5 watt radios

I'm wondering how far off shore I can go in my boat and still be able to talk to someone on land using a 5 watt handheld vhf radio. All the ones I'm looking to buy have no indication of this. Thanks for any input....

We have a vintage Sitex HH-300 handheld aboard our vessel at all times, as well as our base-mounted Uniden. The Sitex does extremely well using the "rubber-ducky" antenna to a distance of about 5 to 7 miles over open water talking to other sailboats and marinas.

If you're communicating handheld-to-handheld, about three miles is the the range you can expect.

I echo the opinions above, I wouldn't depend on a handheld as our sole means of radio communication.

Hope this helps!

2008-05-13 07:19:04 by aqualoaf

what would be your range estimate with 5 watts radio?

motorola has 1 or 2 watts.. does 5 watts radio. has longer range for this?

pls. advice.am looking 4 a longer range communication.

gkk is correct. For a given antenna, higher power will give greater range. In many cases, better antenna design and performance is often more important than actual transmitter power.
However, doubling transmitter power does not double your range. I'm a little rusty on my theory, but if I recall correctly, range is logarithmically related to power level change. For example, it will take about 4 times the power level to achieve doubling of range of coverage of transmission. So, it takes a significant power level increase to significantly increase range of coverage.
So, 5 watts will certainly give better range over 1 watt. But, sometimes the same effect may be achieved with a better antenna design combined with higher antenna mounting above ground.
All factors add-up together. So, the best of all worlds is: more power, better antenna, and higher antenna above ground combined.

2008-03-27 00:21:07 by a_joemar

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Is the reception better on a 1watt channel?

Before using the "1 watt" channels, make sure you have a GMRS license like the previous answerer said.

You may not get any better range, as you'd really need a major increase in power for any range increase. UHF frequencies like FRS/GMRS are pretty much line of sight and obstructions in the signal path will decrease range.

2007-07-25 07:22:55 by Patti Millar

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I have a CB radio with a 5 watt output for a PA system and a PA speaker that takes 75 watts. How do I go about upping the output so I can broadcast my voice to everybody that doesn't want to hear it?

probably too much trouble to modify.

Just buy a cheap 75 watt audio amp and use it.

sorry.

2007-08-24 19:43:15 by spnkwht

Have a look at this 4 part tutorial:
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2003/06 27.htm
Good luck.

Edit: a good receiver section and an efficient antenna is far more important than the transmitter's power output (wattage)

2006-02-19 22:06:43 by bigpapasc