep in their GHB’s the rest of the time. Something simpler and quite effective.

I really like the dust and water resistant (nothing is water “proof”, imho) features, and the larger battery for longer run-time. The tone-scanning and other advanced features are excellent, but most probably wouldn’t use. Do wish it handled split-tone repeaters as there’s a good one in my area, but most GMRS repeaters here don’t need.

Really like this radio. Super happy with my purchase.

#2

I bought two Wouxun KG-805G radios not long before the 905 came out, if I had known it was coming out I would have waited. When I bought the 805’s I also ordered two longer life batteries. My 805 is now pretty much the same as the 905, without the waterproof rating, ip66 vs ip55. Going to change the antenna’s to the Nagoya NA-771G which is tuned specifically for the GRMS frequencies.

I got into GMRS for the same reason, visiting a place with no cell service. I haven’t had the chance to really hammer the 805 but what little I did I was impressed with. Good luck with yours, let us know how it works out for you.

#3

I’ll change the antenna too, soon as I can find the Nagoya 701G in stock somewhere. I find the 15" antennas to be something of a nuisance when carrying in the field. The 805G is really the same radio sans the water/dust resistance, should serve you fine under “normal” conditions. I believe I erred in the previous post and that these radios can handle split repeaters, from looking at the software which can be downloaded, for free, from the BTWR.Com website.

#4

I managed to snag one 771G by dumb luck. They had one returned and relisted it at the same time I was checking to see if they were back in stock. I tried to buy two. In fact, until I read the invoice I thought I had bought two. I sent them a note about it and they told me how I ended up with the one. Not defective or refurbished. They also told me the reason they can’t get any is Nagoya can’t find any SMA Female connectors. Anyway, the 701G and 771G are identical except the length (wave & inches) & V.S.W.R. I may end up with the 701’s after I tried the 771 if it gets in the way. Might be good to have both anyway, hiking through the woods or sitting in the house. By the way, “BTWR.com” is the only place that carries the “G” version antennas, they are exclusive.

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#5

I noticed they had two OEM antennas on their site. My radio came with the one that is shorter (4 5/8"), but there’s a longer (6.8" I believe) available. They’re also less expensive than the 701G and I’ve wondered if that wouldn’t be a step up until the 701Gs become available again.

#6

After owning this radio for a couple weeks now and using it locally on repeaters and simplex, I still love it. However there’s some elements to the manual and the software that are lacking.

There’s selectable configuration options in the manual and software that are not explained. For example, in the manual, the Talk-A, SOS, and Alarm settings are listed without an explanation. Also the DTMF tab within the software has CALLID settings that are not explained. Additionally, I’m unable to get the software to recognize a coms port using Windows 10 which means I’m unable to load a file I have readied. (The port selections are all “greyed out” and not selectable.) Wanna use that file for two more radios I plan to buy so I can scan a custom channel group outside the four groups the radio comes configured with. I don’t seem to be able to add channels to groups five and above, except through the software, so I’m limited by this. (I’m using a Baofeng cable, which promotional material says it works with, but wondering if I need a driver.) As a workaround, I’ve configured only certain channels from channel groups 1-4 for scanning with the PF2 button. I’ve logged a support ticket with BTWR.com and will see what they come back with.