Base station set up with a Btech GMRS 50V2 with a Btech 50w Pro

[WSGU764]

New GMRS license. I want to set up a base station at my home to communication to my farm cabin 13 miles away.  I purchased a Btech GMRS 50V2 radio from GMRS.com and a Btech RPS 50V power supply and .  I ordered a Nagoya Model UT-72G antenna as a mobile antenna for my vehicle and a Nagoya NMO-200C for my home.  Any advise on how to set it up?

 

 

 

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

1 minute ago, WSGU764 said:

Any advise on how to set it up?

Get your 200C up as high as possible and use the best coax you can afford... and look into repeaters nearby - depending on your local geography, 13 miles might be a no-go. 

[GrouserPad]

 

Absolute most I can get here is 7 miles. Omni base at  40ft transmitting to my pickup with a 5/8 over 5/8 magnet mount. These rolling hills and forests kill gmrs.

[WRYZ926]

I never cared for pine and cedar trees since they harbor ticks but I have come to despise them when it comes to UHF. They really do a number on blocking 70cm and GMRS. We have lots of rolling hills around here and it is common for the farmers to let the red cedar trees grow along the side of the roads.

[LeoG]

5 hours ago, WSGU764 said:

New GMRS license. I want to set up a base station at my home to communication to my farm cabin 13 miles away.  I purchased a Btech GMRS 50V2 radio from GMRS.com and a Btech RPS 50V power supply and .  I ordered a Nagoya Model UT-72G antenna as a mobile antenna for my vehicle and a Nagoya NMO-200C for my home.  Any advise on how to set it up?

 

 

 

 

 

Try this program to see if you have a chance of communication between the two stations.  It doesn't account for curvature of the Earth so at 13 miles there is a little of that involved.  Put in both points and antenna heights and see if you have line of site.  It's not 100% needed and if a small portion of a hill impedes the signal it'll still get through.  But if you have a large hill or hills in the way it's going to be DOA.  Only chance you may have is a local repeater that is high enough for LOS to both stations.

https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

 

[WRTC928]

18 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Get your 200C up as high as possible and use the best coax you can afford... and look into repeaters nearby - depending on your local geography, 13 miles might be a no-go. 

It's all about topography. Before it shut down, I used to use a GMRS repeater 25 miles away with a 5 watt handheld from my house. We were both on areas which are elevated above the intervening terrain. I routinely use a Ham repeater in the 440 band 22 miles away with a 5 watt HT as well. There are tools online (Don't ask me where; I haven't used them.) to calculate how high your antenna needs to be based upon the two locations you choose. To my north and east, I have easily 40 miles of good signal. To my west, I can hardly get across town. My house is on the second-highest point for miles around; the highest is about 1/2 mile west of me. Repeaters are extremely useful, but if you and your cabin can communicate on simplex, you take out the middleman and you don't have to share airtime. Put your antenna as high as you reasonably can and give it a try. You might have a very good signal and don't need anything more. It might also be useful to put up an external antenna at the cabin and connect your HT to it when you're there, but you may not need it. A lot of radio is just f*** around and find out. 

[SteveShannon]

22 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

A lot of radio is just f*** around and find out. 

This!!!

I’m always surprised by how many people spend many minutes and sometimes hours researching and asking others questions that could be answered in less than a minute by trying.