FRS/GMRS Recommendation

[JASII]

I am wondering who currently has some of the better bubble/blister pack FRS/GMRS radios currently? The reason I ask is because I have some extended family members that will want to go ATVing soon. It might be nice to have communicationss when we are out of cell phone range. I am not sure if they will select MURS or FRS/GMRS, so I posted a similar question in the Budget and Entry Level Transceivers sub-forum, too.

I might be inclined to suggest Motorola, but I have been so far out of the loop in this area, that something better may be available these days.

 

[eorange]

Purely FYI. If you're interested in GMRS, then I still have these for sale:

Pair of Midland GXT635 GMRS/FRS radios with drop-in charger - RadioReference Classifieds

 

[mmckenna]

MURS would work a little bit better compared to a consumer FRS/GMRS radio.

Most of the FRS/GMRS radios, while operating on a GMRS channel, are barely putting out 1 watt ERP from their stubby antennas.
A good MURS radio will put out 2 watts into what will likely be a slightly more efficient antenna.

Depending on where you are, 2 watts VHF will work better that 2 watts UHF. Been there, done that. My family runs a lot of UTV's and ATV's, have been for about 15 years. When we first got into it, I was the only one with an amateur radio license. Since I couldn't get others to get their amateur licenses at the time, I got a GMRS license and used that.
We mostly had 4 watt commercial UHF HT's, Motorola HT600,s P200's, HT1000's. They worked pretty well. In the mountainous terrain we ran in, UHF tended to bounce around enough to work.
Eventually I was able to get everyone else to get their amateur licenses. We went to 5 watt VHF HT's on the ATV's and 50 watt vhf mobiles on the UTVs with properly mounted antennas.
Even with just the 5 watt VHF HT's, we got better coverage in the forests of Northern California than we did with the 4 watt UHF HT's. It wasn't the 1 extra watt, it was the longer wavelength tended to work better in that environment.
Now with the higher power VHF's, we can get anywhere from several miles to several tens of miles when out on the trail.
Considering all that, I'd say avoid the FRS/GMRS radios IF you can find decent MURS compatible radios.
FRS/GMRS does sort of have the benefit of being widely used, but with so many of the radios running PL or DPL, relying on one to call out in an emergency would likely be met with disappointment. Of course the chance of reaching someone on MURS is probably less, but at least you'll get some better range.

Trick is, of course, finding a good MURS radio.

An ideal set up would be to have GMRS in use for everyone, and have at least one of the machines set up with a mobile or at least commercial quality HT with a decent antenna. That'll greatly improve your range.

Finding some of the older Motorola HT's that are grandfathered in under the MURS/Part 95 rules would be best.
Short of that, a good couple of FRS/GMRS radios would be much easier to find. If you could, get your GMRS license and set yourself up with a commercial LMR radio so you have at least one good radio in the group.

 

[KC4RAF]

I have several MURS ht for family use.

Usually I use the "green dot" freq or the "blue dot", because you can use either the narrow band width or wide. The .820, .880, and .940 have to be narrow. The 2 watts do well for my wife and I for a couple of miles, (flat terrain).

 

[SteveC0625]

Just for another anecdotal example of GMRS....

We have used 4 watt commercial portables on GMRS for car-to-car when we caravan. In the car, with the standard rubber duck antennas, we are limited to a mile or less most of the time. We do travel extensively in the Adirondacks so it's almost always mountains or hills which contributes to the problem. The real problem is that the wife uses a speaker mic because the portable is too large and heavy for her (fibromyalgia and neuropathy issues.) Her radio sits in a cup holder and is essentially heavily shielded by the body of the car. I've tried to get her to change things a bit, but she is adamant that this setup works for her. One picks one's battles carefully and this is one that I am not fighting.

My solution is going to be a mag mount on the roof of her CG with a bnc adapter to the radio. Yeah, there will be some minor loss from the adapter, but it should be way offset by the outside antenna. But she gets to keep the radio in the cup holder and use the speaker mic.

I'm installing a 25 watt UHF mobile in my truck with a roof top 1/4 wave, and yes, the hole is already drilled. That gives me 70CM amateur and GMRS. We should be in much better shape.

If the OP gets GMRS HT's that have removable antennas and are truly 4 watt, going to fixed 1/4 wave antennas on the ATV's might be good for an acceptable boost in performance. Gain antennas might be even better. It's more expensive than bubble pack radios, but if it works well, it could be worth it.

 

[Rred]

And then again, there's something to be said for CB. Cheap, common, plenty of channels, might reach a trucker in an emergency, they still use them nationwide. No licensing issues. And a 108" antenna makes a good place for a dune buggy flag, whatever ATVers call them.

And if the OP will be using helmets, which may be required, there are always earmics and Bluetooth adapters that are built to work with those, too. Speakermic? A much more limited option.

FWIW.