VHF or UHF?

There is a lot of discussion around this, but in general…..

The majority of walkie talkies hired out are UHF. UHF can penetrate buildings and other structures better than VHF, it can also pass through trees and wooded areas more easily than VHF. As a result, UHF is normally the best option in urban areas or for use in and around buildings. At events such as festivals UHF will be better able to penetrate into porta-cabins and vehicles than VHF.

VHF is best suited for open countryside or less built-up areas. VHF can will travel further across hilly terrain than UHF, although if there are large hills both VHF and UHF may struggle. VHF may be the better choice for events spread across large areas such as a marathon race or cross country event.

WHAT RANGE WILL I GET?

In a city or urban environment you might only be able to communicate over short distances. Even the very best handheld radio may struggle to reach more than half a mile if at ground level in a city as the signal will be limited by the dense buildings. UHF handhelds should provide good coverage in music venues or similar spaces such as a theatre or conference center. But areas such as basements can prove challenging. VHF does not work as well inside such buildings.

Across completely flat and unobstructed ground there will be little difference between VHF and UHF and both may reach 6 to 8 miles. But the countryside is rarely completely flat and across most typical areas a VHF handheld may be able to reach 3 to 5 miles, while a UHF handheld may only go 2 or 3 miles. Any larger hills or high ground between the stations can drastically reduce this, especially UHF.

Trees and leaves will reduce the range of both VHF and UHF, but for smaller wooded areas the shorter wave length of UHF may better penetrate through trees and leaves. For large forests neither UHF or VHF will go directly through the forest but VHF might be able to bend around or over the terrain while UHF will not.

If you need to cover greater distances a repeater can be used to re-broadcast the low power handheld radio signals. In the countryside a repeater on top of a hill or other high ground could extend the coverage to 10 miles or more in all directions from the repeater site. In an urban environment a repeater on a tall building can extend the range to 4 or 5 miles. For particularly challenging areas or for work across several different sites it is possible to link several repeaters together either via a radio link or via the internet.