New GMRS radio

I currently run the MXT275 - the earlier, 15 watt version of the MXT575 in this article. It works great for me. Dead quiet when you use privacy codes, and decent range. I would definitely consider upgrading to the 575 for the extra power, but it does look to be a good bit bigger than my 525 and I would have to check whether or not it would fit in the current spot under the dash.

That said, I do recommend this Midland radio.

Jeff
 
Thats funny. I just read through the GMRS thread yesterday. Whole lots of gobbly gook and people speaking French. Looked at the 525 on Crutchfield. May go that way soon as peeps out with me run both CB and GMRS.
After using GMRS, there’s no good reason for CB.
 
After using GMRS, there’s no good reason for CB.
Anyone who suggests otherwise is usually turned off by the complexity involved. But that's really just radio manufacturers being dumb in firmware making it difficult to program privacy codes and such.

The audio quality and range improvements are quite nice. We used to have CB issues around a corner on a trail that are much less common now to where they're infrequent at best.
 
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Anyone who suggests otherwise is usually turned off by the complexity involved. But that's really just radio manufacturers being dumb in firmware making it difficult to program privacy codes and such.

The audio quality and range improvements are quite nice. We used to have CB issues around a corner on a trail that are much less common now to where they're infrequent at best.

Change is hard for this old trucker but, I done gone and done it. Bought the MXT500.
 
Anyone who suggests otherwise is usually turned off by the complexity involved. But that's really just radio manufacturers being dumb in firmware making it difficult to program privacy codes and such.

The audio quality and range improvements are quite nice. We used to have CB issues around a corner on a trail that are much less common now to where they're infrequent at best.
The only reason to have CB is cause everyone else does, but as I qualified above, it’s not a good reason. The clarity alone is worth the price of admission.
 
The only reason to have CB is cause everyone else does, but as I qualified above, it’s not a good reason. The clarity alone is worth the price of admission.
I was real hesitant to give up my CB, but you are absolutely right. The clarity alone is worth having. I still havent had much talk time on my new gmrs unit but it is a night and day difference.
 
I was recently checking online reviews and went with a different model. An alternative to consider is the Wouxun KG-1000G GMRS 50 Watt Radio. I just got it but haven’t installed it yet.
 
I don't have any personal experience with Rugged Radio - but when I was in HAM research mode, I kind of recall them being mentioned. Rugged big "thing" was their "club" They licensed some frequencies with the FCC, then they shared those licenses via an agreement with their customers. Their radios were simply rebadged units, but they could use certain frequencies without requiring the owners to be individually licensed.

You linked a GMRS radio - I suspect it works just like any other GMRS radio. I think the license sharing was with their business band radios. I am not trying to bash their program - but for both good and bad, it tied you to their frequencies. Not really a radio to communicate with groups of people who don't use Rugged Radio's - but possibly a good one when you want to keep conversations within your group. I will also add, I have no clue about the various FCC laws concerting business band radios - such as output regulations. It is entirely possible they are a better option in some/many circumstances. But like the CB, GMRS, Ham debate - they are only as useful as the people around you that use them.

In all fairness, I should mention the rebranding. Just because 2 radio's share the same hardware, there can be differences other than the label. They can have different interface versions, different programing software, and different levels of customer support. I really don't know the answers to how Rugged is different than other radios with the same hardware.
 
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I had the MXT275. It was solid and performed well for a decent price. The interface/options were a bit on the simplistic side though. Paying twice as much for 35 extra watts wouldn't even be close to worth it for me though. The above mentioned KG1000 is a lot more radio for less moneyz.

I bought into the hype. My new MXT500 just arrived.