FRS vs GMRS vs 900 mhz radios ( performance)

[KB7MIB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

To my understanding MURS radios do not have the distance capabilities that I am looking for.

What distance are you looking for? A mile or two? A 2-watt MURS radio should be able to do that, assuming a relatively flat topography. I've done a mile simplex with a 2M HT at about 2 watts with no problem.

 

[johnls7424]

Friend of mine has a Blackbox Bantam 5watt VHF radio and it performs excellent. He has a business license and said I can use his license to go ahead and purchase one and use it under his license. I may just do that.

 

[johnls7424]

Thanks for all the input everyone!! Learned a lot too actually

 

[JASII]

FRS Vs GMRS Vs 900 mhz Radios (Performance)

The Motorola DTR line seems like it is built much better than FRS/GMRS radios. To a large extent, you get what you pay for.

 

[johnls7424]

Yes the DTR line of radios are alot nicer and better for indoor useage then any FRS/GMRS radio. However I am looking for outdoor VHF ( longer range) radios. The Blackbox Bantam VHF radio seems to be the best bet. I already have a setup for licensing and such. Plus its fully encrypted if chosen between each radio so security is there as well.

 

[bfperez]

delete
Most of my point was already covered by others.

 

[johnls7424]

I value everybody's points on here. Feel free to express what you want ( as long as its within the policy of radioreference.com) ** wink wink**

Well yeah I do like the digital radios on the 900MHz radios but distance like most have mentioned is a major downfall. Not having to get a pricey FCC license though is a plus. However when push comes to shove the VHF Business Band looks to me like what will suit my needs.

I do want to say this: I am still thinking on purchasing some 900MHz Motorola DTR series radios. They look cool. I can definitely find a use for them. Mostly at work on the farm since I wouldn't be talking more than a mile outdoors anyway. Or simply between neighbors homes. So that is on my bucket list in the near future to purchase.

 

[mformby]

Business repeater use

I was wondering if anyone brought this up. I would check with my local 2-way radio dealer and see if they have a repeater system, probably LTR. You are not required to have a license on these systems, the dealer lets you use theirs which is completely legal. There are lots of LTR portables available with a broad price range. They can be programmed for radio-to-radio and for group calling. Forget FRS/GMRS. You need to step up to the business radio world.

Hmm lets see

• Up to 1 mile in a city
• Secure
• Digital
• Clarity
• License free

It sounds like you need a few 850-1900 MHz digital full duplex transceivers. I think they're called "cell phones."

Sorry to be facetious, I couldn't help it. All joking aside, I'd recommend contacting a local 2-way radio dealer. In larger cities most dealers also run their own trunked radio systems that you can lease radios from. It's possible they may have a digital trunked system that you can lease time on which may provide the security and coverage you need without spending a lot of money on radios that won't quite cover all of your needs.

 

[johnls7424]

That is true, FRS/GMRS is for the weekend warrior whose radios collect more dust than useage ( most not all). Business banded radios seems like the way to go overall. However everything costs money. Money I have just not a whole lot of it. Ya know?

 

[mformby]

As a general rule of thumb, the lower the frequency the further it will talk outdoors. 150MHz out talks 460MHz which out talks 800 MHz. Indoors and around buildings the higher frequencies normally do better because the physically shorter wave length has a better bounce effect. In all cases more power is better. The MURS radios work better outdoors than the FRS ones because they are in the 150MHz range compared to the 460MHz of the FRS. Too bad all these deer hunters buy FRS radios that advertise outrageous range results. Most are lucky to get 1 mile in the woods.

 

[mformby]

To johnls7424:
The Motorola CP200 is a great radio, both in performance and durability. However, it comes 4 watts UHF and 5 watts VHF. You would have to get a license. People look at the license as a bad thing. Look past the expense of getting one at having an exclusive frequency within a specific area that is yours. If someone else starts using that frequency (after you get the license) you have the power to contact the FCC and have them cease using it. And it is good for 10 years (unless they have changed it) and to renew is is much less costly.

 

[johnls7424]

To mformby:

That is very true. It is probably most likely worth having your own channel. I have heard of people programming MURS VHF stations onto it and using it with low power WATTS. No more than 2 watts and doing just fine with it too. I'm sure people have transmitted over the 2 watt limit as well. Anywho, I am using these radios for work and already have them licensed under someone else using there frequency for the area of operation. I will consider on getting my own license one day in the future.

 

[Radiobern]

I have a pair of the Motorola DTR650 with the 1/2 wave antenna. I am able to communicate between my home and my store about 2.5 miles away line of sight. I also have a pair of Tekk NT-10 for MURS and a pair of Kenwood FRS radios. I could barely copy the MURS radio outside in the parking lot and got nothing with the FRS, as expected.

To test out the DTR radios, I suggest contacting a local commercial radio shop and inquiring. Before I bought the DTR650, I was able to borrow a pair of DTR550 with the 1/2 wave antenna for evaluation for free. I also bought a couple of keypads to send texts on them too.

 

[johnls7424]

Yeah I already have the Blackbox Bantam's but will most definitely in the near future pickup some Motorola DTR series radios. They look cool and seem durable enough. Plus license free is always okay by me.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

UHF is one of my favorite bands. If you have any oil field traffic in your area, 900 MHz is pretty much shot. Go down to the Midland/Odessa area, 900 MHz is intermod from oil field traffic (now there are some good amateur repeaters that the owner found the spot with the least inter mod, he did the same thing here in Lubbock).

900 HT to repeater has really impressed me (20+ mile in a moving vehicle). As far as ham bands go, 900 is a little more difficult because you really have two options, Motorola or Kenwood LMR's and you generally have to do some hex editing in some way, shape, or form just to get into the bands (talking surplus, sub-$200 equipment here). Generally the max your gonna find for transmitters is 15W.

440-467 MHz is very line of sight as well. A 4W and a Browning BR-170 will talk over flat ground for 10 miles or so. I haven't had the chance to play on the 220 MHz bands yet…

I do prefer UHF over VHF though.

 

[johnls7424]

Blackbox radios work great for what I need them for. However since they are VHF and only 5 watts of transmitting power they do not work well in suburban areas or city type of areas. UHF is definitely more suitable for those situations.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Blackbox radios work great for what I need them for. However since they are VHF and only 5 watts of transmitting power they do not work well in suburban areas or city type of areas. UHF is definitely more suitable for those situations.

I tend to not see a lot of VHF stuff period unless your dealing with public safety and stuff of that nature. UHF vs. VHF when in the city there isn't a whole lot of difference if your using a repeater but UHF takes the cake indoors. You can still do a lot with 5W on VHF though…I've kept up with repeaters 60+ miles away using just 5W and a 5/8 wave antenna. Lowest power to distance ratio I've gotten with UHF is 30 miles into a repeater using 25W and a 5/8 over 5/8 wave antenna (45W only gets you 200 more feet or so).

 

[SCPD]

That is true, FRS/GMRS is for the weekend warrior whose radios collect more dust than useage ( most not all). Business banded radios seems like the way to go overall. However everything costs money. Money I have just not a whole lot of it. Ya know?

Weekend warrior huh?
I guess you do not realize the full potential of GMRS being about to use 5 watt hand helds 50 watt mobile radios and 50 watt repeaters with a license that most balk at of course.

I have been a license GMRS user for more years than I can remember,I also own a GMRS repeater which I am able in my geographical area have used with a full signal from 30 miles away on a HT and 40 or more with a mobile without problem in several directions.GMRS is useful in more was that people give it credit for.

 

[SCPD]

It all depends on what is in your way. Are you in a city, urban area or an open area, all of these factors as well as others will effect talking distance.
Remember, 900 Mhz needs to be pretty much line of sight.

To get distance on 900 MHz, you don't need a lot of power, what you do need is a high gain antenna and a straight shot between stations.
It's impossible to say how far this or that radio will talk, it depends on the above factors.
I'd look for a radio with higher power as it does help, get a good high gain antenna and make sure the receiving station has a high gain antenna and then look for the most open, direct path to transmit on.

I look at 900 MHz and higher as a point to point radio more than just a general transmitting radio, for that, I'd use 2 meters or 70 CM

I guess to me, 900 MHz is more of a fun thing to use rather than a serious way to communicate on a regular basis except for point to point as I already mentioned.
It's fun to experiment if you have the money to do so. If getting maximum distance using VHF is what you are after, you are better off putting your money into a good VHF transceiver, coax and antenna and maybe a brick and a beam to go along with the rest. That will get you far more distance than most 900 MHz set ups. The curvature of the earth and height of the antennas and place where transmitting from (height again) are a major factor.

I do very good with a 20 Watt GMRS transmitter and a 3 DBd Omni antenna at approx. 50 feet in the air. Not quite a good as with my VHF set up, but again, the curvature of the earth can limit one to talk about the same distance as the other depending on where you are transmitting.

Also, depending on where you live, a 222 MHz radio may be a good option. I'm in a rural area and there is nobody on 222 MHz for the most part, it's darn near a private frequency.
You can also buy a 2 Meter SSB radio and use a horizontal polarized beam, there should be less traffic than regular 2 meter FM and with two beams, your signal is just going in one direction for the most part. Lots of options. When you need total privacy, use Echolink, computer node to computer node.

John

I believe he is wanting this for work and work related communications if I gather right,222MHZ or 2m would require a license for everyone using it and business it not allowed on the amateur band.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Weekend warrior huh?
I guess you do not realize the full potential of GMRS being about to use 5 watt hand helds 50 watt mobile radios and 50 watt repeaters with a license that most balk at of course.

I have been a license GMRS user for more years than I can remember,I also own a GMRS repeater which I am able in my geographical area have used with a full signal from 30 miles away on a HT and 40 or more with a mobile without problem in several directions.GMRS is useful in more was that people give it credit for.

Not to mention most of your actual GMRS radios (as in the ones that can hit the repeaters) all have Part 90 acceptance and are actual business class radios. I know I can stay into some of the ones here in Lubbock for 35+ miles at times depending on location.