GMRS or HAM for mixed terrain

[arn]

Hello all, I currently am licensed for GMRS and have a KG-935G plus which I love to use when I'm screwing around in the woods. A buddy of mine lives about 12 miles from me and though I am at a higher elevation (about 250 feet higher) it is not in line of sight. Just to try, we wanted to see if he could hear me when I hiked to the top of a mountain near me where there would be no obstructions in the way with no success. I am wondering if it would be worth it to get a repeater and a big antenna even though it would not be above the obstructions in the way or if I would have more success with a ham setup and license. For reference, I know nothing about ham I just always hear ham people bragging about how far they can talk. Thanks in advance.

[nokones]

Under the same operating parameters/conditions, a HAM radio/frequency won't make any difference or be anymore successful.

[WRXB215]

I wouldn't give up on GMRS just yet. Ham does offer more options but you may still be able to get what you need with GMRS. Describe your last test a little more. Your antenna, buddies radio, trees, distance etc.

[WRYZ926]

More information about your buddy's setup would be helpful. You might be hard pressed to reach each other if you are both using hand held radios. Your buddy having a base station with a good antenna as high as he could get it would definitely help. You can also try a longer antenna on your 935G too.

[arn]

I wouldn't give up on GMRS just yet. Ham does offer more options but you may still be able to get what you need with GMRS. Describe your last test a little more. Your antenna, buddies radio, trees, distance etc.

I went the top of a mountain near me where i can see new york, he lives in a neighborhood a few miles into nj so it is also visible from where i was. At the time there was nothing in the way but he was also using an HT same as mine. I use an out of the box antenna and it is about 9 miles as the crow flies.

[WRYZ926]

It could be that there was structures, trees, or terrain blocking you two. The antenna that comes with the KG-935G is actually a good antenna. I can sometimes get into the repeater that is 21 miles away with mine. Granted the repeater antenna is at 400 feet above ground.

[WRQC527]

3 hours ago, arn said:

A buddy of mine lives about 12 miles from me

What radio does he have?

[arn]

What radio does he have?

Same as i do. Out of the box KG935g +

[marcspaz]

First, I agree with nokones.  All things being equal, UHF Ham won't perform any different than GMRS.  The atmospheric losses around 465 MHz are so high as 12 miles that it would have to truly be an unobstructed view.  The moment you put something in the way, it won't work.

[WSAW350]

I have the same pair of radios and I can't reach a repeater that is 8 miles away. I live in DFW in a residential area and I'm finding my HTs are very limited with what I can do with them; with the factory antennas, the most my wife and I can transmit is 3 miles. We actually consider this pretty good under our conditions. For schifs and giggles, we hooked up one of the HTs to a UT72G mobile antenna that was placed on top of my BBQ area roof (9.5' high) and the other identical setup in my truck, and we managed to get 7 miles distance. I'm convinced to get more miles in distance, we need to get a proper base antenna and a 50 watt base system to hopefully punch the signal past trees and buildings. 

 

You might try an external antenna placed much higher than your HT antenna, same with your friend.

[WRYZ926]

17 hours ago, WSAW350 said:

I have the same pair of radios and I can't reach a repeater that is 8 miles away. I live in DFW in a residential area and I'm finding my HTs are very limited with what I can do with them; with the factory antennas, the most my wife and I can transmit is 3 miles. We actually consider this pretty good under our conditions. For schifs and giggles, we hooked up one of the HTs to a UT72G mobile antenna that was placed on top of my BBQ area roof (9.5' high) and the other identical setup in my truck, and we managed to get 7 miles distance. I'm convinced to get more miles in distance, we need to get a proper base antenna and a 50 watt base system to hopefully punch the signal past trees and buildings. 

 

You might try an external antenna placed much higher than your HT antenna, same with your friend.

Eight miles should not be a problem for a HT to reach if the repeater antennas are high enough. It sounds like either the repeater antennas aren't that high or you are dealing with a lot of RF/EM noise in your area. Urban and suburban area are going to have higher RF/EM noise. This is commonly called the noise floor. 

 

For the OP, I agree from personal experience that VHF definitely does better cutting through foliage and getting around hills compared to UHF. I notice this all of the time when using the local repeaters while in my vehicle. I can be in a valley or surrounded by cedar trees and I can still get out fine on 2m while 70cm and GMRS struggles at times. Now UHF has its advantages too. UHF works better inside buildings and such.