FRS radios

[DaveInDenver]

Funny you mention that, Dave. There's at least one hotel in Moab who uses GMRS for their staff. We'd hear them anytime we were near the top of a ridge.

Mark

You'd have to check FCC licenses but GMRS many years ago was legal to use for businesses and if they kept their license up-to-date they would be grandfathered in.

If memory serves the GMRS rules for business use changed in 1987. So at this point it's extremely few licenses that meet this clause. And it's restrictive in that you are not allowed to make any major modifications (this being moving repeater locations, that sort of thing).

The honest truth is it's impossible to know without physically checking their radios. But if you're hearing them many miles away there's the possibility of high power (5 watt) radios or a repeater, which would be GMRS.

 

[twentyfooteighty]

Funny you mention that, Dave. There's at least one hotel in Moab who uses GMRS for their staff. We'd hear them anytime we were near the top of a ridge.

Mark

FRS and GMRS share frequencies (1-7, 15-22). From my understanding, the hotel is fine using these frequencies without a license so long as they do not transmit higher than the wattage limit for that frequency.

 

[DaveInDenver]

FRS and GMRS have shared frequencies since 2017 but getting a GMRS license gives you legal access to more power on several channels, the authorization to use wider bandwidth, external antennas and repeaters.

On the air you may not be able to tell. There are ways, like measuring how much spectrum is being consumed or trilateral ranging. The FCC, if responding to a complaint, would be able to tell with some ease.

 

[ScaldedDog]

Our little wheeling group moved to GMRS last year, and didn't bother with privacy codes. Listening to conversations about what rooms were clean got me to thinking we should, and being reminded of it now has put it on my list for spring.

Mark

 

[twentyfooteighty]

Our little wheeling group moved to GMRS last year, and didn't bother with privacy codes. Listening to conversations about what rooms were clean got me to thinking we should, and being reminded of it now has put it on my list for spring.

Mark

You could always just go up a channel to one with less traffic. That is what I typically do.

 

[ScaldedDog]

You could always just go up a channel to one with less traffic. That is what I typically do.

We could, but we've been using the same channel since one of our guys had a 23 channel radio in the 90s. We might be a little set in our ways...

Mark

 

[Romer]

midland.com

View attachment 101909

Thats a great deal This is the one I have and am very happy with it. https://midlandusa.com/collections/lxtgxt/products/gxt1000vp4

 

[Hulk]

Thats a great deal This is the one I have and am very happy with it. https://midlandusa.com/collections/lxtgxt/products/gxt1000vp4

If you're shopping for radios, keep in mind that this model must sit in the plastic cradle to charge. When buying some handheld FRS radios, you may want to consider a model into which you can directly plug a USB cord. That's why many of us have the Midland T71 model:
https://midlandusa.com/collections/x-talker/products/t71vp3

If you're on the trail for several days and want to charge your FRS radio while you wheel, a USB cord is much easier to use than a charging cradle. Here is the Midland T71 with the USB cord plugged in:

 

[Romer]

Good point Matt. That radio isnt on sale though at 25% but I expect 15%. I comes with two radios and I do charge both units and also having two allows you to charge one in the cradle if one runs out of juice. This does come with a car charging cable, at least mine did so you can charge one while using the other.

I ended up loaning it out to others and it lasted all day on the trail FWIW with no issues due to low charge, But your point is valid if you need to charge it while using, you can't

 

[DaveInDenver]

In another discussion the GXT1000 vs T71 question was raised.

Something to think about here is the GXT1000/1030/1050 is roughly a 3 watt radio while the T71/T75 is around 1 watt. Technically the T7x series is an FRS radio (no license) while the GXT are GMRS (license required to use full power).

In theory increasing power by three will result in about 1.7x more range, all other things being equal.

One thing you can do with a radio that does not have a USB or other external power/charge option is carry an extra battery.

Point only being that when shopping you might consider how you value various features (and built-in charging is certainly handy, no argument) and prices. And there's sometimes more than one approach to solve a problem if every box isn't checked on your want list.

 

[Romer]

In another discussion the GXT1000 vs T71 question was raised.

Something to think about here is the GXT1000/1030/1050 is roughly a 3 watt radio while the T71/T75 is around 1 watt. Technically the T7x series is an FRS radio (no license) while the GXT are GMRS (license required to use full power).

In theory increasing power by three will result in about 1.7x more range, all other things being equal.

One thing you can do with a radio that does not have a USB or other external power/charge option is carry an extra battery.

Point only being that when shopping you might consider how you value various features (and built-in charging is certainly handy, no argument) and prices. And there's sometimes more than one approach to solve a problem if every box isn't checked on your want list.

Good point Dave- I never experienced a range issue on a trail, but others did. I hadnt thought about the difference. I did get my GMRS license. The only test is figuring out how to pay which Matt did a good job defining in another thread

 

[Hulk]

This does come with a car charging cable, at least mine did so you can charge one while using the other.

Ken, does the car charging cable plug into the radio or into the cradle?

 

[Romer]

Ken, does the car charging cable plug into the radio or into the cradle?

I had to look because I never used it. The cradle. So if you buy thee two radio kit You can keep one connected and charging while you use the other. From my use though, one charged lasts all day or so far has for me

The only issue I had with this radio is I accidently turned the group feature on and had to figure out how to turn it off before I could use it. When that happened, I just grabbed the second radio so all was good

 

[DaveInDenver]

Also regards to GXT1000 radios, there's an apparently an unadvertised way to charge them using the mic plug, which you may notice has a "CHG" next to the "MIC" label.

Uses a cigarette plug rather than USB, though unknown whether it's 12V to the radio or not so no idea if a hack to a 5V source like USB might be possible.

https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Replacement-Midland-GXT1000-GXT1000VP4/dp/B01MR4SGVS

 

[Romer]

Wow, Thanks Dave. I saw the plug and didn't know you could do that

 

[Hulk]

This is a really good thing to know. @Shark Bait

 

[Bub]

 

[MDH33]

I ended up getting the Baofeng gm 15 pro. It was one of the few that has usb charging. Anyone else use that model? I picked it up off Amazon as I had a few other things to get anyway and free shipping. Also picked up a new, longer ham antenna for the 60.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Not a lot of info yet about that Baofeng GM15PRO.

This appears to be it's FCC ID: https://fccid.io/2AJGM-GM15PRO

According to that it's only legal as a ham radio, submitted for a Part 15 approval so there's no information about it's transmitter in the test report. The rest of the documentation only speaks of GMRS, though. Have to see when you get it.

Basically, it looks to be the same radio as a Radioddity GM-30 (which has FCC GMRS data) or TYT UV98. There's more information floating around for those.

https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-gm-30

 

[Devils Slide Doug]

I have a couple of Baofeng hand held radios that have FRS freq.s programed into them. They work well. They are not technically approved by the FCC since you could transmit at higher wattages than are allowed. Do I have to worry about being busted during inspection? If so, I will break out my daughters pink Barbie FRS walkie-talkies.