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The Midland 275 has a 15 watt transmitter and the 575 has a 50 watt transmitter. The difference between 15 watts and 50 watts is 5.23dB and would be noticeable at a distance where signals are getting weak. Midland doesn't provide any info on the receivers to tell if one is better than the other.

Most gain figures on GMRS antennas are not real, they are either dBi or just made up lies. It takes a good 8ft of antenna to reach 6dBd gain and a 2ft tall mobile antenna with a 1/2 wave over a 1/2 wave or 5/8 over 5/8 with a phasing coil in the middle is not quite 3dB gain over a dipole, or...

A better antenna like a 9ft whip over a shorter Firestick will make any radio talk further, reception will be better but noise and skip will still compete with whoever your trying to receive.

Not sure what you mean by the "basement". In my experience (45+yrs of installing this stuff) a 9ft whip on a ball mount on the outside upper bed wall will outperform a shorter 3-4ft antenna on the cowl area. The 9ft whip will be somewhat directional toward the mass of the vehicle as in mounted...

I have a cowl/hood hinge mount, a 50w dual band radio and a calibrated Narda RF exposure meter. When I get some time I will make a measurement in the drivers seat at various power levels.

I can tell you there is no magic to CB antennas and the performance is mostly related to their physical length. There are some subtle things that can enhance performance but not much that will make one 4ft antenna greatly outperform another 4ft antenna. A cowl mount that is not a great idea...

Not enough ground plane here, plus when you raise the base of the antenna above the sheet metal with that type of mount it changes impedance usually for the worse and further degrades performance. Put just a little sheet metal right under the antenna base like a 6" dia disc and it will be much...

The top of a bed rack would be higher and better but the antenna needs an adequate ground plane and the top rails on the bed rack don't look large enough. Fortunately a 1/4 wavelength ground plane in all directions around a GMRS antenna is only about 6in, so a 12" dia round disc or square plate...

A 50 watt UHF radio will draw closer to 8 amps. Maybe a little more but not less.

Unless you have some cowl mounted lights that block using the hood, a trunk lip mount on the hood near the hinges will put the antenna at top of hood level and will give ok overall performance. The mounts that go between the hood and body put the base of the antenna or an entire short "pud"...

Car washes are what prompted me to go with a 13" rubber antenna plus I listen to XM radio 99% of the time. The people running CA spin backwards, otherwise our threads are the same. Our threaded products are also taxed more but the same otherwise.

I noticed a huge reduction in AM reception and a noticeable reduction in FM reception going to a 13" loaded rubber antenna. If your travels don't go much out of the super strong reception distance of your local AM and FM stations you wont notice much if any difference with a 13" or even shorter...

You would need a way to receive GMRS signals and display precise signal levels. A cheap dongle SDR receiver can do that and you set up the receiver a distance from the vehicle, test the level with one antenna then swap to another and so on. Then move the vehicle or the receiver/pickup antenna...

I like to present facts and I don't have any documented data on the difference in performance between a UHF pud and other UHF antennas at the moment. I have tried them and have noticed the reduction in performance and its not subtle. Most of my use is mobile to repeaters and not much if any...

I've tested nearly every type of commercial and amateur antenna made and every mounting location possible over the last 50 years. I agree your mounting location and antenna type is a serious compromise but that's ok. You can do whatever you want. But I also think its a disservice to this forum...

NMO without coax is a common item but I've never seen a trunk lip mount offered without coax. If that's what you need I suggest the premier brands over Tram/Browning and install the coax that comes with it.

I would estimate the MXT575 to draw around 8 to 9 amps, not 4 amps. You can't multiply 12V X 50 watts transmitter output power to get current draw because the transmitter is not 100% efficient. Its more like 60% plus some overhead for other circuits. If your using an external fuse I would go...

I use LIND timers for my vehicle radios, You can set them to turn off your radio from a minute to an hour or more after you leave the vehicle. I get mine off eBay for about $20 slightly used and here is one to use as an example...

It seems like the vast majority of people running air bags have no problems. They are cheap at about $100, you install yourself in an hour or two and I don't know of any specific maintenance they need. When you don't need the lift just run about 5psi to keep the bag puffed out and your truck...

I'm using a Laird brand NMO mount and I don't know of any trunk lip types that are designed to install your own coax. Laird and Larsen are two very good quality brands and the Laird retails for about $50 with coax attached. I buy them new surplus off eBay and I paid less than $20 for mine and I...