jwalsh7107

Thank you for all the input, it was helpful to me. I think I will start saving for the repeater. The location I was going to put it was my pole barn. The roof height is approximately 17/18 feet. I was planning on putting a j pole at the peak and then mount an antenna to it. I am open on recommendations for an antenna. I will also invest in a good quality coaxial cable. I see how that is important.

That is what I was thinking, I guess my own problem is in my head is that Im wondering from a centralized location on my farm is how many more fars would a 10 watt Midland repeater kick out vs a 5 watt h/t. I like the idea of the repeater and more handhelds, plus the handhelds go for under 30 so if it gets lost or broken its not the end of the world.

I am new to the GMRS scene but have been doing alot of research the past few months. I did get my GMRS license. I have a 250 acre farm and live in a rural area of south central KY. I bought 4 Tidradio H3 gmrs radios to use on the farm. I bought the radios to use for safety reasons, many areas on my farm do not receive cell service and if someone is out working we will have radio communications. My house and barn is located on the highest point basically in the center of my land. The H3 ht’s worked remarkably well and I received clear tx/rx all across the farm to the house. I still need to test h/t to h/t from farthest point to farthest point which is about 1-3/4 miles. I do have some elevation drops and trees. Anyway my question is this. I was looking into a Midland 10 watt repeater and external mast antenna mounted in my barn which is highest point/central on my land. But I am wondering if that would be better than maybe a 50 watt gmrs mobile with mast antenna and some 20 watt mobil radios in my side by sides and tractor. What i would like to get by using the repeater would be 5-10 miles coverage around my farm. The closest GMRS repeater is I think around 50 miles from my location zip code 42166. I didn't want to spend 1500 on a btech repeater but I am wondering if the 10 watt Midland would be enough? I am surprised Midland hasn’t made a higher wattage repeater yet.

New to the GMRS scene, looking to gain more information on this site. Right now I have 4 Tidradio H3 radios to use around my farm. Still have much to learn about the radio and GMRS in general.