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Getting a "Walkie-Talkie" for FRS Use

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KF5YDR

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What the OP wants to accomplish can be done legally with approved hardware that readily available.

I just don't think that's factually true. There are no off-the-shelf MURS portables for less than $100 that I'm aware of; FRS will not do five miles except in unobstructed free space. One side of the specs triangle has to give.

Probably the best option is to go used. You might be able to find some of the MURS Spirits on eBay, or the rebranded Radio Shack units (which I believe are Spirits under the hood). In your position I would get a few GP300 commercial portables and reprogram them to MURS, but that might be more tinkering than you want to do.
 

KC8ESL

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...whacking the beehive here...

It should also be noted that the junk sold for FRS sounds like a child's toy microphone.

At least the Baofeng sounds decent.
 

wa1nic

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In my experience it is quite the opposite. I have several GMRS radios. I have some motorola talkabouts, and use an ICOM HT as a "base station" (10 dbd tower mounted antenna). They all work fine.

On the other hand, I also have 4 Boefengs. The transmit audio is extremely low. This is a known problem. Some work, some don't. In order to get usable transmit deviation on GMRS or FRS (which is NFM) I have to put it in WFM mode to have the audio sound like the cheap motorola talkabouts. On 2 meters, in WFM mode, all 4 radios are pretty much useless. Everyone tells me my audio is so low that they cant hear me.

I have tried the "open the microphone hole" trick... it did very little.

The factory is unresponsive.

The dealer ( 409 shop) basically said "what do you expect for $40 bucks?".

I know that some of them work OK, and some of them don't. It is a crapshoot.

Rick
 

KF5YDR

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Does anyone know if the Baofengs can be aligned for higher deviation or higher mic levels? It seems like it's a QA problem, not a design problem.
 

wa1nic

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There are no internal pots. If there is a way to change the deviation it is via software. I have asked both 409 shop and also Baofeng if there is an adjustment utility. 409shop says the factory wont give it out. The factory wont respond to my repeated emails.

If you search for this problem on internet, you will see that it comes up a lot.

Rick
 

jaspence

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Use Baofeng on FRS

If you are writing in an open forum like RR, it doesn't take much to guess that tracking illegal behavior from a websight would be a piece of cake compared to the government's electronic methods. Maybe just writing the FCC would get a quick answer and save time.
 

KC8ESL

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Well then I'll just cover up my tracks and say that I only use my baofeng for amateur radio usage.

I still maintain the audio beats the daylights out of cobra, uniden, (insert other generic name here) bubble pack radios. No way they'll stand up to a real motorola.
 

12dbsinad

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To the OP, stay legal. You have seen both sides here. You obviously know enough to be asking this question here on RR. Even if it costs a few dollars more, you can be rest assured it is completely legal and cheaping out on radios does not justify the legality of things no matter how you look at it, neither does the "i'll never get caught theory". It sounds like MURS is the way to go for you, unless you want to obtain a GMRS license.
 

Ed_Seedhouse

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The Baofeng UV5R's will do both VHF and UHF and the power is up there for a hand held (5 watts).

The specification is 4 watts, not 5 watts. Given the tiny antenna and the amount the antenna heats up I'd be surprised if all that is going out into the atmosphere.
 

KF5YDR

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The antenna physically heats up during transmit? That's some SERIOUS impedance mismatch for only 5W.
 

blastco2

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I use the ccr's quite often and have never noticed the antenna heat up on any of them.

The audio quality is many times better than any of the blister pack radios that I've used...better even than the moto UHF radios we use at work and they cost hundreds each.
 

blastco2

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Probably so. There is a bunch....200-300..... We also have some kenwoods that are simplex only. Model 3500 I believe. The motos and kens have the same simplex freq. The kens sound 100% better than the motos. Receive better too.
 

gewecke

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...whacking the beehive here...

It should also be noted that the junk sold for FRS sounds like a child's toy microphone.

At least the Baofeng sounds decent.

...NOT legal for FRS so that's that...
MURS maybe, and as already stated several times now a FAR better choice.

73,
n9zas
 

gewecke

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Well then I'll just cover up my tracks and say that I only use my baofeng for amateur radio usage.

I still maintain the audio beats the daylights out of cobra, uniden, (insert other generic name here) bubble pack radios. No way they'll stand up to a real motorola.

Keep in mind the audio is only 2.5khz, as opposed to the normal 5khz. deviation allowed, due to the rules which regulate FRS radios...
Using the cheap import toy talkies to get around the design parameters of legal FRS radios is still illegal, and NOT a good suggestion for the op.

73,
n9zas
 
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