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FRS on a Smartphone

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mmckenna

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It's been interesting watching this develop.
Originally it was VHF/UHF, FRS, GMRS, MURS. They were pretty hyped up about this being an all in one box.
Then the realities of the FCC certification hit them. It got scaled back to MURS, FRS and GMRS. Then they seemed to read the FCC rule about MURS radios not having other services on it.

Should be interesting to see if this gets released and someone hacks a way to open up the rest of the TX/RX range.
 

Mrthor3232

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this would be sweet

This would be a great EDC item. Now I want one now I have to get a Samsung Galaxy S 4 or 5 again. I just upgraded to the note 4. Just my luck.
 

JASII

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FRS On A Smartphone

I saw that last year. I sort of miss the Direct Talk from Nextel days. There are definitely times when it would be handy to have direct simplex for close range without dialing up on the network. Thanks for the reminder!

I wonder if the Beartooth will be 500 milliwatts or if it will be even less than that. I would like to see this succeed.

I have also been following the GoTenna http://www.gotenna.com/ I had been following the Meet Earl tablet, but that is not looking good. http://www.meetearl.com/ http://www.alianzahd.com/
 
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Hans13

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Alianza DXB ::: Smartphone Docking Walkie-Talkie

"We are proud to introduce the Alianza DxB which is the latest device created by the Northern New Jersey, family owned technology company, BriCom Solutions.

The Alianza DxB is a portable rugged two-way radio docking case with an additional battery that turns your smartphone into a fully functional multi-band two-way radio. The DxB is able to communicate and work with all major two-way radio venders (sic)."
 

Project25_MASTR

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Phone technology keeps changing quicker than they can keep up. I think GoTenna has the best product as far as practicality goes. The reason I say that had already been mentioned in a previous post...it doesn't matter what kind of phone you have as long as you can download the app and connect via Bluetooth.

Also, the average person only keeps a phone for around two years. If I buy a new radio, I expect 5 years of service out of that radio. If the GoTenna's price ($150 USD) is a price reference for the other products, one would be looking at upgrading device specific radios with their phones every two years. To get 5 years service, you're looking at a minimum $450. Same price as a Motorola SL300 which has a 10 year or greater service life.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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I am kind of hoping the Project ARA modular smartphone will incorporate a GMRS/FRS module and a battery to complement the additional consumption.

Project Ara
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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When you really think hard about it, it is likely someone will build an Android phone with these capabilities built into it. I would be interested if ruggedized and FRS/GMRS capable.
 

JASII

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FRS On A Smartphone

Has anybody heard any updates on any of these lately?
 

JASII

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FRS On A Smartphone

Summer 2015 is here. It looks like the AlianzaHD & GoTenna website hasn't been updated in a while..
 

mmckenna

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I'd suspect the realities of FCC certification caught up with this.
MURS only, or FRS/GMRS only is sort of pointless, especially when you can purchase a suitable radio for much cheaper than these things would have sold for.
And as Charles said, $35 BaoFeng filled most of this market. Bringing another device into a saturated market to work on only a few specific radio services and being tied to a specific phone model is sort of setting it up for failure.
Neat idea, but not very scalable to a real world market.
 

tj20

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According to Gotenna blog they will start beta testing this month for about a month, and if all goes well start shipping late August.

Blog
 

JASII

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FRS On A Smartphone

Thank you for the replies. I still think it would be quite handy if some cell phone manufacturer built in an off-network simplex feature, much like the old Nextel Direct Talk, that would allow short range off-network communications. I know it isn't likely to happen, but I still think it would be sweet.

What it might take is some company that makes smartphones that aren't designed for carrier subsidy. For example, a Sonim or Cat phone, that people by separate from the carrier, would be a great way to get a phone with built in simplex. It would be a great feature to market to certain groups that could benefit from this. Say a construction crew has half a dozen people working in a relatively local area less than a mile apart from one another. Having a way to chirp directly,without dialing up, would be quite handy.
 
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Evgeni

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Why don't they simply make phones capable of using the 900 mhz ISM band for walkie talkie usage?
 

mmckenna

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This has been done.
Can't remember the manufacturer, but they were showing them off in the corner of the IWCE expo a few years back.
A "global" smart phone that had a UHF radio built in. Low power, but seemed like it would work fine.
Haven't seen them in the last few years I've been. Not sure if they still exist or not.
 
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