Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

I currently have GMRS radios that are rated at "16 miles"
(yeah, maybe on the salt flats or over water, ok, we all
know about that). The are rated at 2W on the GMRS freq's
and .5w on FRS.

Why are the new "25 mile" units still rated at 2W? What's
the difference in the two radios to justify the increased
distance claims?

Can't be frequency or a change to the privacy codes or they
wouldn't work with older radios.

Increased sensitivity/filtering? Hype?

--
Steve

It's just marketing hype Steve. Next thing you know they will be
50-mile units. A 2-watt HT would be lucky to get one mile let alone
25. Even 5-watt GMRS commercial units (like I have) are only useable
over a couple of miles unless you are line-of-sight. The ONLY way you
are going to get reliable communications over that kind of distance is
through a repeater.

Dick - W6CCD

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:39:12 -0500, Steve Calvin
wrote:

Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

I currently have GMRS radios that are rated at "16 miles"
(yeah, maybe on the salt flats or over water, ok, we all
know about that). The are rated at 2W on the GMRS freq's
and .5w on FRS.

Why are the new "25 mile" units still rated at 2W? What's
the difference in the two radios to justify the increased
distance claims?

Can't be frequency or a change to the privacy codes or they
wouldn't work with older radios.

Increased sensitivity/filtering? Hype?


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Dick wrote:
It's just marketing hype Steve. Next thing you know they will be
50-mile units. A 2-watt HT would be lucky to get one mile let alone
25. Even 5-watt GMRS commercial units (like I have) are only useable
over a couple of miles unless you are line-of-sight. The ONLY way you
are going to get reliable communications over that kind of distance is
through a repeater.

Dick - W6CCD


Thanks Dick. I suspected it was just marketing but thought
that they may have come up with some great new antennae or
something in the receiver that I hadn't heard about.


--
Steve

In article ,
Steve Calvin wrote:

Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

I currently have GMRS radios that are rated at "16 miles"
(yeah, maybe on the salt flats or over water, ok, we all
know about that). The are rated at 2W on the GMRS freq's
and .5w on FRS.

Why are the new "25 mile" units still rated at 2W?

The most probable reason is that this is pure marketing hyperbole.
The radios aren't better... they're just being quoted using more
optimistic (and typically unrealistic) test conditions, so that they
sound better than the old radios, so that they'll sell better.

What's
the difference in the two radios to justify the increased
distance claims?

Can't be frequency or a change to the privacy codes or they
wouldn't work with older radios.

They *might* have more sensitive receivers, perhaps with a low-noise
front-end preamplifier.

I rather doubt it, though.

Increased sensitivity/filtering? Hype?

Probably hype.

I've read some reports that indicate (based on buyers' experiences)
that there can be some very real different in useful range between
FMS/GMRS radios of different types. This might be due to actual (vs.
quoted) transmitter power, or to better receiver sensitivity, or to
the use of less-lossy rubber-duck antennas, or to the presence of a
more effective counterpoise within the radio.

I doubt, though, that all of these quality improvements, lumped
together, would come anywhere near extending the range of a 2-watt
handheld from 2 miles to 25 miles, under the same usage conditions. A
12:1 distance improvement would seem to require a 144:1 power or
sensitivity improvement... over 20 dB.

25 miles, on 2 watts of UHF, pretty much requires that both
transceivers be up on hilltops or high buildings, with a fairly clear
line-of-sight between. You aren't going to get that sort of distance
from ground-level to ground-level, unless you're lucky enough to catch
a very fortunate reflection from something high up... the horizon will
cut off line-of-sight. Similarly, you won't get that sort of range
amidst city building clutter.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of 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!

"Dick" wrote in message
...
It's just marketing hype Steve. Next thing you know they will be
50-mile units. A 2-watt HT would be lucky to get one mile let alone
25. Even 5-watt GMRS commercial units (like I have) are only useable
over a couple of miles unless you are line-of-sight. The ONLY way you
are going to get reliable communications over that kind of distance is
through a repeater.

Ah, yes, but those repeaters do miracles. I've personally hit a repeater in
Camas, WA from Salem, OR (about 60 miles) with an Icom IC-2. My best haul so
far into a repeater though took 30 watts, from the top of Coxcomb Hill in
Astoria, OR to a repeater on Mt. Scott in Portland, around 100 miles. But
that was still not as good a trick as the other.

Steve Calvin ) writes:
Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

GMRS, FRS, CB and whatever are not amateur radio.

It amazes me that people can't grasp that, and continue to
post such questions here.

Doing a decent search on the newsgroups would find appropriate
newsgroups. Clearly you didn't, since you found this one
and not the proper ones.

Doing a decent search would have found the same question asked,
and answered, many times before. Chances are really good if
you "chose" this newsgroup because you found discussion of
GMRS in old posts here, the very posts that made you think
the question was "on topic" was the same question, and if you'd
just looked at the replies you would have had the answer without
adding yet another off-topic question to the newsgroup.

Michael VE2BVW

"Michael Black" wrote in message
...
Steve Calvin ) writes:
Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

GMRS, FRS, CB and whatever are not amateur radio.

It amazes me that people can't grasp that, and continue to
post such questions here.

Doing a decent search on the newsgroups would find appropriate
newsgroups. Clearly you didn't, since you found this one
and not the proper ones.

Doing a decent search would have found the same question asked,
and answered, many times before. Chances are really good if
you "chose" this newsgroup because you found discussion of
GMRS in old posts here, the very posts that made you think
the question was "on topic" was the same question, and if you'd
just looked at the replies you would have had the answer without
adding yet another off-topic question to the newsgroup.


Micheal,

Lighten up. They're more likely to get ACCURATE information from a ham NG
than from anything devoted to those particular forms of two way radio,
simply because there are many more hams that actually know the way things
work and can give real life stats on what they're likely to do.

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

Micheal,

Lighten up. They're more likely to get ACCURATE information from a ham NG
than from anything devoted to those particular forms of two way radio,
simply because there are many more hams that actually know the way things
work and can give real life stats on what they're likely to do.




Michael... sorry about the typo..

Michael Black wrote:
Steve Calvin ) writes:
Sorry if this isn't the right group to ask this, if not and
someone know of a more appropriate group I'd appreciate a
pointer.

GMRS, FRS, CB and whatever are not amateur radio.

It amazes me that people can't grasp that, and continue to
post such questions here.

Doing a decent search on the newsgroups would find appropriate
newsgroups. Clearly you didn't, since you found this one
and not the proper ones.

Doing a decent search would have found the same question asked,
and answered, many times before. Chances are really good if
you "chose" this newsgroup because you found discussion of
GMRS in old posts here, the very posts that made you think
the question was "on topic" was the same question, and if you'd
just looked at the replies you would have had the answer without
adding yet another off-topic question to the newsgroup.

Michael VE2BVW

Well, EXCUSE ME Mr. High and Mighty Ham Operator.... woooooo
I'm just shaking here!

For your information asshole, I've been involved with
computers for the last 34 years and use DOS, WindoZe, AIX,
Unix, Solaris, HP, and pretty much any flavor of Linux you
can think of.

Searches are subjective and if you don't happen to enter the
right arguments you ain't gonna get the right answer. Shoot me.

I sincerely choke apologize for monopolizing your valuable
time.

To all of the other reasonable and helpful replies I
received, I thank you all very much.

Mr. Black can kiss my ass
--
Steve

The range of these units is dependant on:
1. Altitude of the transmitting and receiving units
2. Power
3. Frequency
4. Obstructions
5. Antenna Gain
6. Receiver Sensitivity

For a Handy chart to estimate range-- See URL:
http://www.artscipub.com/simpleton/simp.range.html

I have transmitted over a 50 Mile range with 5 Watts - but was on top of a
mountain (like most repeaters)

At ground level for both units with standard antennas, range is a few miles.
Anything else is hype.
Pretty much the distance to the horizon -- see URL:
http://www.boatsafe.com/tools/horizon.htm

The Shadow
Lamont