Hello all, and thanks in advance for any help you may shed light on
I have just recently purchased a Motorola Maxtrac 25 watt UHF and X-300 base antenna. The radio is programed for our local skywarn and our family GMRS freq. The system was set up so I can talk to relatives that are in my area ranging from 3 miles to 10 miles via Motorola Ht1000's in the event of a disaster or emergency. I have installed the X-300 base antenna on a 10 foot piece of mast in the back yard and used RG8 50 ohm coax to the radio.
The problem is that I cant even hardly reach the relative that lives only 3 miles away. They can hear me with a great deal of static but I cant hear them at all even with the squelch broken. I have also tested this with my wife by driving around the area and it seems to only reach reliably about 1 mile give or take with a handheld in the car. I have multi meter tested my connections and all are ok. I even temporarily setup a Diamond mobile dual band antenna with even worse results. I cant believe this is all of the range I can get out of this setup.
Should I extend the antenna up higher?
Thanks again for looking and I apologize if I posted this in the wrong forum
Thanks
Eric
I have just recently purchased a Motorola Maxtrac 25 watt UHF and X-300 base antenna. The radio is programed for our local skywarn and our family GMRS freq. The system was set up so I can talk to relatives that are in my area ranging from 3 miles to 10 miles via Motorola Ht1000's in the event of a disaster or emergency. I have installed the X-300 base antenna on a 10 foot piece of mast in the back yard and used RG8 50 ohm coax to the radio.
The problem is that I cant even hardly reach the relative that lives only 3 miles away. They can hear me with a great deal of static but I cant hear them at all even with the squelch broken. I have also tested this with my wife by driving around the area and it seems to only reach reliably about 1 mile give or take with a handheld in the car. I have multi meter tested my connections and all are ok. I even temporarily setup a Diamond mobile dual band antenna with even worse results. I cant believe this is all of the range I can get out of this setup.
Should I extend the antenna up higher?
Thanks again for looking and I apologize if I posted this in the wrong forum
Thanks
Eric