Best place for online amateur radio tests is
GLAARG. Best place to study is
Ham Study.
I'll be honest my opinion on this thread is biased. I'm a full time RF engineer and nerd.
Whether to go GMRS or HAM radio depends on what you want to do.
You just want to talk to your buddies nearby? GMRS.
- The whole lot of you don't need to study for a license
- As mentioned above your license covers your family
- Equipment is (
generally) cheaper
- Programming and use is much easier
- Fewer "angry old hams" to worry about
- Same power level as your typical mobile VHF or UHF ham radio
Now, there are several advantages to taking the extra step to going to HAM radio. I'll give very brief overviews of just a few.
-
APRS - Automatic Packet Reporting System (Learn More)
- This is a worldwide digital network accessible by amateur radio operators. Users can send text messages, weather reports, location information, emergency beacons, alerts, and more all over radio. Especially useful if you offroad quite a bit and want another line of emergency communication, or another way for your friends and family to track you. Users can send their position via APRS and it can be tracked automatically on the tool
APRS.fi. There is WAY more to this tool than I can fit in a forum post. I encourage you to go check it out.
-
Ham Radio Satellites (Learn More)
- Yes, there are ham radio operators that have put their own satellites into orbit. Often, these satellites carry voice repeaters onboard that give you a MUCH wider talk area than a terrestrial repeater. Cool for talking to people via satellite, but again useful if you wheel out in the middle of absolutely nowhere and want another line of communication. My radio in my Jeep can be set to alert me whenever a ham radio satellite passes overhead, so I can use it if I need to.
-
High Frequency Radio (
Learn More)
- High Frequency (HF) radio is a lower frequency than VHF and UHF typically found in mobile installations. This lower frequency allows the radio waves to skip off the inside of the atmosphere like a mirror, allowing you to talk to people over the horizon
without the use of a repeater. Again useful in emergency situations, but also just plain fun. I'm working on putting an HF radio in my jeep right now. I've been able to talk to people as far away as the Middle East, Russia, Australia, Japan, and Sweden (the LONG way around the globe!) on HF radio. You can talk
far.
-
Less congestion
- With FRS and GMRS, you are locked into a very small set of frequencies. If you are wheeling with a ton of people, or find yourself in a city, those select few frequencies can fill up fast. With amateur radio, your options for communication increase exponentially. Not only do you have infinitely more frequencies on a given band (literally), but amateur radio operators have
many bands (144MHz, 440MHz, 220MHz, 900MHz, 1.2GHz, etc, etc) to select from for communications. You also have many modes other than just plain old FM voice - like
P25 digital,
DMR (also called TRBO),
Fusion,
NXDN, and many more. All of these help avoid radio congestion, and give you a bit more exclusivity in your conversations in practice.
-
Community Activities
- Every city or populated area is going to have some amount of amateur radio activity. Usually this includes clubs that maintain repeaters (
See Here), volunteer for the National Weather Service as
SKYWARN operators and therefore provide enhanced weather reporting to you and the rest of the community, and usually area hams are always happy to give help, advice, and pointers to people passing through. I know when I was in Moab last I got a lot of good advice about the trails from local hams and people on the repeaters.
There are more things I could say, but it's too much to list. To me the choice is clear - check out my ham radio setup in my TJ
here
Happy to answer any questions you might have about the area. Good luck!