Get 2 miles or more from an FRS/GMRS radio
by David Harvey VK2DMH on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 | 2 Comments
I have a Midland GXT 800 VP4 FRS/GMRS walkie talkie radio. I would like it to cover two miles or further than that.
The information on the box calls it a 26-mile radio, so that shouldn’t be too hard. Should it?
If you couldn't you find what you were looking for, search here to find it using Google!
No related posts.
Hills, buildings, trees and other obstacles between your radio and the one you are trying to talk to can all affect your signals by blocking them or making them weaker.
Note that there are different power levels you can use, and you should use the lower power settings if they provide the communication you need. Unless you have a GMRS license, you should only use this radio on the FRS channels, which have lower power levels too.
My own FRS/GMRS radios work pretty reliably over 1-2 miles, but for more than 2-3 miles I really need an unobstructed path between the radios. This means getting up on some hilltop or away from any trees and other obstructions. Even if you were both on high towers or hilltops, I cannot believe these types of handheld radios could reach that far.
Don’t believe the wildly optimistic distances claimed by all the FRS radio manufacturers. FRS radios are especially designed to FCC specs to ensure the signals are NOT effective over any long distance, and GMRS radios are not much better unless you can connect via a radio repeater. These systems pick up your signal on one channel and re-broadcast it on another; and their antennas are usually on top of buildings, hills or towers – for maximum distance and coverage. But you have to buy a license to use GMRS.