Please help

[WSGE281]

I am a Ham (AA5MP) and want to get my grandkids involved in radio. He is 9 and lives 5.2 miles away in Austin. I was hoping GMRS could be a fun way to start. I bought two Btech 5 watt units. I was hoping we could reach a repeater? I did not want to get two high watt base stations if he has no interest so it is sort of a chicken and egg. 

Any thoughts? I am not optimistic without the repeater it will work

There are a few nearby and I have asked for permission

If you can suggest other options ( do a I need 2 15 watt units with antenna outside his bedroom window?)  thanks

Matt P WSGE281

[kidphc]

Standard UHF rules apply. Get it the antenna up high. 5 miles or so can be rough with HT due to terrain and obstructions.

Base stations probably would be able to do it no problem with 20w. Fortunately these radios are under $100 usually. Unfortunately, the antenna and power supplies add to the cost.

Plus your 9 year might be ptt shy on a repeater. Yes, most of the community is great but there are still a-holes out there.

Gmrs was meant for exactly what you are trying to do.

I would suggest looking at cheap ip ht radios as well. The conversation will be local to your group over an internet connection. Yes, it's not true rf to rf. But hey you are trying to fan a spark.

I would also suggest looking at getting him on a Santa net. Dstar has one, requires a Dstar radio. If you are a general with a decent setup the wheelers have one on 80. You know where another ham relays to Santa, so the kids can talk to Santa at the North Pole

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[WRUU653]

Hello Matt, you probably know that GMRS is line of sight so you likely will know better than anyone what that looks like between your place and your grandsons. This tool may help you see what that looks like. Power will help but more important is antenna height. I say give it a try. It looks like you have a couple repeaters near you listed as open so that’s pretty great. 
Good luck and 73s.

[WRYZ926]

GMRS is a great way to get kids into radio. And that is one of the many reasons we installed a GMRS repeater. It is a good way to get new people into radio, and they might end up also getting their amateur radio licenses in the process.

I doubt that a 9 year old would be bothered about talking on a repeater as long as he gets to talk to grampa. We have a 7 year old that gets on our GMRS repeater to talk to his papa and grammy all of the time. He also enjoys talking to others on the repeater. And the rest of us always smile when he gets on the air.  

Go ahead and try hand held radios. You both might get into a repeater just fine and even be able to talk to each other on simples. Or you can always setup mobile antennas (on cookie sheets) or base antennas and still be fine with HT's

The 7 year old uses an HT with a home made j pole antenna inside his house that his papa built. They live both live about 7.5 miles away from the repeater. He gets into the repeater just fine with the j pole inside.

[WRUE951]

couple years ago my grandson went on a week long fishing trip with us near and around Mammoth Lakes..  I always set up a portable GMRS repeater when we go camping and of course he ended up with one of my spare Baufangs..   Today he is 22 years old and now holds a General and studying for his Extra.  He doesn't even mess with GMRS anymore,, He's into 80,40 & 30 meter stuff..  Occasionally he will ping into my GMRS repeater to say hi..   I'm proud to say, i gave him the bug  

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, WRUE951 said:

Today he is 22 years old and now holds a General and studying for his Extra.  

I'm really encouraged when I see young people showing up at Ham swaps. I would like to see more. It proves Ham radio isn't dead.

[WSGB619]

Fun! 

If you go with HTs, you'll likely need to coach him on how to orient the radio/antenna for maximum range. Perhaps even get a better antenna than stock and maybe need external antennas with some elevation unless using a repeater.

I suggest you use this quandary to teach them the various considerations and why you chose whatever you try. That will be a fun learning experience!

[AdmiralCochrane]

Take one of the HT's there and test it.  You NEVER know without trying.  His location might be golden.

[TrikeRadio]

10 hours ago, WSGE281 said:

I am a Ham (AA5MP) and want to get my grandkids involved in radio. He is 9 and lives 5.2 miles away in Austin. I was hoping GMRS could be a fun way to start. I bought two Btech 5 watt units. I was hoping we could reach a repeater? I did not want to get two high watt base stations if he has no interest so it is sort of a chicken and egg. 

Any thoughts? I am not optimistic without the repeater it will work

There are a few nearby and I have asked for permission

If you can suggest other options ( do a I need 2 15 watt units with antenna outside his bedroom window?)  thanks

Matt P WSGE281

You might be on the very edge of being able to talk simplex if you don't have too much between the locations. Worth trying. Might have to be outdoors to do it if there is a pretty clear line. I have been about to get 5 to 7 miles simplex in some locations. If the local repeater is not too far away and has some altitude for it's antenna that could work too. Everything depends on your local situation. I can reach a repeater from inside my house that is about 25 miles away, but it is also on top of a 5,000 foot mountain plus on a tower... and I am using a 771G whip antenna on my 5 watt HT.