A general question from a new guy

[stevemiller000]

The situation: I live on a mountain that, as all mountains do, has quite a few obstructions in the form of trees, rocks etc. FRS bubble pack radios are just plain too weak to be much use (I do have them and have tried repeatedly, not gonna work).

I'm trying to decide on a frequency for our handhelds that we carry when we need to communicate in the wooded areas. Some people tell me to use GMRS frequencies and some say MURS. I'm trying to find a freq that is public, not busy and legal.

Is there a range of freqs that I can stay in and find something nobody is using or are there set freqs I need to stay on , etc etc.

Fill me in

 

[Lscott]

I general VHF works better under the conditions you describe. The radio service that works on VHF is MURS. It is a license free radio service. The limitation you will find are the radios are restricted to no more than 2 watts of power.

 

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/murs.htm

 

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/multi-use-radio-service-murs

 

Some typical MURS radios.

 

https://baofengtech.com/product/murs-v1/

 

https://bettersaferadio.com/shop/two-way-radios/tera-tr-505-dual-band-gmrs-murs-handheld/

 

A note about the FRS radios. If they are more than a few years old they were likely manufactured to work under the old rules which limits the power to 1/2 watt. The newer radios are allowed up to 2 watts on (most) of channels. Under GMRS rules you can generally run higher power, which may not be that great of an advantage at the higher frequencies used. The following link shows the channels, bandwidth and power allowed by either FRS or GMRS radios. GMRS by the way requires a license while FRS does not. New FRS radio do not have the means to access the additional frequencies for repeater access per the FCC rules. Only GMRS radios are allowed to use those frequencies.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service

 

If you have GMRS repeaters in the area you can access where you plan to operate then GMRS would be a better choice in that case.

[stevemiller000]

Lscott, thanks for the reply. One more question ref MURS (which in all honesty is the direction I was leaning). There are 5 channels, is there any adv of one over another? Are the Blue and Green the same as the other 3 or something special? (i lied, 2 more questions)

[MacJack]

Welcome to the group SteveM.  I live in a mountain area and have a great owner of a private repeater who allow our family access.  I Jeep in the woods with limited cell service so I did GMRS with just a two handhelds.  If you are high enough up the mountain range, you can put your own private repeater for you and family to use and if you which a select few others to use.  The select others are who will come to your aid if need be.

 

In Lscott last line, "If you have GMRS repeaters in the area you can access where you plan to operate then GMRS would be a better choice in that case." So start looking around for repeater and not all repeaters are listed so listen in and talk to other GMRS folks.

 

Happy hunting for what is best for you.

Jack 

[WRCZ387]

Lscott, thanks for the reply. One more question ref MURS (which in all honesty is the direction I was leaning). There are 5 channels, is there any adv of one over another? Are the Blue and Green the same as the other 3 or something special? (i lied, 2 more questions)

If I'm wrong, I know someone will have the correct info

 

Blue & Green are 154 MHz & use wide-band which some ops say will give you better audio quality

 

The other three are 151 MHz & use narrow-band which some ops say lessens your audio a bit

 

If you do go the MURS route, you're limited to two watts, but you can use an external antenna

like replacing the stock antenna on hand-helds,

or connecting a base or mobile antenna to them, depending on where you're using the radio

 

GMRS lets you use more power, but MURS may work better for your situation, being VHF not UHF

sending your two watts into a better antenna may level the playing field so to speak

 

It's a situation where you may have to try both & see which works out better

 

73

Greg

[davidj4051]

Hi Guy’s, not sure where to post this so I thought I would try here. How do you go about finding a repeater in your area? Second, once you find a repeater how to you go about getting permission to use it? Great group here!! Dave

[mbrun]

Hi Guy’s, not sure where to post this so I thought I would try here. How do you go about finding a repeater in your area? Second, once you find a repeater how to you go about getting permission to use it? Great group here!! Dave

https://mygmrs.com/repeaters

 

Make sure you have an account, including a valid callsign.

Do a search. When you find repeaters new you, choose the repeater, a new page opens up, then click the ‘Request Access’ button.

 

 

 

Michael

WRHS965

KE8PLM

[Extreme]

..and select "Outdated Listings" on top of the map page.  I have 3 active & usable repeaters in my area that are "outdated".