This is not directed at you, but dont get too exited over 5W BaoFengs, the range is 3 miles on a good day. Even with line of sight and a separate killer directional antenna dont look for much more.
Also don’t expect to just pack em away and fire them up and communicate in SHTF if you haven’t set them up and done some kind of practicing. It’s not CB where you just dial around a few channels. And they are not that easy to program even if you have the internet up to reference.
Got my General a few months ago . . .
I programmed mine by hand. It’s not that hard. In shtf, these radios would be useful for local tactical and recon purposes. That’s it.
Congratulations! Hope to work you on the bands some time.
These would be far superior over gmrs or FRS in a SHTF situation.
As we both know, handhelds aren’t meant for long distance. They are good for local use & on repeaters. I have a dual band antenna mounted on top of our RV & have no problem reaching the regional & statewide repeaters when we travel.
The antenna is about 13’ above ground.
But,we also travel with a transceiver when we travel.
I got 2 meter for when we travel & are in areas with no cell service primarily for emergencies. We used it for local directions alot before GPS became commonplace. With that antenna & the transceiver there’s usually a repeater in most places where there’s no cell service that can be reached at 50 or much less watts.