Article Exposing Outrageous Range Claims Of Consumer Frs/gmrs Radios.

[BBB]

Henry can help with the range issue ...

 

[Soup-man]

Physics was one subject I did not take in high school because my dad would kick my ass every time I brought home another F. Had I learned even just a little about physics, I would be able to explain to you what Line of Sight is, or how far is the radio horizon. Not to mention that you can have all the power in the world, and still not be able to transmit in some directions more then a couple of 100 yards. I guess the proof was in the pudding the other day when I took a guy up on a hill with a J pole antenna and a old leaf net pole for a swimming pool. I stuck the antenna up in the air, atop a summit and talked 60 miles in every direction on 145 MHz. But with the same antenna, couldn't talk more then 45 miles on UHF - with the same amount of power. Even 11 meters, a little power is nice, but all the power in the world won't help your cause when the band is not open. The little handheld FRS radios were designed not to talk more than a couple of miles, that was how they got around needing a license to use them! It's real hard to interfere with a licensed radio service when your radio can't operate split and cannot produce enough power to interfere with someone with an external antenna and 5 -25 watts.

 

[mechanic]

Rather late on this....

I found two looking like brand new, Motorola Talk Abouts #T5000 in a dumpster, clean too! With fresh batteries my wife and I were about two miles apart through trees, with nice FM clarity and I am sure they could do more ! Free is good!!
Most of the prattle on the box is not true but some radios do well! I have a pair of cobras and paid good bucks for them with far less range then the Motorolas.