Ok, many of you by now have noticed that then new Midland radios are saying they have a 36 mile range. That leads many to believe that you can give one to a friend, jump in your car, drive straight down the road across a large city for one hour, stop, and still be able to talk with them.
We all know that two way radios are typically only usable for 1-2 miles without using a repeater. Then, you might get 20 miles or more. So why are many of the manufacturers such as Midland, Cobra, Garmin, Uniden and Motorola telling people they will work for 10, 15, 20, 36 miles? Look on the box, in giant print, they say something like 36 MILE RANGE! If they could put blinking lights around it they would.
They are misleading you.
They place (often in small print or with a misleading diagram) on the box something about "maximum range achieved only under certain conditions". Those conditions involve being at the top of a mile high dormant volcano in the middle of the ocean, and sending a burst of static to a person on a deserted bare island 30 miles away. I know we have a lot of customers who need radios for just that situation! In equally small print, something is stated that in most cases the radio only has about one mile of usable range.
So they want to deceive you about the range, and they are creating a false or misleading impression as to the capability of the radio. Then we get stuck having to put that in the description of the radio, and then explaining to customers the truth. Thanks. The only manufacturer that is honest about range it would seem is Trisquare.
The sad thing is, they make perfectly good radios for the money. They have no need to do this. If you buy a set of FRS/GRMS radios from Midland, Cobra, Garmin, Uniden or Motorola, they will give you years of affordable and reliable use. They only work for about one mile, but they will do so consistently.
If they think they have to do this to compete with each other, all they are doing is making themselves look like idiots. How many repeat customers have they lost from this? The best kind of advertising is word of mouth, way to ruin that guys! You would rather insult your customers just to try and stand out on a store shelf.
Related Resources
GMRS Radio Range Chart
30 Miles? The Truth About Range
Getting The Most Range From Your Radio
The Two Way Radio Show TWRS-05 - Radios in Range
The Two Way Radio Show TWRS-45 - The Truth About GMRS Radio Range
Radio 101 - The truth about FRS / GMRS two way radio range
How To Optimize Range for Motorola Talkabout Two Way Radios
FM radio stations transmit thousands of watts. Their hundred foot tall broadcast antennas are placed on top of the highest points available. Their maximum range is somewhere around fifty miles. Except under freak conditions, a handheld radio powered by four penlight batteries is not going to get anywhere near the same range.
We use Midland radios for skiing trips. Typically we experience 2 way communication within the valley, sometimes up to 7-10 miles. If used at a junction in the skiing area, on top of a mountain the range is fantastic. But 36 miles, never done this.
I think that is how a lot of radio manufacturers are able to claim these ranges. If you transmit from the top of a large building/tower/hillside you can get some very long ranges. This is why you see a lot of communications antennas up on buildings, water towers, etc...
I've gotten 10 miles at the top of a very tall building
If you call sending a burst of static working, sure. To actually communicate, 2 miles is about the maximum range. In a city it is often much less.
Just clearing this up: The walkies DO go 36 miles, only if you are on a lake mountain desert or whatev.. walkies go about 1-3 miles in a city, in between lake- city 10 miles, lake, 20 - 23 miles, in between,lake - desert 23 - 27miles, and in a desert, about 27 - 36 mile range.