Disaster Preparedness - GMRS

[nd5y]

FCC controlling the airways of a so called free country just irritates me regardless of how inexpensive it is.

Does it irritate you that in this free country EPA rules don't allow people to dump used oil in your water well?

 

[MTS2000des]

Stick with CB and FRS. Both are unlicensed "anything goes" wastelands. No one cares and (almost) nothing is enforced there.

The GMRS community strives to maintain a licensed and structured radio service that is informal yet professional for individual licensees and their families. Legal equipment and legal operation are end goals for most of us.

You may want to see if CB or FRS will work for you.

Actually, CB and FRS are license by rule, meaning one is granted a license so long as they follow the rules.
This means the almighty FCC can still conduct enforcement bureau actions against one for not following the rules.

 

[prcguy]

I am still going to suggest spending the $35 and get your GMRS license. It opens up so much more opportunities for you. A GMRS license is good for 10 years and voters your immediate family all under one single license. Plus GMRS opens up more opportunities for you such as the ability to have more powerful radios (up to 50 watts) and also the ability to use repeaters.

We recently had a teenager get a hold of his grampa's 2m radio and he was playing on the repeater without a license. He went as far as even making up call signs. We found out who his grampa was and sent him a nice email explaining the situation and even offered to help the grandson get his amateur license. Needless to say, we have not heard the teenager on the radio after sending his grampa an email. I bet grampa is probably helping him get his amateur license.

Part of why we are protective of GMRS in general and especially our repeaters is that we took the time to get licensed and we spend our own money to setup and maintain our repeaters. More importantly, we don't want GMRS or amateur radio to turn into a wild free for all mess like CB has become.

So either stick with CB or FRS radios that do not require a license or spend the $35 for your GMRS license.

How CB is will happen to the other bands if we did not have the FCC trying to enforce rules and regulations. As mentioned, with no regulations then everything from cell phones to TV and other wireless devices would be a total wreck and unusable.

I think this is a great idea about the OP getting a GMRS license. Once you have that piece of paper in front of you that you paid for or earned saying you have legal authorization to use a radio service, how would you feel hearing some unlicensed people using the same radio service you just paid for? That might change some attitudes.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Well, I'm going to disagree with the prevailing opinion among amateur radio enthusiasts about the Baofeng radios. Yes, they are Chinese and inexpensive. However, they work. I have a pair of them that have soldiered faithfully for 3+ years and are still going strong. Since you can now buy a similar pair for $30, that's a lot of value for the money. They're affordable enough that you can buy several for family members. A working radio that you have in your hand is far more useful than a better radio that you're still saving up money for.

I definitely agree with the recommendations to get a GMRS license. You can then use repeaters if there are any in your area, and you can eventually set up a base and/or mobile unit operating with 50 watts of power. However, IMO, the most important reason to get the GMRS license is to get a lot of practice programming and using your radios before the SHTF. I think of it like target practice -- you don't want to be figuring out if your sights are properly aligned when you're on the two-way shooting range. It's true that in a genuine emergency, the FCC rules allow considerable leeway, but that's not the time to be figuring out how to take advantage of that. It's considerably more complex than simply "keying up and talking" if you want to do anything more than exchange pleasantries.

The advice to invest in a good antenna is sound. FM radio waves are line-of-sight; i.e., if you can see it, you can talk to it. Things in the way will weaken your signal, but the straight-line rule still holds. A good antenna will make your signal sound stronger at a given distance, and it will also elevate your signal a bit or a lot depending upon how high you place it.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Remember that GMRS relies on repeaters and repeaters rely mostly on the electrical grid fully functioning.

 

[dkcorlfla]

Remember that GMRS relies on repeaters and repeaters rely mostly on the electrical grid fully functioning.

Clarification - longer range, more then a couple of miles on GMRS requires the use of repeaters. Short range from HT to HT or mobile medium range does not. Important to know as GMRS would be very useful if you need to talk to a family member or other GMRS station if the grid went down.

 

[rf_patriot200]

A New entry to the market as far as Feature rich Talkies is the Wouxun 935G Plus. It's worth a look. buytwowayradios.com is a dealer for it with all the info.

 

[MTS2000des]

Remember that GMRS relies on repeaters and repeaters rely mostly on the electrical grid fully functioning.

Not to mention, unless one puts up their own, repeaters are someone else' property and they are under zero obligation to make them available to anyone even on blue sky days.

 

[DeoVindice]

I think this is a great idea about the OP getting a GMRS license. Once you have that piece of paper in front of you that you paid for or earned saying you have legal authorization to use a radio service, how would you feel hearing some unlicensed people using the same radio service you just paid for? That might change some attitudes.

To be fair, all GMRS users get the full unlicensed cochannel yahoo experience thanks to the existence of FRS.

 

[rf_patriot200]

To be fair, all GMRS users get the full unlicensed cochannel yahoo experience thanks to the existence of FRS.

Luckily, the yahoo experience can be muted with tone decode !

 

[ecps92]

Luckily, the yahoo experience can be muted with tone decode !

O yea those privacy codes

 

[rf_patriot200]

O yea those privacy codes

Not so much for privacy, as just muting traffic you don't want to hear is all.

 

[sloop]

What Reelfaster and others don't understand (or realize) is that radio communications is world wide and as such is controlled by the ITU. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Member countries of the UN have agreed to certain standards that they will abide to so that everyone can have radio (and other communications technologies) without interference from other countries (in theory). Each country then in turn can have its own controlling body that can set regulations for their own country (in the US its the Federal Communications Commission) so that all can use communications with minimal interference. Just because the FCC is not proactive (or sometimes even active) in enforcing the regulations does not mean that they are not important.

 

[nd5y]

Not so much for privacy, as just muting traffic you don't want to hear is all.

Until they figure out YOUR tone.

 

[rf_patriot200]

Until they figure out YOUR tone.

You misunderstood what we were talking about. We were discussing muting background radio traffic on the same frequency, NOT trying to hide the transmitted signal . In other words, using CTCSS what it's intended for .

 

[K6GBW]

Before thinking about what radio(s) to buy for "disaster preparedness" the first thing to do is ask yourself what is it that you want the radios to do? If you only want to talk to family/friends for mutual assistance in a small area, then it's fairly easy. The FRS/GMRS radio work great for that. For talking between houses up to about 8 miles a simple CB radio with a roof mounted A99 is easy and works fine. It really depends on the kind of environment you live in (urban, suburban, rural) and who it is that you are trying to talk to. A simple but comprehensive plan is the most important thing.

I have a friend that lives in La Palma CA and she wanted to be able to talk to her close friends in Monterey Park. After talking to her she got a set of FRS radios for right around the neighborhood, an AM/FM portable radio for news and a satellite messenger device. She can send text messages to pretty much anywhere via satellite if everything is down. She also added a Jackery battery and solar panels to power everything. Easy.

I have another friend in a tiny town in Montana. The neighbors are about a half mile away in every direction. For them, GMRS portables worked out well. They can reach all their neighbors, and those neighbors can reach THEIR neighbors and so on. When the snows take down everything they all have a link if things go bad.

So, identify the need, then plan, then get equipment.

 

[W8UU]

Before thinking about what radio(s) to buy for "disaster preparedness" the first thing to do is ask yourself what is it that you want the radios to do?
<snip>
So, identify the need, then plan, then get equipment.

Excellent advice!

I've always been a strong believer in great antennas. If you're setting up something at home, try to get an antenna outside. Something sturdy, grounded, as high as practical, with decent gain, and with good coax cable. I don't care if you're connecting it to a 50 watt GMRS base or a 2 watt GMRS portable, that antenna will give you the best transmit and receive range possible.

In an emergency situation, you'll be able to communicate outside your primary area. Things like battery backup (or a generator) are great to have, but I also have an adapter that will allow me to plug a battery-operated portable radio into my tower-mounted GMRS base antenna.

Identify the need, then plan, then get equipment.

Somewhere in that mix, think about your most plausible "what-ifs" and see if there's a quick, realistic, and cost-efficient way to incorporate that in what you're doing.

Great discussion.

 

[K6GBW]

Yeah, I discovered satellite communicators a few years ago. I backpack and hike in remote areas a lot. Sometimes I might be only a few miles from the trailhead and the cell signal is gone. Even in an urban area like around Ventura County CA where cell coverage is really good. Once on the trail…nothing. So I use FRS radio between me and my partners, we like to spread out. The satellite communicators works reasonably well. So if we have a major earthquake (our greatest problem) then it should work then too. Low cost and works anywhere. So building out a radio and trying to get exceptional range isn’t necessary, unless you’re just into that sort of thing.

 

[sempai]

A New entry to the market as far as Feature rich Talkies is the Wouxun 935G Plus. It's worth a look. buytwowayradios.com is a dealer for it with all the info.

i don't know the company, but based on the product photos for that radio, they've got a sense of humor:

 

[rf_patriot200]

i don't know the company, but based on the product photos for that radio, they've got a sense of humor:
View attachment 176948

"NotARubi" is apparently one of the 10 Color themes in the display available in both the 935G {gmrs} and 935H {ham} from the youtube videos on this radio. The 935G has been around for about 3 years, and the 935H for Hams is new and been out for about a year, with pretty good reviews.