nlax2011

Are they just going to be for use around the neighborhood, or when shopping or camping or something when ya'll will be within a mile or so of each other? If so then most any of those packaged "no license" handheld radios you see at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc.... should work ok. Check out the power output and get one that has the highest output, though it'll sacrifice battery life.

Those radios operate in what's known as "simplex" with no repeater. When you push the button and talk it's going straight to the other radio with nothing repeating it's signal, so line of sight rules apply to all these VHF/UHF radios.

If you want something for around town where ya'll may be separated by several miles up to maybe 20 miles or so then you're going to need to a radio system that has repeaters. They are installed on commercial antenna towers or on buildings and when you talk through your handheld the repeater picks up your signal and re-broadcasts out using it's high antenna and higher power to the person on the other end. So know the two parties don't have to be close to each other because they are both relying on this well located repeater to hear and repeat each other's signals.

I haven't really used any of those FRS/GMRS radios. I want to say that with one of them there is the ability to setup or use someone else's existing repeater. But usually that's probably a company setting one up for its own use, and I don't think they are all that common.

Amateur (Ham) radio has a very popular set of frequencies in the 2meter (~147mhz VHF) range where there a just tons of repeaters setup and run by local clubs across the country. So once you get a license and a handheld you can use those. Nice thing is you can buy mobile units for the car and use an external antenna for more range and setup a rig at home. But like was mentioned above it's more involved to get licensed.

I'd say it kind of depends on what you want to be able to do. If it's just to have "walkie-talkie" like capability for communicating in close range then any of those radios will work fine and you usually don't need any sort of license (except for one of those services, but it's a pay once sort of deal). I know CB is open to all and I believe FRS doesn't require a license either.

If you truly want to get into emergency communications where there is an existing community of volunteers who maintain and run repeaters and various communication services for the local community than you may want to look into amateur radio.

AMH

First off I want to take a moment to thank everyone who replied. Thank You. This forum rocks!!!

I just got back from Wally-world and picked up the radio set I previously mentioned. My initial concern is being able to communicate with my family within a mile or two, and I believe that this set will meet that small expectation.

After reading all of your replies and surfing the net I am convinced that ham is the way to go. Money is very tight for my family so this will be a long term goal. Can someone give me some guidance on the best way to go about meeting this goal?

Thanks again!

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nlax2011

Glad your interested. My father and I are both "hams" and have been for a while. He's very much into the emergency communications side of things as his job is with a county emergency dept, so it fits naturally. I haven't been too active lately 'cause of school but there's something for everyone. There's short range repeaters for talking around town, I've got some digital equipment that lets me transmit GPS tracking coordinates from my car over the radio which I can then view online as well as see where other users of the "APRS" system are, there are other frequencies (HF) that allow you to talk around the world. So when SHTF a radio operator with one of those radios, which can range from a homebuilt radio kit costing next to nothing....to a latest and greatest $5,000 electronic piece of art, can throw up a simple wire antenna and talk with someone on the other side of the planet.

If you are interested you could go here: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml
and search for some active radio clubs in your area. See when there meetings or even better, see when there next public service event is and stop by at an event or meeting to meet some of the folks and ask some questions.

Here's a list of license "levels": http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html

For your interests a Technician level one will give you access to all frequencies suitable for talking around town. And someone with a local club can let you know about the local testing schedules and classes if they offer them. I'd say to initially get your license will probably be <$40. There are numerous little study books available for purchase, but I'd be willing to bet someone at the club has books laying around they could let you borrow.

After that it's just a matter of equipment. And again there's a healthy market of used amateur radio gear so they'd be able to let you know if someone there has some equipment they'd be willing to share or could point you to a local hamfest where there's everything from new to used to antique.

Shizzlemah

I think all of the local ham exams around here are $15-18, not too bad at all. Highly recommend the ham liscense.

A handheld 2-meter radio will work wonders, a car-installed 2-meter will be solid for anything shy of the apocalypse. "HF" ham will get you hundreds to thousands of miles, but wont fit in a pocket.

(Ham Extra-class operator)

AMH

I just tested the radio set for the first time. I went to the doughnut shop that is about .7 miles away. I took one radio and my wife stayed home with the other one. We used Channel 8 (467.5625 MHz, FRS8). At the doughnut shop the transmission was audible, but with static.

I have a few more questions for you all:

1. As I mentioned my father-in-law has a GMRS license, so I can operate under his license. Does he need to be an active part of the communication for me to legally operate under his license?

2. It is my understanding that I can get more range when transmitting on GMRS as opposed to FRS. Is this true?

3. How can I go about finding out how many watts my radio set has?

Thank you all!!

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Taurus111

I say go get your ham lic. and forget about the underpowered FRS/GMRS stuff. If you want to use the FRS radios for inter-family/inter-agency comms during a disaster or when the shtf then fine but for "getting out" to the outside world when you are stranded during a disaster invest in a good mobile ham unit.

KC9DUQ

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http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/13226.htm

Bark'n

It is also my understanding that Morse Code is no longer a requirement to obtaining your basic Ham/Amature radio license.

It is my understanding that at the time it was required, that was the most difficult aspect of the test for your ham license.

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Cupcake

True, and True (for me). I got mine just before they invented a class of license that didn't require the code test. Unless something has changed though (I've been out of it for a while), there is only one class of license that you can hold without the code test. It includes priveleges on the very useful 2 meter band, but does not include operations on the HF bands that allow worldwide communications. Still a great place to get invloved though.

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nlax2011

Correct, they recently change the structure to simplify it a bit and morse is no longer required, even for the top license (Extra), there's varying opinions on that depending on who you ask of course.

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html


To OP regarding GMRS vs. FRS:
Here's some light reading on those two:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Radio_Service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General..._Radio_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General..._Radio_Service

They both use the ~460Mhz freq. range, and actually share a few channels, but FRS radios are limited to 500milliwatts, while with GMRS (and the license) there's a higher power limit depending on what channel you are on, either up to 5 watts (typical hi power on handhelds) or up to 50 if you have a mobile unit.

The book or packaging that came with your radio should say it's power output. So going with a higher power GMRS handheld will give you a little better range, but using handhelds with trees, houses and stuff in between doesn't work well beyond maybe a mile or two, unless one of you is high up in a building or hill or something.

I'm not sure about the licensing requirements, from the wiki article it seems to imply that you're fine just having an immediate family member licensed, but may have to check an FCC website for that.

Cupcake

Ahh, changes have been made I see. Still a very useful skill, since worldwide comms can be made with less than a watt. I'd have to do a lot of brushing up, but somewhere on my long list of things to do is make a SHTF QRP rig. These can be made to fit in an altoids can, and reach out hundreds of miles.

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