Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice with vacuum talk

I'll be bringing 2 battery packs and some AA's to Kentucky.
I don't think the Midland charges while powered on? USB will be nice.

I was looking at the window clip antennas to hang out the passenger side window. Only problem is I'd have a chord hanging off the handheld.

 

The problem with student lead fabrication is that sometimes it goes south... We made the skid for my truck and prior to welding mounted it up. I drove around for two days trying to get it to make weird noises or exhibit irritating behaviors. Non presented so we took it apart to weld it up. The lead on this is a senior but he has been hit or miss all year for comprehending the "plan" of a project-but we had this mocked and solid. Well... he changed some things because he miss understood "weld it up" and now that it is welded SOLID it hits and rattles on the exhaust cross under that cleared by over a half an inch before. I was so confident I HardOned the thing. Well... now we pull it off and figure out how to make the thing clear again. Running out of time on this one, but I have faith (plus I will be more involved.) What is terrifying is that this particular kid has enlisted with the Marines and told me he is going to be a parachute rigger... I hope they change that because I don't think its a good fit-I have had him for six years and that level of detail is not his strength.

 

That part would be easier for me since I'm a southpaw.

Btw, I thought the antenna on the Midland was not user replaceable.

 

At least he didn't weld the skids right to the frame!

 

At the moment I can't even say for sure what I got because somehow I misplaced the box I put all the supplies in lol. But I believe it was a NanoVNA (v4 maybe?) and a Surecom SW-102. I think the NanoVNA is able to do SWR in this revision so it really shouldn't need the SW-102 but I got both to play around with them for my own curiosity and learning.

I'm also planning to install a non-standard antenna base that replaces the OEM sharkfin which means it needs custom cabling which means by the very nature of the project that it is broken. Most people will never have to do this stuff but I like the idea of optimizing so I don't damage my radio.

 

You can just get one of these and not need batteries

https://midlandusa.com/products/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio

 

Then why does it mention USB-C charging?

 

It's a output port for charging your phone or other devices.

 

That's cool and stuff.

 

Ya. Now you can drain your handheld battery even faster than before!

 

Are you using that unit?

 

Uhhhh..... It was long and thin.

They'll strip him of those bad habits real quick or put him on shovel duty

 

That radio is not a handheld.

I did for a short time before I upgraded to the
Wouxun KG-1000G. @Thatbassguy has my old Midland MXT-275.

 

That makes more sense.
Wasn't quite understanding why someone would want to use their handheld power to charge their phone.

 

Looks like a trip to Harbor Freight is in order for tomorrow...25% off outdoor power equipment. Battery powered chainsaw, here I come.

 

So it’s not worth having and some poor unsuspecting fool now has to deal with your castaways?

Hmm, sounds like something I’d do.

 

A castaway, lol? The Midland was a solid radio. It worked well and was easy to use. I just wanted some of the advanced features of the KG-1000.

 

Which advanced features?


Ya know... They have a Plus model now.

 

@Pixeltim

I have the same Midland radio the Jason was talking about. I have it mounted in the center counsel. I then ran a cable to the lower dash to plug the mic in. Here's a picture of where it plugs in.
When not in use the mic is stored in the center counsel. It seems to work ok for me. I also have 2 Midland handhelds for backup.

 

The original

$165 MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

MXT275 was not able to communicate with repeaters that used tones (new models now can). The KG1000g was the only 50 watt gmrs offering at the time. Also the KG1000g can monitor 2 channels at once.Which I did use at Tigerton when we split into groups on different radio channels.
It also can monitor channels outside of the GMRS bands. Plus other features that I'll let you reaserch.