No need to use the F Word. It shows your true colors. Over and Out

Just got my GMRS. The FCC emailed me the license in less than 24 hours. Jeep Jamboree has made GMRS mandatory this year, so now I'm set. Thanks for your great and informative videos. Safe Travels and God Bless!

"We're going to test that!" Nice reference--made me smile, since I just watched his latest video immediately before watching this.

I legit was hoping you would make a video on this radio your one of the few who just say it how it is keep up the amazing work

You should do the MXT400 from midland if you havent already. I have that one and Im sure you would think its junk but for me it was simple and works well enough. Thanks for the informative content. I get that privacy tones aren't private but i still like not hearing everyone else on my channel even if they can still hear me.

Thank you very much for the review! It's super informative and on top of that you crack me up.

As always very entertaining! I am in the market for GMRS Radio I will heed your warning Thank you

Great Review! Thanks for making it. Now I won't be stressed out if I was to purchase this Mobile Radio!

Hi randy I been watching your videos ,I think your awesome. Im goig to get into gmrs radio, I learned alot from your videos, keep up the good work

My 2c, I picked this up on a deal with some blister pack Midland GMRS handhelds (the 2.5/5w ones), wanting to get into GMRS from CB. Its hard in my area getting everyone on something as basic as CB much less GMRS, but the quality difference between the two was night and day to me; WAY better in rock canyons/trees. These were easy to install/use, and the handhelds worked well to hand out on the trails to group members that didn't have anything. I'm hoping to get more folks to move over, just by wheeling with these handhelds and the MXT115, in our local club but it's an uphill battle. Thanks for the vids, learning more every day.

"I'm going to rip this thing a new asshole." hahahahaha. Damn I laughed way too hard at that one.

Being new to GMRS and in possession of Baofeng UV-5R portables and, for around the property, the Baofeng G11S portables....Just purchased the Midland MXT115 at Amazone for around 89 dollars...Thank you for the insight on the MXT115...Did invest in an antenna upgrade for it....Will let you know hiw it does after install in the Jeep.... And, thankyou for all the valuable information you provide on GMRS to beginners like me....Absolutely Awesome..WSCB941...

Thank you for the video, was in a process of buying one.

Tip: I have the MXT275 and saved the manual to my phone for referring to codes. I can then expand the screen to read them. I prefer to not hear the FRS channels since I can't talk on them, saves time when placing the radio on scan. Good, honest review.

I forgot to say in the box I did not get that Big o antenna ground plane like you have in either of my purchases .. I will be honest with you and everyone that reads this in my opinion only I think these radios are kind of like disposable radios. But $150 plus shipping it is a bit much for disposable radio thank you for all your videos Man you do awesome job I like your honest reviews

Good description of an AM radio when describing wide and narrow radio. Turn the gestures 90 degrees and you have a pretty fair description of wide and narrow band FM. GMRS is FM and channels depend on narrow band to not step on each other.

Great review; very informative.

Randy, great review, thank you. Sorry have know idea what the purpose of the steal plates.

Great video, got the Midland MXT275 Micro for the Jeep as I am trying to get the rest of the club to get GMRS and found the “missing channels” then found the Gladiator’s hood is not a friend of mag antennas like my old Wrangler JKU was, you definitely have the better jeep areas where here in Florida its just mud….

ALWAYS measure from the base!

"7 inches when measured from the base *creepy smile*" LOL, I started cracking up at work.

Randy, one big reason I wish you'd get your Technican ham license would be these awesome reviews on newly released ham gear. There's a lot of crap on the ham bands and some awesome stuff that might even give you some interesting emissions.

Thanks. That was very helpful.

Love your reviews! Bought my MXT115 at clearance at my local Wal Mart for about $50. Didn't have any problem running with any power supply, so don't know what the problem was...weird! Also, my radio came with ch 1-8, 15-22, and 15-22 RP, so I didn't have to set any repeater channels up, except for the "privacy" (CTCSS) tones. Also, you can set a separate privacy tone on each repeater channel. The RG-174 coax supplied has a lot of loss, of course, so you will get about 5-6 watts of your signal to your antenna, which is supposed to have a gain of 2.1 dbi antenna. Altogether not a bad radio and easily mountable. Certainly worth the $50 I paid for it. I'm able to hit repeaters out to about ten miles over average terrain.

Thank YOU, , , , , ,, my favorite KZfaq personality.

I am of the 'Dinosaur Vintage' in age. So, have seen radios over a wide span of time. Motorolla (arguably a benchmark brand of radio) had metal shelled microphones which evolved into a plastic shell microphone over time. Inside of those plastic microphones were lead weights. This gave the (hand held) microphone a good feel, similar to how their original metal mics felt. - So I don't think Midland is 'ripping us off' by adding the weights. Just the opposite. -- In regards to the MXT115 performance, I am 100% with you. The audio quality is less than stellar on the RX. This is a hit and miss situation pending what the operator on the other end is using. I tie into the NGGMRS (North Georgia GMRS) repeater system, so hear quite a wide variety of different radios. It becomes quite noticable, and annoying as some radio traffic comes in crystal clear, while others are distorted (going back to the inherent narrow band vs wideband setup).

Hey, Randy, thanks for another great and honest review. Now, I told you,cwhen we use the rubber gloves,cI prefer three fingers and not just two. Lol. Sorry, had to get my dirty remarks out for the day. Oh yeah, also, the link did not come up for the GMRS license. I have mine, but others might need it, lol.

I have the Midland MXT 115. I have it hooked to a radio shack regulated power supply (3Amp) works just fine. also i have it hooked to the antenna that it came with . It it used for a base.

Regarding the external power supply / converter, I have had similar problems powering up a CB radio on a 20 amp PS. A 1.5 amp power supply worked fine however it was a better quality power supply. I believe it boils down to how well regulated the power supply is and how well filtered the radio input is. The solution, of course, is use a 12 volt battery which gives a true 12 volt non-amplitudinal (not sure if that's a word) output or use a well regulated power supply. All this can be checked with an oscilloscope but if you're like me I don't have one.

I have a MXT275. I has some faults, but its mostly a good radio. Midland's customer support is fantastic tho. I had my radio for about 18 months and it started acting up and having some minor issues. I emailed Midland.. and within a day I had a reply informing me they were going to just send me a new radio. Had it on my door step within a week. One issue I had with my first radio is that it didn't support split code repeaters, but oddly, the replacement radio is updated and it now does support split code.

I wonder if the weight was added to keep it from falling off the mount as you drive off road. Not sure how the mic connects to the mount.

One reason for me to buy a GMRS radio would be to get a better quality radio that is also compatible with the FRS radios I already have. My deer hunting partners and I usually hunt on a farm where channel 8 is the standard farm channel. It appears that this MXT-115 would not be compatible for this use. That's okay, I already bought a Wouxon KG-905G, largely on the basis of your positive review. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I kind of went off the deep end and studied for an actual ham license. I passed the tests for a General license, but haven't quite decided what to do with it. I think GMRS will be a better fit for my needs.

Thanks for your reviews. Have you reviewed Rugged Radio gmrs radios. They have a jeep package, but is it any good?

Great video !!!!

4x4 users are just guests on gmrs. I once met a true gmrs guy. White ford, steel rims with small hub caps, long rain coat, suitcase repeaters, leather holsters for moto handhelds with speech inversion, hustler and soldier of fortune magz on back seat. and much much, much more...

Suggest a review of the MXT-275. The best minimalistic dyi GMRS radio (imo). All controls are on the mic. Radio tucks in the center console of a Tacoma hard-wired in. Gotta get an optional 3db ghost antenna at extra cost.

I had a Glock 17 that I modified for target shooting. The base of the grip had a brass insert to balance it in my hand. Maybe the plates were put into the mic for the same reason, so it feels and handles better? Excellent video. PS, I have a Midland XMT115, and I absolutely hate it.

I have owned the MXT115 and the MXT 275, the Btech 50X1 and the KB1000g. The KB1000g Didn’t work right out of the box and was sent back ASAP!!!… I have sent back all of the Midland radios and have settled on the 50 X1. I did all of this as I watched your videos and learn more about GMRS and how I use it, for example: I like the power of the 50X1 for when I’m riding around wanting to chat with somebody on the radio, this is where I think the Midland radios would be good. A jeep buddy of mine decided to get the Midland 275 because all they wanted to do was use it as needed. But as you learn more about GMRS you quickly realize the value of repeaters. And that’s my point, the ineffectual nature of the Midland radios with regard to repeaters is why all of them went back. If I just needed a radio because I was in a jam or just didn’t have the money in the middle and would be a decent choice in my humble opinion.

The mic weights are to hold it down on the mic holder. The 20 lbs olympic weight on a string is also an option.

KZfaq decided that the best into commercial to this video was for a HAM prep test. YT throwing shade at NotaRubicon... Also, another great video!

Love your gun mat🔫😉

I bought one of these radios about a month ago to put in our third Jeep. I have MXT400's in our primary Jeeps but picked up this one for the third that stays in a garage when we're not wheeling it. I got the model that came with the stubby antenna. Haven't installed it yet, but did plug it in long enough to program some "privacy codes" that we use. Didn't bother programming the area repeaters (yet). I think it'll end up working for us. I actually tried talking the wife into a Radioddity DB20-G (it's going in her Jeep) but she doesn't like having all the buttons on the microphone. She has M.S. and accidentally hits buttons here and there, so she wanted the basic up/down buttons only.

Midland is going to come out with a new MXT that is 50 watts . Also you will be able to use wide bandwidth and narrow bandwidth

Noticed this on the MXT275 model: 8 Repeater Channels -Split Tone Capable (from the Midland web site).

F150 owner... mount ideas that don't entail drilling holes or just flopping the db20-g on the passenger seat or the USB cubby tray?

Great videos as usual also great cat fights in the comments. I wish I could give 2 thumbs up

Loved those old Motorola microphones ! KK7T.

The 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz frequency bands are congested with limited frequency availability for implementation of new systems or expansion of existing systems. Narrowbanding to at least 12.5 kHz efficiency technology will enable licensees to operate more efficiently, either with narrower channel bandwidths or an increased number of voice paths or higher data rate per channel.

Someone please let me know if they make an adapter for this radio or the MXT400 to connect to a headset. I’m planning on using this for my ATV Nice review!

What mobile ham radio would you recommend to “listen” on gmrs frequency channels. Preferably in the 25-50 watt ranges.

Is there a magnet in the microphone hanger? Is that why those plates are in the mic?

I have five of them and they work just fine

I’d I have a MXT115 hard wired in my auto does the new MXT 500 use all the same connections so I can just unplug everything g from the 115 and then just plug my existing wires and power into the 500 ?

what radio do you recommend for permit installation. thanks

I have the 5W version of this radio, which isn’t too bad, but it’s highly dependent on LoS or being close by. I’m able to use my Midland radio to talk to my work’s Retevis radios just fine with the proper CTCSS tone.

I agree with you, the weights in the mic is deceptive, older equipment used larger magnets on the speakers and or metal components or housings which is why they feel more substantial. I feel this is deceptive as well.

I get what you say about the added weight in the microphone. But considering the rest of the radio, I think it's okay.

comment on your series of videos- I pretty much agree with what you are saying but maybe in different wording. As to the gmrs channels 8-14, these are 'splinter' channels wedged between traditional gmrs channels and thereby required to be narrowband to reduce bleedover. If they were allowed full power there would be a distinct possibility of interfering with (your and others ) repeaters on the input (receive) frequency.

I've seen some posts commenting on measuring from the base. Of course, you would not be an American if you did not. The angle it is viewed from is also important. Great information, thank you sir.

The Wide/Narrow band, is this a hardware or program thing?

Good video. I've been thinking about getting a few of these just to mount on tractors and 4wheelers for the ranch where max range is maybe 4 miles. I was looking at simple simple simple where it's set to a channel and maybe a privacy tone and forget it. I was wondering though about all the extra cable, can it be trimmed, because I always thought that you shouldn't coil up extra cable for an antenna??? Also, what's your opinion as far as water getting splashed on it crossing a creek or maybe caught in the rain? I'm not talking going under water, but getting caught in a little rain for a few minutes until back home. Thanks and keep up the great work.

my new favorite person on KZfaq

Gawd dang it. I've got one of those. I guess I had to buy one of these, so I could appreciate something better.

It's about time that someone put out a video like this one. I was beginning to think that Midland must have bought all the radio-video-creators off. Midland is not and has not been keeping up. I would prefer to buy American but I just couldn't do it. Midland is not making the best radios out there. I instead bought me a Wouxun KG 1000-G also. Soon to buy a second one. I think Midland is relying on their name-brand and past reputation to keep them on top. But that can only last for so long. I looked at Midland first but quickly changed my mind when I saw what the others offered. Make America great again. Make Midland great again!!!

Regarding the steel weights. Most commercial radios that I have used have weights in them. I remove them for my use.

Randy, I just bought brand-new mxt400 bundle pack with the ghost antenna and mirror or roll bar mount kit retails everywhere I'm seeing for $340. I paid $160. I understand the repeater limitations but my repeaters in the surrounding 100 miles don't use split stones. Your thoughts on my purchase as I have never seen you cover the mxt400. Thank you in advance you rock!

The one I have got usb c outlet in front, it does split tones both analog and digital, the tone will stick with whatever channel instead of all channels

Randy I purchased that exact radio several months back like back in January ... Have you had that radio for a while or have you just purchased it the reason I'm asking the radio I bought in January went out on me and I guess it's been about a month ago they sent me another one looks identical except for the USB port is different and it has split tone so what's really going on with Midland I would like to know...

I thought the latest firmware of this did split tones somehow. Maybe just through CPS. Not sure.

I have one mounted in my truck so my wife can holler at me when I am out & about on our property and nearby since we live in a cell dead zone, so cell phones do not work very well here. So we use only use channel #3

Thanks for the info. What antenna do you recommend for a GMRS base antenna, to be mounted outside above roof line?

thanks

The plates may keep the tinny sound of the plastic out ???

"First of off" (ha) I'm glad you reviewed this but I think you're nit-picking some of the beefs you have with it. I use the sister radio to this model (MX275) in my wife's SUV with great success. The narrow/wide thing has never been an issue for us whether talking simplex to a handheld Wouxan at home or using the town's excellent repeater which gives us about a 20 mile coverage area in diameter. No trouble at all with volume or intelligibility despite everyone telling me it's supposed to happen. 'Cept it hasn't. Yeah, the manual is too small, I feel that way about most of 'em these days. Took an enlarged screenshot, laminated it, shoved it in the glovebox for my wife to ignore. As you mentioned the antenna that comes with it works surprisingly well but I went with a Laird anyway and keep the original one as a spare in the trunk for a handheld or what have you. Yeah, the tones are numbered so you need the manual to know what to set 'em to but it ain't hard and, like all the other options you whined about at length, you're pretty much going to set these things once, when you first use the radio and never touch most of 'em again. We're not all driving to the next county to go off-roading, many of us just want back-up coms in the community we live in. I've heard that having metal weights in the microphone is what many mfg'rs do to give a mic some heft and you're right, it does feel better in the hand - which is why they do it. The radio we have (MXT275) while identical in functionality, except the radio has no display and has all the controls, display, and a speaker on the mic itself. In a vehicle with zero real estate like ours, that was a feature that outweighed many others as well as the small drawbacks this radio has. Our local repeaters don't use split tones (mostly) so we've no issue there and I believe you can put different tones on different repeater channels. You seem to really dislike that they eliminated the useless half-watt channels that your other radios don't even talk on but I can't understand why you care since nobody wants to use those anyway, else they'd be using an FRS radio instead of GMRS where we can up the wattage. Is it an awesome radio? For me? No. I'd want more and have it with other radios. For my wife? It's perfect. Very little to get hung up on, set your options, tell her what channels to use where and you're good to go. In my case, I put a sticker on the back of the mic to help her remember. Now, she'll call me from the road on it and say hi and I could never, as in ever, get her to attempt using one of the many other (you'd say better) radios I own. I think, for a non-radio inclined wife's car, this radio will get 'em trying it out when none of the others would due to it's simplicity and, in our case, having the display on the mic so I can bury the radio elsewhere in the car leaving only the microphone and nothing else in the passenger compartment. Installed it in ten minutes using the velcro tape they provided on the bracket. So small, it fit in the console compartment and still leaves plenty of room for doodads. Love your vids man, watch 'em all. Gripe away, best part of the show. But don't over-hate on those issues you mentioned. They're a minor nuisance 'til you set 'em where you want 'em and then you're off to the races with coms ability where you may have had none before. In my case, I could not get my wife interested enough to use any radio until I showed her how simple this one was and now she's a regular user. Huge win for a brand that I agree, isn't top shelf. But the radio, for us, works swimmingly. As do all my others, frankly; they all have quirks I could live without.

Watched the video yesterday, came back today for the pinned comment. I will check tomorrow.

You might have already answered this at one point or another. But if you could only get one radio, what would it be and why?

Thanks for giving me (your favorite viewer), the skinny on how much this Midland radio sucks! Not gonna need the "affiliate link below" ... much appreciated!

They should call "privacy codes" "isolation codes". It would be more accurate-ish.

I have the MXT275. works fine for me but then again there are no repeaters around here except one that is over 40 miles away. I have the larger antenna for when i need it, but the standard works fine around town. the MXT275 has audio on both the unit and mic.

It is an ok radio, but I wish you could program the same channel with different Codes as there are many GMRS repeaters using the same frequency in my area.

My CB is a midlands, It was super expensive and I would take my UV-82 over that all day (if they were the same frequencies).

It's not the worst GMRS radio. Midland also sells the MXT400 which drains your battery three times as fast, overheats three times as fast, and costs twice as much. All while having otherwise identical features to this radio.

Great Video Man, Keep up the good work. On a side note Midland use to be great byt now i question their quality. Honestly i have a 40 Watt Motorola CPR 2500 and havent had any issues.

Is it true the Midland MXZT115 only operates on the Narrow Band?... if i had know that I would have bought something else. Midland should FIX that.. I would send it back if i had not also bought the Midland MXPW115 Ammo Case that it just bare fits into -- do the make another GMRS Mobile that fits into the MXPW115 ?

I am an electrical engineer and have no idea why it would not work with your power supplies. Guessing there was an air gap in a hard to see place - but then again two wires is kinda hard to mess up. Super curious about this one.......

as your favorite viewer I will not buy that radio.

The difference between a wideband FM signal and a narrowband is the deviation. On FM the frequency changes with modulation, not the amplitude like AM. This is what the term "deviation" means in techno jargon for those who do not know. On a wideband FM signal, the frequency deviates + and - 5khz and the narrowband deviates 2.5khz. This is why a narrowband signal on a wideband receiver has low audio and a wideband signal to a narrowband receiver will break up and be choppy because the frequency deviates too far out of the receivers passband. For those who don't know what passband is, it's how wide in khz the receiver can listen. If you try to use a wideband rig on a narrowband repeater, your audio will break up and you'll drop out of the repeater because it can't receive your entire signals frequency deviation. I'm a bit baffled why Midland would use narrowband FM when it's very uncommon these days, this is a relic of the past when bandwidth was more of a concern. Amateur radio repeaters use wideband and have been for a very long time. Back in the day they used narrowband to help with interference to other signals but the bands are so large it makes little sense these days. The 2 meter ham band is 4mhz wide, a few khz of extra bandwidth means nothing. Perhaps the folks at Midland wanted to be sure their radio would pass muster with the FCC so they chose to error on the conservative side.

I have the mxt 115 I hit 3 repeaters ???

The steel plates in the microphone are to protect your face from anything up to a 9mm bullet. haha

I'm sure your criticism is well founded, but, working with the MXT105 and MXT115 has been a pleasure after years of CB. I finally brought my employer out of the dark ages and we use them on combines and tractors, and everything from the form factor, increased range, and the ability to cut out outside interference with CTCSS, has made them a favorite with every operator we have. I have/had my ham license, and also own a Leixen VV-898 which I use as my 'work' radio. I love to fiddle, but it's complexities would be beyond most of my co-workers. You're right about the antennae. They work far better than I thought they would. These are good units for people who don't want or can't handle too many bells and whistles.

I cry to confess.... this is true. I just bought a midland for the 4x4 and then I bought a Radioddity for the SUV. The midland sucks compared to the ddity Using identical antenna setup.... the range and quality of reception is like night and day. Midland - I give them a "C", the ddity - I give them a "A". then there is all the other things... dim mono screen vs. color vibrant screen etc etc etc etc. ....4 hours later... well the programming software for ddity SUCKS almost as bad as their inability to write a user manual. Never the less the unit is still far better than the Midland and cheaper.

I think they put steel plates inside the microphone to give it enough weight in your hand to make you feel secure and remind you that you're holding on to something 🤔

Im conflicted on the weights as well. Its like a computer mouse where you can add weights but i feel its a false sense of trust on the microphone

Narrow band signals can travel a little farther at lower power. I think they forced narrow band so people testing would report decent range lol

Maybe I missed it but, does the radio radio have “System on a Chip” or what

The weight in the handle is a Anti theft feature referred to as "Clockweighting", when the car jacker sees you broadcasting on your MXT115 the urge to take it from you will be so great that they will lunge thru the window to try to steal your treasure...that's when you swing your "Clockweights" and knock that criminal out cold! At that point you may also perform an optional (Not Listed in the Manual) maneuver called "GMRS Bagging" by dipping the mic in their unconscious open mouth. (great videos BTW, thanks for the laughs)

I have 3 Midland MXT115 GMRS radios and all 3 have some sort of issues.

The next time.my mom says, "you're the most jaded human on Earth", I'm sending them a link to this channel. 😂🤣 I love this guy.

Would this radio be worth playing around with if it was free? I just got my license and I have an option to get o e for free from my job.

"I needed a fucking magnifying glass"🤣 So glad I stumbled across this channel. Everyone pushes midland too.