So many radios to choose from… now what?!

[WSFA200]

I’ve spent this afternoon listening and checking in, and today, on a baofeng GM15Pro, with the rubber ducky, getting on a repeater, about 25 miles away.  I’m really impressed, but now that I know I have a repeater within range for a handheld, that runs 5w, is it possible for me to get a ham radio with the 8W power and transmit GMRS?  I’m really new to this, but I’m really into this!  Also, with a handheld getting spotty service in my area, would upgrading to a mobile rig get me better coverage?  Thank you all in advance, yall been real kind to me!

 

WSFA200

[Guest]

1st that’s not “legal” according to the gmrs “rules”.  However many people do that.   
2nd you won’t notice much if any difference at all from 5w to 8 or even 10w.  .  A 771 antenna or other upgrade from rubber duck will help you out a bunch.   After that an upgrade from hand held to base or mobile is the next step.  When at home or in the car you can always get the antennas set up first and run them on an HT at first.  That’s what many people have done when starting out. 
 

don’t let any one tell you a “better” “more expensive” ht will help.  It won’t.  A$20 ht transmits just as far as a $1000 Motorola ht. 

[WRXB215]

What @Socalgmrs said is true most of the time. I have a fring case where I can not activate a particular repeater from my house on medium power but I can with high power. It is a UV-5R8W and there are a lot of trees and houses I have to deal with. In this case the extra power does make a difference.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, WRXB215 said:

What @Socalgmrs said is true most of the time. I have a fring case where I can not activate a particular repeater from my house on medium power but I can with high power. It is a UV-5R8W and there are a lot of trees and houses I have to deal with. In this case the extra power does make a difference.

Have you happend to test your 5r8w power out put? On high Most uv5 radios out out 3-4w.  Most 5r8w’s, I have many, put out 4-6w.   I love my CCR’s. I sing the praises all day long but again 5-8w on radios that don’t even put out the advertised watts really doesn’t make much difference.   What you’re experiencing is because on low and medium power most are only sending 1-2 watts down range.  
the good news is even very expensive ham hand held 10w radios don’t usually even put out 8w.  Just gotta learn radios and how to use them. 
 

best thing to do is get a better antenna and then if that doesn’t work a mag mount or even a mobile or base station.  

[WSFA200]

I’m also wondering, if I just got a mobile mount antenna, I assume that would improve my range greatly.

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, WSFA200 said:

I’m also wondering, if I just got a mobile mount antenna, I assume that would improve my range greatly.

Yes, a good mobile antenna would usually increase your range, but it all depends on what’s limiting your range in the first place.  But it is definitely better than simply using a handheld with its rubber duck antenna inside of your vehicle.

[RIPPER238]

4 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Yes, a good mobile antenna would usually increase your range, but it all depends on what’s limiting your range in the first place.  But it is definitely better than simply using a handheld with its rubber duck antenna inside of your vehicle.

 

I already have a standard antenna on my truck for my Midland but want to to try connecting my TID H3 to it. What (quality) adaptor would i need? 

 

Using even my 15" antenna inside the truck is definitely not ideal as well. 

[BoxCar]

You'll need an SMA to SO239 adapter cable. Here's one, but there are many others available. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Superbat-Adapter-Baofeng-Handheld-Antenna/dp/B07FC825HF?ref_=ast_sto_dp

[RIPPER238]

13 minutes ago, BoxCar said:

You'll need an SMA to SO239 adapter cable. Here's one, but there are many others available. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Superbat-Adapter-Baofeng-Handheld-Antenna/dp/B07FC825HF?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Thank you! And the one you pointed out looks to be better than some of the others.