On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:53:41 GMT, John
wrote:

"Jeff" wrote in
news:a5mdnWJc9fAnblLZnZ2dnUVZ_uWdnZ2d@velocitywes t.net:

I will be buying a Midland Two way radio (18 mile version)

You will never, ever get 18 miles. The claims by Midland are very
deceptive.

They lie and say they are 5 watt radios, when in fact their power output is
only slightly over a watt. They lie and say they have full legal power,
when in fact power limits for GMRS far exceed 5 watts.

Go here.... read up the whole site, explore links and get the real story:

http://www.geocities.com/gmrspage/

Never, ever is pretty strong. It would take only a few milliwatts
between two mountain tops 18 miles apart. I agree that from a
practical standpoint, that is completely unrealistic, even for a full
5-watt transceiver. I have two excellent GMRS 5-watt HT's, and I'm
lucky to get even one mile in typical terrain. Now, if I had a really
good antenna, that would be a different story.

Dick - W6CCD