GMRS GMRS RADIOS

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What type of radio communication do you use?

  • Amateur (Ham) Radio

    Votes: 11 78.6%

  • CB Radio

    Votes: 10 71.4%

  • Family Radio Service (FRS)

    Votes: 7 50.0%

  • General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)

    Votes: 10 71.4%
  • Total voters
    14
Clyde

Clyde

H.M.F.I.C.
Neighbor
Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
5,240
Location
Communist State Of Kalifornia
Even though I already have my Amateur Radio License, I still wanted something that I could give to friends or a trusted neighbor in the event of an emergency. This video is about the TIDRADIO TD-H5 GMRS Radio Overview and Programming. The TIDRADIO TD-H5 is a GMRS that comes preprogramed with 54 simplex and repeater channels. It also works on the FRS channels. GMRS does require a license from the FCC. however, there is no required test. You just fill out a form, pay your $70, at the time of this posting. It is scheduled to go to $35 in the not too distant future. These radios are 5 watts on the GMRS frequencies.

​
 
Captjim_NM said:
I have some Baofeng Hts programed for prepper freq. that I loan to non-hams. The ham HTs stay in my hands! Does not hurt to cover both possabilities. de KA5SIW
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I agree. I also use CB
 
cant see the point myself, too many "ifs", IF the govt survives to put out broadcasts, IF anyone survives to contact anyone else, IF its safe to broadcast, etc.etc.
I intend to hunker down and not get noticed. safer that way.
not that I've got anyone I want to contact anyway.
 
Some people are of the opinion technology is useless when SHTF, and that is fine. I view technology as a convenience, not a necessity of survival. However, I do want that option available to me. As a ham, I understand that some people "catch the radio bug" and some do not. We are all allowed our free choice in hobbies and how we interact with a broken world.

But what I see all to often here is that the people who view radio as useless try to convince others of the same, and that is ridiculous. The radio may work, it may not. Your generator may start, it may not. Your crops and livestock may thrive, or someone can dump agent orange and CS gas on us and we should all just throw in the towel out of the fear that none of it will be worth it.

I think many people are of the mindset that if catastrophe strikes, it's all or nothing, and that anyone with a functioning radio will instantly be targeted by the enemy as if they have nothing else to do but direction-find everyone that transmits ~ ridiculous. You all realize how many radios are out there, how many signals there will be??? You would need to be saying very stupid things to get the kind of attention you think you and your preps are worth to an enemy already prepared enough to find you.

The biggest threat right now seems to be economic collapse, not EMP (although I am not discounting the possibility entirely). During times of economic collapse, you might want to have contact with a few people, or at the very least, listen to a few shortwave stations. Most shortwave has died down leaving mostly high-powered religious services, but there used to be a time when you could hear actual honest US news broadcast by other countries (obviously not the communist ones, but yea). Those days will return the way things are going. We are not the only ones that value freedom out there, although we like to believe that all to often.

I, for one, love radio, and I view it as one of my most important preps.

Edit: One last thought on the matter. If there are people here that shun the idea of radio simply because of the learning curve getting everything set up and working properly, just know that there are a few people here passionate and knowledgeable about radio that would not hesitate to help. I am willing to share my knowledge and give advice to help anyone get their station set up and working. I love answering radio questions. Feel free to PM me or start an open thread, and if I have an answer, I'll jump on it.
 
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Don't you want to know what is happening around you? I use a scanner to learn what police, fire and ems are responding to. Short wave and amareur radio to hear what is going on in my state, other states, even other countries. Being informed is the first step in being prepared! de KA5SIW
 
MNwr786 said:
Some people are of the opinion technology is useless when SHTF, and that is fine. I view technology as a convenience, not a necessity of survival. However, I do want that option available to me. As a ham, I understand that some people "catch the radio bug" and some do not. We are all allowed our free choice in hobbies and how we interact with a broken world.

But what I see all to often here is that the people who view radio as useless try to convince others of the same, and that is ridiculous. The radio may work, it may not. Your generator may start, it may not. Your crops and livestock may thrive, or someone can dump agent orange and CS gas on us and we should all just throw in the towel out of the fear that none of it will be worth it.

I think many people are of the mindset that if catastrophe strikes, it's all or nothing, and that anyone with a functioning radio will instantly be targeted by the enemy as if they have nothing else to do but direction-find everyone that transmits ~ ridiculous. You all realize how many radios are out there, how many signals there will be??? You would need to be saying very stupid things to get the kind of attention you think you and your preps are worth to an enemy already prepared enough to find you.

The biggest threat right now seems to be economic collapse, not EMP (although I am not discounting the possibility entirely). During times of economic collapse, you might want to have contact with a few people, or at the very least, listen to a few shortwave stations. Most shortwave has died down leaving mostly high-powered religious services, but there used to be a time when you could hear actual honest US news broadcast by other countries (obviously not the communist ones, but yea). Those days will return the way things are going. We are not the only ones that value freedom out there, although we like to believe that all to often.

I, for one, love radio, and I view it as one of my most important preps.

Edit: One last thought on the matter. If there are people here that shun the idea of radio simply because of the learning curve getting everything set up and working properly, just know that there are a few people here passionate and knowledgeable about radio that would not hesitate to help. I am willing to share my knowledge and give advice to help anyone get their station set up and working. I love answering radio questions. Feel free to PM me or start an open thread, and if I have an answer, I'll jump on it.
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Well said!! I agree 100%.
 
Captjim_NM said:
Don't you want to know what is happening around you? I use a scanner to learn what police, fire and ems are responding to. Short wave and amareur radio to hear what is going on in my state, other states, even other countries. Being informed is the first step in being prepared! de KA5SIW
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in the UK and much of europe much of the Police, fire, medics frequencies are encrypted these days., Terrorists had a habit of listening in.
 
Over here we have AM and FM CB at 4 watts (80 channels) , and SSB at 12 watts, we have PMR and DPMR which is our version of your FRS (16 channels) , its supposed to be .5 watt but many folks use 4 watt rigs based on the Baofeng UV 5 family. Huge numbers of our CBs also operate on Russian, Polish, italian, EU and other CB frequencies often with rigs tweaked to 40 watts. its not uncommon to here Moscow Taxis when the skip is right I'm told.
 
This is some of the spec for my cached President Grant 2 export model, radios play little part in my preps these days, UK emergency services are now encrypted which only leave aviation and maritime. it also works on russian, Polish, German, French , Italian and EU approved frequency bands


Bandplan for the export version:

A 26965-27405

B 27405-27855

C 26515-26955

D 27865-28305

E 26065-26505

F 28315-28755

G 25615-26055

H 28765-29205

I 29215-29655

J 29665-30105

* 400 channels AM / FM / LSB / USB

* 4 W AM / 4 W FM / 12 W USB / 12 W LSB
* Mode switch AM / FM / LSB / USB

* Manual squelch and ASC

* Multi-functions LCD display

* Frequencies display

* S-meter

* Vox function (Hands free)

* ANL filter , NB and HI-CUT

* Local DX key

* Clarifier

* Channels and memories scan

* 5 Memories

* Dim

* F function key
 
bigpaul said:
cant see the point myself, too many "ifs"
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If's work both ways ol mate. If I want to hear what's happening in my region the best way is to tune into a local Ham net and get the reports first hand rather than relying on the lying media. Lots of information about weather events, road closures, and police movements come across the bands. You don't have to transmit to benefit from the information, you just need an amateur radio and antenna.

If in the future the police are going door to door in my area, to confiscate supplies under an Emergency Management Order for example, I would certainly like the heads up. It's not the sort of thing you would hear on the TV or associated media.

Just the other week an operator was commenting on how his wife, a nurse, was given advance warning that a lockdown was imminent in south east Queensland. I had 6 hours prior notice from that and leisurely went shopping for a few extra supplies and filled up my car at the servo too. After the lockdown was made public the supermarkets, service stations and other outlets were crammed full of people rushing to stock up.

EDIT:
Every nation has it's emergency powers, here is a sample of those in the UK.

(b) provide for or enable the requisition or confiscation of property (with or without compensation);

(c) provide for or enable the destruction of property, animal life or plant life (with or without compensation);

(d) prohibit, or enable the prohibition of, movement to or from a specified place;

(e) require, or enable the requirement of, movement to or from a specified place;


(k) require a person or body to act in performance of a function (whether the function is conferred by the regulations or otherwise and whether or not the regulations also make provision for remuneration or compensation)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/36/section/22
That last pair means they can come on your property and order you into a truck and send you 50 miles away to help rebuild a road.
 
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Very good reasons posted Backandbeyond. I may reconsider having a radio to just listen. I am too old to learn all the jargon and acronyms. Once it really hits the fan, then I won't need to know all the niceties and legalities just to contact a family member.
 
Digout said:
What are the Prepper Frequencies?
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I would categorize "prepper frequencies" by use. For instance, It would be nice to have all the GMRS/FRS, MURS, unlicensed frequencies programmed in for a means to have interoperability with those who already possess these types of consumer/unlicensed radios. I would also have the NOAA frequencies to listen to weather broadcasts. Marine radio frequencies if you live near a large body of water, or at least the coast guard distress frequency (ch16 156.800MHz). There are standard search and rescue frequencies, there are aviation frequencies most towers and planes monitor like 121.500MHz - the civilian avaition distress frequency (your baofeng doesn't do AM though), every state has mutual aid frequencies that all counties in that state monitor for other jurisdictions passing through or emergency use, you might also want to listen in (or assist with) the military auxiliary radio system (thats where MARS cap modifications get their name, remove a capacitor and the radio is unlocked to transmit outside its intended range). The list goes on and on and on. A while back I posted two documents, NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) and AUXFOG (Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide) here that contain a bunch of useful information on the topic.

And of course the local ham repeaters are nice as it isn't always just rag chewing. For instance, skywarn spotters are hams that go out during storms and watch the skies from good vantage points and report directly to NOAA. If there is a tornado headed your way, a ham repeater will likely tell you much faster than a tornado siren! Listening to the skywarn nets is always interesting! Then there is ARES, RACES, SATURN, etc. And for FEMA and the coast guard, this site lists a few for them too.

You can fill that radio right to the top with channels, it all depends on what you want to interact with.
 
Getting some GMRS radios for handing out in emergencies is a good idea. I shy away from anything that says FRS because by law, the antenna must be non-removeable and low efficiency, whereas GMRS allows for removeable antennas and better antennas can generally be had.

Something often overlooked when buying emergency pass-around radios is the Baofeng BF-888 which operates on the UHF bands covering ham, LMRS, GMRS, and FRS frequencies. They can be had for around $10 each and although only put out about two watts, I have found them to be great neighborhood intercom units. They are cheap enough to be deployed as pass-arounds as well as wide area alarm system components. Here is a 10 pack for $125 including snail pace shipping. Programming Cable BF 888S Two Way Radio 10 Pack and USB 400 to 470MHz | eBay
 
firewallsrus said:
Getting some GMRS radios for handing out in emergencies is a good idea. I shy away from anything that says FRS because by law, the antenna must be non-removeable and low efficiency, whereas GMRS allows for removeable antennas and better antennas can generally be had.

Something often overlooked when buying emergency pass-around radios is the Baofeng BF-888 which operates on the UHF bands covering ham, LMRS, GMRS, and FRS frequencies. They can be had for around $10 each and although only put out about two watts, I have found them to be great neighborhood intercom units. They are cheap enough to be deployed as pass-arounds as well as wide area alarm system components. Here is a 10 pack for $125 including snail pace shipping. Programming Cable BF 888S Two Way Radio 10 Pack and USB 400 to 470MHz | eBay
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Great spread spectrum transmitters too. Oh, and they put out five watts if their working properly (which is about 1 in 100). Most of them, given the energy wasted on the wide dirty transmit are good for about 750 mw as measured with a Bird Watt Meter. You get what you pay for. But they will be good for chocking the tires on the trailer.
 
I never understood the idea of turning on a radio every three hours for just three minutes. If we lose our time standards (internet not available, WWV off the air or conditions are bad), how do people expect to keep their clocks that accurate?

I posted this link about watch stability somewhere, not sure if it was here. There was a discussion about watches but cannot find it. A smart phone without a connection to the tower/internet is a HORRIBLE clock. You will likely lose 4 minutes in a week due to the temperature changes in the phone. A typical quartz crystal wrist watch loses track of 6 to 8 seconds a day. Anyhow, I think recommending that we only listen for 3 minutes when SHTF is foolish, these people didn't think that through.
 
Another issue with that every three hour for three minute schedule is that noon in my time zone is an hour after the the people on the other side of the time zone line. Will they be listening at 1pm when I key up at noon? Not on that schedule lol.
 
radiogoon said:
Great spread spectrum transmitters too. Oh, and they put out five watts if their working properly (which is about 1 in 100). Most of them, given the energy wasted on the wide dirty transmit are good for about 750 mw as measured with a Bird Watt Meter. You get what you pay for. But they will be good for chocking the tires on the trailer.
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As I should have stated in my original post, these are only my opinions. I got my amateur license in 1970 and since around that time have been studying and working full time in electronic communications.

The original poster was looking for candidates to equip friends/neighbors with in an emergency. I suggested considering the BF-888 because it is even less expensive than the blister pack radios and has a detachable antenna which can be swapped out for much better antennas which are readily available and it's I/O ports are Kenwood compatible. If you want to by 10 Japanese radios to hand out like candy in an emergency (like Yaesu, Icom, or Kenwood) then go for it.

I'm not sure your post was responsive to the OP and the reason for the thread. Actually there are no BF-888 radios that put out close to 5 watts of energy rather than their rated 3 Watts. It might surprise you to note that amateurs have reported successful Earth Moon Earth (EME) communications by bouncing as little as a 25 Watt signal off the surface of the moon (nearly 500,000 miles round trip)

As far as spread spectrum, there have been measured harmonics on a lot of Chinese radios, but I haven't seen any data on the BF-888. On the UV5r radios, the harmonics have been demonstrated to be beyond FCC allowable limits, but the levels are still low enough that the energy wasted in those harmonics is negligible. Due to a phenomenon called FM capture, the strongest signal on a given frequency will completely replace other signals. This is one reason FM is such a low noise environment. Low level harmonic noises coming from one FM transceiver should not be enough to interfere with other users on different frequencies.
 
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Very familiar with the 888's and what they are capable of. We use them in our All-Star nodes. My buddy who runs our county radio department came up with the design. We strip the RF boards out of them, pull the final so it only runs on the pre driver (although if you're not familiar with All-Star this is all Greek to you). Might surprise you to know I was working VHF meteor scatter last weekend with 1 watt. You probably also know then that since the FCC halted the importation of those radios till they met compliance, programing them anywhere you like in the UHF band doesn't work any longer.

As to the 5 watts, here are the specs from the manual:
1630031631343.png

I've been licensed since 1989 and hold an Extra Class license, so you can reign in the condescension. Maybe we'll catch you on All-Star, or P25, or DMR, or C4FM, or 2m SSB, or HF sometime. I like to hang in the Novice sub bands and help the new guys out who actually want to learn code. They make for good QSO's and I'm not so full of myself that I mind having a leisurely 5wpm QSO. But the bottom line, BaoFengs are cheap pieces of junk that **** up the local repeaters with their spurs, dead audio, and roger beeps. They are fun in the trap though.

73
 
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