WROG864 Mike

[clanmicd]

Brand new to GMRS and just got license. The radios I own are Midland GXT1000G and were purchased to communicate with family in emergencies. Maybe that wasn't the best radio choice but I had not found this site at the time of purchase.  Family members live within 2 miles and closer. When making a transmission is it required protocol to use my call sign? What about my family member on the receiving end when they reply to my TX?

[WyoJoe]

Those radios should work fine for radio to radio (simplex) communication at short distances. Assuming they are GMRS radios, which I believe that model is, then their output would exceed that which is allowed for FRS. As I understand the rules, both parties are supposed to identify themselves with their/your (for family members) call sign every 15 minutes.

[mbrun]

Brand new to GMRS and just got license. The radios I own are Midland GXT1000G and were purchased to communicate with family in emergencies. Maybe that wasn't the best radio choice but I had not found this site at the time of purchase.  Family members live within 2 miles and closer. When making a transmission is it required protocol to use my call sign? What about my family member on the receiving end when they reply to my TX?

First off, welcome to GMRS.

Those radio are officially GMRS radios because power is just over 2w which is one of the crossover points from FRS to GMRS. I have four of them from back when they were rated at 5-watt.

Yes, it is protocol to use your callsign for legal operation under your license. As you might expect, my wife and I both use the same callsign. However, when we are communicating with each other we append ‘Base’ ‘Mobile’ ‘Unit 1’ ‘Unit 2’ etc… depending which radio we are using. Our radios have labels on them, so if another family member is using one of them they too know what to append to the call sign.

Using the callsign takes getting use to when you first start out, but it becomes second nature with practice. In some cases, it is so much so that you may find yourself repeating it far more that you legally need to. But is is also good practice IMO starting out. When you switch to radios that use repeaters, in all likelihood the repeater owners will want you and others to comply with the FCC rules regarding callsign usage.

Again, welcome.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[clanmicd]

Thank you both for the welcome and for the information. I hope these radios will work at 1.9 miles on the GMRS channels but haven't tried anything but FRS since I didn't have my call sign until today. The call sign email from the FCC never arrived but thanks to a post(s) on this site, I was able to easily find my call sign this afternoon using my FRN. I look forward to learning more about the world of GMRS from the numerous posts by experienced users!

[mbrun]

Thank you both for the welcome and for the information. I hope these radios will work at 1.9 miles on the GMRS channels but haven't tried anything but FRS since I didn't have my call sign until today. The call sign email from the FCC never arrived but thanks to a post(s) on this site, I was able to easily find my call sign this afternoon using my FRN. I look forward to learning more about the world of GMRS from the numerous posts by experienced users!

The shortest range outdoors that I have personally experienced with those radios is a little over 1/2 mile. The maximum I have ever personally experienced has been around 2-1/2 miles. Most typically however for me range has been between 1/2-1 mile where I have used them. The flatter, more open the terrain and the fewer obstacles between the radios the better. If you are standing on a boat out on a huge open lake you might achieve 4-6 miles with those radios.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[phottomatt]

I had the same question, when 2 people from same family are taking to each other... Glad the forum search function works. Thanks to all the helpful replies.