swamprat
06-14-2014, 06:51 PM
MURS / FRS / GMRS Radio? HAM License or Not?
A nutshell guide to the Multi-Use radio Service (MURS), Family Radio Service (FRS) and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) systems
I know there are many people out there wanting to get a striaght answer to the question of communications. There really isn't a one answer fits all. There are several options to choose from. Many people argue that getting a Ticket (a HAM License) would put your information readily available for anyone to get, and the other side is that they can communicate to the opposite side of the earth. It really depends on what YOU want out of the communications. I will try to explain what I understand to help everyone.
Recent changes in FCC regulations have opened up a huge variety of choices for consumers wishing to operate personal radio systems for business use, hobbies, or just plain fun. This niche used to be filled to a large extent by the old CB radio band and GMRS, which still exist but have been largely usurped by the new upstarts in the radio world. Both CB and GMRs still have some very definite merits of their own, but the new radio bands opened up in the VHF and UHF regions have far surpassed them in the popularity category. Communications in these bands have their pluses & minuses over CB and GMRS, and if you are making a choice between them, here are some points to consider:
CB/MURS/FRS/GMRS RADIO PROS & CONS
FEATURE
CB RADIO
MURS RADIO
FRS RADIO
COMBO FRS/GMRS
TRUE GMRS
COST
Low to Moderate
Moderate
Low
Low To Moderate
High
LICENCE
NONE
NONE
NONE
REQUIRED, FEE
REQUIRED, FEE
SETUP/USE
EASY
EASY
EASY
EASY
ADVANCED
TYPE COMMS
LOCAL &
LONG DISTANCE
LOCAL
SHORT
LOCAL
LOCAL &
LONG DISTANCE
INTERFERENCE
HIGH
MODERATE TO HIGH
LOW TO MODERATE
LOW TO MODERATE
LOW
RELIABLE RANGE
(miles)
3-5m (AM) 25m (SSB)
3-5m
1m or less
3-5m or less
10-15m up to
hundreds w/rptr
STYLES
BASE
MOBILE
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
BASE
MOBILE
HANDHELD
PERFORMANCE
VS. COST
BEST for versatility
BEST for special apps
WORST but cheapest
MODERATE in both areas
HIGH in both areas
NEED THE INFO....
This post is not intended to be an exhaustive study on these radio systems - this post is for PRACTICAL, COMMON SENSE information. There are plenty of other technical information website about the subject online. The difference? GMRS is a good example. There are new, inexpensive combo FRS/GMRS radios widely available that give you access to frequencies formerly used only by GMRS license holders using expensive, hard to find equipment. Technical information sites will show you channels, bandplans, regulations, and tell you that you can't use these GMRS frequencies without following the same guidelines as before. Technically correct, pure bunk from a practical standpoint. There are thousands of these FRS/GMRS combo units sold monthly, none licensed, and the FCC doesn't have the resources to enforce licensed use with constant monitoring. Can you get fined for not having a GMRS license for your radio? Of course. Will you? About as likely as getting sued for those mp3's you downloaded last week. Unless you manage to interfere with licensed operators to the point that they complain, it isn't likely. Practical Information vs. Technical Information. Both are good to have.If you are after LOTS of detailed information about VHF and UHF public radio bands, one of the best places online can be found at the homepage of the Personal Radio Steering Group, Inc. (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/home.htm). They also maintain several excellent FAQ pages:
Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) FAQ (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/murs_faq.htm#Q4)
Family Radio Service (FRS) FAQ (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/frs-faq.htm)
General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/wi-gmrs.htm)
- - - Updated - - -
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?Basically, you want information on which of the public radio services is best for you - whether you are getting the information before buying, or have already made a purchase and want to find out if you made a good (or bad) choice. While the chart above gives you a quick comparison of the differences, there are further things to consider about those differences, such as:
COST - like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Not always true, you can find an expensive lemon, or a cheap gem. But they are rare. Unless you are just looking for something in the "fun" department, plan on spending a reasonable amount, and avoid "Brand X" models or those that seem full of features at a cut rate price.
LICENSE - Unless you are planning a full-fledged, high power GMRS operation, this is a moot point, as the other bands don't even require a license. As pointed out earlier, operating a combo FRS/GMRS radio rates as a low risk for no-license operation, although the possibility does exist. So we will talk strictly about GMRS operations here. Again, if you are going for a true GMRS band operation, a license is a must. You'll likely be using higher power equipment, operating on channels shared with other licensed users, and probably even accessing repeaters that will only be opened to paying, licensed members. A GMRS license from the FCC is $80 for 5 years. Now, for those of you with FRS/GMRS walkie talkies, other possibilities unfold. The GMRS band is sitting at a crossroads, exactly the same one CB radio was a few decades ago. A short Radio History lesson: CB was once an experimenter's band, used only by licensed "ham" operators. The FCC saw that it was vastly underused, however, and opened it up to non-hams, at first with fee-based licenses, then free licenses, then as an unlicensed band as the number of users who weren't bothering to even register swelled into the millions. The FCC realized they couldn't keep up, and gave up.
This is where GMRS sits today, and licensed GMRS users need to wake up to reality when whining about unlicensed operators. Radio is (and has always been) a use-it-or-lose-it world. GMRS has enjoyed its private little heyday, but the writing is on the wall, thanks to deregulation and cheap electronics. The FCC opened up portions of the band, which gets little use in most areas, to allow some licensed/unlicensed frequency use. Manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon, turning out thousands of FRS/GMRS units that allow unlicensed operation on some channels, and licensed operation on others. Can the radio tell if you have a license? No, it will let you use ANY channel. At some point the FCC will realize the error of its ways (if, indeed, it didn't intend to give the band away on purpose), realize there are far too many GMRS radios being used without licenses for them to prosecute, and change the rules so its not an issue anyway. So the only question you need to ask yourself is, are you operating that unlicensed combo FRS/GMRS radio where it will piss someone off (like a licensed operator). Even with the high power models, your range is limited. Live in an urban area? You may want to purchase a license for C.Y.A. purposes. Using your radio for talking with your hunting buddy in the mountains? For you, a GMRS license is money in the garbage. Yes, the risk is always there, of getting busted and made an example of. People get hit by lightning, too - but nobody seems to mind walking around outside - what matters is the odds.
SETUP AND USE - There are so many varieties of FRS, FRS/GMRS, and MURS radios being sold now, that manufacturers are adding extra bells and whistles to grab extra sales. Throw full featured CB radios and commercial grade GMRS equipment into the mix, and you end up with radios that can be operated by a chimpanzee, or almost require a degree in rocket science to get full use from them. So the level of complication may dictate which radio system you wish to go with. If you are the type who still has a flashing clock on your stereo/CD-DVD-VCR player, you may want to stick with simple FRS or MURS radios. If you useful features like privacy tones, alerts, tone adjustments, etc then you may want a quality MURS or GMRS unit. If you want a system you cansqueeze the last iota of performance or hobby use out of, go with a commercial GMRS or CB radio system.
TYPE OF COMMUNICATIONS - Before you buy, think about the main reason you want your radio system. Just using it to keep in touch with the kids at the flea market, campground or amusement park? A simple, inexpensive, low power FRS unit will do just fine, and be easier on expensive batteries as well. Going hunting in the deep woods? You may need a high power combination FRS/GMRS radio or a CB radio. Talking in a large urban area or other crowded locations with lots of other radio users? Make sure your radio has all the available channels, and privacy tones as well. Need a strong signal to communicate with an escort vehicle on the highway or the gardening staff on the grounds? MURS may be the way to go. Running a farm and need to call for parts/info/help while on a delivery miles from home? You need to link up with a repeater system via a GMRS radio.
Each type of system has advantages and disadvantages that can work for, or against you. Example: for the extreme sport of 4x4 offroading, CB radios are generally considered to be the weapon of choice. But they are not necessarily the best option (my 4x4 is equipped with CB, FRS, and FRS/GMRS units). For instance, when the club I explore with goes on safari, we use FRS radios more often than anything else. Why? Well they usually have enough range for the group to keep in touch on the trail, they are the same size as a CB microphone in your hand (without the coiled cord to try to avoid tangling with), and they are dirt cheap - which means I can carry extras for extra drivers who join in, and it doesn't bother anyone terribly if one gets dropped in the mud, driven over, or left in somebody's glove box 2 states away.
INTERFERENCE - This is a subject that requires constant updating to be accurate. When the new public use bands opened up, CB radio was the ugly kid on the block in this department, due to foreign stations interfering via 'skip' signals and a gaggle kids (of all ages) using them as toys. The new UHF and VHF bands were interference free, often a guarantee of better range than CB. Now a few years on, things have virtually reversed in some places and FRS is a victim of its own popularity, and CB has become a radio backwater, especially as the sunspot cycle that boosts skip interference dies out. Most FRS units are cheap, some even less than cheap. This makes them easy choices for christmas and birthday gifts for kids, along with grabbing one for everyone in the family on that trip to Knott's Berry Farm or the Mall. This also means a zillion of them all operating at the same time in an urban area, resulting in little Johnny's speech about comic book heroes cuts off your question about where the wife is melting down your credit card in the mall. Privacy tones on full featured FRS and GMRS units are a help here, but not a perfect answer because they don't fix interference, they hide it. If two people are on the same channel, talking at different times, with different privacy codes, they don't hear each other, and neither does anyone else using privacy tones set the same way. BUT.... two units with different privacy codes talk AT THE SAME TIME, they will pretty much turn each other's conversation into garbled nonsense for anyone trying to listen at the other end. The situation isn't much better for the higher power FRS/GMRS hybrids - a peculiarity of the bands and FM transmissions used by FRS/GMRS is that if you have a good line of sight signal between two radios, a low power signal is often as good as a high power one, at least as far as interference goes.
RANGE - This is the area I hear the most complaints about and the most misunderstood, concerning FRS and FRS/GMRS radios. MANUFACTURERS LIE ABOUT RADIO RANGE. PERIOD.How can they get away with that? Because the law says they don't have to list the range under realistic conditions! Talk to anyone about what kind of REAL range they get from their radio, and you'll almost certainly hear it was a percentage of what the package it came in claimed. If they did get what the manufacturer claimed, they were either:
A) In a boat on the water
B) In an aircraft
C) Went to some extraordinary effort to get the range
or D) are bragging/lying to cover the fact that they got burned, too.
Manufacturers list the range as the maximum possible, under ideal LABORATORY conditions. This means that for you to match their claims, there can be absolutely nothing between radio A and radio B, the batteries must be perfectly charged, the air must be perfectly free of moisture/dust, antennas have to be held at a matching angle, etc. Not to mention perfectly quiet listening conditions at the other end. None of which happens in the normal world of radio. By trying to match these conditions, you can make a big difference in range, to be sure. A good example is a Motorola Talkabout FRS that I bought listed with a "2 mile range". Normal use around a housing neighborhood would only give me a couple of blocks range, despite the "2 mile range" claim. However, with my wife standing on the roof of our house, and me talking from the 3rd floor window of my workplace 2.5 miles away, at night (clearer air), we were able to hear each other (barely). Why the difference? The VHF and especially the UHF band used by FRS and GMRS is a 'line of sight' band. You need to be able to "see" the radio you are talking to for a good signal. Anything in the way will block some or all of the signal - buildings, trees, hills, even dust. The lower the frequency (as in CB radio), the less line of sight is needed, as it is not as bothered by objects in the way.
STYLES - For most personal radio users, this isn't an issue, as they are interested in 'quickie' communications - calling the kids back to camp or in from the park, coordinating gas stops for 2 vehicles on a cross country trip, etc. The standard variety of FRS handhelds available cover these tasks nicely, and economically, too. But for those of us who not only USE radio but sometimes even rely on it, the "standard" stuff puts a severe crimp in things, and completely fails in some areas. Radios of any kind can basically take 3 forms:
Base Station (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/base.gif): These units have the advantage of operating from house current, and usually have provisions for external, desk-sitting microphones, external antennas that offer increased range, and lots of quality enhancing features like tone controls, noise reduction filters, etc. Most ideal for operating from a home or place of business, or where the longest range caspability is desired.
Mobile (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/cb1.gif): This type of radio is designed for vehicular use, whether in a car, truck, boat, or airplane, almost always powered by 12VDC from the vehicle battery (in some cases 24VDC). Has a separate, handheld microphone, and many features also found on Base Stations, including matching transmitter power output. However, because the mobile antennas for these units have size and mounting height limitations, they rarely get the same range as a base station. Mobiles also feature amplified speaker output to allow easy listening even in a noisy vehicle.
Hand Held (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/HH.gif) or "Walkie-Talkie": Most convenient form of radio, also the most limited, as it usually has to rely on the features that make it so conveniently portable, such as internal batteries, small cases, and small antennas. Batteries run down quickly, quickly cutting range long before they are dead. Small cases cut down available features and speaker size (volume). And of course, the small built in antenna (practically non-existent in some models) cuts your range drastically from what a true mobile or base station antenna would offer.
- - - Updated - - -
SO WHICH IS THE BEST CHOICE?Obviously, that is based on your needs.If you are looking for economy and don't mind some sacrifices, a full featured hand-held unit can probably cover every use you might have. "Ham" radio operators have written the book on this idea, buying inexpensive hand held radios for "carry around" use, then hooking them to voltage adapters, antenna adapters, and RF amplifiers for use as a mobile and/or base station radio. In this manner one radio can work in the place of 3, saving some money. The trade-off is that you lose some "user friendliness" having to constantly plug and unplug connections (which also cuts radio 'life' due to wear and tear), and the smaller hand held radios often scrimp on RF power and audio output, which reduces range and signal quality over a mobile or base station. But if you want a cheap start, or versatility, this is the way to go.
On the other end of the stick, if you are looking to eek out the last iota of performance, then a system of tailored radios with a full complement of antennas and other accessories is the way to go, although this will mean a premium outlay of funds as well.
Most likely, you'll be after something in between. In any case, the key thing is to carefully consider (FIRST) what you want your radios to DO, then buy what will cover that. The woods are filled with hunters carrying "2 mile range" FRS walkie-talkies that sit unused in camp because they don't transmit thru more than a hundred yards of trees.
IMPROVING ON A GOOD THINGSo what can you do to improve thse radios? For a more in-depth look at your options for CB Radios (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/11m.html), check out my 11 Meter (CB) page (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/11m.html). here, we'll stick to the VHF/UHF band equipment, where your options are much more limited. The only real improvements you can make are in signal quality, unless you are an experienced electronics technician with a bench full of test equipment. The days where a soldering iron and a trip to Radio Shack would convert your rig to an antenna melting beast are gone, with virtually everything on the circuit boards micro-miniaturized, sealed, and manufacturer-only programming protocols added. So you are stuck with whatever extranal add-ons you can do, so this breaks it down to improving your audio and RF input/outputs.AUDIO QUALITY
INPUT: Whether you are talking about MURS, FRS, FRS/GMRS, or a true GMRS unit, your radio's microphone is where your signal is created. Aside from talking clearly (which so many people on radio seem to have problems doing, out of various 'bad' radio habits), the quality and type of your microphone can make all the difference in the world in how you are heard on the other end of the conversation. Even radios that traditionally come with good quality microphones, such as GMRS radios, can often benefit by an upgrade here, such as using noise-cancelling microphones in high noise areas.
OUTPUT: Base and Mobile style radios rarely need help in this department, usually having adio amplifiers and larger speakers built in to overcome all but very high noise environments. Handheld Walkie-talkies are another matter altogether. Audio volume and quality from these radios are usually dismal at best, and renders them useless in any kind of noisy location. Fortunately, there are answers to this problem, as most handhelds come with an earphone jack. Those same, inexpensive, amplified speakers sold for iPods or computers work well here, or in a mobile environment you can use a patch cord or FM transmitter to play your walkie takie audio over your car stereo. And of course, riding the noisy ATV doesn't stop the comms if you have a combination earphone/microphone headset.
A nutshell guide to the Multi-Use radio Service (MURS), Family Radio Service (FRS) and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) systems
I know there are many people out there wanting to get a striaght answer to the question of communications. There really isn't a one answer fits all. There are several options to choose from. Many people argue that getting a Ticket (a HAM License) would put your information readily available for anyone to get, and the other side is that they can communicate to the opposite side of the earth. It really depends on what YOU want out of the communications. I will try to explain what I understand to help everyone.
Recent changes in FCC regulations have opened up a huge variety of choices for consumers wishing to operate personal radio systems for business use, hobbies, or just plain fun. This niche used to be filled to a large extent by the old CB radio band and GMRS, which still exist but have been largely usurped by the new upstarts in the radio world. Both CB and GMRs still have some very definite merits of their own, but the new radio bands opened up in the VHF and UHF regions have far surpassed them in the popularity category. Communications in these bands have their pluses & minuses over CB and GMRS, and if you are making a choice between them, here are some points to consider:
CB/MURS/FRS/GMRS RADIO PROS & CONS
FEATURE
CB RADIO
MURS RADIO
FRS RADIO
COMBO FRS/GMRS
TRUE GMRS
COST
Low to Moderate
Moderate
Low
Low To Moderate
High
LICENCE
NONE
NONE
NONE
REQUIRED, FEE
REQUIRED, FEE
SETUP/USE
EASY
EASY
EASY
EASY
ADVANCED
TYPE COMMS
LOCAL &
LONG DISTANCE
LOCAL
SHORT
LOCAL
LOCAL &
LONG DISTANCE
INTERFERENCE
HIGH
MODERATE TO HIGH
LOW TO MODERATE
LOW TO MODERATE
LOW
RELIABLE RANGE
(miles)
3-5m (AM) 25m (SSB)
3-5m
1m or less
3-5m or less
10-15m up to
hundreds w/rptr
STYLES
BASE
MOBILE
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
HANDHELD
BASE
MOBILE
HANDHELD
PERFORMANCE
VS. COST
BEST for versatility
BEST for special apps
WORST but cheapest
MODERATE in both areas
HIGH in both areas
NEED THE INFO....
This post is not intended to be an exhaustive study on these radio systems - this post is for PRACTICAL, COMMON SENSE information. There are plenty of other technical information website about the subject online. The difference? GMRS is a good example. There are new, inexpensive combo FRS/GMRS radios widely available that give you access to frequencies formerly used only by GMRS license holders using expensive, hard to find equipment. Technical information sites will show you channels, bandplans, regulations, and tell you that you can't use these GMRS frequencies without following the same guidelines as before. Technically correct, pure bunk from a practical standpoint. There are thousands of these FRS/GMRS combo units sold monthly, none licensed, and the FCC doesn't have the resources to enforce licensed use with constant monitoring. Can you get fined for not having a GMRS license for your radio? Of course. Will you? About as likely as getting sued for those mp3's you downloaded last week. Unless you manage to interfere with licensed operators to the point that they complain, it isn't likely. Practical Information vs. Technical Information. Both are good to have.If you are after LOTS of detailed information about VHF and UHF public radio bands, one of the best places online can be found at the homepage of the Personal Radio Steering Group, Inc. (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/home.htm). They also maintain several excellent FAQ pages:
Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) FAQ (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/murs_faq.htm#Q4)
Family Radio Service (FRS) FAQ (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/frs-faq.htm)
General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/wi-gmrs.htm)
- - - Updated - - -
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?Basically, you want information on which of the public radio services is best for you - whether you are getting the information before buying, or have already made a purchase and want to find out if you made a good (or bad) choice. While the chart above gives you a quick comparison of the differences, there are further things to consider about those differences, such as:
COST - like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Not always true, you can find an expensive lemon, or a cheap gem. But they are rare. Unless you are just looking for something in the "fun" department, plan on spending a reasonable amount, and avoid "Brand X" models or those that seem full of features at a cut rate price.
LICENSE - Unless you are planning a full-fledged, high power GMRS operation, this is a moot point, as the other bands don't even require a license. As pointed out earlier, operating a combo FRS/GMRS radio rates as a low risk for no-license operation, although the possibility does exist. So we will talk strictly about GMRS operations here. Again, if you are going for a true GMRS band operation, a license is a must. You'll likely be using higher power equipment, operating on channels shared with other licensed users, and probably even accessing repeaters that will only be opened to paying, licensed members. A GMRS license from the FCC is $80 for 5 years. Now, for those of you with FRS/GMRS walkie talkies, other possibilities unfold. The GMRS band is sitting at a crossroads, exactly the same one CB radio was a few decades ago. A short Radio History lesson: CB was once an experimenter's band, used only by licensed "ham" operators. The FCC saw that it was vastly underused, however, and opened it up to non-hams, at first with fee-based licenses, then free licenses, then as an unlicensed band as the number of users who weren't bothering to even register swelled into the millions. The FCC realized they couldn't keep up, and gave up.
This is where GMRS sits today, and licensed GMRS users need to wake up to reality when whining about unlicensed operators. Radio is (and has always been) a use-it-or-lose-it world. GMRS has enjoyed its private little heyday, but the writing is on the wall, thanks to deregulation and cheap electronics. The FCC opened up portions of the band, which gets little use in most areas, to allow some licensed/unlicensed frequency use. Manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon, turning out thousands of FRS/GMRS units that allow unlicensed operation on some channels, and licensed operation on others. Can the radio tell if you have a license? No, it will let you use ANY channel. At some point the FCC will realize the error of its ways (if, indeed, it didn't intend to give the band away on purpose), realize there are far too many GMRS radios being used without licenses for them to prosecute, and change the rules so its not an issue anyway. So the only question you need to ask yourself is, are you operating that unlicensed combo FRS/GMRS radio where it will piss someone off (like a licensed operator). Even with the high power models, your range is limited. Live in an urban area? You may want to purchase a license for C.Y.A. purposes. Using your radio for talking with your hunting buddy in the mountains? For you, a GMRS license is money in the garbage. Yes, the risk is always there, of getting busted and made an example of. People get hit by lightning, too - but nobody seems to mind walking around outside - what matters is the odds.
SETUP AND USE - There are so many varieties of FRS, FRS/GMRS, and MURS radios being sold now, that manufacturers are adding extra bells and whistles to grab extra sales. Throw full featured CB radios and commercial grade GMRS equipment into the mix, and you end up with radios that can be operated by a chimpanzee, or almost require a degree in rocket science to get full use from them. So the level of complication may dictate which radio system you wish to go with. If you are the type who still has a flashing clock on your stereo/CD-DVD-VCR player, you may want to stick with simple FRS or MURS radios. If you useful features like privacy tones, alerts, tone adjustments, etc then you may want a quality MURS or GMRS unit. If you want a system you cansqueeze the last iota of performance or hobby use out of, go with a commercial GMRS or CB radio system.
TYPE OF COMMUNICATIONS - Before you buy, think about the main reason you want your radio system. Just using it to keep in touch with the kids at the flea market, campground or amusement park? A simple, inexpensive, low power FRS unit will do just fine, and be easier on expensive batteries as well. Going hunting in the deep woods? You may need a high power combination FRS/GMRS radio or a CB radio. Talking in a large urban area or other crowded locations with lots of other radio users? Make sure your radio has all the available channels, and privacy tones as well. Need a strong signal to communicate with an escort vehicle on the highway or the gardening staff on the grounds? MURS may be the way to go. Running a farm and need to call for parts/info/help while on a delivery miles from home? You need to link up with a repeater system via a GMRS radio.
Each type of system has advantages and disadvantages that can work for, or against you. Example: for the extreme sport of 4x4 offroading, CB radios are generally considered to be the weapon of choice. But they are not necessarily the best option (my 4x4 is equipped with CB, FRS, and FRS/GMRS units). For instance, when the club I explore with goes on safari, we use FRS radios more often than anything else. Why? Well they usually have enough range for the group to keep in touch on the trail, they are the same size as a CB microphone in your hand (without the coiled cord to try to avoid tangling with), and they are dirt cheap - which means I can carry extras for extra drivers who join in, and it doesn't bother anyone terribly if one gets dropped in the mud, driven over, or left in somebody's glove box 2 states away.
INTERFERENCE - This is a subject that requires constant updating to be accurate. When the new public use bands opened up, CB radio was the ugly kid on the block in this department, due to foreign stations interfering via 'skip' signals and a gaggle kids (of all ages) using them as toys. The new UHF and VHF bands were interference free, often a guarantee of better range than CB. Now a few years on, things have virtually reversed in some places and FRS is a victim of its own popularity, and CB has become a radio backwater, especially as the sunspot cycle that boosts skip interference dies out. Most FRS units are cheap, some even less than cheap. This makes them easy choices for christmas and birthday gifts for kids, along with grabbing one for everyone in the family on that trip to Knott's Berry Farm or the Mall. This also means a zillion of them all operating at the same time in an urban area, resulting in little Johnny's speech about comic book heroes cuts off your question about where the wife is melting down your credit card in the mall. Privacy tones on full featured FRS and GMRS units are a help here, but not a perfect answer because they don't fix interference, they hide it. If two people are on the same channel, talking at different times, with different privacy codes, they don't hear each other, and neither does anyone else using privacy tones set the same way. BUT.... two units with different privacy codes talk AT THE SAME TIME, they will pretty much turn each other's conversation into garbled nonsense for anyone trying to listen at the other end. The situation isn't much better for the higher power FRS/GMRS hybrids - a peculiarity of the bands and FM transmissions used by FRS/GMRS is that if you have a good line of sight signal between two radios, a low power signal is often as good as a high power one, at least as far as interference goes.
RANGE - This is the area I hear the most complaints about and the most misunderstood, concerning FRS and FRS/GMRS radios. MANUFACTURERS LIE ABOUT RADIO RANGE. PERIOD.How can they get away with that? Because the law says they don't have to list the range under realistic conditions! Talk to anyone about what kind of REAL range they get from their radio, and you'll almost certainly hear it was a percentage of what the package it came in claimed. If they did get what the manufacturer claimed, they were either:
A) In a boat on the water
B) In an aircraft
C) Went to some extraordinary effort to get the range
or D) are bragging/lying to cover the fact that they got burned, too.
Manufacturers list the range as the maximum possible, under ideal LABORATORY conditions. This means that for you to match their claims, there can be absolutely nothing between radio A and radio B, the batteries must be perfectly charged, the air must be perfectly free of moisture/dust, antennas have to be held at a matching angle, etc. Not to mention perfectly quiet listening conditions at the other end. None of which happens in the normal world of radio. By trying to match these conditions, you can make a big difference in range, to be sure. A good example is a Motorola Talkabout FRS that I bought listed with a "2 mile range". Normal use around a housing neighborhood would only give me a couple of blocks range, despite the "2 mile range" claim. However, with my wife standing on the roof of our house, and me talking from the 3rd floor window of my workplace 2.5 miles away, at night (clearer air), we were able to hear each other (barely). Why the difference? The VHF and especially the UHF band used by FRS and GMRS is a 'line of sight' band. You need to be able to "see" the radio you are talking to for a good signal. Anything in the way will block some or all of the signal - buildings, trees, hills, even dust. The lower the frequency (as in CB radio), the less line of sight is needed, as it is not as bothered by objects in the way.
STYLES - For most personal radio users, this isn't an issue, as they are interested in 'quickie' communications - calling the kids back to camp or in from the park, coordinating gas stops for 2 vehicles on a cross country trip, etc. The standard variety of FRS handhelds available cover these tasks nicely, and economically, too. But for those of us who not only USE radio but sometimes even rely on it, the "standard" stuff puts a severe crimp in things, and completely fails in some areas. Radios of any kind can basically take 3 forms:
Base Station (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/base.gif): These units have the advantage of operating from house current, and usually have provisions for external, desk-sitting microphones, external antennas that offer increased range, and lots of quality enhancing features like tone controls, noise reduction filters, etc. Most ideal for operating from a home or place of business, or where the longest range caspability is desired.
Mobile (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/cb1.gif): This type of radio is designed for vehicular use, whether in a car, truck, boat, or airplane, almost always powered by 12VDC from the vehicle battery (in some cases 24VDC). Has a separate, handheld microphone, and many features also found on Base Stations, including matching transmitter power output. However, because the mobile antennas for these units have size and mounting height limitations, they rarely get the same range as a base station. Mobiles also feature amplified speaker output to allow easy listening even in a noisy vehicle.
Hand Held (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/HH.gif) or "Walkie-Talkie": Most convenient form of radio, also the most limited, as it usually has to rely on the features that make it so conveniently portable, such as internal batteries, small cases, and small antennas. Batteries run down quickly, quickly cutting range long before they are dead. Small cases cut down available features and speaker size (volume). And of course, the small built in antenna (practically non-existent in some models) cuts your range drastically from what a true mobile or base station antenna would offer.
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SO WHICH IS THE BEST CHOICE?Obviously, that is based on your needs.If you are looking for economy and don't mind some sacrifices, a full featured hand-held unit can probably cover every use you might have. "Ham" radio operators have written the book on this idea, buying inexpensive hand held radios for "carry around" use, then hooking them to voltage adapters, antenna adapters, and RF amplifiers for use as a mobile and/or base station radio. In this manner one radio can work in the place of 3, saving some money. The trade-off is that you lose some "user friendliness" having to constantly plug and unplug connections (which also cuts radio 'life' due to wear and tear), and the smaller hand held radios often scrimp on RF power and audio output, which reduces range and signal quality over a mobile or base station. But if you want a cheap start, or versatility, this is the way to go.
On the other end of the stick, if you are looking to eek out the last iota of performance, then a system of tailored radios with a full complement of antennas and other accessories is the way to go, although this will mean a premium outlay of funds as well.
Most likely, you'll be after something in between. In any case, the key thing is to carefully consider (FIRST) what you want your radios to DO, then buy what will cover that. The woods are filled with hunters carrying "2 mile range" FRS walkie-talkies that sit unused in camp because they don't transmit thru more than a hundred yards of trees.
IMPROVING ON A GOOD THINGSo what can you do to improve thse radios? For a more in-depth look at your options for CB Radios (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/11m.html), check out my 11 Meter (CB) page (http://www.captainswoop.com/radio/11m.html). here, we'll stick to the VHF/UHF band equipment, where your options are much more limited. The only real improvements you can make are in signal quality, unless you are an experienced electronics technician with a bench full of test equipment. The days where a soldering iron and a trip to Radio Shack would convert your rig to an antenna melting beast are gone, with virtually everything on the circuit boards micro-miniaturized, sealed, and manufacturer-only programming protocols added. So you are stuck with whatever extranal add-ons you can do, so this breaks it down to improving your audio and RF input/outputs.AUDIO QUALITY
INPUT: Whether you are talking about MURS, FRS, FRS/GMRS, or a true GMRS unit, your radio's microphone is where your signal is created. Aside from talking clearly (which so many people on radio seem to have problems doing, out of various 'bad' radio habits), the quality and type of your microphone can make all the difference in the world in how you are heard on the other end of the conversation. Even radios that traditionally come with good quality microphones, such as GMRS radios, can often benefit by an upgrade here, such as using noise-cancelling microphones in high noise areas.
OUTPUT: Base and Mobile style radios rarely need help in this department, usually having adio amplifiers and larger speakers built in to overcome all but very high noise environments. Handheld Walkie-talkies are another matter altogether. Audio volume and quality from these radios are usually dismal at best, and renders them useless in any kind of noisy location. Fortunately, there are answers to this problem, as most handhelds come with an earphone jack. Those same, inexpensive, amplified speakers sold for iPods or computers work well here, or in a mobile environment you can use a patch cord or FM transmitter to play your walkie takie audio over your car stereo. And of course, riding the noisy ATV doesn't stop the comms if you have a combination earphone/microphone headset.