I don't know the area at all (and I'm in a different country), but it struck me the previous claims about amateur radio kit was a bit of a stretch.

Propagation won't be significantly different at 144 MHz than it is at 118-137 MHz - mainly line of sight, with sometimes tropospheric ducting extending range in high pressure areas, and handheld versions of either will be similar power. I'd speculate, though I could be corrected, that what seems to be described here as desert might have not much talkthrough repeater coverage.

On Wednesday, 2 September 2020 at 15:29:43 UTC+1, Dan Marotta wrote:
Dammit Tom, you've got to stop clouding speculation with facts!