GMRS Radio

Jorge Bolivar said:
All is possible but,
Are you interested on HAM radio at all?
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I have my technicians license and have a Yaesu FT-8800 and Larsen 2/70. If it's my run, or my somewhat usual group, we're on ham frequencies. Though sometimes go out with other groups on gmrs. Of course, most of them don't have a license. I figure if they lower it to $35, will get the license.

Just wondering if a true gmrs radio would give me more range, or any other benefits.
 
suicideking said:
I have my technicians license and have a Yaesu FT-8800 and Larsen 2/70. If it's my run, or my somewhat usual group, we're on ham frequencies. Though sometimes go out with other groups on gmrs. Of course, most of them don't have a license. I figure if they lower it to $35, will get the license.

Just wondering if a true gmrs radio would give me more range, or any other benefits.
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Nice!
I do understand your question more now.
Probably, but I haven’t personally tested myself. Others HAM in my area preference is separate band’s new antenna tunning.
 
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suicideking said:
I have my technicians license and have a Yaesu FT-8800 and Larsen 2/70. If it's my run, or my somewhat usual group, we're on ham frequencies. Though sometimes go out with other groups on gmrs. Of course, most of them don't have a license. I figure if they lower it to $35, will get the license.

Just wondering if a true gmrs radio would give me more range, or any other benefits.
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Interesting question. I'm new at this, but I bet that the power of your Ham versus the power of the GRMS would make the biggest difference. After that, I bet that the antenna choice and tuning would make the second biggest difference. I don't suspect that there is anything about a GMRS radio that makes it perform any 'better' on GMRS frequencies than a good Yaesu would, if modded to be able. But again, I'm new at this.
 
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suicideking said:
I have my technicians license and have a Yaesu FT-8800 and Larsen 2/70. If it's my run, or my somewhat usual group, we're on ham frequencies. Though sometimes go out with other groups on gmrs. Of course, most of them don't have a license. I figure if they lower it to $35, will get the license.

Just wondering if a true gmrs radio would give me more range, or any other benefits.
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As long as you have the antenna set up for GMRS frequencies with your ham radio it will perform the same as a GMRS radio. I have a modified IC-2730 and a diamond 770 antenna and run GMRS on it and it works well. I had to sacrifice a bit on SWR so I could run both VHF and GMRS but it works well for trail comms. My wife has a midland radio, and I can’t tell the difference as far as performance goes.
 
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Technically speaking, the only gains to be had are by having an antenna tuned specifically to GMRS frequencies. If you are trying to touch other frequencies, compromises will have to be made somewhere. The radios will perform the same for all intents and purposes assuming transmitting power is the same. You might run in to better quality and heterodyne vs system on a chip differences, but that's more of a cost/quality issues than a ham vs GMRS radio issue.

All of this ignores the fact that you aren't allowed to use ham radios on GMRS freqs because they aren't type certified. Now does anybody care? Doubtful. I certainly don't. Just throwing it out there.
 
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Bsulzberger said:
As long as you have the antenna set up for GMRS frequencies with your ham radio it will perform the same as a GMRS radio. I have a modified IC-2730 and a diamond 770 antenna and run GMRS on it and it works well. I had to sacrifice a bit on SWR so I could run both VHF and GMRS but it works well for trail comms. My wife has a midland radio, and I can’t tell the difference as far as performance goes.
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SkylinesSuck said:
Technically speaking, the only gains to be had are by having an antenna tuned specifically to GMRS frequencies. If you are trying to touch other frequencies, compromises will have to be made somewhere. The radios will perform the same for all intents and purposes assuming transmitting power is the same. You might run in to better quality and heterodyne vs system on a chip differences, but that's more of a cost/quality issues than a ham vs GMRS radio issue.

All of this ignores the fact that you aren't allowed to use ham radios on GMRS freqs because they aren't type certified. Now does anybody care? Doubtful. I certainly don't. Just throwing it out there.
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I have a Larsen NMO mount 2/70. So to the best of my knowledge, it's not tunable. I could be wrong?

It is already modded to do GMRS, have used it a few times with no issues. So although I'd like stay *as close to legal* as I can, sounds like I wouldn't really gain much from a separate GMRS radio. I really don't want a bunch of extra electrical devices connected to my battery, and am not looking for more things to spend money on. I already have enough useful Jeep mods I want to do.
 
suicideking said:
I have a Larsen NMO mount 2/70. So to the best of my knowledge, it's not tunable. I could be wrong?

It is already modded to do GMRS, have used it a few times with no issues. So although I'd like stay *as close to legal* as I can, sounds like I wouldn't really gain much from a separate GMRS radio. I really don't want a bunch of extra electrical devices connected to my battery, and am not looking for more things to spend money on. I already have enough useful Jeep mods I want to do.
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Ha, you’re expressing my same frustration with all Jeepers’ move to GMRS instead of Ham ... I just don’t want to invest the time or money on a third radio setup.
 
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Ham radios are designed and TUNED to work on the ham radio bands. The GMRS band is 10+MHz higher in the band and while a ham radio will usually work "fine" for GMRS, its not optimal and should be realigned (tuned) to work better on the higher frequencies. This is why my earlier response was "maybe".
 
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If you are using the radio for trail communications none of these details matter at all. It is close range and it'll all work. Radios like the UV-5R work great on both. I think radios like the Yaeseu can be more difficult to operate out of the normal ham bands because they make more of an effort to operate in the legal bands. Legality doesn't really matter, nobody is checking and nobody ever will. It is a huge dose of money-making marketing bull that separates MURS, GMRS and ham. Allot of people these days use UV-5R radios with crap tiny dipole antennas handheld with no issues on the trail. Start there and upgrade only when you have problems is the way I see it.
 
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pagrey said:
If you are using the radio for trail communications none of these details matter at all. It is close range and it'll all work. Radios like the UV-5R work great on both. I think radios like the Yaeseu can be more difficult to operate out of the normal ham bands because they make more of an effort to operate in the legal bands. Legality doesn't really matter, nobody is checking and nobody ever will. It is a huge dose of money-making marketing bull that separates MURS, GMRS and ham. Allot of people these days use UV-5R radios with crap tiny dipole antennas handheld with no issues on the trail. Start there and upgrade only when you have problems is the way I see it.
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Pretty much - although I'd advise upgrading the antenna on a UV-5R, Nagoya makes a good one that's affordable.
 
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My local clubs are starting to push GMRS as well. No license needed in Canada, but we're limited to 2 watts instead of 5 that you are in the US.
 
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derekmac said:
My local clubs are starting to push GMRS as well. No license needed in Canada, but we're limited to 2 watts instead of 5 that you are in the US.
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Kind of the same here. You can run the FRS channels without a license as long as you don't exceed 2 watts (Channels 1 to 7 and 15 to 22) and don't exceed 0.5 watts on channels 8 through 14. I'm sure there's more to it but that is the general rule. With a GMRS license you can run 5 watts on 1 to 7, 0.5 watts on 8 to 14, and 50 watts on 15 to 22. The 50 watts channels are where it's worth getting the license.
 
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pagrey said:
If you are using the radio for trail communications none of these details matter at all. It is close range and it'll all work. Radios like the UV-5R work great on both. I think radios like the Yaeseu can be more difficult to operate out of the normal ham bands because they make more of an effort to operate in the legal bands. Legality doesn't really matter, nobody is checking and nobody ever will. It is a huge dose of money-making marketing bull that separates MURS, GMRS and ham. Allot of people these days use UV-5R radios with crap tiny dipole antennas handheld with no issues on the trail. Start there and upgrade only when you have problems is the way I see it.
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True, I haven't had any problems communicating on ham or GMRS bands. If GMRS takes off more, I may eventually buy another radio. Not really on the short or long list yet.

I still want to buy the license if it goes down to $35. If someone spots the fee change is live, please post up. I'll try to check it every few weeks.
 
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Well even though I already have my technicians license, I think GMRS will become much more popular on the Jeep scene since you just have to pay for the license and don't have a take a test.

Good riddens to CB. I haven't used mine in a while now.
 
A short plug for Midland, why you spend a little extra: I bought the MXT275 (all controls in the microphone) and I managed to break the button on the back of the microphone that clips it to the holder. Totally my fault trying something I shouldn't have. Emailed Midland and asked if the button part was available. They said they would just send me a new microphone. Kudos to their customer service.
 
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randy328 said:
A short plug for Midland, why you spend a little extra: I bought the MXT275 (all controls in the microphone) and I managed to break the button on the back of the microphone that clips it to the holder. Totally my fault trying something I shouldn't have. Emailed Midland and asked if the button part was available. They said they would just send me a new microphone. Kudos to their customer service.
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I have the same one. I really like it. I mounted it under my steering column and hardwired it into the Jeep. I ran extension cables into the front half of my console so I could plug the mic and usb in at that point...
 
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I used my MXT275 GRMS for the first time in Moab, and I have to say that all the hype about GRMS on the forum prior to the trip was well warranted. I found it to be a huge improvement over CB. Very clear, no static at all, no traffic when using the privacy code, and no issues with range. It just flat out worked well. Very happy I pulled the trigger (Even after all @Chris’s prodding and bullying... :)).
 
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