Midland MXT275 Problems

[rk911]

Thanks for your reply…I had a feeling. I didn’t know it transmitted out the bottom. What is odd is signals further away, I have no breakup. A Jeep right in front of me, choppy…. Funny thing to add is we went through a very tight tunnel, single lane, and the audio cleared up probably due to the signal bouncing off the top and sides of the tunnel. Once we got out, choppiness was back.. thanks for the discount code, I’ll check that out!

When you say you are 'within line of sight', how far is that? How much power are you running? What freq. are you using?

Sponsored

 

[CapsKorner]

When you say you are 'within line of sight', how far is that? How much power are you running? What freq. are you using?

Line of site being, he was driving in front of me by only a few car lengths at times. And it was the same. As if he was a few inches from my bumper. Power, whatever the mxt275 puts out….Freq… tried a few different channels with no change…landed on ch. 16. But they were all about the same.

 

[Moose568]

I had a problem with my mic not getting power. Issue was that I had a mic cable extension on it and it was bad. I replaced the extension and it’s been fine ever since.

 

[Mark75H]

Line of site being, he was driving in front of me by only a few car lengths at times. And it was the same. As if he was a few inches from my bumper. Power, whatever the mxt275 puts out….Freq… tried a few different channels with no change…landed on ch. 16. But they were all about the same.

You could have been TOO close. Did you try 50 or 100 feet away? Antenna location will not be the cause at that close

 

[steelponycowboy]

The 275 puts out 15 watts. Right on his bumper I guess it is possible but with my 50 watt I can be within a few feet and can transmit no issues. Several car lengths should no be an issue no matter what the power output (I've talked 2m ham 100 watts a car length or two no distortion) As for frequencies, GMRS is pretty consistent across the band just like 70cm ham which covers the freqs just below GMRS. I've found no differences in TX or RX quality from the low end at channel 1 to the high end at channel 22. Unlike CB which had a best channel based on tuning and it got worse as yiu went uo or down from that channel, there is no such disparity with GMRS. Channel 1-7 are low power (5watt) channels and 16-22 are the high power channels (max 50watts). My club only uses 16-22.. quality of transmission all relates to antenna type and where it is mounted. I've seen a 50 watt radio with a Ghost antenna mounted on the side of the cowl in front of the drivers door not being able to talk more than a mile or two. Moved to the roof rack we stopped testing at 10 miles. Midland recommends mounting antenna as high as possible on their website. The only antennas that doesn't apply to are their new Ride the Range premium antennas which are Bull Bar and the fiberglass whip Grand Vista. I'll also add that Midland antennas are pre-tuned for optimum UHF performance

You could have been TOO close. Did you try 50 or 100 feet away? Antenna location will not be the cause at that close

The MXT275 is only 15 watts . I can get close with my 50 watt 575 and not have that happen

 

[dragoneggs]

Yeah I have the 575 mounted on A pillar cowl driver’s side with ghost antenna. I’m sure it limits the range but I have never needed more than a mile or so. I don’t like tall whippy antennas that can get beat up or torn off on the trail or car wash.

OP problem though does sound like a bad mic, connection or cord. I like the idea of trying out the cigarette lighter receptacle first to prove it isn’t a power connection or a fault with the head unit itself.

 

[CapsKorner]

The 275 puts out 15 watts. Right on his bumper I guess it is possible but with my 50 watt I can be within a few feet and can transmit no issues. Several car lengths should no be an issue no matter what the power output (I've talked 2m ham 100 watts a car length or two no distortion) As for frequencies, GMRS is pretty consistent across the band just like 70cm ham which covers the freqs just below GMRS. I've found no differences in TX or RX quality from the low end at channel 1 to the high end at channel 22. Unlike CB which had a best channel based on tuning and it got worse as yiu went uo or down from that channel, there is no such disparity with GMRS. Channel 1-7 are low power (5watt) channels and 16-22 are the high power channels (max 50watts). My club only uses 16-22.. quality of transmission all relates to antenna type and where it is mounted. I've seen a 50 watt radio with a Ghost antenna mounted on the side of the cowl in front of the drivers door not being able to talk more than a mile or two. Moved to the roof rack we stopped testing at 10 miles. Midland recommends mounting antenna as high as possible on their website. The only antennas that doesn't apply to are their new Ride the Range premium antennas which are Bull Bar and the fiberglass whip Grand Vista. I'll also add that Midland antennas are pre-tuned for optimum UHF performance

The MXT275 is only 15 watts . I can get close with my 50 watt 575 and not have that happen

Yeah. There were times we were pretty far from each other and there was no difference.

I’ll see how the new ant works.

 

[steelponycowboy]

Yeah I have the 575 mounted on A pillar cowl driver’s side with ghost antenna. I’m sure it limits the range but I have never needed more than a mile or so. I don’t like tall whippy antennas that can get beat up or torn off on the trail or car wash.

OP problem though does sound like a bad mic, connection or cord. I like the idea of trying out the cigarette lighter receptacle first to prove it isn’t a power connection or a fault with the head unit itself.

If it were a bad mic it would be like that all the time. Woukd be rare for two people with new radios to both have mic issues.

 

[dragoneggs]

If it were a bad mic it would be like that all the time. Woukd be rare for two people with new radios to both have mic issues.

Agreed. Unless there is a flaw that rarely results in an internal short/loose connection.

 

[tomk62]

quality of transmission all relates to antenna type and where it is mounted. I've seen a 50 watt radio with a Ghost antenna mounted on the side of the cowl in front of the drivers door not being able to talk more than a mile or two. Moved to the roof rack we stopped testing at 10 miles. Midland recommends mounting antenna as high as possible on their website.

What antenna do you have, where is it mounted, and what mount do you use?

 

[steelponycowboy]

What antenna do you have, where is it mounted, and what mount do you use?

I have 3 GMRS antennas. In my Gladiator Overland rig, I have an MXT500 with over 100 repeaters programmed in. A high end ham antenna switcher running to a Midland 3db Bull Bar mounted center of roof on a RhinoRack cross bar. the 2nd line runs to the front bumper and a Midland 6.6db gain 49 inch Bull Bar antenna. On my Wrangler an MXT575 running to a Midland 4ft+ 7.5db gain fiberglass whip mounted to a spare tire carrier bracket. It's between the tailgate and spare tire. Like a CB firestixk it fires TX signal out if the top 3rd of the antenna so no interference from spare tire or Jeep. I'm building a 1980s Grand Wagoner with a HellCat motor. That will get and MXT500, antenna switcher, and twoMidland antennas. They 3db Bull bar center of roof and the 7.5db Grand Vista fiberglass whip mounted either on rear bumper or to the swing out tire carrier

 

[Wkaz]

I just installed the MXT275 in my Runicon last week. I am currently using my cigarette lighter adapter to power it up until after I get my remote start programmed at the dealership, once that is done I will plan to hardwire to one of my aux switches.
So far it has been working flawlessly except for one drive home from work two days ago at 2 am when messing around with the settings turned the backlight display off. I freezes out for the rest of my way home and using the light from my iPhone was able to turn it back on.

I will be selling this unit once I receive my Wouxun KG1000G plus, I prefer the remote mounted display over the mic display.

Did you get your wouxun yet?

 

[dragoneggs]

I have 3 GMRS antennas. In my Gladiator Overland rig, I have an MXT500 with over 100 repeaters programmed in. A high end ham antenna switcher running to a Midland 3db Bull Bar mounted center of roof on a RhinoRack cross bar. the 2nd line runs to the front bumper and a Midland 6.6db gain 49 inch Bull Bar antenna. On my Wrangler an MXT575 running to a Midland 4ft+ 7.5db gain fiberglass whip mounted to a spare tire carrier bracket. It's between the tailgate and spare tire. Like a CB firestixk it fires TX signal out if the top 3rd of the antenna so no interference from spare tire or Jeep. I'm building a 1980s Grand Wagoner with a HellCat motor. That will get and MXT500, antenna switcher, and twoMidland antennas. They 3db Bull bar center of roof and the 7.5db Grand Vista fiberglass whip mounted either on rear bumper or to the swing out tire carrier

So far I haven’t needed the range my 50w can muster. I wouldn’t mind a quick change to a rear whip antenna for the times I might need it. And otherwise run with my stubby ghost antenna.

I wonder if I could ’Tee’ off of the line and screw on a rear whip when I want?

 

[steelponycowboy]

So far I haven’t needed the range my 50w can muster. I wouldn’t mind a quick change to a rear whip antenna for the times I might need it. And otherwise run with my stubby ghost antenna.

I wonder if I could ’Tee’ off of the line and screw on a rear whip when I want?

You can connect them and choose which on you want to use by buying an antenna switcher. They have cheap ones which can fail do be sure to buy the $100 made in America military grade switcher. I've found over the last 4 years that the Ghost antenna doesn't perform well unless it is mounted at the highest point of the vehicle. lots of people say ad long as they can get out a Mike or so that they don't care. personally if I'm going to spend $340 on a 50 watt radio I want it to reach out and touch someone. it's not all about just being able to talk to a small number of people in your group but being able to talk distance to another person miles away or hit a repeater in case of an emergency. then again my club is purely an Overland club with our average trip running 6 to 8 days and 800 to 1200 miles and we do more than a few every year. Range and clarity is paramount to our dedication to safety otherwise we'd still be using CBs

 

[steelponycowboy]

You can connect them and choose which on you want to use by buying an antenna switcher. They have cheap ones which can fail do be sure to buy the $100 made in America military grade switcher. I've found over the last 4 years that the Ghost antenna doesn't perform well unless it is mounted at the highest point of the vehicle. lots of people say ad long as they can get out a Mike or so that they don't care. personally if I'm going to spend $340 on a 50 watt radio I want it to reach out and touch someone. it's not all about just being able to talk to a small number of people in your group but being able to talk distance to another person miles away or hit a repeater in case of an emergency. then again my club is purely an Overland club with our average trip running 6 to 8 days and 800 to 1200 miles and we do more than a few every year. Range and clarity is paramount to our dedication to safety otherwise we'd still be using CBs

One more thing. You can't use a T and have two antennas connected at the same time. You'll have all kinds of tranmit issues and might seriously damage your radio. You need a switcher to keep the two antennas separated

Sponsored