What's considered a "GOOD" FRS radio?

[bill4long]

I normally eschew "cheap Chinese radios", but I have several of these and they work just fine. Granted, this is not an FRS radio, per se, but it can talk to FRS radios. (Make sure to get the V2 not the V1.) You will need a GMRS license if you want to be legal.

Amazon.com

Aside from the GMRS variant, this radio is a available in several other variants (which I have) which are the UV-82 (targeted for ham radio), UV-82HP (higher power ham radio), 82C (Part 90 certified), and the MURS-V1.

They have good transmit audio, better receiver selectivity, sensitivity and S/N ratio than the bottom-of-the-barrel Baofengs/BTechs. 1800mAh Battery.

Definitely recommend.

 

[StoliRaz]

Yep, but anti-Chinese radio people here do not want to hear that. Many of which have never touched a recent Baofeng reminding me of the anti-Japanese car people when I grew up. I am not saying they do not have problems, but so do my ICOMS, Yaesu's, Kenwoods, and others. ***Radios should be precisely criticized for their failures, not there origin or inexpensive cost.** Otherwise is some sort of radio racism.

"Radio racism"? I guess it's racist to not want to see Chinese children have to work 18 hours a day, 7 days a week in a sweatshop and we'd prefer to buy from countries that support human rights?

As far as quality goes, anything made in Japan is leaps and bounds better than anything China makes.

 

[DVINTHEHOUSEMAN]

The Uniden GMR-4040 is one of the better legal FRS radios I have used. They have decent range for what they are and they look fairly professional in my opinion. It's simple to operate and you can disable the roger beep. The only complaints I have about it is that it runs off AAA's, so battery life is limited and it won't charge anything other than the battery pack without jerry rigging, and that the tones are not actually displayed in favor of the 121 "codes", so the lookup chart in the manual is required for translation.

Otherwise, it's performed well.

 

[sempai]

Apple seems to have figured out quality control for China production of telecom equipment 🤷

 

[alcahuete]

Apple seems to have figured out quality control for China production of telecom equipment 🤷

$1000 phone is a little different than a $20 radio. If Baofengs cost $1000, I'd expect there to be some quality control too.

 

[sempai]

$1000 phone is a little different than a $20 radio. If Baofengs cost $1000, I'd expect there to be some quality control too.

which is why I don't like blanket statements like "CHINA RADIO BAD" considering some of the more sterling reputations of companies like Yaesu, who also produces hardware in China.

instead of "Chinese Radios" being a problem, maybe it's just "cheap inexpensive disposal garbage radios aren't fit for purpose as a communications tool" in general, which i wholeheartedly agree with. Find someone that doesn't manufacture in China for radios. It's probably impossible.

 

[AK9R]

maybe it's just "cheap inexpensive disposal garbage radios aren't fit for purpose as a communications tool" in general, which i wholeheartedly agree with

Or, just use the generic "cheap, Chinese radio", aka CCR. Notice that "cheap" comes first.

 

[kny2xb]

From another post/thread

For the Canadian market, the IC-U20GM

https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-U20GM/

In the US, it's a Part 90, 16 channel h-t, the IC-F200

https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-F200/

IC-F200 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

I was thinking that with some adjusting or tweaking for the US market, it could be a replacement or update to the old IC-F21GM

Just on Icom's reputation, I would think that this would be a really good FRS h-t

Pricey, but good

 

[mmckenna]

From another post/thread

For the Canadian market, the IC-U20GM

https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-U20GM/

Hopefully that makes it to the US market.

In the past, Icom had some really nice FRS radios that leaned more towards their professional product. There were two models, one had a stubby little antenna that FRS users seem to like, the other other had a full 1/4 wave flexible antenna that should have worked really well. Seemed like it was hard to find the longer antenna model, and it eventually went away, leaving it's short antenna as the only option
No longer available, of course:

ICOM IC-4088A - Industrial Communications

Professional Quality in Personal Communications

indcom.net

If FRS isn't the requirement, and someone is just looking for a solid license by rule radio, Icom makes some really nice looking MURS hand helds:

IC-V10MR | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

IC-V3MR | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

 

[kny2xb]

I remember those Icom FRS h-t's, I never bought one, but I would have liked the model with the quarter-wave antenna

Icom IC-4008M was a model made for the military for their Intra-Squad Radio service, I think it had the stubby fold-over antenna, 14 channels between 396.875 MHz & 399.975 MHz with 0.5 watts output, I used to see those on eBay once in awhile

Anyway, back to the FRS topic

I'm going to see about submitting the idea about the F200 as a FRS/GMRS model to Icom, just for the heck of it

 

[bill4long]

Or, just use the generic "cheap, Chinese radio", aka CCR. Notice that "cheap" comes first.

Even the "cheap" part is an irrational basis upon which to render a "guilty" verdict on all CCRs. I have several CCRs that work just fine. Some are crap. Over the last decade of so I have sorta collected them as part of my radio hobby. There may be several reasons why a person might be biased against CCRs, but concluding they are all junk is simply not warranted from the evidence, in my experience.

 

[kny2xb]

Even the "cheap" part is an irrational basis upon which to render a "guilty" verdict on all CCR's. I have several CCR's that work just fine. Some are crap. Over the last decade of so I have sorta collected them as part of my radio hobby. There may be several reasons why a person might be biased against CCR's, but concluding they are all junk is simply not warranted from the evidence, in my experience.

I can see your point there

I used to use the UV82, the UV82-7W, the GMRS V-1, & the TYT TH-UV88
No one ever gave me negative feedback on any of those
The UV5R however.....I was told flat out that it sounded like crap
I may have bought a lemon UV5R, as others have had good luck with them

 

[bill4long]

I can see your point there

I used to use the UV82, the UV82-7W, the GMRS V-1, & the TYT TH-UV88
No one ever gave me negative feedback on any of those
The UV5R however.....I was told flat out that it sounded like crap
I may have bought a lemon UV5R, as others have had good luck with them

UV5R is pretty much the bottom of the barrel in every respect. (Poor TX audio, poor RX selectivity, sensitivity, and signal/noise. Excessive 2nd and 3rd order harmonics.) So you probably had a normal one. OTOH, UV-82 variants are reasonably decent for CCRs, IMO. See my earlier post. Having said that, for radios that I would trust my life with, I would go with commercial gear. If I'm sitting around the pool and am likely to drop the radio in the water after a few beers, I'll use a CCR. Etc. Etc. Different tools for different jobs.

 

[DVINTHEHOUSEMAN]

My Baofeng must be on the better end of the crap scale, the audio doesn't suck, it has decent receive, and it just works. It is a little creaky and it does have harmonics, but in a pinch it works to supplement the other 5 VHF commercial radios I have. I rarely use it, and I would never put it into active service where it's life or death, it's just the "overflow" in case I actually need more than 5 at a time. I much prefer using my other radios.

If I'm sitting around the pool and am likely to drop the radio in the water after a few beers, I'll use a CCR. Etc. Etc. Different tools for different jobs.

As for use near water, I've heard the submersible Saber works great for that. Plus they have audio like you wouldn't believe. Wideband only though.

 

[kny2xb]

UV5R is pretty much the bottom of the barrel in every respect. (Poor TX audio, poor RX selectivity, sensitivity, and signal/noise. Excessive 2nd and 3rd order harmonics.) So you probably had a normal one. OTOH, UV-82 variants are reasonably decent for CCRs, IMO. See my earlier post. Having said that, for radios that I would trust my life with, I would go with commercial gear. If I'm sitting around the pool and am likely to drop the radio in the water after a few beers, I'll use a CCR. Etc. Etc. Different tools for different jobs.

I agree

I've switched to mostly commercial gear from Alinco & Icom

I still have two Alinco ham h-t's that are in commercial mode, but I consider those to be for backup, I prefer my Part 90 h-t's, & now I have a new Part 95 h-t, the Alinco DJ-G46T

If I had to use a possible throwaway, I'd choose the UV88, more channels & a better display
When the topic of Baofeng/CCR/first radio comes up, if the user is dead set on Baofeng/CCR or is on a Baofeng budget, I'll aim them at the UV88, otherwise I suggest going up to the $100.00 or so range, & aim them at Yaesu or the Alinco DJ-VX50

I apologize for derailing the thread, back to Good FRS Radios

 

[kny2xb]

My Baofeng must be on the better end of the crap scale, the audio doesn't suck, it has decent receive, and it just works. It is a little creaky and it does have harmonics, but in a pinch it works to supplement the other 5 VHF commercial radios I have. I rarely use it, and I would never put it into active service where it's life or death, it's just the "overflow" in case I actually need more than 5 at a time. I much prefer using my other radios.


As for use near water, I've heard the submersible Saber works great for that. Plus they have audio like you wouldn't believe. Wideband only though.

That's why I like my commercial gear, I like the higher quality

I'm not a water person, but because of the rainy/storm season here in FL, I carry my Icom F50 for my working outside for MURS, & my F60 for GMRS, both are rated IPX7, which is supposed to be really, really waterproof

 

[K6GBW]

I think most people that use a FRS radio have a price point in mind. I know I wouldn't pay commercial radio prices for a 2-watt UHF simplex radio. Sure, paying for quality is important, but anything over a hundred bucks is starting to cross the line. I think most manufacturers could make a decent FRS radio that meets the average users' requirements. I'd pony up a hundred bucks for a really rugged, easy to use radio that didn't look like it was made by Umpa Lumpas for use at the Chocolate Factory.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Thats why I like the T series by Motorola for my FRS stuff. I have 3 or 4 sets. Actually one in each vehicle under the seats. The T600's I leave in my off road jeep have been run over, dropped in mud puddles, mud holes and still keep ticking. I like the USB charging and alkayne battery option. On a long weekend I'll use one each day then charge the other one the next day in the jeep. The ones I have in my JT are the H2O series that have WX alert built in. I dont think I paid over $100 for each pair and they come with a case, charger and batteries. For a FRS unit its hard to beat.

 

[oregontreehugger]

If FRS isn't the requirement, and someone is just looking for a solid license by rule radio, Icom makes some really nice looking MURS hand helds:

IC-V10MR | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

IC-V3MR | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

Have a couple of the V10MR's -- and you're right, they are nice radios! Finally starting to hear a little bit of personal/family use on the MURS frequencies around here, so the "secret" is eventually getting out...

Sure would be nice if Icom would jump back into offering GMRS handhelds in the U.S. again. Heck, maybe even add a small mobile rig. Think between that and MURS most folks would be all set.

 

[K6GBW]

I like MURS, but I've run into two issues with them. The first is driveway monitors sending data bursts on all the frequencies. In urban areas its made them a real chore to use. The other is using them inside a car when caravaning. The longer wavelength just gets squashed trying to get out of that metal box. For me, UHF hit the right spot. It works well enough in all situations.