two hand held with real 5 mile range

[Gmrsrancher]

No. You are absolutely not doing 50+ miles simplex between two handheld GMRS radios.

Actually it happens each and every day. You’re the same type of person that says I can’t do 200miles with a 20w eadio but again it happens each and every day. Line of sight is key. I have spoken 63 miles with a $20 5w hand held and a $12 771 antenna. Don’t you know a 5w hand held will and has talked to the space station?

Line of sight, sure. Otherwise two handheld radios at 5ft off the ground in a flat urban or suburban environment, no. I’ve been trying that for 40yrs and it just doesn’t work.

Line of sight, sure. Otherwise two handheld radios at 5ft off the ground in a flat urban or suburban environment, no. I’ve been trying that for 40yrs and it just doesn’t work

Line of sight, sure. Otherwise two handheld radios at 5ft off the ground in a flat urban or suburban environment, no. I’ve been trying that for 40yrs and it just doesn’t work.

Yup happens each and every day in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Orange County, inland empire. Very large big city’s of Southern California. Just gotta have the right equipment. I feel so sorry for the new guys that believe the 2 big gmrs lies. Number 1, you can talk all over the country coast to coast. Number 2. Gmrs can’t go over x number of miles say 5miles hand held and 20-30with a 50w base station or mobile rig. Especially when they spend big bucks on junky radios like midland, woxoun or rugged, then neuter them with over priced junky antennas.

 

[AK9R]

Don’t you know a 5w hand held will and has talked to the space station?

Let's see. Your antenna at 5 feet above ground. ISS antenna at 254 miles above ground.

The earth curves. If your antenna is at 5 feet AGL and the other person's antenna is at 5 feet AGL, the "radio horizon" for each transmitter is about 3.2 miles making the total line of sight about 6.4 miles. This is a well-known fact in RF engineering.

 

[prcguy]

Actually it happens each and every day. You’re the same type of person that says I can’t do 200miles with a 20w eadio but again it happens each and every day. Line of sight is key. I have spoken 63 miles with a $20 5w hand held and a $12 771 antenna. Don’t you know a 5w hand held will and has talked to the space station?

I‘ve talked 22,300mi through a satellite with a 5w handheld. Yes people might talk everyday from a high point to another handheld 5mi away but where I live you can’t get 5mi at ground level between two 5w handhelds. Sometimes you can’t get 1mile range due to dense buildings in the way. In my area we have a weekly neighborhood watch/CERT radio check in using 2 to 5w UHF handhelds where users are spread out about 1.5 miles apart and many cannot make contact.

 

[alcahuete]

Actually it happens each and every day. You’re the same type of person that says I can’t do 200miles with a 20w eadio but again it happens each and every day. Line of sight is key. I have spoken 63 miles with a $20 5w hand held and a $12 771 antenna. Don’t you know a 5w hand held will and has talked to the space station?

Uh huh. Midland might as well put 239,000 mile range on the box because I'm sure you could use GMRS to talk to another GMRS station on the moon, assuming the Part 95 license by rule would cover the moon. That is TBD.

You can beg to differ on the listed range all day long. It doesn't change the fact that under most use cases, the GMRS radios don't get anywhere close to the range they put on the box. There are always extreme cases...one radio or repeater up on a mountain, in an airplane, on a satellite, on the moon. At what point does the marketing become completely absurd?

The OP specifically stated suburban environment. If you think your GMRS handhelds are going to get 50 miles in that environment, I have a bridge to sell you...

 

[MTS2000des]

Video or it didn't happen. Sure, if one is on a mountain top one can use a 5 watt portable and talk to someone in a valley 30+ miles away. In most of the real world, a 5 watt UHF portable radio is good for maybe 1-2 miles in terrain. This doesn't matter if it's an APX8000 or a Bowelturd. Physics don't change.

 

[prcguy]

Video or it didn't happen. Sure, if one is on a mountain top one can use a 5 watt portable and talk to someone in a valley 30+ miles away. In most of the real world, a 5 watt UHF portable radio is good for maybe 1-2 miles in terrain. This doesn't matter if it's an APX8000 or a Bowelturd. Physics don't change.

So are you going on your first and only experience with a couple of bubble pack radios or do you actually know what you’re talking about? Please elaborate.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Probably the same guy on the GMRS forums that babbles this stuff..most have ignored him already.

 

[steve9570]

I think that in the 68 years of using "them" I do know they differ. Just commenting on my
use of the Rapid Radios that are not radios. They work for me and I am happy.

Steve

 

[MTS2000des]

So are you going on your first and only experience with a couple of bubble pack radios or do you actually know what you’re talking about? Please elaborate.

Really? I've been in LMR for 30 years. My experience is with everything from bubble packs, CCRs, P25, NXDN, DMR...portable to portable on UHF in the terrain we have here on the ground gives you 1-2 miles max. The range claims of many of these mass marketed portables are based on calculations on open flat terrain in free space with no obstructions and ideal conditions. Tell me you disagree.

In 2006, I was visiting a friend's family in rural Arkansas (Osceola) and had a Kenwood TK-3140 with a stubby and on a second story hotel room, I could talk to him (he was on a MOBILE) on UHF ham about 10 miles away. It's flat and little foliage. Beyond that, in metro Atlanta, you're doing good to get the average large subdivision with reliable portable coverage on UHF simplex.

I've done coverage acceptance testing on 3 different trunked radio systems here, two 800MHz P25 and one UHF MotoTRBO Linked CapPlus. I think I know what the fork I'm talking about.

 

[prcguy]

Really? I've been in LMR for 30 years. My experience is with everything from bubble packs, CCRs, P25, NXDN, DMR...portable to portable on UHF in the terrain we have here on the ground gives you 1-2 miles max. The range claims of many of these mass marketed portables are based on calculations on open flat terrain in free space with no obstructions and ideal conditions. Tell me you disagree.

In 2006, I was visiting a friend's family in rural Arkansas (Osceola) and had a Kenwood TK-3140 with a stubby and on a second story hotel room, I could talk to him (he was on a MOBILE) on UHF ham about 10 miles away. It's flat and little foliage. Beyond that, in metro Atlanta, you're doing good to get the average large subdivision with reliable portable coverage on UHF simplex.

I've done coverage acceptance testing on 3 different trunked radio systems here, two 800MHz P25 and one UHF MotoTRBO Linked CapPlus. I think I know what the fork I'm talking about.

Thank you for your professional summary.

 

[rf_patriot200]

I beg to differ with the range stated here with gmrs hand helds. While I totally agree it has very little to do with brand, make, model, price ext. a 5w hand held with line of sight and a decent antenna can easily do 50plus miles. I do it each and every day simplex and into repeaters.

Are you taking into account obstructions, such as concrete & steel structures, Heavy foliage such as trees and brush ? These things WILL limit your range significantly and Foliage tends to soak up rf energy like a sponge. Ground elevation and hilly terrain all play a Big part in this as well. IS there Enhanced propagation conditions occurring as you're talking? WE have all been there, and tried that...

 

[prcguy]

Are you taking into account obstructions, such as concrete & steel structures, Heavy foliage such as trees and brush ? These things WILL limit your range significantly and Foliage tends to soak up rf energy like a sponge. Ground elevation and hilly terrain all play a Big part in this as well. IS there Enhanced propagation conditions occurring as you're talking? WE have all been there, and tried that...

When I was working I tried a couple of 1/2 watt FRS radios around the 5 acre property where my office was and there were places outdoors where you could not communicate at all. Think about that, you have two hand held radios a little over 100yds apart but with a big building in the way and they can’t talk. So how are two 5w hand held radios supposed to talk 5mi when you might have 20 big buildings in the way?