The Wouxun handheld radio has a vertical antenna on top and bottom, with two segments. When weak signals are received, the lower segment is suppressed, resulting in intermittent "pop" sounds. This means that full-power transmission on the lower segment may not cover as much area as low-power transmission, because low-power transmission does not suppress the upper segment's reception.
Is this a common problem with handheld radios? Are there any solutions to address it? This significantly limits the range of communication.