WRUE915

I have reached repeaters on the mountain from 50-60 miles on a 5 watt HT with ease. But those repeaters are 2000-3000' above my transmit altitude. We have tried simplex with the mobiles installed on vehicles around town. The antennas can't be more than 7-8' high. No luck. But being suburbia, there are many obstacles at those heights. Antenna height is king, I know... may just need to get the antenna mounted as high as possible on the roof. Without spending a fortune, a j-pole or ed fong came to mind. Maybe I will try the roof with the mobile antenna for starters before investing in something else.

I want to talk to someone on simplex within 8-10 miles in a relatively flat suburban environment. Assuming the use of a 20 watt base station for both parties, and both using the same antenna. Would a j-pole (or other omni directional antenna) make this happen? Or would a yagi be necessary? Assuming we could both point the yagi at each other. Should be able to get the antenna mounted on the roof, probably sitting around 20-25' depending on the antenna size. I'm tempted to buy a couple options and just experiment, but was wondering what y'all have tried in a similar situation. Or is this all outside the capability of the UHF bands on GMRS? Thanks! Jake

I have never used one of these setups, but you probably need a metal ground plane (even if it a 1/2 wave, ground plane still helps). It looks like your antenna attaches directly to the top plate which looks like plastic (maybe make that top cover oit of metal?). The Midland "Ammo Can Base Station" recommends using the supplied mag mount antenna on the ammo can lid (separated from the can) as a ground plane. As suggested above, maybe try the UT-72G or similar mag mount antenna for GMRS on the lid.

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Just saw this thread... Barn-R1 is up and running. It has been working for me the past couple months. And according to their web page and notes on mygmrs.com they are still in the red and asking for donations. For those in the coverage area, please support if you can. This is the best repeater in the area with the best coverage. Cheers! Jake