Midland MXT275 GMRS mobile radio review

[@distantsignal]

Do any of Midland's mobile radios handle all FRS & GMRS frequencies?

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

yes thay do as mine are the same

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

I am not shure midland's do but mine shure do and do it at 45 watts.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

hand held's do ones after 2023

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

that is a pl 259 plug that is a ear phone jack plug buy the way I have his big brother at 45 watt moble set up for base use with a mag mount I would put you antenna on the trunk so at free way speed it won't blow off you car

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

and my 45 watt radio would look grate there also nice radio poor antenna need to make magnet stronger and bigger

[@jesseespinoza367]

Can you turn off the cts and dcs tones off. To talk to.other radios

[@TechWithLyle]

Yes you can.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

]I have your radios big brother he come in at 45 watts fifteen watts going in to the repeater is a little light you may not even hit the repeater at all well that's midland for you short hitter and it requires a F C C federal licensee to operate also and the radio needs to be tuned to a tower in put tone to use the tower

[@Electric_life]

You said everything!😃except that it narrowband horrible horrible

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

everyone get's stuck on hi and low power be couse there is none as of 2024 G M R S shares channels 15 through 22 channel 15 through 22 F R S are off repeter channels and G M R S channels are high power F R S are low power in fact meaning 1/2 of a watt max out put .

[@pcalna3202]

Super review. Really appreciate the perspective of a true radio expert as opposed to the 900 other videos that all waste time explaining what GMRS is. Sure wish I understood all the stuff at the end about swr and reflected power. I didn't hear any cuss words so I'll take that as it didn't fail. I do wish it could transmit on FRS but last I heard their newest version of this still won't. They're sticking with the story about mobile devices (detachable antennas) not being approved for FRS. Great review, I'm subscribing in case there's more. Thank you for posting!

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

jump a head to 2024 F R S is know 1/2 of a watt with no license needed G M R S does require a 35.00 dollar no test license to use I have one

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

my 45 watt radio changes over to a half a watt and will talk to any F R S radio on the market and the not so privet codes are in it all ready

[@Adamdaj]

I'll assume that CTCSS & DCS draw back goes for MXT 115 and MXT 400. That's sound like that's maybe a factory defect, because I can't imagine Midland or Motorola would produce a GMRS hand held or Mobile with out the ability to use split tone. Myself, I perfer using surplus Part 90 radios, eventhough GMRS is Part 95 E, but the majority the repeaters out there are Part 90.

[@TechWithLyle]

The user interface on this radio just feels like it is a carry over from a bubble pack handheld FRS/GRMS combo radio, perhaps it is a limitation of how that system was designed. I understand that the MXT400 is capable of split tones, which makes sense as that radio seems to be a customized version of the TYT TH9000D where Midland has done the required work for Part 95E compliance & certification.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

we don't use ctcss & dcs on G M R S channels only F R S channels low power 1/2 watt out put

[@MrMrsregor]

I’m planning to run the antenna wire through my firewall. Could I cut the end and wire on a new connector, or will that mess up quality of signal or something ?

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

IT will work better if you went through the roof bigger ground plain

[@spacecoyote6646]

A mobile should be closer to the legal limit. Only get one with 40 watts or more

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

my mobile run's at 45 watts out put

[@rueda82nd]

got this radio and love it so far

[@neiljohnson6815]

B tech sells a 50 watt mobile GMRS radio.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

and my friends at RUGGED RADIO SELL 45 WATT radios same as midand does

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

and 50 watts is as high as you can go also

[@toriusblackwell7523]

Why won’t a split tone work?

[@TechWithLyle]

There is no mechanism to program a different tones for TX and RX.

[@AndrewMcSpadden]

On the repeater channels, is that making this radio a repeater, or just connecting to a nesrby repeater?

[@USAFJUNKIE]

Repeater channels allow the radio to connect to an existing repeater. You would need a completely different set up to have your own repeater.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

your radio go from you to tower to other person 20 miles at 60 watts from the tower

[@Adamdaj]

That MXT275 looks like a nice radio for the price. I just imagine how would look on my scoter with a small 20amp deep cycle battery in the rear basket. Of course would need a high gain UHF cut for 450 to 470 wip, but I would really take advantage of my GMRS Privilages

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

yes it would you can even do your call sign for your license plate how about that

[@BrianMeyer41]

How did you get the tones to not be so loud?

[@TechWithLyle]

I don't know what you mean.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

you don't hear the tones only the tower opens up when a radio is tuned to that tower that is the way my radio works.

[@spacecoyote6646]

It is a big deal not to use ch 8 -14

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

8= 14 are f r s channels no problum

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

neather is using 1 through 22 there all the same

[@thomasglandon5078]

you better get some glue, that microphone will last about 2 daye

[@CavemanOutdoorsMissouri]

You have convinced me to not buy one because I have no idea what you are talking about. Too complicated

[@TechWithLyle]

Glad it helped you in your decision making process.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

then Google RUGGED RADIO thay will explain it in turns you will under stand and ship the radio from a real store with a live tec seport

[@arikjohnson412]

Very cool 😎 planning to setup a GMRS repeater here before the election and your video was a good start familiarizing myself with field mobile radio options. Any repeater vids planned?

[@TechWithLyle]

Not yet, but good idea.

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

you go in to a repeater at 15 watts and come out at 60 watts for a 20 mile range all though I DO 45 watts in 60 out for 20 miles and I am a licensee holder.

[@craigjohnson5814]

Great video. Very helpful thank you

[@TechWithLyle]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Morris615]

Does the unit draw power with the mic unplugged?

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

NO only when you transmit my radio run's all day long powered up monitoring key the mile your meter will show full bars and the red light comes on MY radio is you radio's big brother at 45 watts out put.

[@caseyl3631]

great review, thanks! in this age of high modern tech, midland somehow still managed to find a 7 segment display and put it on this thing and made the menus harder than they needed to be. com'on midland! what repeaters use an output tone? Coming from the ham world that just sounds weird. so if i turn on dcs i wont hear anything unless someone or repeater is transmitting with the same dcs code? makes this unit pretty worthless. I hope im just misunderstanding here.

[@TechWithLyle]

Unfortunately, you are correct in your assumption regarding lack of support for split tones. You can either have the same DCS code enabled for TX/RX or have no DCS code. No option to TX DCS but not RX DCS.

[@SFPhilo]

98+% of the people buying a GMRS mobile like this will just want to plug it in, plop the antenna on the car, and go, not even caring about using repeaters. I have my ham ticket, but it's a PITA to realize the pl for the repeater area you're traveling through was wrong and trying to remember the sequence to enter the correct pl from the side of a busy road.

[@roberttosa2560]

This is a great review. Thanks for sharing this. Some other reviewers have said that the transmission volume is very low on this radio. Your thoughts?

[@TechWithLyle]

Thanks Robert. I haven't measured the TX audio, but it so far hasn't soundly significantly different than other radios. It is important to note that if a receiving station is configured for wideband (20kHz) and the transmitting station is configured for narrowband (12.5 kHz), the audio level will sound low.

[@USAFJUNKIE]

Any particular reason you're using DCS over CTCSS? I've never come across anyone using DCS in either ham or FRS/GMRS. Thanks!

[@curthoes]

Great review thank you!

[@TechWithLyle]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gecko4310]

Oh no, can’t transmit to regualr FRS. Good video by the way

[@TechWithLyle]

Actually, because FRS radios share frequencies with GMRS radios, you are able to communicate between a FRS handheld and this MXT275. www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=a61fae18af8b9e07777be757f02cc0a5&mc=true&node=pt47.5.95&rgn=div5&fbclid=IwAR1YRMomxPahXLaM3Lv49u-DK9NTu4Wpn2wLiayp-UQE6BkH11V0VYoGWDk#se47.5.95_1561

[@SFPhilo]

On this unit, which I have, and probably other mfg GMRS radios, channels 1-7 are shared with FRS, the radio will automatically switch the power output to Lo. Ch8-14 are blocked out because the FRS power is limited to .5 watts. Ch15-22 are GMRS only and can go up to 50 watts (15 watts on this radio).

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

channels 1 through 7 are G M R S off repeter channels

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

re print channels 1 through 22 are F R S channels 15 through 22 are shared with F R S as they are off repeater channels channel15 with RPT mean that channel is repeater channels along with the other 7 channels this is how we read in the world of G M R S and I do 20 miles everyday and with a east coast radio tower link I talk to Chicago I LL

[@MWUSA]

10 4 good buddy

[@toddhoffmaster6057]

The radio/antenna works great together. I have talked 7+ miles on simplex with the 15 watts version. I had temporarily taken it out of my Jeep when I installed my CB, but I really like the radio and so I am going take the CB back out and re-install my Midland again. The CB sounds so old school AM.

[@TechWithLyle]

Glad to hear this Todd, I eventually plan to use this with the Midland MXTA26 6dB gain antenna. This radio will augment my existing Yaesu FTM-400XDR amateur radio and allow me to have a much better range over a FRS/GMRS handheld for communicating with non-hams on the trail.

[@toddhoffmaster6057]

@@TechWithLyle That is what I plan to do as well, augment my FTM-400XDR too. :)

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

you do need a license

[@donalderickson-si8ww]

but then you can't hear or talk to a trucker eather.

[@z1catfish]

I want to see that your repeater is a PArt 95 legal equipment...

[@TechWithLyle]

As I state in the video "these devices are sitting about 10 feet apart, both running into dummy loads".... My repeater is built out of two Icom IC-F221S radios that are Part 90 type accepted and normally used for ham radio. Even though the repeater is transmitting into a dummy load, it seemed inappropriate to leave my ham radio callsign programmed into the repeater controller for these tests and it only takes about 30 seconds to change the callsign via web user interface on Open Repeater running on the Raspberry Pi repeater controller.

[@z1catfish]

@@TechWithLyle You mentioned setting up a repeater elsewhere, in the video, why I asked, because there is no PART 95 radios capable of being a LEGAL repeater. So you are forced into using Part 90 ham equipment, I had similar thoughts, and with more research, found out it can't be done with legal GMRS equipment on the market today. See we like Jeeping, GMRS would be the perfect radio for that, over CB etc, but then you get into the BS CTCS tones that makes brand x radios, not compatible with brand Y, and can't change the bubble pack radios tone, some don't even publish what their tones are. So I moved forward and got my HAM license too. Sad because I wanted GMRS to be usuable to talk to family in the area too..... Good review, just shame they are limited to being obsolete by the FCC regs,

[@TechWithLyle]

@@z1catfish There are a few Part 90 radios that are also Part 95 type accepted. Just not my Icom IC-F221S. The Kenwood TK-805D is one of these and can be interfaced to a repeater controller. The Retevis RT97 is also Part 95 but lacks a repeater controller that can automatically ID.