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Is FRS pretty much dead?
- Thread starter prc117f
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I don't see FRS really being compared to the above mentioned. I see many retail, warehouses, vacationers and other companies using FRS as a means of communication
The flagging crew here in VA on SR 17 was using frs for flagging ops, during lane closure today. Max distance about 1 mile. Easy, batteries available at all coffee/gas retailers. Per unit cost is very easy on bottom line.
I scan the FRS/GMRS frequencies every now and then for something to do. I have a high gain UHF vertical antenna mounted on top of a 40 foot tower.
I live in the boonies, surrounded mostly by farm houses. There is a small town of 250 people a mile to my north.
Despite that, I there is activity. A few locals talk to each other on FRS, and last summer there was an electrical crew working on a school in the town. They used FRS to keep in touch with each other inside the building. One day, I heard a guy throwing circuit breakers while his partner checked electrical outlets for power in different parts of the school and confirmed they were working.
I live in the boonies, surrounded mostly by farm houses. There is a small town of 250 people a mile to my north.
Despite that, I there is activity. A few locals talk to each other on FRS, and last summer there was an electrical crew working on a school in the town. They used FRS to keep in touch with each other inside the building. One day, I heard a guy throwing circuit breakers while his partner checked electrical outlets for power in different parts of the school and confirmed they were working.
Experiment626
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- Sep 30, 2015
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The last time I heard any real activity on FRS was probably two or three months ago when cell tower crews were performing some maintenance.
Several stores and restaurants around here use FRS, and My daughter and I used FRS while traveling in separate vehicles and driving through a small town in North Carolina I heard some traffic from a store.
I monitor FRS/GMRS/MURS, CB, maritime VHF, local amateur repeaters, government nationwide frequencies, and common military aircraft frequencies in addition to local police/fire/ambulance here in Arkansas. Once in a while I hear what sounds like contractors talking on FRS/GMRS but for the most part it is silent. Sometimes I hear kids playing on the FRS/GMRS frequencies.
FRS for modern day daily communications is for sure dead. For the recreational hobbyist, hunter, family at ski resort or amusement park it still has its perks. The radios marketed for FRS are still quite affordable so it has its perks. However in the business world where the radios get daily use most are either licensed on the business band or on MURS. MURS radios in and of themselves have a much better build quality for daily use. Even in a retail operation most if not all FRS radios PTT buttons and batteries would wear out significantly fast. They are not built to design daily wear and tear. Companies rely on good, solid communications and their radios must perform when expected.
With the price of cheap DMR radios ( like the Tytera MD-380) and even low end MURS radios in the same price point with free programming software for anything else besides the average FRS uses above it makes no sense to use it anymore. There is radios that will perform better; even offer AES 128 bit encryption keys for secure voice, as well as durability for not much more per radio.
With the price of cheap DMR radios ( like the Tytera MD-380) and even low end MURS radios in the same price point with free programming software for anything else besides the average FRS uses above it makes no sense to use it anymore. There is radios that will perform better; even offer AES 128 bit encryption keys for secure voice, as well as durability for not much more per radio.
Family campers and RV folks use FRS a lot. We convoy up to the campground several times a year and FRS is great for car to car on the road, siting the RV, camp to boat, keeping touch with the kids throughout the day, and more. Set up scan on FRS 1-7 in any campground, and you'll hear plenty of chatter.
We've got three of the older Motorola TalkAbouts that are FRS only. They have to be at least 15 years old and maybe closer to 20. They still work fine. The wife has no interest in a ham ticket and doesn't like using radios like my CP150's and 200's - they're tough for her to hold and operate with her fibro. And there's no way she'll let me install any mobile radio in her GC. But those old TalkAbouts with the large PTT button in the center of the face of the small radio are just right for her. Much as I'd like to use GMRS on the road and in the larger campgrounds plus around the village at home, she's happy with the TalkAbouts so I keep peace in the household.
I should probably spend the buck and pick up some newer TalkAbouts so we can use GMRS at a higher power setting than the FRS but there's always something more pressing to buy first.
Also, the hunters here in the Adirondacks use FRS quite a bit.
We've got three of the older Motorola TalkAbouts that are FRS only. They have to be at least 15 years old and maybe closer to 20. They still work fine. The wife has no interest in a ham ticket and doesn't like using radios like my CP150's and 200's - they're tough for her to hold and operate with her fibro. And there's no way she'll let me install any mobile radio in her GC. But those old TalkAbouts with the large PTT button in the center of the face of the small radio are just right for her. Much as I'd like to use GMRS on the road and in the larger campgrounds plus around the village at home, she's happy with the TalkAbouts so I keep peace in the household.
I should probably spend the buck and pick up some newer TalkAbouts so we can use GMRS at a higher power setting than the FRS but there's always something more pressing to buy first.
Also, the hunters here in the Adirondacks use FRS quite a bit.
CaptDan
Member
Two way radio will always have a few advantages over cell phones.
First - in groups when more than one person needs to hear what is being said. Sure a cell phone conference call would work but who is going to do that all day ?
Second, the 2 way radio will work where the cell phone won't. As long as you are within distance of each other, they work.
Third, ya don't have to know everyone's phone number. I maintained a camper at a campground up in the Pennsylvania mountains for a while. As you entered the campground there was a sign -
Office - CB 16
Office - FRS 5
Camp chatter - FRS 3
Emergency 911
I wish Campers would pick a FRS or GMRS channel to monitor while on the road - I know it's short distance - walkie talkie to walkie talkie, but that is what most people want. I don;t want to talk to the camper 10 miles away, but might want to say something to the camper that just passed me.
Fourth, expense. Cell phones are expensive, while a very good frs - gmrs radio can be had for less than $50.00.
First - in groups when more than one person needs to hear what is being said. Sure a cell phone conference call would work but who is going to do that all day ?
Second, the 2 way radio will work where the cell phone won't. As long as you are within distance of each other, they work.
Third, ya don't have to know everyone's phone number. I maintained a camper at a campground up in the Pennsylvania mountains for a while. As you entered the campground there was a sign -
Office - CB 16
Office - FRS 5
Camp chatter - FRS 3
Emergency 911
I wish Campers would pick a FRS or GMRS channel to monitor while on the road - I know it's short distance - walkie talkie to walkie talkie, but that is what most people want. I don;t want to talk to the camper 10 miles away, but might want to say something to the camper that just passed me.
Fourth, expense. Cell phones are expensive, while a very good frs - gmrs radio can be had for less than $50.00.
Any place lots of people congregate, I hear FRS in use. Shopping malls, amusement parks, golf courses.
Then the construction crews, and small business users.
Sometimes on the back trails I see kids talking to their parents that are resting further back on the trail using FRS.
Then the construction crews, and small business users.
Sometimes on the back trails I see kids talking to their parents that are resting further back on the trail using FRS.
I hear travelers every day on FRS.
K5MPH
Member
I seen the same thing the other day here also 2 guys (flagmen) doing the same thing here where i live.....
In thinking on this some more, I see some critical differences between FRS and most other radio services. Unlike amateur or even some GMRS, it's not a hobby in and of itself. People use the FRS radios to support other hobbies or activities of all kinds, but they don't engage much in the usual radio hobby talk.
GMRS is a whole different animal in some respects, but in part, it's an extension of FRS. The licensing is now primarily family based. Some users try to turn it into a Part 90 clone and others treat it as a hobby much the same as the amateur service.
In business, it's used primarily for short range in-house communications of all types. Hospitals, offices, hotels, paving operations, and a lot more all use FRS. But it's a tool and gets treated as such.
Given the vast number of FRS radios sold in the last 20 years, it certainly has its place. From a scanner enthusiast points of view, it may seem to be mostly unused, but given the very short range of the units, there could be lots of activity just a few miles away and it would likely not be heard.
Like a lot of users, my FRS stuff only comes out a couple of times a year. But I think it's alive and well running mostly under the radar.
GMRS is a whole different animal in some respects, but in part, it's an extension of FRS. The licensing is now primarily family based. Some users try to turn it into a Part 90 clone and others treat it as a hobby much the same as the amateur service.
In business, it's used primarily for short range in-house communications of all types. Hospitals, offices, hotels, paving operations, and a lot more all use FRS. But it's a tool and gets treated as such.
Given the vast number of FRS radios sold in the last 20 years, it certainly has its place. From a scanner enthusiast points of view, it may seem to be mostly unused, but given the very short range of the units, there could be lots of activity just a few miles away and it would likely not be heard.
Like a lot of users, my FRS stuff only comes out a couple of times a year. But I think it's alive and well running mostly under the radar.
This thread is a discussion of the obvious: FRS (Family Radio Service) is working exactly as it was designed and intended. It's not Commercial. It's not GMRS. It's not Amateur Radio. It's not long range. It's not a hobby service. It's simply FRS and good for all of the uses people have cited herein. Amazing. Now someone needs to start a "GMRS is dead mostly" thread.....
jhooten
Member
It is so dead out here in the country that I have better than half of the channels locked out or I would never hear anything on the scanner but the attention tones.
I live right next to a major interstate and one mile from the exit where two truck stops/gas stations are. I have to lock out the channels because it's non-stop chatter and I miss most of the other things I scan. I even hear people off roaring somewhere around here on the weekends using frs all day. And as other people have said, lots of the businesses in town use frs so it's constant chatter there as well.
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