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Millions of peaches, peaches for me ?

If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches every day...

You did and I appreciate it.

Not gonna lie, it would be interesting to see the results. I too believe they would be insignificant in a real world situation, but it would be interesting to see what the meter says, coupled with a subjective review of actual voice reception.

For GMRS, I suspect 6" pine needles are a close match to a 1/4wave. It's one reason VHF (MURS @ 2W) is suggested for use in vegetation (and 2m Amateur is probably good too, but the licensing may be a pain for some, vs no license for MURS and no-test /family/ license for GMRS). You get a reverse condition in cities. Windows and door frames (in particular, the metal ones used on office buildings) tend to block VHF signals, while smaller UHF waves can penetrate. One reason many urban public safety systems are migrating even higher, to the 800MHz region.

WHAT! You're giving up 500W?

I knew what you were referring to. I can tell you understand this stuff. I was just trying to clarify it a bit.

Our Delta repeater in Southern California easily gets farz of 60+ miles, with the record so far being 120 miles from its location near Mt. Baldy California to Chiriaco Summit east of Palm Springs.

There are 2 repeaters around here that have solid, uninterrupted coverage for a 30 miles radius and the scattered covered (50% to 70% covered) for a 90 mile radius. Keep in mind that repeaters like this have the coverage they do because they are going to be up on a hill or mountain with an elevation advantage of over 1,000 feet compared to the coverage area. When an antenna is only 30 to 50 feet off the ground in a relatively flat area, you are only going to get about 5 to 8 miles. Moving up to 300 feet might bump it to 25 or 30 miles, depending on the rest of the terrain.

Thanks! Much better than how mine read. I agree, having an additional ground rod isn’t by itself bad as long as it’s not a separate ground rod. It must be bonded to the system ground, regardless of how that system ground is provided, whether it’s a length of copper pipe, an ufer ground (rebar in concrete), or an eight foot ground rod in the ground. If multiple ground rods are bonded together, it’s ideal to space them about two times their depth apart.

I did notice that you mentioned you had an 8 watt radio while out with others that had 5 so I thought that might be the case ?

I agree on the definition. I have to say... I am a power junky. So, I will always take more power. It just seems like a no-brainer. I have a 1,000w amp at the house for a reason. ^^^ This is fantastic!

@diddlyv You could have multiple ground rods but they would absolutely need to be bonded together and the wire running from one to the next needs to be uninterrupted (no splice). First because you need to be bonded at the main service and two because of what @Sshannon described. So either way you are running wire back to the main ground rod.

Ground it to house electrical ground rod by the meter. If use use a ground rod at the antenna, bond it to the house ground also.

Oh, I'm not fighting, just having a discussion. Thats probably why it looks like I'm bad at fighting. LoL I'm not disputing your technical point that more power equals more penetration or improved range. That is just matter of fact. My contention is more a matter of the significance of the improvement. That said, just to be friendly and see if you are correct or not, I am 100% willing to go in the woods behind my house with a radio and a field strength metere to conduct an actual measured test of the situation you are describing. Now, if you just want to have an exercise in rhetoric rather than discover usable and actionable information, then I'm not goto do the test. @everyone... if anyone wants me to do the test, I will, but I have no interest in doing it for my own sake. So, if anyone wants it, just let me know.

I thought it was move to the country eat a lot of peaches, or something like that.?

No those are licensed part 90 frequencies.

There's a guy here in SoCal who lives on a boat and uses the same worn-out line every time he gets on, often multiple times a day. He asks for a radio check, and as soon as some poor sap responds, this guy says "I was doing some work on my antenna and I want to see how it's working." Seriously, how much work, and how often, does a two-meter quarter-wave antenna take to keep on the air?

Did they explain how the radios hack into and connect to a WiFi with a password? PS - I am not only a Navy Pilot, but also an Army General, so you should listen to what I say.

We have seen that the Google, Bing, Ask and other search engine spybots are camped out here reading new posts. Just a word to the wise... use your discretion in posting personal or sensative information that could possibly compromise your personal safety, security, lead to identity theft, or give non-licensed individuals a way to access your radio systems.