New to GMRS

[Guest Chuck]

New to GMRS. Just purchased TD-H3. Says it works right out the box. I drove two blocks away and could not hear anything transmitted. This might sound dumb but am I supposed to program it to use more that two blocks away? Bought this for a camping/fishing trip up in the mountains coming up next week.

Any and all help would be appreciated. I do have the GMRS license  

[SteveShannon]

16 minutes ago, Guest Chuck said:

New to GMRS. Just purchased TD-H3. Says it works right out the box. I drove two blocks away and could not hear anything transmitted. This might sound dumb but am I supposed to program it to use more that two blocks away? Bought this for a camping/fishing trip up in the mountains coming up next week.

Any and all help would be appreciated. I do have the GMRS license  

What was being transmitted, by whom, on what channel? Were they using a tone or digital code to reduce interruptions?  If so did you have the same code or tones programmed into your radio?

Welcome!

[Guest Chuck]

Thank you for the reply. I purchased a set, left one at home with my son and drove a few blocks away with the other. 

On the screen for both radios it has the same which I have listed below

VFO

136.05000

400.05000

reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks

[SteveShannon]

13 minutes ago, Guest Chuck said:

Thank you for the reply. I purchased a set, left one at home with my son and drove a few blocks away with the other. 

On the screen for both radios it has the same which I have listed below

VFO

136.05000

400.05000

reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks

Depending on your surroundings that might be about right. Or maybe you’re set on low power. Or inside a building with lots of metal. 
There are many things that affect range. 

[WRXB215]

I agree with @SteveShannon. If you are in a neighborhood with lots of houses and trees, that's about all you can expect from a couple of HTs 

[Socalgmrs]

So gmrs 460mhz is almost totally line of sight dependent.   You may get 1/2 mile you may get 20,40,50plus miles from a hand held.  

[808Beachbum]

3 hours ago, Guest Chuck said:

Thank you for the reply. I purchased a set, left one at home with my son and drove a few blocks away with the other. 

On the screen for both radios it has the same which I have listed below

VFO

136.05000

400.05000

reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks

Well, if 136.05 and 400.05 are showing on your display when you think you are on a GMRS "channel", you are very mistaken. Not only are you NOT on GMRS channels, you are also attempting to transmit out of the entire GMRS frequency band, and also outside of any HAM bands.

[Socalgmrs]

36 minutes ago, 808Beachbum said:

Well, if 136.05 and 400.05 are showing on your display when you think you are on a GMRS "channel", you are very mistaken. Not only are you NOT on GMRS channels, you are also attempting to transmit out of the entire GMRS frequency band, and also outside of any HAM bands.

“reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks”. 
 

im pretty sure he addressed this 

[808Beachbum]

34 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

“reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks”. 
 

im pretty sure he addressed this 

What gives makes you think he read the manual after writing the first part of the single post describing what was "on the screen"? Too much effort to backspace over the erroneous statements before completing the post after his epiphany? Or he read the manual and thought he changed to "channels", but failed to actually do so and therefore DID have the dual watch vfo freqs displayed?

[GreggInFL]

13 hours ago, WRXB215 said:

I agree with @SteveShannon. If you are in a neighborhood with lots of houses and trees, that's about all you can expect from a couple of HTs 

I agree with the agreement.  In a heavily-wooded area I figure 1/2 mile, 2 miles if I'm lucky.

Are you in your vehicle while your son is in the house?  If so, that's a worse-case combination; try going outside and facing each other.

[Socalgmrs]

10 hours ago, 808Beachbum said:

What gives makes you think he read the manual after writing the first part of the single post describing what was "on the screen"? Too much effort to backspace over the erroneous statements before completing the post after his epiphany? Or he read the manual and thought he changed to "channels", but failed to actually do so and therefore DID have the dual watch vfo freqs displayed?

Because he said “still will not work”.  So it’s implied he actually changed “channels”.   Some time you just gotta do a little reading 

 

all this comes down to is another person that didn’t read up front, didn’t do much research on how to use a radio, and expects too much from the radio due to  all the stupid ads about talking 500 miles simplex on a bubble pack.   Posting here on this forum some times does no good because one gets mean and disrespectful answers as a new person and very little help.  While the same people stand up for veterans gmrs users that ask basic questions or push false info on people. 

[AdmiralCochrane]

22 hours ago, Guest Chuck said:

Thank you for the reply. I purchased a set, left one at home with my son and drove a few blocks away with the other. 

On the screen for both radios it has the same which I have listed below

VFO

136.05000

400.05000

reading the manual I learned hoe to change both to GMRS channel 1, but it still will not work passed a couple blocks

A couple blocks in a residential neighborhood is normal range for GMRS handhelds. Other factors such as antenna polarization also come into play.