Background

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: If you are a general driver in the tour group, buy a pair of FRS Radios from Best Buy or Amazon.  FRS radios are simple and can come with rechargeable batteries and also AA batteries that can be swapped into the units.  Typically the price range for two radios is between $30-90.  Midland brand has worked well for our CB radios in the past and are a well-known manufacturer of radio equipment.

Example of an FRS Radio

Radio Channel

20-24 (Channel 20, 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; 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 .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?).  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 8 watts and 15 watts and utilize an external antenna to reduce any harmful broadcast waves.  For the channel we selected, we can broadcast up to 50 watts of power.  With GMRS, we could also use repeater towers to broadcast over a larger range but it is doubtful we would need to do that.  

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.  $149.99 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).

Option 2: Baofeng BF-F8HP, 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio: This radio has a rechargable battery and is a complete handheld unit.  You can buy an external antenna (Nagoya UT-72)  to plug into the radio externally.  Baofeng ($70) + External Antenna ($35) = $105.  The Baofeng allows for a lot of configuration options and is the more complex radio.

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 Interstitial channels max 5 watt transmitting

467 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