Distance issue Motorola Maxtrac & X-300

[linboogy]

Yes, there is a noticeable difference. I can hear the remote station that's 3 miles with quite a bit of static. The connectors are UHF soldered. The only adapter is from UHF to mini UHF to plug into the Motorola. The previous x-300 antenna had a N connector that I had adapted from UHF to N because radio shack did not have a N connector other than a UHF adapter.
Would the high SWR effect my receive?

 

[linboogy]

Making some progress but still some confusion
Got the SWR down from 4ish to almost to the point where the needle will not move! I had to do a lot of trimming. It is raining very hard here today constantly so this was not the best day to test but I did it anyway. I started by driving with an Ht1000 with a stubby antenna and was able to travel about 15 miles with some dead spots in between before I could no longer understand my wife. She could hear me consistently from about 6-7 miles away but when it was done, it was done. I actually heard her pop in with a lot of static at 17 miles but at that point I was turning around. I was rather relieved at this point. After returning home I called the station that's 3 miles away with a different radio than they used before when we tested and still no luck. If this person opens the door and stands in the door way, they can hear me with a lot of static and I can just barley hear them if I open the squelch. So I have come to the conclusion that there must be something about the area the 3 mile station is in. Although its nearly flat between us, its just not making the trip but my ht will. This new antenna is only 6.5 DB gain and the one that did not work was 9.1. I am wondering if before my SWR was really bad causing it not to work on the original antenna. I would really like to have the extra DB gain because that might be enough to make this setup reliable. I am considering trying to find a local HAM in the Cincinnati area that I could pay to help me or at least give me a scientific reason as to why this wont work LOL.
Eric

 

[mformby]

When you took possession of the HT1000's I am assuming that you took them to a radio shop to have them reprogrammed. Did they also check the specs of the radios; receiver sensitivity and RF power out? The Base could be working just fine but if the portables are deaf you are fighting a losing battle. I would definately check out that end also. Raising your antenna another 5 feet won't help much. There are many grades of RG-8 with different percentage of shielding. Yours could be leaking a lot of signal if too cheap.

 

[linboogy]

Thanks for the response
I had all the HT's all sent out for programming. I don't know if they were tuned but I would assume not.
The funny thing is, the ht's can reach each other at a rather impressive distance. I have been on another sight and the theory is that the HT1000 has a UHF stubby antenna meaning its 1/4th wave. Because of this, it may have an impact on the terrain and hills versus my 5/8 wave base antenna????
I should be receiving another radio today. Its a Motorola CDM1550-LS+
I am curious if it makes any difference as well.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

You may have a bad mic...I had a maxtrac that sounded horrible and always weak. Ended up being a bad mic. Was the maxtrac programmes for local or dx?

Sent from my ME173X using Tapatalk

 

[RandyKnowles]

linboogy -

The best test meter for your needs is a Bird Model 43 WattMeter. With prober frequency/power slugs and proper dummy load you can determine exactly what is going on with your radio output power, LMR-400 transmission line (this is good cable for UHF in theory) and antenna matching. The Bird Model 43 is several hundred dollars, so you need to find someone from a commercial radio shop, Ham Radio, GMRS Repeater system, etc. that has a Bird that could measure everything for for you. I have one for my GMRS System and I'd be glad to help you, but I'm in Illinois and will not be in Ohio until September.

Your base installation should greatly out perform hand-held to hand-held results, so I suspect something is way off in your base installation. Output power (within reaswonable limits) is not nearly as important as antenna height. Power usually only aids in penetration (through trees and leaves, etc.) within the range determined by antenna height.

Another factor is antenna gain. The greater the gain the closer to the horizion your signal is concentrated. If you are in terrain with lots of hills and valleys excessive gain can actually hurt your results. Good luck finding someone with a Bird Model 43 Wattmeter!!

Randy Knowles, KAA 8142