Hello
I purchased the Midland gxt 1000 and I do not that pleased with their reception range is quite short.
I wanted to get a recommendation for better radios with greater range and its need to be waterproof.
Maybe this device BAOFENG UV-5R will give me more range?
My uses are riding an ATV
thanks
Wha kinda range do you need? Your requirements？
Range is simply to just over the horizon regardless of power transmitted. Higher antennas increase the horizon distance so a good well matched and high antenna for your home based station is the best option. I currently use a Baofeng UV-5R on 8 watts output and can reach home from 3 miles over open country to a 1/4 wave ground based antenna antenna on the house roof at home. From my car with a mag mount on the roof and a gain of 3db gives me an output of 16 watts and I can reach home from 7 miles. Using the 1/4 wave from home with the UV-5R I can hit my local repeater some 13 miles distant. A folding tactical antenna on the UV 5R can also hit the same repeater so well satisfied with the cheapy 5R. Got the one with 1, 4 and 8 watt power with the higher rated battery. Satisfied for now but want to get into HF/ssb although cost of the gear is a bit beyond my reach. Forgot to say that home antenna is in a fold in the ground and just out of sight. Behind a thick belt of trees also prevents signal reaching home but that is the range penalty with UHF and VHF I suppose. Would be interested in what you do and any results. Good luck.
Bear in mind, Baofengs require you to have an Amateur Radio license.
I noted this old thread new to site .
A rule of thumb for 11-meter is 1 foot of antenna to 1 miles of range.
Anything over 30Mhz is line site. If both antennas are 6 foot off the ground max is 6 miles under best condition. Box may give a greater range but they standing on a very high box or tall tail.
If needs repeater just use a cellphone.
Dave
You might get a couple more watts of power with the UV-5R but in reality it isn’t going to make that much more of a difference. Are you trying to communicate with others on foot (walking, hiking, etc) or are you in your vehicle? If you are in your vehicle you will absolutely need an antenna matched for the frequencies you are using. And while your at it upgrade to a mobile radio with an outside mounted antenna, this will give you about 40 watts of power and not be crippled by the interference caused by your vehicle.
David, that is complete and utter nonsense! There is no ‘rule’ that works like that. It has no science behind it at all, and in your other posts about distance you give some ranges that do not follow your own rule! Most comms is either line of site, or uses reflection as the two main modes, or of course a bit of each. For reflection, the upper limit, the MUF, varies during the day and changes radically for all sorts of reasons. The best generality, if you want one is HF can bounce and VHF can’t. Until it does. Normally it doesn’t. UHF never does, apart from occasionally when weird stuff happens. The skill, and the fun for many hams, is working out which bands are open, and where to? You might discover Britain can talk to the US southern states, but nowhere in the north at all, or maybe we can hear Scandinavia, but not Spain! CB has always fallen in to the science where sometimes the U.K. can talk to the US ”when the skip is good” but not at all normally. It’s a lot more complicated than it appears.
It is only a rule Thumb.
There formula that has far better accuracy.
But rule Thumb gets you ball park upto 6 feet. After that you need more data . A ½ wave can get 50 miles depending on the ground. The ½ wave is only just over 17 feet.
Dave
FYI
I use rule Thumb because most do not know all the factors that makes up for distance. All they want is simple answer.
They just know the difference in dry sand compared to ocean water or water is factor , humidity is factor and list goes on and on.
So let easier to say rule of thumb is 1 foot to mile and bad weather is 50%. Save a hour trying to educate on distance
Dave
what is the purpose of a simplified rule that produces completely wrong statements. If we simpify the maths so we can work out the length of a quarter wavelength antenna, the we just do not even mention velocity factor. It’s a level too far for people with beginner experience and knowledge, but the result is very close. This rule “A rule of thumb for 11-meter is 1 foot of antenna to 1 miles of range.” makes no sense at all, because are you talking about antenna length, or height above the ground? In a later post you start talking about a ½ wave being able to do 50 miles depending on the ground? Physical ground? Or electrical ground? Then you mention feet for the half wave - 17ft - so that is half wave for CB frequencies, but your other rule about feet totally confuses the entire thing. If you need to simplify for beginners, that is fine, but you cannot start talking about height above ground in feet then antenna length in feet or people will get really, really confused.
6ft to the horizon is 3 miles on flat land or water. 12 feet increases the distance to 4.35 miles - see? Your rule of thumb doesn’t work? Go up to 24ft and you have 6 miles - all these are strictly line of sight - of course in practice the signal grazes the ground/water at that point so can be received the other side and the antenna height at that end comes into play. Nobody on land has the luxury of absolute flatness, so results vary to a large degree, as I am certain you know.
When I trained to be a teacher, it was madee very clear that to teach effectively you need to understand the audience. If you assume they know nothing, you can simplify too much, and if you distort the truth too much, then it is just wrong.
The bad news is people can buy HAM equipment without a license. The FCC say more and more are just buying HAM Equipment and using and just sealing someone else Call Sign Today it only a easy 35 questions test and $35.00.
Dave
Why is it bad news? I bought ham equipment before I had passed my test, it really helped me learn how the etiquette works. All you need is self-control. If your own ethics and morals allow you to do illegal things, then that’s just you. The majority obey rules. Stealing a callsign and pretending really sucks - but those kind of people rarely make good hams.
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I know do not make good Citizens Band. They break the rules on 11-meter and post on FB .
My self I read Citizens Band rule changes every year. Very little changes so fast to read.
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I get my HAM license it is only $35.00. But costs of good equipment is high and I am on retirement budget. Also I like challenge of 11-meter.
Dave
Here a GMRS radio looks great range just top of mountainand get good range. Almost any band that will work . But selling a high cost Radio put guy mountain top. If do math most Radio will get 100 miles. See calcs below on 7,500 feet high.
It is some I see all time on try sell different radios.
Remember most bands can get same range on the mountain 
top
Formulas from ARRL Book 
How do you feel about twisting facts for sales.
Dave
In one post you over simplify and now you over complicate. This topic was talking originally about UHF, then you start talking about CB? So many of your posts have very difficult to understand English. I lost the point of what you are trying to say. Radio manufacturers have always over estimated range, and used qualifiers. Range is up to 50 miles with repeaters. Not really a lie? Effective real world range 200m would not be a great claim would it? You invented a silly rule to ‘help’ people with range, and now you post a new ‘helping’ post greatly mangling your earlier one. I don’t understand what on earth you are actually trying to do?
I know a lot like repeater range.
Anytime looking range I look how far a radio can stand a lone transmit and receive.
Better to say distance from Staton to repeater. With repeater you go to telephone or internet and get thousands of miles
11-meter repeaters are band by the FCC so only distance Station to Station.
That depends on Antenna used
Dave
On business VHF 2 watt I have gone about 200 miles .
But Station to Station was under 2 miles
You had to use a Repeater service for any distance.
Dave
Dave - your posts are getting stranger and stranger? They make no sense at all. You just said you have gone 200 miles on 2W on VHF, then station to station was under 2 miles - the 200 mile distance was two stations? A 200 mile normal range on one repeater is ridiculous. You seem to be making up all sorts of crazy comments - but luckily I am the only member joining in here. You’ve scared everyone else off. Your spelling, use of English and the grammar make me wonder if you are some kind of bot - but one that doesn’t do English very well. It’s the kind of thing you get when you use Google translate to convert to something like Russian, and then Russian back to English. You have mentioned you have 60 years experience in CB and are a ham, but your comments suggest you might have considerably less experience than that. I apologise in advance if you are genuinely old (as I am) or have some medical condition that makes you difficult to understand, but all the signs suggest I might be talking to a malfunctioning AI interface?
I had business VHF radio and was traveling North to other side valley. At top mountain I tried the radio and work
So mark it map finish business and drove.
I new where repeater station it was south
Figure out the airline miles was almost 200 miles .
Dave
I thought I was the only one who noticed this.
Dave can barely communicate in English and pretty much took over this forum. His posts are everywhere and none of what he says makes sense. Lots of contradictions also.
My best guess is he some sort of bot on the internet imitating a person here.
Either that, or he is blind, deaf and mute and with severe disabilities. For crying our loud a 6 year old is better in sentence construction and reasoning.
Dave, prove me wrong. Read your messages 5 times over next time before you post them and think - will the average reader out there understand what I’m saying? Did I address the question?