Latest Joke: Motorola 25 mile FRS/GMRS

[bwhite]

Thought I'd seen it all with the >10 mile claims of many FRS/GMRS blister-pack types but I just flipped thru today's Home Depot ad. They are advertising a set of Motorolas for about $70 claiming 25 miles "under favorable conditions". I've tested various versions of these things a good bit, I'm impressed for the $ but the best I've gotten is just over 3 miles under ANY conditions. I'd sure like to see any of these perform even 1/2 as well as claimed.

 

[brandon]

25 mile range if your on a high mountaintop. I operated FRS at 11,000 ft and it will do 25 miles but the average person isn't going to be doing this. I am surprised they haven't been hammered for false advertising.

 

[rattlerbb01]

claiming 25 miles "under favorable conditions".

Which usually means climbing to the top of your local water tower, and having your buddy 25 miles away transmit from the top of his water tower, which is of course, in line of sight from your position, all while enjoying the aurora borealis making its only strong appearance in South Florida in the last 200 years, and the troposphere is carrying in your favorite classical rock station from Maui.

 

[DPD1]

I've actually gotten about 16 miles (full quiet) on regular FRS... But that was desert topography, hilltop to valley floor... Obviously rare conditions you won't often get. I guess that's the scenario they're using.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Custom Scanner, Aviation, MURS, GMRS, Marine & Ham Antennas -

 

[iMONITOR]

I saw those today at Gander Mountain Sporting Goods. I just snickered to myself. Where I live you'd be lucky to get 25 miles using a repeater on a 50' tower!

 

[Shortwavewave]

So are these two ways really "full power" ive even seen one box on a cobra radio that said 5 watts of power how is that possable when i know even a hand held cb will reach 5 to 6 miles between buildings
I do it all the time

 

[iMONITOR]

So are these two ways really "full power" ive even seen one box on a cobra radio that said 5 watts of power how is that possable when i know even a hand held cb will reach 5 to 6 miles between buildings
I do it all the time

I think that's another deception! Some of these radios are too small to properly heat-sink 5-watts, not to mention their battery packs would only sustain 5-watts for a very short period of time.

 

[Contact]

I've got a set of Cobra 10 mile's, and the best we've managed is about 4 miles, but surprisingly it was a city setting...So I'm satisfied with them.

 

[bwhite]

I'm guessing aircraft to ground or mountain top to mountain top.....maybe.
I've tried from the 4th floor of a beach condo on the balcony to someone down the beach and wasn't able to communicate until < 2 miles. I did get 3 miles hilltop to hilltop with one in a car on frs. In any event, like brandon says, these claims really need to be hosed-down. I'm still satisfied (most of the time) with my range based on the $ spent, but, really-----reality check.

 

[iMONITOR]

I've got a set of Cobra 10 mile's, and the best we've managed is about 4 miles, but surprisingly it was a city setting...So I'm satisfied with them.

Cobra's seem to be one of the best brands in the "Bubble Pack" market! I've actually found Motorola's to be the most disappointing. It's not like Motorola actually makes them, but you'd think they'd be a little careful what they put their name on.

 

[b7spectra]

Stick one in the next Space Shuttle flight! Let's check the range then!

 

[prcguy]

25 miles is no problem with 2w GMRS handhelds that are truly line of site and they should go much farther. Many places don&#8217;t have mountains that allow you to easily test line of site but that&#8217;s not a problem here in So Cal where we&#8217;re surrounded by 5,000ft peaks. The most impressive (non tropo) distance I&#8217;ve had to a repeater was well over 150mi line of site from the top of Broadcast Peak north of Santa Barbara, CA to a GRMS repeater on Santiago Peak, CA using a 4w Icom U16 handheld. Recently I participated in a two way test from an 800ft hill to an aircraft at 35, 000ft using a 5w handheld on VHF with a 1/4 wave antenna and we stopped the test at 338 Nautical miles distance when my handheld was getting a little hard to copy. You can communicate on UHF to geostationary satellites (22,300mi) with a 5w handheld and a small 5dBi gain antenna, it&#8217;s done every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.
prcguy

 

[wogggieee]

Well the thing with the GRMS/FRS deal that i always think is funny is that they advertise these mileages, but that is going to be on the GMRS channels, which require a license. They say on the box that you need a license, but in very small print that I'm sure the average person wouldn't see. And if they did, I'd still doubt they'd get the license. But the thing about those that i think is the most funny are the "privacy codes." The way they word it makes you think encryption and no one else can hear, but its just a pl of dcs tone. I find that to be funny.

 

[iMONITOR]

Well the thing with the GRMS/FRS deal that i always think is funny is that they advertise these mileages, but that is going to be on the GMRS channels, which require a license. They say on the box that you need a license, but in very small print that I'm sure the average person wouldn't see. And if they did, I'd still doubt they'd get the license. But the thing about those that i think is the most funny are the "privacy codes." The way they word it makes you think encryption and no one else can hear, but its just a pl of dcs tone. I find that to be funny.

I agree. I really think they should just drop the license requirement for GMRS, as it serves no purpose. Nothing would change if the license requirement was dropped. I'm not saying this because I'm too cheap to pay for a license. I have a GMRS license.

 

[kb2vxa]

Puffery is nothing new, advertisers have been inflating their claims since the traveling salesman sold snake oil from his wagon. I remember well those Radio Shack ads for 100mW CB walkie talkies that had roughly the same range as todays FRS squawk boxes. What they never told you was you need a 5W mobile to get the 3-5 mile range they claimed. Puffery is legal, I can sell a tin can telephone with a 10 mile range only I won't tell you that you'll need to load the can in a piece of field artillery.

GR, do you want GMRS to go the way of 11M CB? Apparently you don't know the history of the service and how it relates to the other SERIOUS radio services so I suggest you learn. We have more than enough problems with violators interfering with serious communications and you want FREEBAND? CB was the worst mistake the FCC ever made and it's been a thorn in their side and ours ever since, please, leave them with a few teeth.

 

[UPMan]

The "5-Watt" claims are all based on Input power (roughly the power coming from the batteries). ERP (the power coming out of the antenna) is limited to about 2 W Max due to SAR requirements.

 

[iMONITOR]

The "5-Watt" claims are all based on Input power (roughly the power coming from the batteries). ERP (the power coming out of the antenna) is limited to about 2 W Max due to SAR requirements.

OK, that makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[iMONITOR]

GR, do you want GMRS to go the way of 11M CB? Apparently you don't know the history of the service and how it relates to the other SERIOUS radio services so I suggest you learn. We have more than enough problems with violators interfering with serious communications and you want FREEBAND? CB was the worst mistake the FCC ever made and it's been a thorn in their side and ours ever since, please, leave them with a few teeth.

I think it already has! More unlicensed users are on GMRS than those with a license. The FCC is completely ignoring the problem, while they continue to collect revenue from excessive license fees. Besides, unlike the Business Band, Ham Radio, and some others that have meaningful rules, and restrictions under their license, the terms of a GMRS license are fairly wide-open. There is a very fine line between what a licensed GMRS user can do, vs what an unlicensed user does.

Having a license does not discipline the user, or prevent him from causing problems. Nor does not having a license prevent the FCC from enforcing their rules. So the bottom line is that the lack of a license is not the problem, and having a license is not the cure, it is the people using the radios.

 

[iMONITOR]

The "5-Watt" claims are all based on Input power (roughly the power coming from the batteries). ERP (the power coming out of the antenna) is limited to about 2 W Max due to SAR requirements.

Paul, is Uniden the only GMRS radio offering voice scrambling?

Thanks.

 

[UPMan]

It has been on some Motorola radios. The Garmin Rinos have scrambling. I don't know of any others.

There is no good way to side-by-side compare radios in a non-technical way. Output power sounds reasonable until you realize that you can also get better performance (i.e. range) by having a low-noise, more sensitive receiver. We do test all of our radios out to the stated range over mixed terrain. It has become more and more difficult to find line-of-site test ranges, but so far we've been able to do our testing without resorting to climbing water towers.