FRS gaining popularity?

[subzali]

Yesterday’s experience. Got a group of 5 together for a jaunt up Argentine. Not club folks. Trying to figure out trail communication, me and one other have CB, me and a different other have Ham, but 3 out of 5 have FRS with spare radios to share with me and the other CB guy. So that’s what we went with.

FRS seemed busy, we switched from 6 to 18 right away because 6 had a group using it.

Near the end of the day we got an SOS call on channel 18 from Red Elephant Hill. Someone apparently rolled their ATV, had a broken arm, and was going into shock. They didn’t have cell service, but we did. So we relayed their SOS to emergency services over FRS and cell. Alpine SAR went and got them and notified us later that as was well.

I guess it’s got me thinking about buying my own FRS. Don’t know how it works, if we/they were just lucky to be on the same channel or what, but at any rate glad it all worked out. Just seemed to me that FRS might be the new CB.

 

[mcgaskins]

There seems to be a big push to FRS in the side by side crowd that has been gaining traction as manufacturers have been making pretty nice hard mountable units that play nice with the cheap handheld versions. I have 2 charged handheld FRS radios in the truck at all times, and it’s come in handy. Last year a guy came running up to us on the trail, and he said his wife was with their stuck truck and needed help. To keep in communication with him as he hiked back and we rescued another/different stuck truck, I gave him a handheld that worked perfectly. For better or for worse, FRS is becoming more common on the trail, so it’s a good idea to have one too in the repertoire.

 

[subzali]

That’s kinda what I was thinking too, thanks for sharing your experience

 

[nakman]

Matt that sounds like a pretty good distance contact.. it was on handheld FRS? Was it better than two handheld ham Baofeng UV-5r's?

 

[mcgaskins]

To be fair, it was pretty much line of sight even though the distance was close to a mile. It was just a cheap set of Motorola FRS radios, and even though they’ve worked well in those situations and vehicle to vehicle comms close by, the handheld hams are far better. I have a Yaesu FT60 that has a fantastic range much better than any FRS radio.

 

[rover67]

I think a lot of folks are using the baofeng radios programmed for FRS that you can get anywhere now. So maybe thats higher power... but I think they are not FCC certified also. I know also that there was a lot of talk on the Lemons Forum about comms in cars and several folks have got the baofeng/FRS programming route not caring that it is potentially illegal. So yes, I think they have spiked in popularity.

 

[subzali]

Matt that sounds like a pretty good distance contact.. it was on handheld FRS? Was it better than two handheld ham Baofeng UV-5r's?

I think it's close to 10 or 11 miles depending on where they were. I was on this: Midland GXT1000P
https://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT1...=UTF8&qid=1529945185&sr=8-1&keywords=gxt1000p

It says it has a range of 36 miles, 5 watts...

 

[Rezarf]

I ran a trail this weekend with a friend with those FRS radio's. For caravan distance, it was nice and clear, no wires dangling, it was pretty nice.

However, yesterday I drove with a 7 rig group and 6 rigs had HAM, and we were able to stay in great contact though we were pretty spread out over the trail.

Up here, hardly anyone id's their station (every 10 min), and more than a couple of folks are running HAM with no licence at all.

I am with you Matt, I might pick up a set for future use. But I already have CB and HAM hanging from the dash... not looking forward to adding another radio but it likely does have it's place.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I think it's close to 10 or 11 miles depending on where they were. I was on this: Midland GXT1000P
https://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT1...=UTF8&qid=1529945185&sr=8-1&keywords=gxt1000p

It says it has a range of 36 miles, 5 watts...

That's GMRS, not FRS. The two services share several channels but FRS is limited to either 0.5 watts or 2 watts depending on the channel and must have a fixed antenna. GMRS is limited to 50 watts, can use regular antennas, mobile, fixed, handheld, etc. To use GMRS you must get a free, no-test license. FRS is licensed by rule, meaning buying an FRS radio and using it per the rules you don't have to get an individual personal license.

Not sure those blister pack radios make it clear that you have to get the license to use them on GMRS. There's nothing magical about these radios that make them any better than a 5W ham HT and the only way you're going to get 36 miles is if you're standing on a mountain with excellent line of sight. Or there's a GMRS repeater next to you.

 

[AimCOTaco]

I do have my ham radios programmed on the FRS frequencies, it allows listening to other groups or the kiddos when they would play with them at the campground. In an emergency I wouldn't hesitate to transmit on FRS/GMRS/MURS at above legal power with a removable antenna but only in an emergency. I *might* use a ham or other HT set to low power to save carrying a blister pack family radio and AA's around if I found myself in a group using FRS.

My understanding was it (FRS) was meant to eventually replace CB in the USA; offering FM com quality on lower power from smaller units (smaller antenna systems) and limiting 'mods' to keep the range down allowing many groups in overlapping areas to use it successfully.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Andy touches a point that should be emphasized. Those of you who are hams *should* know this.

The FCC has a standing rule that any mode of communication may be utilized in an emergency, which they define as an immediate threat to life or property. This is not a blanket rule that lets you use your ham radio on police frequencies nor does it guarantee you'd be OK using a ham radio programmed for FRS or GMRS. But there is some leeway (and from what I understand the bar for injury is fairly high, meaning, like here, SAR call out where cell phone 911 isn't possible) and I suspect that blurring ham & FRS & GMRS authority wouldn't raise the hair on anyone's neck unless you're being a jerk or doing it blatantly.

But I will say this, when prosecuting (and yes, it's a criminal offense to operate outside your authority) the FCC looks at intent. So having a ham radio programmed with FRS is a pretty big tell so just be careful in how far you push the limits. The fines can be stiff if they decide to make you an example, $10,000 and loss of all your equipment sorts of things.

GMRS is a little odd IMO because there's not a lot of off the shelf equipment that's really legal to use the service fully, so having repurposed commercial radios is probably not going to surprise anyone.

But realize that ham radios are NOT commercial radios in the FCC world, they don't have to pass the same certifications so repurposing a ham radio for GMRS is going to reflect negatively on amateur radio. So my advice that no one asked is this, get old business radios that you can use for this if you can. Or at least use those Baofeng and TYT radios that don't carry any approvals. ARRL and Yaesu/Kenwood/Icom go through a lot of effort to stay in the good graces of the FCC on our behalf so just be mindful of consequences.

 

[subzali]

That's GMRS, not FRS. The two services share several channels but FRS is limited to either 0.5 watts or 2 watts depending on the channel and must have a fixed antenna. GMRS is limited to 50 watts, can use regular antennas, mobile, fixed, handheld, etc. To use GMRS you must get a free, no-test license. FRS is licensed by rule, meaning buying an FRS radio and using it per the rules you don't have to get an individual personal license.

Not sure those blister pack radios make it clear that you have to get the license to use them on GMRS. There's nothing magical about these radios that make them any better than a 5W ham HT and the only way you're going to get 36 miles is if you're standing on a mountain with excellent line of sight. Or there's a GMRS repeater next to you.

Good stuff Dave, thanks for all the insight. However, I am taking a look and the GMRS license is $70.

 

[subzali]

Is the BCA Link 2.0 radio FRS/GMRS? It has FRS freqs for sure, but then it allows 2W transmitting on some of the other channels, but the owners manual makes no mention of GMRS that I can see:
https://www.backcountryaccess.com/product/bc-link-two-way-radio-2-0/

@DaveInDenver ?

 

[DaveInDenver]

It's FRS. It'll be 2 or 0.5 watts depending on the channel you're using.

 

[subzali]

Oh I see. Had to look up the rules again.