HEIGHT and PLACEMENT

A good rule of thumb to remember is HEIGHT and PLACEMENT determines the range of your 2-way radio. Holding your device upright, perpendicular to the ground, will give you the best range. Tilting your portable to the side or using a stubby antenna will reduce your range by up to 2/3s. While radio-to-radio a portable radio will generally talk line-of-site up to 2 miles. Talking from inside to outside of a building, you can expect 1/4 to 1/2 mile.

Another circumstance which can effect range are dead areas within your property.  2-way signals sometimes incur obstacles that cannot be penetrated or circumvented. Users should determine where these areas exist in their business and have a plan in place to communicate around them. Sometimes this may simply mean moving a few steps to one side or another, or stepping out from behind a concrete wall. In other instances it may mean holding your unit upright in front of your face while facing the direction you want you signal to go.  Remember height and placement determines range. If you are wearing your radio down low on your hip while using a remote mic, you might need to place your radio higher to increase range. If you are needing even more range, the discussion of an onsite repeater system would be the next step.

If you think your antenna may be shortening your range, here’s a post addressing radio antenna issues. Bad antennas, stubby antennas, wrong antennas –  and how they effect your range.

Finally, owners and managers should work to educate their radio users on how to hold their portable device for best range. This will result in an overall improvement of communications within your business.

Give us a call here at Delmmar Communications, 800-872-2627. We are happy to help.

~cl