TK68

Thank you for the suggestion. When it comes to batteries and not knowing much about them, as well as all the brands to choose from, I would have a hard time figuring out which ones to go with.

I wish I could afford a sat phone for all my family members, but the cost would be way too high for me. Not knowing what an APRS system is, I googled it and stumbled across this website with a TNC3: http://www.mobilinkd.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwt_nmBRD0ARIsAJYs6o2abl-j855GAv0te6F9SvKx-pe5GRkKM6V4nqjllw6lZSkre68ldjwaAossEALw_wcB I have no idea if something like this would be useful for me or not. I'm not well educated when it comes to the technical of different electronics, and even what some are used for.

Thanks for the suggestions,,,I ordered some of those BaoFeng Alkaline Batteries, and found a decent deal on a some good batteries...

Not knowing the difference between the different types of batteries, would the AAA Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries be good to use or would alkaline be better?

I hadn't thought about that option as well. Thank you.

I agree, though I didn't like his overall response, I did take note of the positive feedback he gave for consideration.

No, I hadn't thought of a sat phone, and I don't know what an aprs unit is; I'll google it and see if it's something I could get. I also am not familiar with what an HT is,,,,I'm guessing it's a Home Transmitter... I'm new to using forums, but if I can figure out how to email you through here, I'll send you a list of everything I had thought of for my packs.

I appreciate the tip... In the pack (besides the factory battery pack) I have 4 extra battery packs. I hadn't thought about getting a battery pack that holds alkalines. I'll give that some consideration.... Thank you

When I clicked on the CP650 link, is shows that it's an open repeater. However, I will go ahead and contact that person to ask permission. When it comes to asking for permission to use a repeater, I have not had that pleasant of an experience so far in asking for permission. I sent an email to two different people with repeaters that require permission on the "myGMRS.com list of repeaters in Oregon", told them what I was doing for my family, and mentioned that if any of them happened to find themselves in an emergency situation within transmittable distance of the repeater in their area and needed to call for help...., and asking how I may go about asking for permission. This was simply asking for permission to most likely "Never" need to actually use it, but to at least have it programmed into my radio for "just in case". What are the odds? Anyway, one of the repeater owners didn't even have the courtesy to give a reply, and they other one treated me as if I was an idiot. Here's what his reply was: "Your callsign shows you are in Jacksonville, Or. So I have no clue as to why you think you can operate through a Portland GMRS repeater 250+ miles away. You do realize GMRS only operates 5 to 25 miles, even when using a repeater? 50 miles if you are lucky? No worries, it's all part of learning! Oh, your last question....on how enter frequencies into GMRS radios, MOST cannot be programmed. So buying a better commercial walkie and mobile is about the only way to get onto existing GMRS repeaters. Most closed (private GMRS) repeater owners don't want weak off the shelf cheapy walkies on their systems, so we put in private (secret ) access codes that off the shelf walkies don't or cannot have. This is not like CB radio. I would suggest a bunch of Baofeng UV-B6 or UV-B5 walkies (they can be programmed through their keypad) and include all CTCSS and DCS codes that commercial radios have, so they are your best (cheapest) walkie to outfit your family with." I tend to take things personal. I felt like I was being lectured and treated like I was stupid or something. 1) I did not say anything to the effect of someone trying to contact their repeater 250 miles away for help! Any idiot would know if they needed help, it would be from contacting the nearest repeater to them that is within their reachable transmission distance. 2) I did Not ask him how to enter frequencies into my radio, I was asking permission to enter their repeater frequency into my radio! And 3) it felt like to me, he was assuming that my radio was a "cheapy", I never said anything about thinking that it was like CB; I simply asked how I would go about "receiving permission", in the event there was ever a need. With all this, I never got permission from either of the repeater owners that I contacted. I just hope that the one with CP650 is reasonable to deal with. Sorry to have rambled on...

I apologize for any confusion if I am mistaken. I am very new to GMRS and could very well be wrong in my understanding. Though I am new to all this, I have spent hours reading and trying to educate myself. With that said, from what I understand about available frequencies is, FRS has 14 regular channels for their use (all of which seem to be shared with GMRS), 8 repeater channels used by GMRS and FRS, and then 8 repeater channels specifically for GMRS. When I compared the repeater frequencies with the ones I found on myGMRS.com for the state of Oregon, there seem to have been several that were the same as what I had found in other searches, but it also seemed like there were several more available for GMRS that didn't appear to be on the list of frequencies that I found programmed into the GMRS-V1. Again, I could very well be wrong or confused since there seems to be so much to learn. I've been keeping notes, copy & paste etc. on Microsoft Word so I don't have to try to remember which site said what, in hopes that I can understand it all.

Thank you, I appreciate your reply. I hadn't considered the fact that it would be beneficial for my family members to practice being new to having to now use a call sign...

Thank you for responding, and I'm glad someone actually likes the idea of a survival pack. I wish I had done this sooner, but with everything I've been able to make fit into this 10" x 17" back it should help make whatever the situation may be, a little easier to handle. Lol, I could post the entire list of what's in the pack, but I know someone would think I'm ridiculous. I alway try to consider, if I were in a predicament, is this an item that I would be better off having and hopefully not needing it, or be in a situation where it could have been good to have but then not have it.

Please forgive me in advance, for the length of this post describing my situation and concerns... I'm new to GMRS and am concerned about safety for each of my family members. When traveling, there are many things that can go wrong and put the safety of a loved one at risk. With this in mind, I am in the process of putting together a Vehicle Emergency Kit, which consists of a first aid kit, and as many things I can think of to fit into a small backpack, that could help someone cope a little better in almost any emergency situation; and when an emergency takes place, the ability to have communication to get help is very high on the list, so as a last resort in the event that they have no cell signal, phone battery is dead etc., I'm putting a 2-way handheld radio, extra batteries, N-771 long range antenna etc. in the kit. Wanting to be in compliance with GMRS approved radios, I searched online every way I could think of, but cannot find Anywhere, a list of Which radios are approved for GMRS. When looking at radios on Amazon.com I came across the BaoFeng/Btech GMRS-V1, saw it had a keypad for programming so I bought 6 of them to put one in each kit, even though they were more costly than I had hoped; but of course I asked myself "how much is the safety of my family members worth?". I've spent hours upon hours searching for all the GMRS frequencies I could find in the state of Oregon, entered all the information needed (I think), using the Chirp programming software. I got all the frequencies programmed into the GMRS-V1 but continuously ran into the issue that I could not get the + 5.ooooo frequency duplex to be saved into the radio. I entered the information manually and it seemed to work, but when I went back to that channel to confirm I did things correctly, it was back to 000.000 time after time. I searched for help on this and found out that what I didn't realize is that you can only program receivable frequencies! With this being the case, there seem to be many GMRS frequencies throughout the state that are Not on the list of FCC approved frequencies permanently programmed into this particular radio, which in my case, is limiting the ability for my family members to be able to call for help if at all needed. So, at this point, I will be returning the radios and looking for another. I am contemplating at the least, getting the BaoFeng UV-82 5 watt radio, but am considering the UV-82HP for the extra 2 to 3 watts in case 5 watts isn't strong enough to reach out for help. For occasional use, I plan to get a couple GMRS radios and hopefully when my wife goes to town and I'm at home, we can keep in contact. So now my biggest concern is: These radios will be tucked away in a small backpack and never used, unless "IF" someone finds themself in an emergency situation and as a last resort, needs to use the radio in an attempt to call for help. But, I am worried about getting into trouble with the FCC for any transmission that may or may not ever take place on these radios. Again, I apologize for the length of this post, for those who were willing to take the time to read it. Anyone have any thoughts?