Radio range problem.... Plz help

General Discussion
1

Hello!

I recently baught two MIDLAND GXT900 (30 mile range) radios … It works fine within a mile but it wont work more than that… I mean I don’t get any signal at all out of 1 mile range… Can some one help me with that plz?? I don’t know what is wrong with it … It should work since it stated that 30 mile range. Plz share ur thought.
Thank you in advance

2

You got caught in marketing hype. The range you are getting is normal. No handheld radio will communicate more than a couple miles at best, point to point. Never believe those range claims… next year the same radio will be repackaged and they will say 35 mile range… the next year… 40… on and on.

3

Rich is absolutely correct.

If you read around a bit on the web you’ll see you are one of very many people that have this very same issue. This deceptive advertising is well documented.

4

Thanks guys…if I had known that b4 I wouldn’t waste that much insted I wud buy sumthing cheaper… This is really b/s … :frowning:

5

This make sense, if a little too over-encompassing.

http://www.trisquare.us/range.htm

clearly something with a tiny 0.0001W of output will not reach 6 miles no matter how clear the line of sight is (likewise a bright light will be seeing further than a dimmer light), other factors like receiver sensivity, squelch setting may come into play which might extend or restrict the range further but not by that much.

So other posts are right, about 2 miles is good going already, in town, may be half a mile, in an open area you could see perhaps 4 miles.

I think there is a mistaken emphasis on TX power with the false understanding that the more your transmit the farther it goes, true up to a point, I think far more important is the receiving antenna efficiency, receiver sensitivity and selectivity

6

This is why we have a link on our main page to this article: http://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2006/07/the_truth_about_range.aspx

We have joked that we may start saying something will get “30 miles in some mystical land”, until then… up to about 2 in most places. :cool:

7

That page is great Jeff. I will reference that any time someone brings this up.

Thank you for the honest and up front sales/advertising. :cool:

8

Out of curiousity, why are manufactureres allowed to market hyped up ranges? If 99% of people using them get no where near the advertised range, then what is their reasoning to market these 25 mile+ ranges? It’s like advertising that this car will get 100 miles per gallon…and in small print, “you’ll get 100 miles per gallon if hurricane force winds are behind you”. What’s the point? Is marketing common sense dead?