Noting the precision of your wattage calculations, I should have been more
specific in my answer in the previous message.
d(mi)=1.415 * sqrt antenna height in feet
so to get you down to the decimals 8.9492457782765135095568687307446 miles
This distance could be reduced by objects between you and your antenna.

a rule of thumb is sqrt 2* sqrt antenna height in feet = distance in miles.
"Ken Bessler" wrote in message
news:4nh9e.4900$mS1.1136@okepread04...
A few days ago I did a range check between
my base and handheld on 445 mhz and noted
the spot where I started to loose comms.

I came home and calculated xmtr power, feedline
losses & antenna gain. I figured I had about 114.4
watts ERP. I changed to 147.555 and re did the
test. Despite the fact that I figured I had 187.7 w
erp on VHF, I started loosing signal at the same
spot.

Base rig is a FT-857D, Handheld is a VX-7R with
the stock antenna. Base antenna is a Comet GP-6
up at 40' fed with Flexi 4xl coax. Terrain is flat.

Based on my data, either:

A) The difference in ERP is too small to matter, esp.
when you figure in UHF's higher path loss.

or

B) I need to do tests on both freqs at more than 1
location to establish a coverage pattern.


What do you guys think? A, B or ?

--
73's es gd dx de Ken KGØWX
Grid EM17ip, Flying Pigs #1055,
Digital On Six #350,
List Owner, Yahoo! E-groups:
VX-2R & FT-857