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Hello i am new on GMRS band and live in Back Creek Valley area here in the panhandle of WV. Looking to hear from others in area we are using 462.700 simplex at this time. 73 Al / WQXH590

Hello Dennis - Thanks for stopping by. We have found over the years by trial and error that RG8X may be OK for "CB" but the losses and the lack of broad frequency response makes it less than desirable for UHF. When you are starting with 5 watts, as advertised, getting as much power to the antenna as you can will give you much better results. The antennas that comes with the units are designed for mobile use where they sit on a car roof or trunk. That metal car surface gives the antenna something to radiate against and keeps the signal going horizontal. With no "ground plane" surface, the antenna will most likely interact with the mast and the TV antenna eating more power in the process. If you must use the antenna that the 'base' radio came with, construct a 24 gauge sheet steel circle 24 inches in diameter and L-Bracket it to the mast. Replace the RG8X with something like RG213 (for now) and stick the antenna to the top center of the sheet steel. That will give a ground plane surface and the better cable will get more power to the antenna. That should increase your range to 10 or 12 miles or so under AVERAGE conditions, depending on terrain (as you mentioned.) If this is just for keeping track of family members while on near-by errands, etc., this should work out OK. In the future, you could go with commercial gain type base and mobile antennas to extend the range even more. Good luck with things and please consider registering at our main website and then here at the forum. https://www.mygmrs.com/ `