Repeater Range 60 miles?

[WSJY287]

The Wind Gap PA repeater near me Wind Gap 575 says 60 mile range. All things considered (terrain, etc) is that reasonable? Sounds too good to be true. We'll try to range check while out and about. 

[dosw]

It depends.

 

It's uncommon. It's not impossible.

Let's assume the repeater's antenna is 200 feet above the prevailing elevation. And you are standing 5 feet above. In that case, one would expect, if there are no obstructions between, for the rante to be about 23 miles (20 miles for the 200 foot repeater, 3 miles for you at 5 feet). This is because, beyond 23 miles, the curvature of the earth becomes the obstruction between you.

 

For there to be 60 miles of range, with you at 5 feet off the ground, the repeater's antenna would need to be 1800 feet above the terrain between you two. In a mountainous area, this is possible. As an example, I live at 5000 feet. The valley floor below is at 4200 feet. There is a repeater 57 miles away at 6500 feet. We can communicate easily, because for practical purposes I'm at 800 feet, and the repeater is at 1500 feet. We can communicate because the curvature of the earth does not interfere between us, nor are there other significant obstructions. We could actually be 94 miles apart and it would still be amost okay.

 

So if you and the repeater you're talking about are on opposing hillsides or hilltops, and there's nothing between you, it's possible. If you don't have a combined total of about 1805 feet above the ground between you, you probably can't.

 

 

[WRKC935]

On 10/31/2025 at 5:13 PM, dosw said:

It depends.

 

It's uncommon. It's not impossible.

Let's assume the repeater's antenna is 200 feet above the prevailing elevation. And you are standing 5 feet above. In that case, one would expect, if there are no obstructions between, for the rante to be about 23 miles (20 miles for the 200 foot repeater, 3 miles for you at 5 feet). This is because, beyond 23 miles, the curvature of the earth becomes the obstruction between you.

 

For there to be 60 miles of range, with you at 5 feet off the ground, the repeater's antenna would need to be 1800 feet above the terrain between you two. In a mountainous area, this is possible. As an example, I live at 5000 feet. The valley floor below is at 4200 feet. There is a repeater 57 miles away at 6500 feet. We can communicate easily, because for practical purposes I'm at 800 feet, and the repeater is at 1500 feet. We can communicate because the curvature of the earth does not interfere between us, nor are there other significant obstructions. We could actually be 94 miles apart and it would still be amost okay.

 

So if you and the repeater you're talking about are on opposing hillsides or hilltops, and there's nothing between you, it's possible. If you don't have a combined total of about 1805 feet above the ground between you, you probably can't.

 

 

removed

 

[WRUE951]

a lot of folks including myself calculate range from one end to the other.  i.e. North-South range.   My Repeater is registered for 60 miles and I have in fact talked in one direction within that range.  

[amaff]

Fairly reasonable, with good LOS. We have one 50 miles north of us (I'm on a hill, it's on a mountain) that's crystal clear through a 5w handheld.

I imagine that if it was 10 miles further down the range, it would work just as well.

[wayoverthere]

I've used one of the Park Ridge machines (i forget which) that's a little over 60 miles away from the valley floor without issue, on the little 15 watt AT779uv and a 1/4 wave mag mounted on the truck.  They claim an estimated 100 mile range, and in some directions that's absolutely believable as they sit at or above 7000 ft elevation.  I've also had no problem getting into one of the 70cm ham repeaters on a 5 watt handheld at 75ish miles across the valley.  again, elevation helping out as i was sitting around 4000 ft, and the repeater sits around 3000 on a ridge.

terrain in between will be the deciding factor.

[marcspaz]

I always feel like "it depends" is a good answer for questions like this. There are so many variables, such as height above ground, height above average terrain, is the terrain in the shadow of the antenna relatively flat? Also, are they measuring the minimum continuous coverage radius or are they using the extreme edge diameter? Are they referring to max talk-in distance with an HT or a 50w mobile with a 9dB gain antenna?

 

In general, with good elevation and quality radios, as long as there is nothing in the way, it's very likely. 

 

Most repeater owners have an experience that is closer to 5 to 8 miles because the antenna is only 35-50 feet off the ground, likely on the roof of their house/garage, and the install is less than ideal.

[nokones]

8 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

I've used one of the Park Ridge machines (i forget which) that's a little over 60 miles away from the valley floor without issue, on the little 15 watt AT779uv and a 1/4 wave mag mounted on the truck.  They claim an estimated 100 mile range, and in some directions that's absolutely believable as they sit at or above 7000 ft elevation.  I've also had no problem getting into one of the 70cm ham repeaters on a 5 watt handheld at 75ish miles across the valley.  again, elevation helping out as i was sitting around 4000 ft, and the repeater sits around 3000 on a ridge.

terrain in between will be the deciding factor.

If I recall, I was hitting Park Ridge on I.S. 5 at Dos Amigos (South of S.R. 165) with a 25 watt Kenwood TK880 and a quarterwave antenna. I think I was able to hit Park Ridge from Westley, but it was kinda iffy.

[nokones]

In the Phoenix Area there are 3-4 sites at the 7,600 ft level that can be hit with a mobile 100-125 miles away.

[WRTC928]

2 hours ago, marcspaz said:

Most repeater owners have an experience that is closer to 5 to 8 miles because the antenna is only 35-50 feet off the ground, likely on the roof of their house/garage, and the install is less than ideal.

Yeah, I'm kinda envious of the guys who have really tall towers.  My house is a bit higher than most of the surrounding terrain and my repeater antenna is on a 35' mast. I get ~10-15 miles in most directions, which is enough to close the gap between the GMRS repeater to my northeast and the one to my south. Coverage to the west is pretty poor because the tallest terrain feature for miles around is the hill about 1/2 mile west of me. There are no active GMRS repeaters west of me as far as I can determine. The ARES group I'm part of has just gotten permission to put a repeater on the unused municipal tower on that hill to support local emergency services activities. I think I'm going to try to persuade them that we need a GMRS repeater on the same tower as well.

[FreqieRadio]

it probably is close to that. im all the way in dingmans ferry and i can hit it.

[wayoverthere]

On 11/1/2025 at 4:27 AM, nokones said:

If I recall, I was hitting Park Ridge on I.S. 5 at Dos Amigos (South of S.R. 165) with a 25 watt Kenwood TK880 and a quarterwave antenna. I think I was able to hit Park Ridge from Westley, but it was kinda iffy.

I wouldn't doubt either...you should have a good line of sight from the valley floor in both locations.

[TNFrank]

We have some Repeaters here in Phoenix that are high up on a mountain AND they're on tall antenna masts so they'll cover the entire valley which is 50-60 miles. Elevation is King.

[WRYZ926]

Terrain has a big effect too. Our GMRS repeater antennas are 400-450 ft above the ground and our 2m/70cm antennas are at 900 ft above the ground. We are located in central Missouri. We get around an 85 mile radius of coverage from the 2m repeater but we only get about a 35 mile radius of coverage from our 70cm and GMRS repeaters. 

Most GMRS repeaters in the state average a 30-35 mile radius. One has a 50-55 mile radius but they are on one of the highest locations in the area. This is all north of the Missouri River. Once you get south of the river, you are in the Ozark Mountains and range decreases.

[WSKB818]

I've been communicating with guys about 60 miles away on a repeater here in Massachusetts. The repeater is on a 10 story building just south of Boston . I'm 1200 feet up in elevation on a back road with line of site to Boston with no obstructions in the way.  They say I'm loud and clear using my TD H3+ radio and a Nagoya UT-72G mag mount . I've been told that when I use the Melowave Bandit G attached directly to the radio it's even better. I have to get out of the car for that antenna though. I do on occasion pick up transmissions from this repeater at my house at about 500 feet elevation about 45 miles away but i can't reach it myself from home.  I took this crap photo from a video. Zoomed in to show the city buildings. 

[LeoG]

Looks like good line of sight.

[nokones]

Yesterday, I was kinda surprised that I was able to kick my GMRS repeater approx. 65-70 miles away from the Sacaton Rest Area on Interstate 10 to Sun City West. I believe my signal probably just skated along the edge of South Mountain in Phoenix.

The repeater antenna is 30 feet at the tip and I was using a Laird/T E Connectivity Phantom Antenna on my Jeep. I was using my 40+ watt Motorola XPR5550e mobile radio. The repeater puts out 29 watts from the duplexer to a Laird FG4505 5dB Omni antenna.

[WSKB818]

15 hours ago, LeoG said:

Looks like good line of sight.

Yes , it's actually much clearer than this photo shows. 

[WSFF627]

60 miles on UHF is absolutely doable and very reliable, depending on repeater site height, repeater antenna height, antenna gain, and the radio your using to talk to it.

I can talk on several repeaters that distance away with a base radio, but can only key a handful of them up with a handheld. 

Highly dependent on terrain, etc.

[WRTC928]

16 hours ago, WSFF627 said:

60 miles on UHF is absolutely doable and very reliable, depending on repeater site height, repeater antenna height, antenna gain, and the radio your using to talk to it.

I can talk on several repeaters that distance away with a base radio, but can only key a handful of them up with a handheld. 

Highly dependent on terrain, etc.

The best I can get from my base is 48 miles to the southeast. Central and eastern Oklahoma is mostly rolling hills with a lot of areas of heavy woods, which is the limiting factor. There is a tower 32 miles away northeast with both ham and GMRS repeaters which I can use reliably with an HT from my yard. There's another one also about 30 miles away a few degrees more to the east which I can only reach with my base. The second one is on a taller tower, but the terrain is less favorable; I have to get my antenna 35' higher to hit it. It's all about the line of sight. I don't doubt 60 or even 75 miles is possible "in the real world" if the terrain and atmospheric conditions are right. Like a light beam, an RF signal spreads and weakens over distance, so there's obviously some practical limit, but it's a long way. People talk to the ISS with 5 watts and a yagi antenna all the time. Location, location, location. I fortuitously bought a house with a better-than-average location for radio.