iwouldntknow wrote:


With the "right" kind of propagation even .5W will do way over 100 miles but under normal
circumstances count on line-of-sight but no more than 1 mile when in build-up or bushy
areas. Your mileage may vary.

Repeater distances are usually line of sight (a repeater at 4.000 ft has a horizon of abt
80 miles if no obstructions in between. Draw an 80 mile circle around the repeater and
you'll get the area you can reach.

Note: There usually are obstructions (hilly terrain) and without any special propagation
signal strength at long distance will be less. Most FM type radio's do not have very
sensitive receiving stages and if squelch is on sensitivity becomes even less. Solution:
Use narrow band modulation such as SSB. Instead of spraeding your .5W over 15kHz put it
in 3kHz. You'll be stronger on the other end - however now we're talking how it works for
ham-radio: Do a lot with little power.....

Thanks. I'm familiar with SSB, skip, etc. But I can't talk
others into going that route.

We use these for hunting in the northeast and I was just
perplexed how with the same power and what looks like
basically the same specs. then got a theoretical 8 mile
gain. I say theoretical because they *may* end up working a
mile in the woods but that would surprise me.

--
Steve