Newbie zone

[WSHI660]

I have a Baofeng UV-5RM and for now will be what I use for a bit as I learn and grow in this radio universe. Now my question is should I put a base antenna on my house so when am inside I can still reach out well. And I got the 3” MOBLE antenna for my truck was that a mistake?

 

WSHI660 aka the NEWBIE 

[SteveShannon]

Just now, WSHI660 said:

I have a Baofeng UV-5RM and for now will be what I use for a bit as I learn and grow in this radio universe. Now my question is should I put a base antenna on my house so when am inside I can still reach out well. And I got the 3” MOBLE antenna for my truck was that a mistake?

 

WSHI660 aka the NEWBIE 

Welcome!  Only you can answer those questions. Things to consider: whom do you want to talk to?  Have you heard them on the radio?

For myself I wouldn’t put an antenna on the house unless I was certain there were people who I would be talking to.  Spend some time with the radio and see what you’re lacking before spending money.

[Socalgmrs]

The antenna on the house will get you about 10x further than the hand held in your hand.  So yes it’s worth it. A comet 712efc is a great antenna at 10’ tall and 9db gain.  With a 4w ht mine easily does 100 miles.   But like already said do you have people around you to talk to?   Repeaters local? Do you have family and friends that you use gmrs with while doing an activity?  What is your reason for getting into gmrs?  

[WSHI660]

1 hour ago, Socalgmrs said:

The antenna on the house will get you about 10x further than the hand held in your hand.  So yes it’s worth it. A comet 712efc is a great antenna at 10’ tall and 9db gain.  With a 4w ht mine easily does 100 miles.   But like already said do you have people around you to talk to?   Repeaters local? Do you have family and friends that you use gmrs with while doing an activity?  What is your reason for getting into gmrs?  

I have no radio friends yep but I hear there is a few good people out there in the airwaves so like anything I need to gain friends as I learn the crazy world of radio art.

[WSHI660]

Just now, WSHI660 said:

I have no radio friends yep but I hear there is a few good people out there in the airwaves so like anything I need to gain friends as I learn the crazy world of radio art.

My reason for starting this journey is the state of the worlds nuttjobs and power outages will mean no cell phones and so learning this is a challenge and a backup plan if something was to go bad 

[TDM827]

As already mentioned. Do some monitoring to see what type of traffic you have in your area. See it if there is indeed someone to talk to. Also check the repeater map here at My GMRS to see if there is a repeater in your area.

As far as an external antenna. I have an antenna in my attic which is about 3 stories off the ground.  I can connect it to my mobile or a handhelds. The difference is night and day. Increased range (Transmit and Receive) and clarity. With the removable antenna, on simplex I routinely monitor and communicate at ranges my handheld with a rubber duck would never do. On repeater I am told my transmissions are much clearer. 

This really comes down to a matter of antenna height and gain.

[WRTC928]

Find out what you can reach with the HT before you put an antenna on the house. It may be that you can reach as far as you want with the stock antenna. I can put up a better antenna but it doesn't gain me much because of the terrain. I suppose if I got it high enough, it might help, but I'm not sure who I would talk to that I can't already reach