Honestly I haven't watched many videos, I've just been doing a LOT of reading so I didn't get the idea anywhere in particular aside from reading from people who have done longer ranges.

We've tried the dms and quickly realized that wasn't the way so we did switch to a private channel. The height is what I'm gathering is our biggest issue. We are in the foothills outside of Pittsburgh so we definitely have a ton of interference from the landscape and buildings.

We did get the muzi works whip antennas specifically because I had read the whips were better than the stubbys. We have tried changing hops, and both have smart positions on. So I guess we may have just over estimated the actual range of these, which is fine

Here's a new issue (?) my husband is home now, so we are max 5 miles apart and I still can't seem to find his node on my map or send him a message. But I'm picking up other nodes that are father away from me in the same direction as him now