GMRS Radio Suggestion Wanted

[K9GTJ]

I am considering about getting some GMRS radios for my wife and myself. I need to get 18 to 20 miles of reliable communication betwen our mobile units. One of us will be in an industrial city of 45,000.

Of course we will be tooling around the town of 45,000 too and need to communicate.

The mobiles need to be small as my wife drives a Ford Focus ZX3.

Any suggestions?

Also, I might get a base station and some handhelds too if someone can suggest ones that doesn't break the bank I wuld appreciate it.

Edit to add: we are in flat Indiana.

 

[DaveIN]

If you don't have access to a repeater it may not be much better than FRS, IMHO.
http://www.provide.net/~prsg/wi-gmrs.htm

Maybe you should look into a technician amateur radio license for the both of you if Cell Phone, or NEXTEL two-way, is out of the question. Then you can use repeaters or simplex.
http://www.hello-radio.org/whatis.html

 

[ReceiverBeaver]

Your best bet is to get the easy no code technician license and be hams. You'll have your choice of VHF or UHF bands, excellent and relatively inexpensive radios and repeaters all over the place.

 

[rescue161]

For small, I'd recommend a Uniden SMU250KTS. It puts out 50 watts, has alpha display and is small.

With a 3db gain external antenna, you may be able to get 10 miles at best - mobile to mobile in the terrain that you described.

With mobiles, you are most definitely going to get better range than FRS. FRS is handheld only and low wattage without an external antenna. GMRS offers 50 watts and an external antenna.

 

[K9GTJ]

I was hoping I could get more distance with high quality mobiles and antennas.

I am planning on doing my HAM license but thought I might be able to coax the wife into it via GMRS.

 

[rescue161]

I am planning on doing my HAM license but thought I might be able to coax the wife into it via GMRS.

Trust me, it's easier to coax the wife into something if she doesn't have to take a test.

 

[jthorpe]

I was hoping I could get more distance with high quality mobiles and antennas.

I am planning on doing my HAM license but thought I might be able to coax the wife into it via GMRS.

I use Motorola GM300's and I also have a couple of Spectras setup for GMRS. I use them a lot with my wife as well, and it works great. We have a repeater here that we use but on Simplex, we can get good distance out of them as well. You can find them on Ebay all the time and the price is fairly decent.