Whos interested in either a Midland or rugged radio gmrs group buy? I have contacts that can get us either. I'm hoping as a club we can eventually all switch to these ( as a replacement to the cb NOT the Ham).
Comms group buy (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Phulcrum
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I might be.
Outsane
Supporting Vendor
...boafeng.... on gmrs...
solvefunction.com
Frequency Sticker or Magnet
Frequency Sticker so you can "Listen" to GMRS or FRS devices while on the trail. Every time I sync my ham to my buddies FRS or GMRS devices they take photos of my cheat sheet, so now I and you can pass it out.
solvefunction.com
Tell me more about this? I'm a radio noob.
- Thread starter
- #5
Cb radio is limited to 5w output max and is on a crappy frequency. Gmrs is on a crappy frequency but of you buy the license you can output 70w max ( or maybe 50?) . I've heard a lot of good things from other groups regard gmrs. Some groups are requiring them for trail runs.
There's my explanation, please excuse the verbal diarrhea.
There's my explanation, please excuse the verbal diarrhea.
How does gmrs differ from ham? Different frequency?
I might be interested if it's GMRS and going to happen soon. Thanks for asking.
I'll see your diarrhea and raise you, three rolls of tp...
For GMRS 50W is the limit on the upper channels, 5W on others, 0.5W on others yet... Like FRS, GMRS is at UHF frequencies it is very 'line of sight'; so not terrain friendly.
For a local CERT drill here recently (since they like FRS for their unlicensed members) I tested FRS from my house in Escondido near the Palomar hospital (or Stone Brewery if that's a better reference) to a guy about 2 miles away as the crow flies. For the test I was tried 5W, 10W and 50W into a roof mounted high gain base station antenna and the other guy had a similar antenna and radio. Neither of us could hear the other at all. We switched back to ham radio VHF 146.55 MHz (simplex, no repeaters) and could easily talk with one another. UHF just doesn't work well in hilly / mountainous terrain... It probably works great for desert trips without much in the way of terrain. As always YMMV...
And beware of FRS or GMRS users using radios with 'sub-channels' or 'extra channels' as they lead to immense confusion...
FRS/GMRS combined channel chart - The RadioReference Wiki
To me the main selling points for GMRS are:
1) It is 'channelized' meaning you don't need to think about agreeing to or setting a specific 'frequency' to talk on, just pick a 'channel' and go;
2) You can simply purchase a license from the FCC for $70, so no need to study for a ham technician class license test which now costs $35, both licenses are good for 10 years. Even then I'd reckon very few GMRS users really have a license and the likelihood of ever being caught is about as close to nil as one can get... and honestly the same could be said for a ham license really...
3) On GMRS (unlike ham radio) you are not required to identify yourself with your FCC assigned callsign when talking (not that anyone much bothers with it anyway when off road...); only when near population is anyone likely to hear you and question what your callsign is...
I do believe that having GMRS capability is a good thing to have in your rig; if it's implemented well...
Adarcy
SILVER Star
I'm in.....I need to up my radio game. Honking the horn and flashing the lights no longer cuts it on runs
prwillard2
SILVER Star
There's a former Marine Corps communications officer in this club. Or at least he was at the meeting in October. He might be able to give us some additional nerdery on VHF vs UHF radios and their pro/cons
but why not buy a ham that will operate in the gmrs, frs, murs frequency range...
This. You get this, for under $30. and have ham for emergencies 
as well. You can program with chirp easily for gmrs and frs frequencies, although the watts may be out of allowable range on a few channels.Amazon product ASIN B074XPB313
Maybe you could make a version of your charger and mount for the Baofeng uv5r that has a ram ball mount. That would be useful for charging and mounting to say the useless cubby hole mounts made by others....boafeng.... on gmrs...
Frequency Sticker or Magnet
Frequency Sticker so you can "Listen" to GMRS or FRS devices while on the trail. Every time I sync my ham to my buddies FRS or GMRS devices they take photos of my cheat sheet, so now I and you can pass it out.
I am in. A 40-50 Watt is kinda pricey, $200-$300 but looks far better than CB.
Outsane
Supporting Vendor
Like this?
solvefunction.com
Handheld Baofeng UV-5R, BF-F8HP and extended battery ham mount with ram ball
An easier way to mount your ham to a ram mount system with the 1" or B size. Works with the 8w and 5w version. New version includes an access to a charge cord if you would like to go battery less link below to the charger. Radio has stayed in place at Chasing Trucks at the Baja 1000, Mojave...
I have one of these radios... About $400, but it in one compact unit it will do the 146, 220 and 440MHz ham bands at up to 50W, plus the FRS, GMRS, MURS, and shipboard marine bands. And does the latest digital mobile radio (DMR) modes. I also use it to monitor the Forest Service ranger and fire frequencies.
Amazon product ASIN B0921M6BXK
The downside of these radios or any handheld radio is that at the GMRS UHF frequencies (~465MHz) if used inside a vehicle without an external antenna your transmission and reception range will be severely limited; much more so than on VHF.
Amazon product ASIN B074XPB313
So my UV5R can already do the GMRS? If I am using it for that how do I switch to HAM? Do I have to just toggle frequencies?
