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Increase a Walkie talkie wattage output?

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jaden833

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Hi,
I'm willing to boost my walkie talkie range (by staying under the limits) and i was wondering how to do this.
I was thinking of putting a relay just before the antenna, but can it be so simple?
If it can't work, does anyone has any idea how to increase the wattage?

Cheers
 
Welcome to ETO!
but can it be so simple?
No. A relay (assuming you mean an electromagnetic switching device) does not amplify signals. To add an amplifier stage you would need to know the existing circuit layout and ensure that relevant components could handle the increased current required to drive the stage.
It would probably be cheaper to buy a more powerful walkie-talkie than to modify the existing one.
 
I think you need to explain EXACTLY what you plan to do. Just putting a relay in the path to the antenna will not do what you want. If you are planning to use the relay to break the connection to the antenna and route it trough an external amplifier then the type of relay will depend on the frequency of the transceiver. If the frequency is in the UHF range then you need a special relay. Don't forget you will need a signal to the amplifier so the amplifier is bypassed in the receive mode. (Unless you connect the power amplifier before the existing antenna changeover relay in the transceiver.)

Les.
 
if you want better range try using a different band. get a UHF walkie talkie and if you are using uhf the only thing you can try is getting a after market antenna (i dint know much about 27mhz radios) or buying a more powerful walkie talkie as alec_t said.
 
if you want better range try using a different band. get a UHF walkie talkie and if you are using uhf the only thing you can try is getting a after market antenna (i dint know much about 27mhz radios) or buying a more powerful walkie talkie as alec_t said.

You've got that the wrong way round :D

27Mhz gives far greater range than UHF - essentially the higher you go the more accurately it adheres to pure 'line of sight'. For that reason VHF gives a MUCH better range than UHF.
 
You've got that the wrong way round :D

27Mhz gives far greater range than UHF - essentially the higher you go the more accurately it adheres to pure 'line of sight'. For that reason VHF gives a MUCH better range than UHF.
uhf will be much better in hilly terrain and 27mhz will be much better on flat surfaces.
 
sorry i got mixed up, i am quite tired, UHF is better in built up areas with big buildings because the wavelength is shorter.

I wouldn't agree with that either :D

UHF is pretty well 'stopped dead' by buildings (or trees, or anything else).

UHF 'may' be better in built-up areas due to high levels of interference at 27MHz.

Limiting factor at VHF and UHF is the noise level of the front end in the receiver, at 27MHz it's noise levels in the environment.

about me being a ham i purchased the study book but lost interest.

I did mine way back in the 70's (G8MMV).
 
I wouldn't agree with that either :D

UHF is pretty well 'stopped dead' by buildings (or trees, or anything else).

UHF 'may' be better in built-up areas due to high levels of interference at 27MHz.

Limiting factor at VHF and UHF is the noise level of the front end in the receiver, at 27MHz it's noise levels in the environment.



I did mine way back in the 70's (G8MMV).
i was told that you should imagine that you are carring a pole around with you that is the same length as the wave length (27mhz or 477mhz) and the longer the wave length the more the signals degrade. also UHF sounds a lot more clear.
 
i was told that you should imagine that you are carring a pole around with you that is the same length as the wave length (27mhz or 477mhz) and the longer the wave length the more the signals degrade. also UHF sounds a lot more clear.

You were told wrongly :D

UHF sounds clearer because it's higher bandwidth and FM (usually) rather than low quality AM (which is usual on 27MHz).

There's also the fact that a cheap 27MHz walkie talkie is a really crude and crappy device, but UHF FM ones have to be far better made in order to work.

The UK used 27MHz FM for CB (rather than the American AM), and there were some really good CB walkie talkies which had great performance (but weren't cheap). The very poor toy ones have never been legal in the UK.
 
I understood that the UHF is just for quality (huge data carrying capacity) and another benefit is it needs tiny antenna. Ham is so interesting to me (by knowing less than 1% info about Ham Radio) but unfortunately I know nothing, I saw nothing, I heard nothing about it.
 
You were told wrongly :D

UHF sounds clearer because it's higher bandwidth and FM (usually) rather than low quality AM (which is usual on 27MHz).

There's also the fact that a cheap 27MHz walkie talkie is a really crude and crappy device, but UHF FM ones have to be far better made in order to work.

The UK used 27MHz FM for CB (rather than the American AM), and there were some really good CB walkie talkies which had great performance (but weren't cheap). The very poor toy ones have never been legal in the UK.
thank you for correcting my mistake:D
because we have 477mhz in australia and we also have repeaters, you can hear all sorts of dodgy people fight and swear 24/7 on the repeaters extra clear:cool:
 
thank you for correcting my mistake:D
because we have 477mhz in australia and we also have repeaters, you can hear all sorts of dodgy people fight and swear 24/7 on the repeaters extra clear:cool:

We have both UHF and VHF amateur repeaters here, and VHF (as predicted by theory) gives much greater range.

I once worked a Dutchman via GB3HH - interestingly a repeater a fair way to the West of me, to work the Netherlands well to the East of me :D

Just found a coverage map for it :D



I'm to the East of it, outside the blue zone (I presume blue is 'good' coverage).
 
VHF will reflect very well off mountains.

From my own practical experience, Ben Nevis reflects very well at 145 MHz.

JimB
 
Thanks very much for your replies,
but my vision a things was a bit to simple, i don't have the electronic skills (yet) so i'm just gonna give up..

Thank you!
 
If you do not know about electronics then sure I can teach you little hehe

Simple thing do get little high wattage is to increase its supply voltage if voltage around its RF amplifier is not regulated and if the RF amp can handle little more voltage. If voltage is regulated for RF amp then it has no effect to increase voltage. Also if the RF amp cannot handle more voltage than now then the last RF amplifier could get warm and then burn.

The simpler thing if the device is toy and RF output is attenuated by a resistor (to make it legal/short range) then you can remove the resistor to get full power output. It's very rare case to use resistor to minimise existed power, maybe.
 
jaden833, I think you made a wise decision. If you are not very sure about RF technology, it's best to just avoid experimenting with it for now. Without proper testing, you could be creating a device that will interfere with a lot of other radio services and not even know it. Services such as emergency channels, aircraft bands, ham bands or whatever.

If you interfere with broadcast channels, you can be sure somebody will notice and complain about missing their favorite show. And with all the money in broadcast commercial time, it's likely the authorities will track you down and - at least here in the states - the FCC can be very harsh. Ham radio experimenters need to demonstrate their knowledge and pass a test to get a license to transmit anything at higher power levels. Modifying a certified transmitter may not even be legal. There is probably a trillion other electronic projects to get into, and once you gain some confidence in electronics, you may want to tackle such a project.
 
I once worked a Dutchman via GB3HH
I am pretty excited to talk with experienced ham radio operator. In my whole country there are just less than 10 ham operators and just only few are active these days. I never heard about them except once in a online magazine. The magazine had said ham radio is an amazing communication device which could be build even in home with very low cost.

I saw some ham circuits in internet but I am not sure these DIY thing can communicate as ham radio? (it's not practical to transmit professional FM station with DIY FM transmitter.) However ham is a personal device like a telephone. So I think if it's well designed then the DIY version can work. I just want see an example how simple ham radio can work for real communication. If you have any link of schematic then please stick them here.

Also I saw huge Yagi of ham radio in internet. How far (min to max) it can transmit approx in your experience? Seems interesting!
 
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Also I saw huge Yagi of ham radio in internet. How far (min to max) it can transmit approx in your experience? Seems interesting!

I've not been active now for a good many years, and I only ever used VHF and UHF - but using short-wave you can get all round the world.

Assuming you could learn morse code (I couldn't be bothered :D) then you can build very simple and easy equipment that will allow you to communicate over vast distances.

But for VHF/UHF you can buy VERY cheap but excellent gear, such as this:

https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-...-Transceiver-Radio-Walkie-Talkie-p-61066.html

I actually bought one, even though I'm not active (it was too cheap to turn down) - but a friend borrowed it, and I've not seen it since :D
 
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