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Okay, I'm hooked. I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news. I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses. Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms. The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/) No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11. Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well. I'm hooked. Cheers, Ken (WRFC318)

There is a reason we are suppose to clear the air for emergency traffic. Sometimes the phones go down, or the battery dies, or we leave them home. Such an incident happened to a family member on her way to work. A vehicle had taken out a pole, continued on into a fenced off area containing a cell tower destroyed a trailer that was in there. The cell tower went down and all cell coverage dropped. Having seen all this, and being an emt, she called by radio and gave me what info she had and her location, I then relayed the info through to the PD using a neighbors phone (We use cell phones so no landline in the house.) Officers were dispatched and driver was charged with DUI. Turns out the trailer was running as a temporary controller until a part could be replaced in the little brick hut next to the tower. When the car struck the trailer it damaged the coax jumper going to the tower and the equipment inside. When it went down the next closest tower was about 5 miles out with heavy pine forests and hills in-between them.

You can build one: "https://m0ukd.com/calculators/quarter-wave-ground-plane-antenna-calculator" or you can buy one, aforementioned BR-6140, that I use above my roof. It is on newegg for $35, which is a steal. Cable, like LMR-240 or RG-8X will probably be as or more expensive, depending on the length you need to run to your attic. And it's all futile if you have this new OSB with aluminum foil anywhere on your roof. Or concrete tile. In that case you'd need to put antenna outside, but thanks for the short wavelength of GMRS, it will be trivial to hide or disguise. And with regard to the cable, LMR-400 or RG-213 would be better, of course, but not really handy when connected to HT, because they are 1/2" thick (give or take). You'd need short patch cables with connectors that will drive up the cost. Of course, cost may be, or may not be a factor for your situation. Anyway, consult these tables for the loss: "https://w4rp.com/ref/coax.html"

Ok. I installed a nagoya ground plane kit on my midland mobile 6db whip in the attic and ran 50 feet of LMR400. Installed a tram 1480 base antenna at my son's. It's approximately 22 feet off the ground, above his roof line, 50 feet LMR400. We can talk clearly on 3 GMRS channels. The others are very noisy. There is a noise floor on those three, but the voices are clear and legible. I was concerned about the Tram not being tuned for GMRS, but the SWR was low according to my cheap analyzer so I went for it. I'm glad I did, because this gets us talking and has him ready for amateur bands when we get our tech licenses. When we do, I'll swap the attic midland for a dual amateur band nmo mobile and we're all set. Also, I am able to hit some vhf and uhf repeaters in my area (within 10-15 miles) with my midland antenna on low power. I didn't try at his mom's but I suspect his set up will be much better as he's closer to downtown Columbus and his antenna has more gain. I'm liking these Retevis mobile radios. They're very easy to program with a tablet or phone. Once you get them programmed, you don't need them. You can change channel, volume right from the mic and the mic tells you the channel. The audio sounds fine to me. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

And, that is true. However, the issue I was raising was, is a flattened radiation pattern really the best choice for your application. If you are in hilly our mountainous terrain (you are in Nevada, right) then a flattened pattern may not be the best choice. However, in the end, the small differences in radiation would probably make no discernible difference. That is why I'd go with the lowest cost solution - for this application. Now, if you were a delivery driver in Kansas, maybe a hi-gain antenna would make a real difference.

not to rain on this idea, as i think it's a good one. i WILL give midland a little credit, though, as they DO actually have an article on the licensing topic (and include "license required" in the product descriptions, at least for the micromobiles, though you have to "read more" to see it), and reasons to get licensed. as you said, though, their primary focus is selling product, so it isn't particularly easy for the average person to find. i did a lot of digging and reading before i pulled the trigger on radios, and stumbled across it. https://midlandusa.com/why-do-i-need-a-gmrs-license-how-do-i-get-it/ i definitely think there's still room to expand on the topic, and make the information a lot more accessible than they have (get it more up-front), also know it's a balance being careful not to "borrow" or end up too similar to theirs. this site (and forum) are one of the places i did a lot of reading before jumping in. on the main thread topic, though, one small idea that comes to mind...maybe i missed it, but i didn't see an actual designated spot for "(New) Member Intros", just a few scattered in the general discussion and the private discussion areas.

BTW, I honestly don't understand why you just don't go with a simple 1/4 wave NMO mount antenna. They are dirt cheap, and easily replaced. A fiberglass antenna, no matter how rugged, will shatter if it hits a low hanging branch, overhead rocks, or even the ground (for flipper). A simple metal 1/4 wave will just bend over and can be straightened out in seconds (or replaced with a spare).

You have mentioned the suitability of an antenna for repeaters and simplex as though the two things are inherently different. Well, to some (very tiny) extent they are, in that with a repeater your transmit and receive frequencies are 5mHz apart, so there is a small degree to which an antenna might be tuned differently depending on whether the main use was simplex (tuned right on frequency) or duplex (somewhere between the Tx and Rx). But, that is really pretty insignificant. On the other hand, an antenna's radiation pattern can make a difference depending on the physical relationship between two stations talking simplex, or a station talking to a repeater. But, since many repeaters are actually located pretty close to the ground, like on roof tops, and two stations on a jeep trail could be several hundred vertical feet apart, you can't really say any particular "gain" pattern is better for one or another. However, as others have noted, a simple 1/4 wave may well be the best compromise, especially in a situation where both stations are in motion.

That stubby antenna is more than likely a 5/8 or 3/4 wave normal mode helical antenna. It would have not as much gain as a true 5/8 wave, but due to a low-angle "flattened doughnut" radiation pattern, it would have slightly more gain than a 1/4 wave antenna. ... theoretically.

A UHF Phantom antenna is NOT 3-5 dB gain. At best, it's a zero gain. You'll see them advertised as a 2.5 gain dBi (Gain over an isotropic) - which is Zero dB gain. Some people decide that 2.5 dBi rounds up to 3 dBi for advertising purposes, and since most people don't know or care to figure out what the difference is - it means that dBi ratings sell more antennas. If you want a true Gain antenna in UHF, you're going to need something taller than 1/4 wavelength. That said, the Phantom antennas are decent enough for what they are, but don't expect any miracles.

You're welcome. Yes... the antenna works great for me on GMRS. At the power levels GMRS works at, any SWR 2.0 or less, you are safe. 1.5 or better, you should get good performance with minimal power loss.