What is the typical reception range between 2-meter Amateur handheld radios?

April 16, 2010 - 10:22 pm 2 Comments

I’d like to know the typical range I could expect between two similar 5-watt radios (without the use of a repeater) in a typical urban environment with moderate trees and buildings.

hand held to hand held, urban location, VHF – FM….. perhaps 5 miles. Both antennas must be perfectly vertical to prevent polarization loss.

Remember that VHF and UHF is line of sight communications, with some really rare exceptions.

2 Responses to “What is the typical reception range between 2-meter Amateur handheld radios?”

  1. ►BobB◄ Says:

    hand held to hand held, urban location, VHF – FM….. perhaps 5 miles. Both antennas must be perfectly vertical to prevent polarization loss.

    Remember that VHF and UHF is line of sight communications, with some really rare exceptions.
    References :

  2. lare Says:

    the antenna included with HTs is for convenience only, not for long distance communication. in order for the HT to work more than a mile you will need to use external antennas. For example a mag mount quarter wave mounted on a car roof. If you want to push out 5 miles, a portable 3 element yagi would be in order.
    References :
    K7UWR

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