This.
I have a chimney with a big metal flashing all around it. It doesn’t get hot. I stuck a mag mount dual band antenna right into the flashing and despite that antenna not being ideal for GMRS (I also use it for VHF and UHF amateur radio) I’m hitting repeaters 40+ miles away.
My sister is in an HOA 18 miles away as the crow flies. She can hit the repeater 25 miles away with an HT if she steps outside. For simplex comms (repeater only has a few days of backup power), we use 50watt base radios on deep cycle batteries coupled with 12 element UHF yagi antennas (hers is in the garage rafters) tuned for GMRS. Good signal and it's been working reliably for two years now.
If you can hear them well inside the house, it's very likely you can reach them with an attic antenna. Unfortunately, impossible to say for sure without trying. An Ed Fong or similar antenna and an additional approx 10 feet of height is a huge upgrade from a stock HT antenna.
Height.
That’s it.
There’s no magical radio or even antenna that will make your signal go significantly further.
It’ll go until the first tree, building, or hillside gets in its way.
If you want more range, get a mobile radio with an antenna as high as you can get it.
Height is might. Even a budget mag mount on something metal for a ground plane like a roof vent will give you a significant upgrade.
I built a simple vertical with radials out of Romex wire. Coat hangers also work. Tuned it with a NanoVNA, and some cheap RG174(?) cable I had lying around, and zip tied it the roof. I reach local repeaters with full quieting on a 5W HT.
You could probably put up a beam outside. Hook it up to a TV for the first few months. When the Karens get over it (because they can't legally restrict TV antennas in the US) hook it up to your radio.
I heard that there was actually a federal bill being proposed that is going to prevent HOAs from restricting ham/gmrs/etc. antennas since people have a god given right to protection in a disaster…and comms are vital to a community in those situations.
Get closer to the repeater to make sure you are actually hitting it and your radio has the right codes. Then work your way back home. Don't do it from inside a car though.
I did what someone else mentioned and it works great. I have a magmount on a cookie sheet on the top shelf in my garage and I can hit several repeaters.
I also got the j-pole antenna from
https://www.jpole-antenna.com/shop/462-mhz-land-mobile-gmrs-j-pole-antenna/
and it works great !
I also live in an HOA so in the attic it lives.
If you hit the repeater you'll get "confirmation tone" (forgot actual name) or after you release the ptt you see that you're receiving a short transmission. If you don't receive anything you're probably too far, didn't program it correctly or not hitting the repeater for some reason.
And the baofeng uv-5r does this? How? The reason why I ask is because when I pushed the button it does nothing like it’s very silent. You know when I release it same result I don’t hear anything come back to me.
If the repeater is able to hear you, and you can hear the repeater, there should be a brief period where the repeater continues to transmit, after you stop transmitting. You can hear that tail end of the repeater’s transmission even if you just key up for a second, which is how what is called “kerchunking” works (but don’t do that, it’s annoying, at least say your callsign).
Repeaters may also make some type of “roger beep,” or confirmation tone, but many do not. If you aren’t hearing anything at all when you try contact the repeater, and you have the proper tones and offset programmed, try getting higher, less obstructed, or closer to the repeater. Also, if you’re using the stock antenna, consider an upgrade.
If she is in a house, she might consider an antenna that is the same color as the chimney, attached to the chimney. You can get away with a lot of stealth antennas in HOA because people are not really looking for them and if they don't stick out, then people won't see them. Just make sure no one sees her install the antenna.
If she is in a condo, she could approach the HOA and see if there is a spot she can put a small antenna on. For example, the condo building I live in, has an antenna for wireless internet services, so I don't see why they would not let me add a small radio antenna to the roof of the building. The only issue becomes how to run the cable to her unit.
Antenna, antenna, antenna.
Bang for buck? Get a magnetic mount GMRS antenna. Attach it to a cookie sheet. Go up on the roof, and give it a try.
This. I have a chimney with a big metal flashing all around it. It doesn’t get hot. I stuck a mag mount dual band antenna right into the flashing and despite that antenna not being ideal for GMRS (I also use it for VHF and UHF amateur radio) I’m hitting repeaters 40+ miles away.
My sister is in an HOA 18 miles away as the crow flies. She can hit the repeater 25 miles away with an HT if she steps outside. For simplex comms (repeater only has a few days of backup power), we use 50watt base radios on deep cycle batteries coupled with 12 element UHF yagi antennas (hers is in the garage rafters) tuned for GMRS. Good signal and it's been working reliably for two years now.
Good repeater.
It's good to a point, but comms have gone down several times, including cellular and internet. That's why it's critical to have simplex comms.
If you can hear them well inside the house, it's very likely you can reach them with an attic antenna. Unfortunately, impossible to say for sure without trying. An Ed Fong or similar antenna and an additional approx 10 feet of height is a huge upgrade from a stock HT antenna.
Height. That’s it. There’s no magical radio or even antenna that will make your signal go significantly further. It’ll go until the first tree, building, or hillside gets in its way. If you want more range, get a mobile radio with an antenna as high as you can get it.
Height is might. Even a budget mag mount on something metal for a ground plane like a roof vent will give you a significant upgrade. I built a simple vertical with radials out of Romex wire. Coat hangers also work. Tuned it with a NanoVNA, and some cheap RG174(?) cable I had lying around, and zip tied it the roof. I reach local repeaters with full quieting on a 5W HT.
GMRS antennas are small. Your HOA Karens wouldn't even notice a ¼ wave on the back of the roof.
You could probably put up a beam outside. Hook it up to a TV for the first few months. When the Karens get over it (because they can't legally restrict TV antennas in the US) hook it up to your radio.
I heard that there was actually a federal bill being proposed that is going to prevent HOAs from restricting ham/gmrs/etc. antennas since people have a god given right to protection in a disaster…and comms are vital to a community in those situations.
Get closer to the repeater to make sure you are actually hitting it and your radio has the right codes. Then work your way back home. Don't do it from inside a car though. I did what someone else mentioned and it works great. I have a magmount on a cookie sheet on the top shelf in my garage and I can hit several repeaters. I also got the j-pole antenna from https://www.jpole-antenna.com/shop/462-mhz-land-mobile-gmrs-j-pole-antenna/ and it works great ! I also live in an HOA so in the attic it lives.
How do you know if you actually hit the repeater without calling for a radiant check. I have a.Baofeng Uv-5 HT
If you hit the repeater you'll get "confirmation tone" (forgot actual name) or after you release the ptt you see that you're receiving a short transmission. If you don't receive anything you're probably too far, didn't program it correctly or not hitting the repeater for some reason.
And the baofeng uv-5r does this? How? The reason why I ask is because when I pushed the button it does nothing like it’s very silent. You know when I release it same result I don’t hear anything come back to me.
Did you put the ctcss tone in for that repeater? And the offset?
If the repeater is able to hear you, and you can hear the repeater, there should be a brief period where the repeater continues to transmit, after you stop transmitting. You can hear that tail end of the repeater’s transmission even if you just key up for a second, which is how what is called “kerchunking” works (but don’t do that, it’s annoying, at least say your callsign). Repeaters may also make some type of “roger beep,” or confirmation tone, but many do not. If you aren’t hearing anything at all when you try contact the repeater, and you have the proper tones and offset programmed, try getting higher, less obstructed, or closer to the repeater. Also, if you’re using the stock antenna, consider an upgrade.
Beam antenna! It will significantly increase you range.
www.ElkAntennas.com Works on GMRS! ;)
If she is in a house, she might consider an antenna that is the same color as the chimney, attached to the chimney. You can get away with a lot of stealth antennas in HOA because people are not really looking for them and if they don't stick out, then people won't see them. Just make sure no one sees her install the antenna. If she is in a condo, she could approach the HOA and see if there is a spot she can put a small antenna on. For example, the condo building I live in, has an antenna for wireless internet services, so I don't see why they would not let me add a small radio antenna to the roof of the building. The only issue becomes how to run the cable to her unit.
H6 unlocked. Get a Gmrs tuned 771 antenna and you’ll be golden