Commercial hand held for GMRS

[WRYQ303]

I am looking for a commercial hand held for GMRS/ ham that is easy to program and relatively low cost. Prefer 100+ channels. To clarify- i have both ham radio, GMRS only and MURS only hand held radios. I also have 2 Kenwood TK-880 and TK-780. I am in CERT and RACES and want a more robust radio to use in the field. 

Thanks.

Edited October 20, 2025 by WRYQ303
update info

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, WRTC928 said:

This stuff right here is why I'd have to have a pretty compelling reason to get a commercial radio instead of an off-the-shelf GMRS or ham radio supported by easy-to-use software I'm already familiar with. I'm not saying you or anyone else shouldn't buy one, but for me, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

The request was for a commercial radio recommendation. I wasn’t going to question why. I figured he had a reason. Of course people buy what they want and can afford.

I do agree about the software remarks however. Programming commercial radios is significantly different than Ham gear. Mainly because the usage case is different. They usually get programmed with a set of licensed frequencies and rarely get changed after that. Thus front panel programming isn’t that useful for example. Ham gear is far more likely to see frequent changes.

[WRUE951]

3 hours ago, nokones said:

For a simple quality built GMRS radio, the Midland MXT500 radio is a great radio if you want keep it simple.

Yup

[MarkInTampa]

12 hours ago, nokones said:

For a simple quality built GMRS radio, the Midland MXT500 radio is a great radio if you want keep it simple.

Except OP's looking for a hand held.

 

[WRTC928]

10 hours ago, Lscott said:

The request was for a commercial radio recommendation. I wasn’t going to question why. I figured he had a reason. Of course people buy what they want and can afford.

Yes, I wasn't challenging the OP's reasoning, I was just curious what it was.

[Lscott]

7 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

Yes, I wasn't challenging the OP's reasoning, I was just curious what it was.

No harm in asking.

[WRTC928]

13 hours ago, nokones said:

I likely doubt that anyone will ever see a cheap POS Pandaland radio be as robust as Kenwood and Motorola radios a d co tinted to provide quality service for decades.

I have several 30 & 40 year old Motorola radios that are in excellent shape and work very well, and are well supported by the after-markets.

I don't doubt that at all, and likely I'll have one some day, but for now, I haven't settled upon a "final" use case. If I joined the local search and rescue team, I'd consider that more-or-less a "final" use case, since it needs only a few frequencies, they aren't likely to change, and lives may depend upon my ability to communicate. For the nonce (I've been reading historical fiction ), it wouldn't make economic sense because I'm constantly changing the places I want to use it and the things I want it to do. If my radio fails, I'll be inconvenienced and annoyed, but as soon as I get home, I'll have another one. That's why I'm asking about use cases. 

[nokones]

38 minutes ago, MarkInTampa said:

Except OP's looking for a hand held.

 

And, he said that he had two Kenwood mobiles and I elected to make a statement about a simple Midland mobile. I guess I should have mentioned the Midland Pro GXT67 to make my response more appropriate/related. So, what was your point for your response to this matter?

[Lscott]

9 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

That's why I'm asking about use cases. 

That's a valid point.

Radios are designed to meet certain usage cases, A.K.A. markets, and also bound by FCC rules, which will vary by radio service. Example your purpose built GMRS radios don't allow general frequency programming, you can only select frequencies from the "FCC allowed list" for GMRS. Ham gear on the other hand is normally freely front panel programmable in frequency within the "allowed band."  

So an official GMRS only radio programming model, method and features, are different compared to Ham, which again both are different compared to a commercial radio.

In my case the commercial radios work well for GMRS. Due to the limited number of frequencies it's easy to program them all in. I don't really travel outside of my local area much. When I do the radios have a limited ability to select a tone for operation, through one of the programmable buttons, to use with a generic preprogrammed repeater frequency pair. The ones in my area are already programmed into the radio with the required tones.

I have some 16 channel UHF commercial radios, no display, and only a channel selector, volume control and a couple of buttons besides the PTT. These are even simpler than your cheap FRS radio. I could give one to a 5 year old, or unfortunately the equivalent adult, and not worry they will muck up the settings. These might be the ideal radio type to hand out during an emergency, simple to operate with little to no instruction required.   

[WRTC928]

12 hours ago, Lscott said:

In my case the commercial radios work well for GMRS. Due to the limited number of frequencies it's easy to program them all in. I don't really travel outside of my local area much. When I do the radios have a limited ability to select a tone for operation, through one of the programmable buttons, to use with a generic preprogrammed repeater frequency pair. The ones in my area are already programmed into the radio with the required tones.

Ah, okay. With limited traveling, that could work well. I travel quite a bit all over the central US and I program in repeaters in "batches" for the places I'm likely to find myself. 

12 hours ago, Lscott said:

I have some 16 channel UHF commercial radios, no display, and only a channel selector, volume control and a couple of buttons besides the PTT. These are even simpler than your cheap FRS radio. I could give one to a 5 year old, or unfortunately the equivalent adult, and not worry they will muck up the settings. These might be the ideal radio type to hand out during an emergency, simple to operate with little to no instruction required.   

I have some 16 channel radios with only an on/off/volume knob and a channel selector knob (similar to a BF-888) programmed to the FRS 2-watt frequencies that I distribute at horse events, so I understand your logic. I agree they'd be ideal type radios for emergencies, although it seems to me using commercial radios for that purpose might be "overkill". I guess it depends upon exactly what type of emergency you're talking about and who you're planning to give them to.

[WSHL468]

Based on the OP, I can see the reasoning for wanting a good, solid commercial radio that covers the various frequencies of interest.

I have similar requirements. I chose Kenwood TK-7180 and TK-8180 mobile radios, both for their ruggedness and relative ease of programming (via PC). The 25w TK-8180 'K' model (450-520 MHz, Part 95) can be obtained for less than $150 - and it will go outside that frequency range if Ham use is also if interest.

Kenwood Programming software may be available for free if you know where to ask.

I have no issue with Chinese radios if that's what the user wants. I will say that a while back there was a problem with some brands having a very 'dirty' transmit output despite claiming FCC acceptance, though that issue may have been mitigated... users be aware. 

Not all Chinese radios are cheap or flimsy either. I own a Chinese-manufacture radio marketed by CSI (Connect Systems) which is as solid as anyone's product. Only slightly cheaper than 'major' brands, as well. But not Part 95, if that matters.

Just offering 2 or 3 cents worth of input.

[WRYQ303]

I now have a TK-3180 and waiting on a TK-2180 to come in. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

[Lscott]

45 minutes ago, WRYQ303 said:

I now have a TK-3180 and waiting on a TK-2180 to come in. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

They are both nice radios. Lots of channels. The TK-2180 in particular is good due to the band split, 136-174 MHz. Covers the whole Ham 2M band, MURS, Marine VHF channels, Railroad FM channels and the NOAA weather broadcasts. 

[Lscott]

On 10/23/2025 at 10:25 PM, WRTC928 said:

I have some 16 channel radios with only an on/off/volume knob and a channel selector knob (similar to a BF-888) programmed to the FRS 2-watt frequencies

The ones I have are very basic.

https://securityservice.dk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Kenwood-TK-3160.pdf

https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/16/TK-2360&3360Brochure.pdf

[WRYQ303]

On 10/20/2025 at 8:25 AM, WRYQ303 said:

I am looking for a commercial hand held for GMRS/ ham that is easy to program and relatively low cost. Prefer 100+ channels. To clarify- i have both ham radio, GMRS only and MURS only hand held radios. I also have 2 Kenwood TK-880 and TK-780. I am in CERT and RACES and want a more robust radio to use in the field. 

Thanks.

I have purchased a Kenwood TK-3180 and also the VHF version TK-2180. Solid radios.

[WRUE951]

3 hours ago, WRYQ303 said:

I have purchased a Kenwood TK-3180 and also the VHF version TK-2180. Solid radios.

mis my K4 from my work days.  Good solid radio..