FRM/GMRS Radios - GMRS License

[Teky0101 6]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to radios but my family and I recently renewed our NRA memberships and received $25 dollar Bass Pro Gift Card as a promotional. While looking over their website we came across a "Uniden Two Submersible/Floating 50 Mile Range FRS/GMRS Radios With 2 VOX Headsets And 2 Carabiners" which we went together and ordered. The radios went 50 miles and were waterproof which seemed impressive! After doing some research I realized that the long range radio only works using GMRS radio frequences which require a license from the FCC to operate. I was wondering if anyone has experiece with obtaining the licenses and if so was it hard to obtain and did it take a long time. Also what is your experience with the range of your radio? Also does anyone known a Uniden Radio and if so do you like the model you own?

[Midwest 28]

I believe the licenses are $35 and should cover the whole household and have to filled out on the FCC website. No tests or anything. Might take a few weeks to get the license.

 

I never bothered with GMRS, I think ham radio is a better deal but there are tests involved. FRS is great in that no license required, anyone can use it and has fair coverage up to a mile. CB is still useful in some areas, but that is another topic.

[blizzzarddemon 0]

I have a ham radio licenses the tests are not bad a lot of common sense the hard part is remembering what mhz the meter is and some weird laws there are lots of books and a battery operated 2meter will cover far with.out a repeater frs is lucky to be on 1 watt power gmrs maybe more my mobile in my car is 75 watts

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[Smokin .50 1,907]

I was a member of a Club that had a GMRS Radio repeater system. Very close to UHF Ham 440 Band and to the older UHF Police Band. Simplex (single frequency, line-of-sight) communications are very clear, unless someone is also on the same frequency. UHF doesn't like foliage, so don't think that you're going to get max range in the woods.

 

With a repeater high on a mountain top, you can talk for several States! Back before 9-11, one of the repeaters we used for the Club was located on the WTC, and talking to Connecticut, New York Upstate, Philly, and into Delaware and the Maryland shoreline was done every day.

 

Uniden is a prosumer brand and have been making radios for decades--back into the CB days of the early 70's.

 

Dave

N2IWJ (Technition Class Ham Radio Operator)

[this_is_nascar 162]

First, determine your intended usage of these radios. Secondly, understand that you'll get no where near the advertise distance with any FMS radio. GMRS, if you use a repeater, has a much better chance, however most of those clamshell packed FRS/GMRS radios don't have the capability of utilizing a repeater. Like I said, the 1st thing to do is determine what you want to use these radios for.

[Dan 177]

GMRS is not worth it IMO. Just use the FRS bands, as others said, you will get similar performance radio to radio. GMRS would only be more useful if you did have access to a repeater, or if you had your own repeater/base (they do sell them for personal use). The extra few milliwatts GMRS offers on "high power" isn't alone worth the $35 fee.

 

If you want to step up, go for your Technician's Class amateur radio license. It is cheap and easy. Buy the study guide, read it, go take the test and pay the fee. You will get a callsign and will be able to use the VHF and UHF ham bands, plus there are plenty of repeaters out there for public amateur use. Only problem is everyone you talk to will need a license and of course a radio. You can get some decent chinese brand 5watt vhf/uhf handhelds for around $150.

 

As others said, the frequencies that FRS/GMRS up in the 70cm area is a line of sight band. The more crap between you and the other person, the less performance and range you will get. If both of you were on mountain tops 10 miles away with nothing but air between you, they will most likely work well. Now drop down to a valley without line of sight, and you can't get reception for even half of a mile.

[Larry1851 0]

I agree with "this_is_nascar". First determine how you'll utilize these radios. If it's just for casual communications with family at the mall or while hunting/camping, etc., then just stick with the FRS function on the radios. GMRS will function for casual communications as well but will afford you the opportunity to access repeaters. The "licensing" is merely procedural and more like registration. IMO, it's a wasted fee. Sure, you'll have access to a wider network through repeaters, But you'll need to find them, be close enough to access them, etc. Ham Radio, with rather simple licensing procedures, is about as good as it gets and includes worldwide communications, including satellite activity. The radios are more robust and last for years! I've had mine for over 30 years. But again, first determine how you want and need to communicate. Above all, have fun with them!

 

Larry

N2ICZ

[Smokin .50 1,907]

One more quick word about two-way communications in the woods. The old-fashioned CB hand-held radios of yesteryear were able to transmit & receive for several miles since they used the 27 Mhz Band. Foliage didn't affect them as much as VHF and especially UHF. Although FM is generally quieter, especially with the recent sunspot activity, if you need to punch a signal through the Woods, antique CB Radio will transmit further than those tiny FRS UHF radios that are only good for line-of-sight.

 

As others have said, first you need to figure-out what you need to do, then you need to realize that Ham Bands aren't for business use.

 

If you go the Ham Radio route, you can become a member of a repeater that serves the area(s) that you're in most of the time. For a few dollars dues per year, you can use the repeater's phone patch capability and even IF your cell phone won't get signal (say in a deep woods), you can make a call to get help via the phone patch on the local Club's repeater. Very handy to have as a back-up.

 

N2IWJ listening........

[hd2000fxdl 422]

If you go the Ham Radio route, you can become a member of a repeater that serves the area(s) that you're in most of the time. For a few dollars dues per year, you can use the repeater's phone patch capability and even IF your cell phone won't get signal (say in a deep woods), you can make a call to get help via the phone patch on the local Club's repeater. Very handy to have as a back-up.

 

N2IWJ listening........

 

Problem is getting the people on the other end of the call to know that they can't talk until your done talking and vise-versa.. lol

 

KC2QLM

[this_is_nascar 162]

Problem is getting the people on the other end of the call to know that they can't talk until your done talking and vise-versa.. lol

 

KC2QLM

 

 

That's going to be true on 99.9% of all radios, whether is FRS/GMRS/CB/Amateur, etc. It's not duplex communication like a phone is.

[Dan 177]

I was going to put my callsign on my post, but I don't want people knowing my physical address on a public gun forums sight. You guys aren't concerned? Am I being a little paranoid?

 

I'm going to eventually open a PO box for my license to be registered under.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

That's going to be true on 99.9% of all radios, whether is FRS/GMRS/CB/Amateur, etc. It's not duplex communication like a phone is.

 

This reminds me of a CB story I had heard from a good friend a couple decades ago. He and another friend of his both had the old 23 channel Browning Golden Eagle tuneable base station radios where you could transmit on one channel and receive on another, so they would take their Golden Eagle microphones and slide the key-holder into place to constantly transmit on each other's listening channel (frequency), thereby resulting in full duplex CB. And they would do this "on the flat side" with horizontal polarization. Hands-free full duplex 3-4 decades ago! You'd think in 40 years somebody would have came-out with a low-powered "porta-peater" for your cell phone when you take it into the deep woods. Park your car, pop your trunk, flip a switch and your cell phone now has increased range. Fire companies had this capability almost 3 decades ago, using UHF HT's to talk out of buildings to a repeater in their Chief's car, which would then re-transmit at 100 watts onto the VHF Low-Band asigned Fire Band frequency. Oh well!

 

For as far as technology has come, we still can't effectively penetrate a simple woods. Nowadays nobody realizes what a "Part 15 device" is anymore and everyone thinks that their cell is a phone, when in fact it's merely a radio.......

 

KC2QLM, and Nascar, this is N2IWJ on the side.......

[this_is_nascar 162]

This reminds me of a CB story I had heard from a good friend a couple decades ago. He and another friend of his both had the old 23 channel Browning Golden Eagle tuneable base station radios where you could transmit on one channel and receive on another, so they would take their Golden Eagle microphones and slide the key-holder into place to constantly transmit on each other's listening channel (frequency), thereby resulting in full duplex CB. And they would do this "on the flat side" with horizontal polarization. Hands-free full duplex 3-4 decades ago! You'd think in 40 years somebody would have came-out with a low-powered "porta-peater" for your cell phone when you take it into the deep woods. Park your car, pop your trunk, flip a switch and your cell phone now has increased range. Fire companies had this capability almost 3 decades ago, using UHF HT's to talk out of buildings to a repeater in their Chief's car, which would then re-transmit at 100 watts onto the VHF Low-Band asigned Fire Band frequency. Oh well!

 

For as far as technology has come, we still can't effectively penetrate a simple woods. Nowadays nobody realizes what a "Part 15 device" is anymore and everyone thinks that their cell is a phone, when in fact it's merely a radio.......

 

KC2QLM, and Nascar, this is N2IWJ on the side.......

 

 

 

I think your friend may have been pulling your leg.

[Dan 177]

This reminds me of a CB story I had heard from a good friend a couple decades ago. He and another friend of his both had the old 23 channel Browning Golden Eagle tuneable base station radios where you could transmit on one channel and receive on another, so they would take their Golden Eagle microphones and slide the key-holder into place to constantly transmit on each other's listening channel (frequency), thereby resulting in full duplex CB. And they would do this "on the flat side" with horizontal polarization. Hands-free full duplex 3-4 decades ago! You'd think in 40 years somebody would have came-out with a low-powered "porta-peater" for your cell phone when you take it into the deep woods. Park your car, pop your trunk, flip a switch and your cell phone now has increased range. Fire companies had this capability almost 3 decades ago, using UHF HT's to talk out of buildings to a repeater in their Chief's car, which would then re-transmit at 100 watts onto the VHF Low-Band asigned Fire Band frequency. Oh well!

 

For as far as technology has come, we still can't effectively penetrate a simple woods. Nowadays nobody realizes what a "Part 15 device" is anymore and everyone thinks that their cell is a phone, when in fact it's merely a radio.......

 

KC2QLM, and Nascar, this is N2IWJ on the side.......

 

This is very possible. You just need two separate radios, one that transmitter, and one receiver, or a radio that can do both at the same time.

[Teky0101 6]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your wonderful responces. I got the radios all charged and was playing with them tonight. They seem to be very well made and the transmission comes in clear. I know some of you were talking about repeaters in order to obtain the full milage from the radio but where are the repeaters required to be placed? Do they have to be half way between you and the communications points? Ham radios is another interesting option to look into in the future but does this require a large antena and where do I obtain the liscense, can it be obtained through college courses? I also think the high band radios frequences on my radios require a liscense but I believe they would work without them? I do not want to break the law but why is a liscense required and what is the call sign registration used for? Any help would be appreciated.

[this_is_nascar 162]

I'll assume you got the radios in the clamshell packaging that cost $50-$125 per pair. Yes, you can physically use the GMRS channels (those channels 15-22) at slightly more power, which means greater distance. The way you "use" a repeater is a function of the radio, in which you enter the repeater's frequency. As I said earlier, these low-cost radios don't allow for that functionality, if I'm not mistaken. Technically, you need the license to use the GMRS channels, but physically, you can use them. It's up to you on what you want to do and the risk you're comfortable in taking.

 

 

http://www.walkie-talkie-watch.com/frs-gmrs-frequency.html

[Teky0101 6]

Nascar,

Thank you for the reply I purchased a set of Uniden radios from Bass Pro, the radio link is below. I discovered it has something call a boost feature which allows the radio to operate at max capasity. I believe this feature uses the repeaters but I am not sure. I am looking also into the license but I am not totally sure on which one to get. Do you perhaps know? Thank you for your help!

 

http://www.uniden.com/two-way-radios/two-submersiblefloating-50-mile-range-frsgmrs-radios-with-2-vox-headsets-and-2-carabiners/invt/gmr50892ckhsg/

[this_is_nascar 162]

Looking at the user's manual, they appear to be your standard clam-shell packed FMS/GMRS radios, with a few advanced features added. I don't see anything that mentions they can use a repeater, so you'll be limited to the basic output. Forget that claim of 50-miles. The only chance you'll have of that is if you and the person you were communicating with were on the top of mountains, with nothing but air between you and even 50-miles would be a stretch. Expect 1/4-1/2 mile range in wooded areas and maybe a bit more in the open. No, I don't know the process or procedure for the license. I use CB almost exclusively, but when I do use FMS/GMRS, I'll stay on the non-licensed frequencies, unless I need a quick talk on the higher-powered GMRS, then I'll switch to that. The FCC have more things to worry about than a couple of guys operating on the GMRS frequencies with a license.