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Suggestions for church group

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BJ_NORTON

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A friend of mine is working out the details for a church camping trip this summer. They are planning 5 days, and need reliable comms for about a square mile in a wooded campground in the mountains above Las Vegas. He called me today asking for ideas. I suggested FRS radios, but apparently last year's campout used them and they weren't able to talk from one end of the campsite to the other.

I'm wondering about MURS, but I don't know much about that service. How easy is it to find radios at reasonable prices?

I'm also thinking about a blended FRS/GMRS solution. What if a few members of the congregation obtained GMRS licenses and operated base stations with a fixed antenna and operated on the bottom half of the FRS band as relay stations that could hear and hopefully talk over the entire campground?

Does anyone have any better ideas? Going through the process of getting a business band license seems a little crazy, considering that only have a need for this type of thing for 5 days a year. I would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks!
 

mmckenna

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MURS would really be your best bet. 2 watts on VHF should have no trouble on one square mile of wooded land. Not sure where you find such a beast, but they are out there. Haven't looked into MURS in a few years. I know that a 5 watt VHF hand held can do a lot in the woods at work. No reason to go down the license path if you don't need to.
Your GMRS idea would work, but would be a pain. Might as well have a solution that will work for everyone.
 

stmills

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Get an itinerant licenese in the business pool. As long as the church is a registered Non profit they only pay the application fee-$60 for a 10 year license, and getting licenesed as itinerant they do not need to be coordinated. A GMRS license is a 5 year licenese that costs $85.
 

tchipman4

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Radio Choice

What type of radio would you suggest.

I am told that this radio is the plastic version of the GXT5000 which is coming out in May.
Midland GXT1000VP4 FRS GMRS Two Way 5 Watt Radios (80 Bucks)

The GXT5000 is a more solid built version of the one above. (150 Bucks)
Midland 5000 Professional Grade GXT-5000 GMRS Radio

My other choice is the Icom IC-F3001-02-DTC Two Way Radio (VHF) (170 Bucks)

What would you suggest for an environment that is in a heavily wooded area.
 

mass-man

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There are many two radio rental companies in LV! I would contact them, they handle licensing if necessary, and from them get radios already programmed, charged, ready to go, I have hit LV on several occasions and sent someone to two or threedifferent rental places and it has been no muss, no fuss. I won't mention specifics so as not to advertise...

cleve
 

K4APR

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There are many two radio rental companies in LV! I would contact them, they handle licensing if necessary, and from them get radios already programmed, charged, ready to go, I have hit LV on several occasions and sent someone to two or threedifferent rental places and it has been no muss, no fuss. I won't mention specifics so as not to advertise...

Yep! Check out BearComm...if they are still around out there.
 

JASII

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Suggestions For Church Group

Just to add to the list of choics and not that these are necessarily better than other suggestions, but Motorola does make some DTR radios. They are legal, licesse free 1 watt units, and from what have read, they should handle the distance you are talking about with no problem.

Another choice, although it might have trouble with a full mile, is old Nextel units that have Direct Talk. In fact, if you can get some with a fixed antenna rather than a retractable antenna, they probably have better range. Since Sprint is decommissioning iDen sites, I suspect that some old Nextel equipement will soon be very cheap.
 
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