Not a total noob, but disappointed none the less UNIDEN 5095

[TimTillman]

OK, central Florida checking in here, and I do mean central. We are post hurricane Irma, and all utility services are up and running. We do have a lot of debris piles on the road side.

 

The eye of Irma essentially passed over Polk County. My friends at T-Mobile seriously disappointed us by what seemed to be a severe reduction in service quality in town prior to any winds near tropical strength starting early in the late afternoon. For several days after the storm, there was little to no signal, and 8 days later there was still poor coverage south of us. I understand antenna and tower damage...

 

My Irma experience urged me toward handheld radio. I grabbed a license from the FCC and made a purchase. Now, I wasn't expecting miracles, and I certainly didn't expect the 50 miles advertised on the package. But, I am still disappointed. I finally caught time to test the radios this afternoon. We were on the radios' channel 20 which is 462.675 MHz (GMRS 13). We were on the highest power setting and used the boost feature.

 

My goal was to reach a nature preserve at a distance of about 5.8 miles. The greatest distance that we  could hear each other was about 1.8 miles. See the attached JPG. Again, I didn't expect 50 miles or even 10 miles. But, 1.8 miles seems extremely short to me. I seem to remember at least 10 miles on my dad's CB radio in his VW van sitting in our front yard back in the mid 70s.

 

Am I being unrealistic to expect more from the Uniden 5095? 

 

What would be a realistic (Not Realistic - Get it? LOL) replacement that would give me 5 - 10 miles range. It would have to comply with my GMRS license, and I am willing to license up to amateur levels. 

 

Thanks in advance.

[JohnE]

no. it's right in the ball park. surprised you got that far usually only good for a mile or so. 50 miles between 2 mountain tops in a vacuum.

these are sub 2W ERP radios. not going to get much out of them.

my 4W BPR 40's will give me ~2.5 miles w/rat tails not the stubs they come /w just a reference.

you can't compare CB to GMRS , they're apples and oranges.

realistically a base antenna w/ 20/25W mobile might cut it w/the HT.

you could look on flea bay  for a name brand mobile radio and some will program for you also.

[TimTillman]

Thanks John!

[quarterwave]

1. Iv'e never seen anyone "grab" a license from the FCC.

2. The reason we get disappointed in the first place is THAT we have expectations. 

3. I'll quit dinging you for looking like you just took a creative writing course and got a C+. 

 

 

Seriously - no, those radios are no going to have "real" range, I don't care what the box says. I assume that my (4) little Uniden GMR1048 with the "forbodden"  scramblers are good for a mile. If I get more, Ok, but I use them to that end. When it's time to COMMUNICATE I use real Motorola radios, handheld or mobile, via or sans repeater. Not everyone wants to go that far, but I used to work in commercial radio, so I do. Step up to a wideband, 4-5 watt (commercial or pseudo commercial) radio with a good antenna and you will do better. Any obstacles including buildings you are in or thick trees will cost you 3-6dB (50-75%) loss. keep that in mind. 

 

I got a B- in creative writing. So there.