How many watts does a ham radio need?

While most popular handheld ham radios use rechargeable batteries and require 5 to 8 watts of power, there are much smaller models requiring only a few milliwatts and much bigger models that need more power – as much as 1500 watts. Power is one of the two major factors that determine the range of your ham radio.

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Is 25 watts enough for ham radio?

Bottom line is that unless you’re in a place where the remote receivers are 25 miles apart, a 25 watt radio would probably do the job , so 50 watts is not going to be a handicap. The 100 watters could make a difference on simplex, but only in the fringe areas and then under specific circumstances.

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