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FRS Range

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kayn1n32008

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Not much, too many factors to give a solid number. With .5w at 462/467MHz I would not expect much.
 

Rt169Radio

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Like someone already said,it depends on many different factors,and one of those main ones is the terrain.You could get full range of the radio in flat land or on top of something really tall,but if your in a hilly,rocky,tall and even urban terrain it will cut the range of the radio down greatly.
 

cmpsa

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FRS radios are only 0.5-watts output power. So that's 5/10's of a watt. and typically 1-watt output power is equal to 1-mile line-of-site. and.. the UHF frequency range also works worse if you are using it while in the woods -vs- if you were out in the open, like on the street or in an open field or park.

Conclusion: Approximately 1/2-mile or less (line-of-site) w/ out any obstructions (i.e. buildings, hills, trees, etc).
 
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gewecke

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Our custodians and maint. crew at work use a handful of the cobra frs radios on a daily basis at our electronic mfg. facility throughout the building which is single story, concrete and steel and approx. 225,000 sq. feet. They don't seem to have much problem talking to each other with only 500 milliwatts.


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n9zas
 

mmckenna

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A couple of things I've observed over the years about FRS radios:

If you look at the FCC type certifications for FRS radios, while they are advertised as "500 milliwatts", the actual ERP (Effective Radiated Power, which accounts for antenna gain, etc) is often well below 500mw, often more like 200 - 300 mw. The limiting factor is the antenna. This is by design, FCC intended FRS to be a short range service, so the rules about not being able to remove the antenna are there to keep you from adding a higher gain antenna.

So, 300mw into an antenna designed to be lousy at best will result in short range.

Poor receiver sensitivity, due to mass production, component value variances, etc can often make them a little hard of hearing.

UHF is pretty good at building penetration, not so good at foliage/tree penetration. How far they will reach will often depend more on your environment than anything else.

UHF is more of a "line of site" band. The higher up the antenna is, the farther it will reach. Urban ground level distances could be a mile or less. Get one up on top of a building or mountain, and you will see much farther distances.

Short answer, I wouldn't count on more than 1/2 a mile. Less if you are trying to use the radio inside a car (basically a big steel cage that blocks RF).
 

kb2vxa

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"1/4-1/2 mile"
That's about right, thanks for keeping it simple.

"Our custodians and maint. crew at work use a handful of the cobra frs radios on a daily basis at our electronic mfg. facility throughout the building which is single story, concrete and steel and approx. 225,000 sq. feet."

Square feet aren't linear feet, you made no mention of the floor plan. UHF bounces around like radar making it ideal for that sort of application.
 

gewecke

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"1/4-1/2 mile"
That's about right, thanks for keeping it simple.

"Our custodians and maint. crew at work use a handful of the cobra frs radios on a daily basis at our electronic mfg. facility throughout the building which is single story, concrete and steel and approx. 225,000 sq. feet."

Square feet aren't linear feet, you made no mention of the floor plan. UHF bounces around like radar making it ideal for that sort of application.

That's true, which is probably why it works in this instance. :)

73,
n9zas
 
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