Unbelievable GMRS distance

[LeoG]

We have a guy who comes to our nets on the Holyoke 575 and in order for him to reach he gets up in his cupola in his barn.

 

Richmond Vt to Holyoke Ma

[Davichko5650]

38 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

 

Whoever first said "height is might" needs to repost that in bold italics.

The radio world equivalent of "There's no replacement for displacement".

[WRTC928]

Height might and elevation is propagation.

[WikiNobo]

On 2/17/2025 at 4:10 PM, WSEZ said:

Hey Guru's I'm currently in Cashiers, NC listening to gmrs channel 17 and am picking up chatter from Atlanta, GA.  I don't understand how as I had received permission from repeaters in my area of Walhalla, SC trying to bridge the gap between the two but am unable to. How are they getting this far?  is it a club?

The only way I've been able to connect from Cashiers to Walhalla is thru Business band repeaters on 461.7250 .

I gotta know how they are making the distance!

I’m relatively new to GMRS. I was in Atlanta over the recent weekend and was able to hear chatter over 60 miles away on my HT Baofeng UV5G Pro.

Seems like a vibrant GMRS community in the Atlanta area. This is encouraging to me because, although I enjoy tinkering with my radio and learning, it is also fun hearing people engage over the air.

I know, I know…if I wanna talk to people then I should be a Ham and if I want to talk with my friends while outdoors, then I should use GMRS.

Why can’t it be both? Haha

[SteveShannon]

14 minutes ago, WikiNobo said:

I’m relatively new to GMRS. I was in Atlanta over the recent weekend and was able to hear chatter over 60 miles away on my HT Baofeng UV5G Pro.

Seems like a vibrant GMRS community in the Atlanta area. This is encouraging to me because, although I enjoy tinkering with my radio and learning, it is also fun hearing people engage over the air.

I know, I know…if I wanna talk to people then I should be a Ham and if I want to talk with my friends while outdoors, then I should use GMRS.

Why can’t it be both? Haha

There’s nothing wrong with you talking to people using your GMRS radio.  Have fun and welcome to the forum.

[WSEN940]

Well....I'm sitting almost exactly 30 miles from the top of Mt Bachelor here in Central Oregon. I was setting up one of my mobile radios with a MTA 26 antenna and noted that I was hearing 'ski chatter'. We're getting some good snow today and there are folks up on the mountain making the most of it. You can actually see the mountain from my house (when it's clear), so no real surprise, but I can bet they are all using blister pack HT's!

Turned on one of my CCR's (UV-5G Plus) and was still hearing it with that although a tad more crackly. So yeah! A little altitude and a clear line of sight does a 'lot' for communications. 

There's a HAM repeater on top of that pile of dust, but not a GMRS repeater. Not that I'm too worried as I am a licensed HAM, but even so. Would be useful to have both options!!

 

Image below taken with one of my long lenses. you can see the chair lift to the peak.

[Jaay]

The REAL fun will begin when the temps start rising and we get some Tropo Ducting happening, along with some solar flares ! then 100-200mile hops will become commonplace.

[WRYZ926]

12 hours ago, Jaay said:

The REAL fun will begin when the temps start rising and we get some Tropo Ducting happening, along with some solar flares ! then 100-200mile hops will become commonplace.

We had openings from 8:00 to 10:30 every morning for a couple of weeks back in October of last year. I was able to talk to a guy from the Springfield, Ill area on a repeater that is 50 miles west of me. Springfield Ill is 158 miles east of that repeater.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard any openings like that lately with how our temperatures have been fluctuating.

[Socalgmrs]

13 hours ago, Jaay said:

The REAL fun will begin when the temps start rising and we get some Tropo Ducting happening, along with some solar flares ! then 100-200mile hops will become commonplace.

The REAL fun for me is what I’m doing while using gmrs.  It’s not the distance I can get or the strangers I can meet.   As far as 100-200miles, it Pretty common for me.  Happens every single day, rain or shine for my self and every gmrs operator in the valley. 100miles is nothing and over 200miles for most operators 365 days a year. No special weather required.  Again it’s all about line of sight.   I highly recommend to all, get out and do fun stuff.  There is more to life than gmrs radio.   
 

 

n this whole site very few people talk about all the fun stuff they use gmrs for.  It’s mostly, why does my junky radio not work, how do I connect to a repeater to find strange men to talk to,  why is my Ed fong antennaa not working,    Cam some one read the fcc rules so I don’t have to…… very very few talk about activities and how they actually use gmrs in real life.  Get out the basement.  

[MarkInTampa]

54 minutes ago, Socalgmrs said:

The REAL fun for me is what I’m doing while using gmrs.  It’s not the distance I can get or the strangers I can meet.   As far as 100-200miles, it Pretty common for me.  Happens every single day, rain or shine for my self and every gmrs operator in the valley. 100miles is nothing and over 200miles for most operators 365 days a year. No special weather required.  Again it’s all about line of sight.   I highly recommend to all, get out and do fun stuff.  There is more to life than gmrs radio.   
 

 

Just for fun...

Here's the coverage maps of a location near you. First example is assuming a 9db antenna, 50watt radio and a 50ft mast. Second example would be a 5watt HT with a 3db HT antenna.