I’ve gotten really into radio over the past year or so. The most practical usage I’ve gotten is a few FRS radios (licence free walkie talkies, like what we used as kids basically) at a renn fest that has no cell service and at a pride event when someone didn’t wanna take their phone to a porta potty (better to risk accidentally drop a $10 radio into the toilet than an expensive smart phone with all your pictures).
Our RenFest is also super spotty with cell coverage, so that’s nice. GMRS uses the same bands as FRS, so they’re compatible, but GMRS allows 1) Removable antennas for better coverage 2) More power (FRS 2 vs 50 watts on GMRS) 3) Repeaters for very wide coverage (I hear people talking from 60+ miles away on a local repeater once in a while).
The radios are more expensive, starting around $20 but the benefits are pretty nice.
You are not legally allowed to use GMRS if you or someone in your immediate family doesn’t have a license and I would never ever ever dream of violating the FCC rules. I would never. I would never ever have FRS radios use more bandwidth and/or power if their firmware allowed. I would never use them without call signs if I did, but I wouldn’t do it because I don’t!
I’ve gotten really into radio over the past year or so. The most practical usage I’ve gotten is a few FRS radios (licence free walkie talkies, like what we used as kids basically) at a renn fest that has no cell service and at a pride event when someone didn’t wanna take their phone to a porta potty (better to risk accidentally drop a $10 radio into the toilet than an expensive smart phone with all your pictures).
Our RenFest is also super spotty with cell coverage, so that’s nice. GMRS uses the same bands as FRS, so they’re compatible, but GMRS allows 1) Removable antennas for better coverage 2) More power (FRS 2 vs 50 watts on GMRS) 3) Repeaters for very wide coverage (I hear people talking from 60+ miles away on a local repeater once in a while).
The radios are more expensive, starting around $20 but the benefits are pretty nice.
You are not legally allowed to use GMRS if you or someone in your immediate family doesn’t have a license and I would never ever ever dream of violating the FCC rules. I would never. I would never ever have FRS radios use more bandwidth and/or power if their firmware allowed. I would never use them without call signs if I did, but I wouldn’t do it because I don’t!