OK... I have been looking for a GMRS/FRS that is designed to be truck mounted. Meaning external, to the cab, antenna. Power source from the truck. I hate those handhelds, the batteries die too quickly and they never seem to carry the distance.

Any ideas?

 

Motorola GM300 would do you well as long as you have a GMRS license.

 

Is the GMRS license just a fee that you pay, and then walla, you are licensed. Or, do you have to take a test? (Got the info card about the license when I bought my handheld gmrs/frs motorolas but lost it).
Also, has anyone ever heard of anyone being "busted" for not having the gmrs license?

Thanks,
~Rob

 

 

I looked into it. It's about $75. There is no test. Look on the FCC website, that's where you apply for the license. I have the handhelds. I only use them on my property so I'm note really worried about getting busted. I use them on road trips when we caravan every now and then. I was kind of wondering about this myself. Monitor the channels at a mall, you'd be shocked how many people have these...I doubt they all have licenses.

 

sure I have a fcc license for this radio,,,,, just like I have a catylitic converter under my truck... why don't ya bend over and look to see if thats there.... hwomp cya sucka

 

Sounds like a money-grubbing scam by the FCC to me, kinda like a "dog license." I've never been able to figure out just what test my dog had to pass to get his license.

 

GMRS is just a license, no test. It's $50 + $5/usage fee per year. It is sort of a dumbed down amateur radio but still has some nice qualities. You can push out 50 watts FM legally in the 450-470mhz range which could easily go 20 miles with much better sound quality than a CB. Great for talking point to point to people you already know that have them... not like sitting on Channel 19 on the CB listening for traffic / bear reports.

check out
http://www.radiosonline.com/sm4000gmrs.htm

At these prices, maybe worth it to just get a NO CODE ham license and get a real radio?

1 main difference is that you can use GMRS for business purposes. CB and HAM you may not(?).

Regardless it is sort of cool...

 

I bust people for not having a license because they're ruining the spectrum. You only have to pay a fee. there is no test. It's this kind of idiocy who once again has almost ruined it for the legit users who pay a lot of money, and put in a lot of time to put up repeaters etc. then you have the bubble pack gmrs crowd coming in without licensing themselves, taking it over and forcing the legit users to lock down their systems. We have triangulated on about 20 users in this area, all of which were easily found. Don't do it here, because I'll find you.

Keep in mind that the GMRS users who's put a lot into their systems police themselves as well as ham operators, and if one of them finds you, the FCC could very well be knocking on your door. They'll try and educate you on licensing first of course. Also keep in mind that fines can be up to 10,000 dollars. So what would you rather pay, 75 or 10k?

 

JAck can you suggest a good mobile radio and antenna? This is sort of neat and I'm thinking of putting one in my car, home and girlfriends car

 

Well, if you go Motorola GM300 for your mobiles, you have 50 watts of power to play with and if there is a repeater in your area, you can contact the owner for use. Many of them will let you use it no problem. That'll give you 15-100 miles range depending on where you are and the terrain. I started with GM300's, and then upgraded later to A9 Spectras. Great radios.

I would go with something like a standard 1/4 wave UHF whip, or maybe a 5/8 Wave Larsen or Maxrad.

 

After reading about what all can be done with these, I will definitely be getting a license.

Does the GM300 support GMRS and FRS? What is the difference between the UHF and VHF?

 

VHf is 150-174 mhz for most radios. UHF is 450-512Mhz. Amateur is lower on both uhf and vhf. You can program the GM300 to transmit and receive on FRS, but if you get caught transmitting on FRS at 50 watts, that wouldn't be good. FRS is 1/2 watt only on radios designed with a fixed antenna. Their spacing is 12.5 khz as well while GMRS spacing is 25khz. FRS isn't worth the very limited communications IMO.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what the "GMRS/FRS" is I am guessing frs are those family service radios.
I have a kenwood tk-760h 32 channel vhf radio. These are "comercial" radios that are only supposed to be programmed by a radio shop. (up here any way) They are also required to have a license. The two blocks of frequencies are 136-156 and 148-174. If you do a search on the internet for the particular radio you are looking at purchasing, pages of information usually pop up.

 

breaker one nine for a radio check