No matter....500mw ERP isn't going 10 miles except maybe in space if
you have a big enough dish to collect enough energy cryogenically
cooled.....



I thought that too as an EE, but you'd be very surprised what UHF dx you can
get at sea under certain conditions. On flat calm glassy slick days I have seen
handheld FRS radios go MORE than 10 miles. It seems to have something to do
with sea surface conditions. I dont understand it, but its real. Gordon West
wrote about it in reviewing an early MOB device that had really low power.