WRUE915

I started the same way... CB for off road comms. Then came over to GMRS, and eventually became a ham too. Fun stuff.

Now you got the bug!

My answer... use one the FRS frequencies and turn down the power on the radios you give your children/family (or get actual FRS radios). 1 watt may be all you need. But in my opinion. You ID'ing for your family is enough. No reason to make your kids just say your callsign again. You are ID'ing for the group of family members to which your callsign grants them permissions.

Agreed... take away to bd348's point is, don't go cheap on the antenna. Budget a good antenna, and then buy the radio that suits your needs/budget.

Over distance, this can be true... from my experience

For UHF/VHF (GMRS) I just use the Surecom SW-102 off of Amazon. Gives you SWR, power, and shows the transmitted frequency. For cutting off the shelf whips and the like it works great. I also have a variant of the Nano VNA. It it more finicky to use, but does work and gives you tons of information. I use that when making HF antennas. Not necessary IMO for GMRS stuff. The surecom is easy to use right out of the box. And for the price I think it's worth it. Are there better? Sure, but you'll pay more than you probably paid for your radio... just my 2 cents from my experience.

I was talking about the MXTA 26, the 6db gain antenna. The MXTA 25 is the ghost or phantom antenna you may be taking about. I've never used it. But some like it. I would only recommend if you can't accommodate the MXTA 26 or equivalent.

On mobile ove had great success with the Midland MXTA 26. 5/8 over 5/8. Works much better than the Nagoya 72G I used to use. Although the Nagoya isn't bad. But noticeable difference.

Something to think about what discussing line of sight coms... not to be rude, but it's line of sight. I've heard of folks hitting repeaters or other users from mountain tops out to 100 miles on a 5 watt handheld. In that scenario, generally the difference between 5 watts and 50 watts would be the volume of your voice coming through on the other end. Power (wattage) equals volume. Power can help with clarity too when there are some obstructions or obstacles the signal pushes through or around. But not amount of power can get through certain obstacles. On the ham side, many people have 50-80 watt mobiles. But most of them will tell you they usually don't use more than 10-20 watts most of the time.

I use a 20 watt mobile right now for GMRS. The Radioddity DB-20G. It works great! I can get into repeaters 20-30 miles away depending on terrain. My base is the same radio with an antenna on the roof at 20 feet. Base to mobile I can talk 20 miles reliably. So 15 watts should be fine. I've also experimented base to base with a friend at 5 watts that was about 10 miles. Antenna setup is far more important than wattage fpr line of sight comms. Antenna height specifically.

Not to say his antennas are bad by any means, as I've never used one. But I love mine from Ed Fong. The roll up and PVC version are great. Fong is also an electrical engineer who specializes in RF engineering. Again, not to knock others who have copied his design. Just my experience. So take my 2 cents for what it's worth...

If you are choosing between those two, I would choose the Wouxun. Never used that particular nagoya. Been happy with their HT antennas though. That Wouxun is basically a Browning BR450 (or Tram variant) that is already tried for GMRS. I have the BR450 tried for GMRS and it is great. I also have the Midland MXTA26, which is equally excellent. Both similarly designed 5/8 over 5/8.

I played with the UV 50x2 (2nd gen) on HAM bands (yes I have a HAM license). This is supposedly the same radio as the GMRS 50v2. It was pushing 45 watts on UHF and 60 watts on VHF... and 40 watts for those higher UHF frequencies into a dummy load. So this makes sense. I'm not sure Btech did in fact "redesign" this radio for GMRS. Just took their UV model and locked it at GMRS frequencies. Either way, it got returned. But more so for the bad speaker mine came with. The front end is also not as sensitive. My 779UV is much more sensitive on receive. Overall quality of the radio seemed cheap and clunky. My experience has turned me off Btech, at least for their mobiles. It is a good price for 50 watts (or really 40). It works. But I feel there are better options in this price range... the Wouxun KG-XS20-G comes to mind. Many of which have been tested above 20 watts. I really wanted to like it... maybe I will give the GMRS 50v2 a look... for science. Nice to have a dedicated GMRS radio. But as always... YMMV

I almost order one as well... ok I'll wait a week

On Btech's website now... and Amazon https://baofengtech.com/product/gmrs-50v2/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNLT88FD/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&m=AA3MGRC7F9EI2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0BNLT88FD&linkCode=as2&tag=btek-20

Anyone get their hands on this one yet? Looks like MyGMRS is the only distributor that I could find. It's not even on Btech's website. Curious if it's improved from the 50v1 other than allowing for more channels. Thanks. https://shop.mygmrs.com/products/btech-gmrs-50v2-50w-gmrs-radio Edit: Just realized I posted this in the review channel. I am searching for a review as this is not that. Mods please move if required.

Yup. Time for a base station.

With 5 watt HTs standing on the roof of our 1 story houses about 8 miles away... simplex worked great! When I stood in the right spot anyways. Some picket fencing depending on where I was on the roof. A better base antenna and a touch more power should help. Thanks all for the tips.

Was hoping there was something more along the lines of CARLA and SCARLA (amateur radio) for GMRS. I want to communicate from the bay area to other locales in northern California such as Sacramento and Redding. But looks like I'll have to get more folks to HAM if I want that. http://www.carlaradio.net/

As for another good option for car antenna is the Nagoya UT-72G. $35 and comes with the magnetic base. I have one and it works really well. Also comes with a SMA adapter cable. But for your situation using BNC is a better way to go as suggested above. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/nagoya-ut-72g.html

Are there any linked GMRS repeaters in California? Tried googling... I know of a couple good linked HAM networks, but haven't seen or heard of any for GMRS. I specifically would be interested in something covering Norcal at least.

Thanks. That's my thought exactly. My question is this then... with NO ground plane on any of the antenna, will the 1/2 wave outperform a 1/4 or 5/8? From my understanding the answer would be yes. But I can find a solid answer. Sorry, this is more of an antenna theory question vs practical application. My plan is to get a 1/2 for my purposes. But this question came up with others and I didn't know exactly how to answer it.

Thank you for the input. This is encouraging.

No offense here... yes we can all chat line of sight out to 50+ miles when one of the station is up on a hill a few thousand feet... even with a $20 CCR. But my question is specific to flat suburbia. With any wattage for that matter. Just haven't played with UHF simplex over a distance more than a mile or two. Many folks are using GMRS now... my goal is to solve the long range UHF limits. VHF would solve this problem, but none of my family is licensed for that. Sounds like I need to buy a few antennas and masts to play with this myself.

While I understand 1/4 and 5/8 wave antennas require ground plane. 1/2 wave does not (although it still helps). I currently use a mag mounted 5/8 wave antenna. But both wanting a more permanent solution, and the fact that I often have a cargo box on the roof is forcing me to look at other options. If I am going to place the radio somewhere with no solid ground plane such as the rear corner of my hood near the winshield (on a lip or dotch light bracket)... would I still benefit from a 5/8 over 1/2? Or would the lack of good ground plane make the 5/8 perform worse than a 1/2 wave in this situation?