All things being equal..what is the difference between a 3 mile rated
frs/GMRS and 6 mile GRS/GMRSrated 2 way radio when both employ 500mw power?

Does the fact that one is a tiny bigger, an inch longer on the antenna, 4
AAA batteries instead of 3AAA make one better than the other or is 500MW
Just 500MW
jeff

In article ,
Jeff wrote:

All things being equal..what is the difference between a 3 mile rated
frs/GMRS and 6 mile GRS/GMRSrated 2 way radio when both employ 500mw power?

Impossible to say accurately without actually studying the two radios.

There may actually be significant differences in performance. Or,
there may be no significant difference in performance, and the only
distinction between the "3 mile" and "6 mile" radios was the amount of
nitrous that the marketing/advertising people were huffing when they
designed the packaging materials.

Does the fact that one is a tiny bigger, an inch longer on the antenna, 4
AAA batteries instead of 3AAA make one better than the other

Possibly. Possibly not. All else being equal, a radio with more (or
heftier) batteries may have a longer useful run time than a similar
radio with fewer/smaller batteries of the same type. I tend to prefer
AA-cell radios over AAA-cell for this reason, although the AA-cell
type are becoming harder and harder to find.

or is 500MW
Just 500MW

To a first approximation, radios with similar transmit power, and
similar receiver sensitivities, and similar antenna designs would be
expected to deliver similar range.

Without actually testing the two models of radio under somewhat-
controlled conditions, and/or tearing them apart, there's no way to
know for sure whether there are significant performance differences.

The thing to remember is that FRS was set up to be a short-range radio
system - the power limit on transmission, and the requirement that the
antennas have no directional gain (above that of a halfwave dipole)
and be non-detachable make it clear that the FCC did not intend FRS to
be a long-distance radio system.

I've only ever seen one FRS radio whose performance was markedly worse
than any other's. It's a cheap little "wear around the neck" model
whose antenna barely protrudes from the case at all... and I suspect
that the short and obstructed antenna is probably the cause of its
poorer range.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

But these radios are also GMRS too. Does that mean on the lesser priced
models, GMRS can be powered by as little as 500MW too?

jeff


"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jeff wrote:

All things being equal..what is the difference between a 3 mile rated
frs/GMRS and 6 mile GRS/GMRSrated 2 way radio when both employ 500mw
power?

Impossible to say accurately without actually studying the two radios.

There may actually be significant differences in performance. Or,
there may be no significant difference in performance, and the only
distinction between the "3 mile" and "6 mile" radios was the amount of
nitrous that the marketing/advertising people were huffing when they
designed the packaging materials.

Does the fact that one is a tiny bigger, an inch longer on the antenna, 4
AAA batteries instead of 3AAA make one better than the other

Possibly. Possibly not. All else being equal, a radio with more (or
heftier) batteries may have a longer useful run time than a similar
radio with fewer/smaller batteries of the same type. I tend to prefer
AA-cell radios over AAA-cell for this reason, although the AA-cell
type are becoming harder and harder to find.

or is 500MW
Just 500MW

To a first approximation, radios with similar transmit power, and
similar receiver sensitivities, and similar antenna designs would be
expected to deliver similar range.

Without actually testing the two models of radio under somewhat-
controlled conditions, and/or tearing them apart, there's no way to
know for sure whether there are significant performance differences.

The thing to remember is that FRS was set up to be a short-range radio
system - the power limit on transmission, and the requirement that the
antennas have no directional gain (above that of a halfwave dipole)
and be non-detachable make it clear that the FCC did not intend FRS to
be a long-distance radio system.

I've only ever seen one FRS radio whose performance was markedly worse
than any other's. It's a cheap little "wear around the neck" model
whose antenna barely protrudes from the case at all... and I suspect
that the short and obstructed antenna is probably the cause of its
poorer range.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

In article ,
Jeff wrote:

But these radios are also GMRS too. Does that mean on the lesser priced
models, GMRS can be powered by as little as 500MW too?

That is exactly right.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

In order to remain within the law, most GMRS/FRS radios can't use external
antennas in
order to make the 500 mW erp rule. So, if you reduced power to FRS levels
and use the built in, not removable antenna on the FRS channels. it is short
(really short) range.
Option 2 is to go and get your GMRS license. Then get a handheld
that puts out the FULL 5 watts AND has a removeable antenna. Read over the
rules as to power output (EIRP) allowed. Set up an external antenna with a
max height of I think 20 feet above an existing structure(again check rules
on this figure) Take into account antenna gain, cable loss and ACTUAL
transmitter output to figure ERP. This is considered to be a Small Base
Station according to the rules AND is fully legal to interopreate with FRS
radios. The higher external antenna is almost guaranteed to quintuple your
coverage area from base to FRS handheld.
2 base stations with directional antennas(again watching erp) would be
really reliable.

Chris
KC2BZH

"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jeff wrote:

But these radios are also GMRS too. Does that mean on the lesser priced
models, GMRS can be powered by as little as 500MW too?

That is exactly right.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!