Hi all,
I'm trying to work out of my UHF is working correctly, the trick is I don't have a second unit to test with or a mate with one that I know of, so I'm left with trying to work it out from random signals and trying to radio check with people that are who knows where.
I live in a metro area where it's not likely to have many people on UHF and with buildings etc. is far from ideal for it anyway. The radio is an old 5W Uniden mounted unit, with what I think is a 2.1db antenna. Previously all was working fine and it's been sitting in a box for the last 5-6 years.
My transmitting seems to be ok. I've tried random radio checks and gotten replies back, but they're so hard to make out. A fragmented bits have said 'loud' and 'clear' so I think it's actually working right, but I had real trouble hearing them through the static and breakup.
I suppose this could be because I'm transmitting on a 5w and if they were on a 2w or whatever they would receive me fine but possibly be too far to transmit back? Could that be right?
I wondered if perhaps I was having trouble receiving, but on occasion I do get a clear, loud message so then that tells me it's working.
Maybe I'm just wasting my time trying to test with randoms from the city?