On Sat, 12 May 2007 15:24:24 -0700, AF6AY wrote:
On May 12, 2:11?pm, wrote:
Nowadays two-way radios are getting more and more powerful, coverage
up to 8, 10 12 or more miles. Ironically, it is even harder to buy one
with only 2-mile distance.

I want to use a two radio just for short distance, for example, only
within 1000 feet. How to modify the circuit (generally speaking) so I
can extend the radio's powerful consumption? As I do not need it to
communicate for longer distance, I want it to reduce power output, so
I can use it for longer time. I know it is difficult to illustrate
without a schematics, but just in general terms, what kind of options
or in what areas can I do the modification?
...
The simplest modification is an attenuator pad between In/Out
and the antenna. If you have a "one-piece" FRS HT such as
the little Motorola my wife and I use at home, it is difficult to
wedge one in there. An alternative in that case is to use a
piece of conducting foam (typically for storage of CMOS digital
devices) to sit over the antenna stub. One has to experiment
with the size of the block of plastic foam.

I think his point is that he's trying to reduce transmitter output power
to conserve battery life - of course, an attenuator pad isn't going to
accomplish that.

Probably the "easiest" way to accomplish this would be to bypass the final
amplifier stage, passing its drive signal directly to the final filter,
and from there to the antenna. I would suggest this would be nearly
impossible to accomplish without a schematic - and not particularly easy
even with it.

I wonder if the best route would be to use a regular baby monitor
transmitter - but use a better receiver and/or receiving antenna? Like a
decent scanner, possibly with an attic antenna. This method is easy to
accomplish even for someone without electronics experience, and
unquestionably legal, unlike many other alternatives.