Background (Page updated 4/9/2026 to reflect pricing realities)

Since the founding of the chapter in 1977, we have utilized CB (Citizen’s Band) Radios to communicate within the group as we traverse the roads of Texas and the surrounding states.  While this has worked well for most of our activities, newer technology and cheaper prices are pushing us to a new frequency space in the FRS/GMRS range.  We will move to the FRS/GMRS radios in July 2020.

FRS: Family Radio Service
GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service

Long Story Short: We are using a frequency both an FRS- and GMRS-radio share, the best value radio seems to be a Baofeng GMRS Radio (a 2-pack of their UV-5G radio on Amazon costs about $47).

Alternatively, you can buy a pair of FRS Radios from Best Buy or Amazon.  FRS radios are simple and can come with rechargeable batteries or AA batteries that can be swapped into the units.  Typically the price range for two radios is between $55-100.  Midland brand is a well-known manufacturer of radio equipment.

Example of an FRS Radio

Radio Channel

20-24 (Channel 20, DCSS privacy channel 24) will be the high-powered frequency and 24 is a nod to our CB years when we cycled between channel 24 and 23, depending if Tom was on the trip with us :).

Frequency Equivalent: 462.6750 MHz; Frequency Encoding DCSS(R-CTS and T-CTS) 151.4 Hz

Details

FRS does not require a license to operate and there are FCC limits to how much power a FRS radio can use – maximum of 2 watts (make sure you have a radio manufactured AFTER May 18th, 2017 to achieve the 2 watts maximum).  The radio channels 1-7 and 15-22 are limited to 2 watts of power while channels 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts of power to transmit.

The FRS radios are also forced to have a built-in antenna, so have a limited range of communication.

GMRS utilizes some of the same frequencies as the FRS channels but requires an FCC License to broadcast (but how often are people stopped for not having the license? As of the 6 years of using these radios, 0 times).  The big advantage to utilizing these radios is that you can broadcast on some of the channels at up-to 50 watts of power.  There are a number of small, easy to use radios that do not require fixed installation into your car that can broadcast at 5, 8, 10 and 15 watts and utilize an external antenna to reduce any harmful broadcast waves (more watts = longer range).  For the channel we selected, we can broadcast up to the maximum 50 watts of power.  With GMRS technology, we could also use repeater towers to broadcast over a larger range but it is doubtful we would need to do that (unless we ever get a chance to close a road for a timed event)  

Serious Radioheads

Option 1: Midland MXT275 MicroMobile.  This is a 15w radio that uses a Cigarette lighter connector and includes a small external antenna.  Midland also sells a 40-watt radio but you will need to fix-install the power supply to your fuse box.  $220 (up from $150 in 2020) from Midland’s web site.  This is an easy-to-configure radio and similar in configuration to an FRS radio.  It is limited to the frequencies it can run as compared to the Baofeng and would not be able to use repeater towers (but we won’t worry about that for our application).

• New product: BTech GMRS-20V2 20W unit $109.98

Option 2: Baofeng Radios.  The Baofeng allows for a lot of configuration options and is the more complex radio, but please make sure the radio support transmit and receive and has some statement about “GMRS” or transmit frequency range in the UHF 462 or 467 MHz frequencies.  (For example, as I was updating this link and model, I thought $29 radio a great deal for a UV-5R but it does not support transmitting on the GMRS radio frequencies.  It became a bad deal).

• Baofeng GMRS Radio GM-15 Pro, 8-watt hand-held, 2-pack $47.98
• Baofeng BF-F8HP Pro 10W, $62.89 (this one has been previously purchased and does support GMRS transmit)
• Baofeng UV-5G (UV-5X) GMRS Radio, 2-pack $37.99 (probably a 5-watt radio and that works fine)

FCC Licensing for GMRS can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs.  The license is good for 10 years and can be used in a family environment (not a corporate one).  The license cost is $70 as of Feb 2020.

Buying Decision Tree

• I want the maximum range I can do:
  • You’ll need an External Antenna and a GMRS Radio like Midland MXT400 (40-watt) radio with hard-wired install of the power connection.  Also, you need to look at getting the FCC License
• I’m ok with an External Antenna but want something simple
  • Look at the Midland MXT275 radio – it comes bundled with a small antenna and a simple 15-watt radio on the GMRS frequencies.  You will need to look at an FCC License
• I want the long range but no external antenna
  • Consider looking at the Baofeng radios – most are handheld, rechargeable 8 watt radios. You will need to look at an FCC license to use this level of power
• I just want something I can use and forget
  • Consider a pair of rechargeable or AA-battery power FRS radios (max is 2 watt powered). No license required and we do get some decent range with the channel we selected.

References

• FCC Details on GMRS
• FCC Details on FRS
• Wikipedia Page on FRS
• Wikipedia Page on GMRS

Frequency Map

462 MHz Interstitial channels max 5 watt transmitting

467 MHz interstitial channels max 0.5 watt; only hand-helds can transmit here

Main channels not to exceed 50 watt for mobile, repeater or base stations; 15 watts for fixed stations