Family Radio Service (FRS)

[Jerry]

My wife gave me a set of Cobra hand-held walkie talkies about seven years ago and other than the kids playing with them they have sat on the shelf unused. Too bad. They are perfect for many situations we find ourselves in. Over the years we have commented that we should have brought the walkie talkies.

I dug ours out of hiding a few days ago and found one unit would take a charge while the other was completely dead. Our local Radio Shack gave me a price of $22 for a new rechargeable battery pack which I declined. The solution was to install four separate AAA cell batteries, not as conveniently rechargeable as the pack, but better than the twenty-two buck alternative.

I think anymore people use cell phones to communicate when the wife goes one way and the husband goes the other in places like shopping malls, county fairs, camping trips, etc. But, there are many places where cell phone service is not available and the little FRS radios are excellent replacements. Sometimes on our backroad events we find ourselves out of our vehicles exploring old towns, historic sites, large displays, and other places where hand-held radios would come in handy.

And don't rule out FRS for car-to-car communication. Walkie talkies don't have a long range and their tiny speakers are necessarily small therefore difficult to hear over background noise, but in certain situations the radios work better than CB. Sometimes "skip", that nasty garbled static of voices that often invades CB frequencies, is so loud it practically drowns out our transmissions. At the same time FRS radios are wonderfully quiet and clear. An inexpensive alternative to CB (sometimes) as long as everybody has one.

It would be interesting to hear how other folks use their FRS and GMRS hand-held radios.

Jerry

[Photog]

We have a pair of these FRS radios. We use them when photographing weddings. We can coordinate our efforts, when not in the same room, or I can track Cindy down, to start working the next set of photographs.

We have used them when caravaning. The lead and tail cars will use the radios, an it makes moving the group of cars through traffic much easier.

We have used them around the house, when trying to figure out power outlet and circuit breaker relationships.

Cheers!

[GOZ 2 11]

They're great for keeping track of other people in your ski group. Any more than four in a group and it becomes too hard to stay together, especially if skill levels aren't matched. Plan a rendezvous at a certain time and place and the FRS radios can save the day.

[Steve]

They definitely have their limitations, but if you work within those parameters, they work great.

I've used them for snowboarding and for trail runs with two or three vehicles. I know a lot of people use them for hunting communications. Some even have the built in GPS feature where you can locate your buddies.

Steve

[tjguy98]

I just used them last weekend to keep a 3 vehicle convoy together over 80 miles of forest roads with numerous route changes. I have two Motorola units that we used, and one of the other folks has a RINO 530 with built in FRS. We just turned them all to the same frequency and we had communication between all 3 vehicles. I would have preferred CBs but the other two vehicles did not have them so this was a good alternative.

Now, I just have to get all the pictures and videos together then create a trail report.

[Toy Man]

I have a bunch of these FRS radios and we have used them on back road group trips for some time. Overall I like them better than CB.

Some thoughts:

Different brands don't always 'mix'. I prefer Motorola.

AA batteries only last about a day or a day and a half. Take spares.

Many units seem to clip your first word or two. I try to remember to hold the transmit button in for a second or two before speaking.

The newer longer range units that incorporate GMRS can transmit at a higher power on the GMRS frequency (Ch. 7 and lower). Legally you need a GMRS license to do this. The license (last I checked) costs more than the radios. I wonder how many users actually have a license?

Dick

[SafariAWD]

I have a set of Moto TalkAbouts - picked Moto because so far I have been able to match up many other folks out there without a problem and use the extra "quiet" filter to make it more clear. Sadly as mentioned they are WAY too quiet compared to a CB.

We just for anything from campsite, hiking (very limited due to mountains), event organization (weddings, volunteer work, traffic people/car crowd control), snowboarding (a life saver here since I have many friends who get lost) and well being lazy to talk to each other on msn / walk upstairs downstairs in the house so the FRS is quite handy

One big advantage over the CB is battery life ... at least on my Moto a fresh charge and leaving it on 24/7 will last about 3-4 days with moderate use (ie setting camping with hiking).

[Jerry]

Our old Cobra FRS units are biting the dust and it's time to replace them with new and improved. I hope to buy a new set before the Owyhee Expedition Tour. Some of you guys have already recommended Motorola brand earlier in this thread. My question is are there any other recommendations? Which style, model, etc?

I know the difference between FRS and GMRS, and understand the license for GMRS is quite expensive (I can't figure why), but I have heard there is a third alternative. It is a combination GMRS/FRS unit that includes all FRS channels and GMRS channels all in one package.

Help! What do you recommend?
Jerry

[Photog]

Jerry,
I received a set of Motorolas for christmas. They are not the combo GMRS/FRS system. They are the long range model, and do work better than our older set of Motorolas. What I do like about them, is the rechargable battery pack. The units can be plugged in, and recharged, or the battery pack can be removed, and AA's can be used instead.

[SafariAWD]

Hi there!

I realized I forgot to mention which Mottos I have, I think it is a T57XX series with the GMRS as well.

I wont say they are the best but they have not giving me any troubles yet. I have had since 2000 and they are still working (used last night while dog walking making her run across the football field hehe). I will say to get a moto just because everyone else has one hahah

In the past it was best to match up the brands so you can utilize the "noise canceling" feature I dont know about now or if that is of any interest to you.

Will be using the Motos next weekend when I take a bunch of teens camping