FRS radio shopping - any tips?

I'm considering buying a couple of FRS (Family Radio Service) radios. Any tips? Is there a good forum like this for FRS?

TIA

I'll just keep it simple since there are numerous features, but one I feel is an absolute must:

Make sure you get units that have "38 subcodes".

The real inexpensive models generally do not have this feature.

This way, if you're at an event or at a mall, you won't hear everyone else's chatter.

Ed.

Scan feature is "nice", but if you are merely using it to keep in contact with one person, I don't see why one would need it.

Call button is nice so you can push it and your contact knows you are trying to get them or vice versa (instead of repeating "Hey Joe can you read me..." over and over)

End of transmission "beep" is "nice" after you let up on the transmit button (to let them know you've finished your transmit and expect a reply) though it can drive you nuts.

I like a small unit with a folding antenna if possible.

I of course had to be "one of the first" when they first came out and bought some Motorolas (fantastic construction & reputation) at a price that was waaaaay too high. There are some decent ones out there that are very affordable.

There's a GPS unit out there with FRS built in...

Bottom line, I agree with e=mc², 38 subcodes/privacy codes essential (and even then, you can run into other traffic, but not as bad). They're great for State Fairs, fishing, camping, gun shows, craft shows, air shows...great little devices!

I was shopping for these about a year ago and must have tried at least 6 different models.
I found that while Kenwood had the best sound, Motorola had the best reception (I could talk further with the Motorolas).
Cobra was a complete waste of time.

Motorola has a long and proud history in portable radios. Surprising they're not keeping up that well in cell phones.

The idea of subcodes is so you don't keep getting distracted by hearing conversations of other people who are using the channel. It's very useful in urban areas.

Buy them somewhere which, if you don't like them, you can return them.
I've got (4) Motorola T289, and I like them. They have quite a few features, and may be reasonably inexpensive now. (They retailed for $69 each when I got mine.)
My parents got a pair of Bellsouth or Southwestern bell or something like that. They had an antenna that was about 1" long. I had extreme difficulty talking to them from house to house (about 400' away). I don't know if the antenna was actually longer, and some of it was mounted in the case, or if it was only 1", but they were crap. They returned them to wal-mart.

Family Radio Service Forum

There is some discussion of FRS going on here.

I just noticed you are in Canada. I seem to remember reading that FRS freq's are regulated in Canada, and that you couldn't use them there. I do remember that overseas there is a different standard and different freq's over there, and that FRS radio use is forbidden in some countries.
I think I read all that in that forum.

I agree pretty much with all the other comments to this point.

The one thing that I would add is to try to get something with long battery life. My Kenwoods really suck up the 3 AAs they use, and if I were to replace them now (they are about 4 years old, and still work just fine) I would try to find some that used rechargable packs or at least had long battery life.

I think the rechargeable battery idea is good, plus the 38 sub-codes. FRS is okay in Canada too, BTW.

Thanks for all the tips.

I'm going right over to that FRS forum right now......

Here's Motorola's comparison chart of their FRS series radios.

I have these ones, the T6220. The only drawback I've noticed is that when using the coded transmission the sender needs to wait about a full second or more after pressing the 'talk' button because nothing gets sent during that time. Maybe the things are establishing a connection or something but I whatever they're doing it's too annoying for me to use. Luckily, you can turn off that feature and tweak just about any aspect of the send/receive that you want. You can get your local weather on the thing too. That has actually come in handy for us.


Oh yeah, you can get a Motorola-brand NiMH battery back for many of these transceivers, but they're relatively expensive and you can do much better by getting the NiMH AA's yourself and then getting the stellar Ray-O-Vac 1-hr smart-quick-charger. Less money, faster charge, more versatile (comes with carry case and car adapter). Much better deal IMHO.

Start cheap with a pair of simple radios with Tone Squelch (the 38 tones mentioned previously). Should be under $30(US) for such a pair.

Play with those/break them/find out what you need in radios--then ponder spending real money.

--N0YMV

A lot of the cheap FRS radios use three AAA's. You get a smaller radio than the AA units, but less runtime. Either is ok but you should be aware and be ok with what you're getting.

Slightly above FRS is GMRS. Basically this is some extra channels (22 instead of 14 if I remember right, that's the 14 FRS channels plus 8 extra GMRS channels) and the GMRS radios claim "5 mile range" instead of 2 miles (though both those claims are ridiculous). I think the GMRS radios may also run higher transmit power, at least on the GMRS channels. You're supposed to get an FCC license (fill in a simple online form at fcc.gov, no charge) but my guess is most people don't bother. I haven't used GMRS but it's probably worth it in urban areas just because there's likely to be less congestion on the extra channels.

I would encourage the GMRS radios. I have Motorola's (FRS). I have had them about 2 years old and whichever model they are it was the next to most expensive at the time.

They work great in the open. They are not so good in homes or buildings. I bought them for a trip where my wife and I were driving separate vehicles. Range in the cars varied between 50 yards and 1/2 mile. I got really aggravated and we eventually quit trying to talk. We started calling each other on our cell phones. We were roaming so it got pricey. Spend the extra money and get the nicer units with more range or they may end up in the drawer like mine.

I'll have to check the Industry Canada regulations regarding GMRS... FRS is okay, but possibly not GMRS. Probably the fastest way is to check Radio Shack's Canadian web site http://www.radioshack.ca or drop into one of their stores. If they sell 'em, they're legal. Fortunately, I live out in the sticks, so I can probably get away with FRS... the prices seem to be going down quite a bit.

We put seed out in the backyard and two weeks ago, we had 2 male ring-necked pheasants and 5 female out there on the snow. Extremely nervous, though. All you need to do is walk up to the patio door, and they're gone. Today, it's 68F and there's only a few traces of snow left. The guy at the beer store said it's been one of the longest winters in a long time, Halloween to Easter.

If you're using the radio in a car, use an external antenna (magnetic mount on the roof) if you can (I don't know if FCC regs permit that for FRS). There's a TREMENDOUS difference in range, like 10 times. I'm disappointed if FRS doesn't work so well for car to car communication. I bought a pair of cheap Motorolas partly with that use in mind, though I haven't used them that way yet.

I've used 440 mhz ham radio HT's for car-to-car communication and they work perfectly fine at reasonable distances. I'd have thought the characteristics would be similar to FRS. Oh well.

I am pretty sure you can't use an external antenna with anything that uses FRS, it is one of those FCC rules. I think some older Motorola ones you could, but not anymore. It is true that larger external antennas make far more of a difference then the power from a short 2-inch antenna. I am still looking at the Motorola T7200's

Radio Shack sells a car model FRS radio with a magnetic mount antenna. The FCC rules say that you can't have an external antenna atached to an FRS radio so all the radio bits go on the roof with the antenna and then the Mic/Speaker in inside...clever way to circumvent the rules eh?


Don't go with Motorola radios. Sorry guys but (Maybe somebody can prove me wrong) last time I checked Motorola was still using their Compandor (sp?) chip. Basically it compresses the audio before it sends it and the other radio decompresses it and plays it--meaning that if you use a Motorola with ANY other brand FRS you get horrible sound (Cuz the other radio can't decompress)


I like the Panasonic FRS units a lot (Heck we've got 4 kicking around the house) but I believe they've been discontinued.


Start with something nice, with AA batteries, folding antenna--the Kenwood LH series is good. Then you can get smaller/larger/fancier radios later. IE I have the Panasonic radio for in-car use but if we're just running into Wal-Mart I've got an FRS radio built into a watch I use cuz then I don't have to tote the full size radio.


I use NiMh AA batteries with my FRS, that way I'm not sunk into expensive battery packs and I can use the batteries for other things between FRS use.


Antennas: The Antennas are fine! It all has to do with the frequency you're operating on. The reason the Radio Shack car FRS is so much better for cars is because it gets the antenna out of the car, but it's no longer than a standard FRS antenna. Even with a huge antenna the FCC has limited these to .5 Mw /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



There's a usenet grounp: alt.radio.FRS you should be able to find some good info there. I posted and read quite a bit there when I got my first radios.

Sabby is right (I didn't know you were old enough to drive. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) about the FCC. The regs for any 'consumer' service generally specify limits on power out of (or into) the RF amp, antenna gain/directivity, and communications distance.

The '2 mile' limit is sort of funny. It's not a guarantee or even typical (or possable), it's a *limit*. You're not allowed to use FRS to talk to people beyond 2 miles. Silly. CB is the same way. GMRS removes that restriction.

FRS limits are .5W out of the amp, 6 dbi gain from the antenna, and 2 miles communications distance.

GMRS limits (for handhelds) is 2W out of the amp, nor sure about the antenna gain, and no limit on communications distance. There are 'mobile' and 'base' specifications for GMRS as well.

One note on the GMRS licensing issue. Yes, you need a license to use it in the US and Canada (different licencing bodies, of course). Go, fill out the form, get a license. It's little pain and (as much as I hate saying this) it's the law. The FCC has very little sense of humor or sympathy for people who break these laws (as it should be). Especially when it's so darn easy to get the license. I'd be a bit cranky if you made me do a lot of paperwork to fine you because *you* were too lazy to do a tiny bit of paperwork to be legal.

I do disagree with Sabby with regards to getting good radios to start off with. Get a cheap pair of $20 radios ($20 for the *pair*) and try them out. You'll only need one set of batteries to get a feel for how you're going to use them. After that, if you need better, get it--you'll always have the cheap ones as a backup or for the kids to play with, etc. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What's the brand name of the $20/pair radios? Hard to believe they can make a profit on those.... Must be lots of profit margin on the others then. Two pieces of plastic, some knobs, a chip, small circuit board, battery holder, assemble 'em in China and awaaaaaay you go.

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Willmore said:
Get a cheap pair of $20 radios ($20 for the *pair*) and try them out. You'll only need one set of batteries to get a feel for how you're going to use them. After that, if you need better, get it--you'll always have the cheap ones as a backup or for the kids to play with, etc. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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Agreed. Kids LOOOOVE playing with these . . . make sure if they drop them on the concrete driveway, or in the mud, you won't care too much. And ours (all Motorola's) have taken quite a beating during general neighborhood use and have never skipped a beat. Have fun with 'em!