tidradio td-h3 question

[Guest guy #3]

Just got a tidradio td-h3 and would like some 'pro tips' on what to do next.  

 

I'm hoping to communicate with some other users around town.  our town maybe has a 10-mile circumference. I purchased Nagoya ut-72g and put on the roof of my truck to see how far it could get.  are there specific antennas or settings that will help me maximize this unit?  We live at sea level, flat area with trees and smaller buildings.

Me and a buddy are talking about putting up a repeater tower at a friends farm.

[BoxCar]

It will help if you share the part of the country you reside in. Otherwise, it's hit-or-miss about you finding anyone visiting this forum connecting with you. GMRS is primarily a "bring your own contacts" service. It's aimed at family and friend usage more than chit-chat contacts like amateur radio.

[Socalgmrs]

I’d say read up on the h3 the h8.   There have been many many threads focused on the issues they have.   I don’t own one and don’t know any one in real life that would own one.    
 

In general you’re going to have to experiment and find out.  Some areas a hand held will do 30-40plus miles. Other areas a 50w with a big antenna won’t do 5miles so your going to have to experiment.   Hope it all works out for you and your friends. 

[WSCN901]

I picked up an H3 myself for a few different reasons. One of the first things I did is to see what all frequency licenses the FCC has granted in my area. Programming those in lets me use it as a poor mans scanner to listen to local sheriff and fire, county schools, and the local airport control tower. There are also a few different GMRS repeaters in my local area that I have programmed in and used to reach people in the surrounding counties. It's gone out with me a few times on family and scouting events, where I've used it to both keep up with the kiddo and keep and eye on the weather in an area where there's no cell coverage.

As far as your coverage area goes, my initial guess is you'll be good. The main towers I hit are only about 6 miles from me, but there is one a bit over 20 miles away that I'll use at times. It's more about antenna line of sight than it is distance.... remember, people have actually talked to the International Space Station using a homemade antenna and a little 5 watt handheld like the H3.