VHF tends to have the greatest distance, so I’ll mostly focus on VHF from here on out.Ī particular challenge for handheld radios like most BaoFengs is output power. Such stations need to have a direct path between each other, with no major obstructions in between. VHF and UHF have characteristics opposite those of HF. HF waves also can bounce off the earth’s ionosphere, which is how they can propagate all over the world.

What’s the difference between VHF/UHF and HF? HF consists of longer electromagnetic waves that travel long distances. If you have only the entry-level Technician license, you’re mostly stuck with the frequencies designated as Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF), which is what your BaoFeng uses. To make much use out of HF, you need two amateur radio licenses from the FCC: Technician, which is the entry-level license and General, which is the mid-level license. That’s what’s known as high frequency, or HF communications, which take place between 3 and 30 MHz.īut HF is only a small slice of what ham radio is, and at least in the United States, it’s a pretty exclusive club. When you think of ham radio, you probably picture a middle-aged guy in a shack with a table of electronic boxes and a big desk microphone, talking to people all over the world. It’s easy to see how people get confused about the BaoFeng’s range. A BaoFeng handi-talkie using VHF maxes out at about 30 miles under ideal conditions and with a few tricks and tweaks.īe sure to read our beginner’s guide to amateur (ham) radio for preppers for a better understanding of how these technologies work.

To make contacts hundreds of miles away, you need a high-powered, high frequency (HF) radio and a General license.BaoFengs use the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) parts of the spectrum, which are limited by terrain and only travel from one to ten miles under most normal conditions.So before you make any prepping plans that involve one of these devices, you should know what they can and cannot do, and why. But BaoFeng handi-talkies are not the right radio for long-distance comms. Yes, the popular BaoFengs are amateur (ham) radios, and the right ham radio can indeed communicate over hundreds of miles. The BaoFeng’s range isn’t anywhere close to that. In our online travels, we sometimes see preppers buying pairs of BaoFeng handi-talkies for themselves and their distant loved ones because they think they’ll be able to communicate over hundreds of miles in a grid-down.

Range of 8w radio