Kenwood TK-380 UHF Questions

[gman4661]

I'm interested in getting a TK-380 UHF for GMRS and scanning. Anybody know what the channel capacity is? Can this radio be used for FRS as well? I'm also interested in knowing your opinion of this model radio. Thanks!

PS - Anybody willing to sell me one at a good price?

[K5SVT]

I believe they are 256 channel in conventional mode. If you are going for the lower split version, it will go from approx 440-482ish. My city used to simulcast FD dispatch on 482.xxxx and it worked great along with the ham stuff. As far as FRS, not sure of the legalities since they are very lower power and the TK has the option of high power. I'll let someone else touch on that.
Also, at least on the old DOS software I use, you are not limited to any number of channels per zone. It has a continuous knob so it's very flexible on the programming side. It's been a work horse. Very sturdy and heavy. Great receive and transmit audio. Hope this helps in your decision.

[Thayne]

They do 250 channels\groups, all CTCSS and DCS tones, they of course could be used on FRS\GMRS but are not legal to be used for that. They are very good radios, but are not being sold new by Kenwood for about the last 3 years. They were replaced by the TK-3180 which is 512 channel capable with more fatures & a little bit smaller.

[gman4661]

Please explain the legal issue with GMRS and FRS. Thanks!

[Thayne]

One thing is that FRS radios cannot have removable antennas & are intrinsically power limited; you could use it on GMRS but you should read up on all the regs on a Wiki because I am pretty sure GMRS has some limitations of what can be done on some of the Freqs.---