WRJW518

I are a engineer so can't help with affects of English on effect.

By the way, I love the San Jaun Islands. So pretty. Excellent boating. Looked at moving to Roche Harbor area many years ago

There are many vendors claiming LMR400 such as (9Bolton400 Cable (BT512167) - LMR®400 Equivalent) Are they really equivalent? What do you suggest?

Or since these are base stations I know where he is located I could get a Yagi. (HYS YAGI Antenna High Gain 9dBi UHF 70cm Base Antenna UHF 400-470 MHz 5 Elements Antenna for Motorola Repeater Kenwood Baofeng 2-Way Radio) Or (HYS UHF Base Antenna, 390-470Mhz 43.3inches Outdoor Variable Frequency Antenna for Icom Midland Yaesu Kenwood Mobile Radio Transceiver Repeater)

Even though I think the problem is on his end, I'm going to replace my antenna and go to the LMR400 for a 50ft run. What antenna do you suggest for gmrs? I'm looking at (AYESOK Fiberglass GMRS Base Antenna (462-467 MHZ), 7.2dBi High Gain UHF GMRS Repeater Antenna Signal Booster for BTECH Midland Retevis QYT GMRS Radios HT Scanner Motorola Repeater) https://www.amazon.com/UAYESOK-Fiberglass-Antenna-Repeater-Motorola/dp/B0CF9DV3ZM/ref=pd_ybh_a_sccl_25/146-0695578-8370424?pd_rd_w=FBWAx&content-id=amzn1.sym.67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_p=67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_r=9DPYD2KNB8H9YJAMXRGS&pd_rd_wg=e3cVP&pd_rd_r=7a21f6a6-b3d9-4951-b510-185e6c2127f8&pd_rd_i=B0CF9DV3ZM&psc=1 Any other suggestion?

Ok, I got info on my brother's antenna cable. It doesn't have numbers on it but it is only 1/8 inch OD diameter and runs 100ft. I'm guessing since receiving doesn't take much power he can hear me, but when he goes to broadcast he is eating all his power up in the coax. Do you agree with that idea? I'm going to have him bump up to the LMR400 suggested by tweiss3 unless you suggest something different. He got the cable at radioshack. I guess he told the guy he needed 100ft coax for gmrs and that is what they gave him. My guess is the guy at Radioshack only recognized the word coax.

About 10 miles away there is a hill that prevents direct line of sight. But like I said he hears me perfectly. I'm leaning towards my magnetic based antenna as posted earlier.

Sshannon, The terrain is interesting. He is a few miles away from the mountains. I'm up against the mountains. The mountain is substantial. 3000 ft above my house and I'm on the bench. So we are 30 miles apart. I"m 1500 ft higher. And we are broadcasting north & south along the mountain range, but not through it.

I like the idea of swapping components one at a time. My radio is midland mxt115 15W. He also has same radio we tried at first. He could hear me fine, but I couldn't hear him. He swapped to 40W and I could kind of hear him. Don't know the make of 40W. I also realized my antenna Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna – Quadruple Signal Output – 32” Which is designed to go on a car. I am new to this and didn't realize the magnetic base antennas are using the car metal as a ground plane. My antenna is mounted on top of a 30ft metal pole, so it is not the way the antenna was designed. Whereas my brothers antenna is a UAYESOK Fiberglass GMRS Base Antenna (462-467 MHZ), 7.2dBi High Gain UHF GMRS Repeater Antenna which is designed to be mounted on a pole and has a ground plane built into it. My coax is 45ft of RG8X. I will need to drive up and find out his configuration.

Thanks OffRoaderX. That is the info I was hoping for. I didn't want to focus on the antenna if that was an unlikely issue. Does SWR tunning only affect transmission, or does it affect reception as well?

Maybe a simpler way to state the problem is his antenna is 7dbGain and mine is 6db. Is the 1db difference enough such that his 40W signal is too weak for my 6db but my 15W is fine for his 7db antenna?

My antenna is Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna – Quadruple Signal Output – 32” Antenna at 20ft above house. My brother antenna is UAYESOK Fiberglass GMRS Base Antenna (462-467 MHZ), 7.2dBi High Gain UHF GMRS Repeater Antenna also 20ft above house. We are 30mile apart. I have midlan 15W transmitter and he can hear me just fine. He has 40 watt transmitter and I can kind of hear him. I know my antenna is tuned to 1.5swr. I don't know his antenna condition. Is he picking me up just because his antenna is better or would you be more suspicious of his tuning?

My antenna is Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna – Quadruple Signal Output – 32” Antenna at 20ft above house. My brother antenna is UAYESOK Fiberglass GMRS Base Antenna (462-467 MHZ), 7.2dBi High Gain UHF GMRS Repeater Antenna also 20ft above house. We are 30mile apart. I have midlan 15W transmitter and he can hear me just fine. He has 40 watt transmitter and I can kind of hear him. I know my antenna is tuned to 1.5swr. I don't know his antenna condition. Is he picking me up just because his antenna is better or would you be more suspicious of his tuning?