Are all FRS radios GMRS now?

[Blaise]

So here's another dumb question.  I've been fitting out my family for local communications without cellphones, and for Christmas, I got my young kids the smallest, cheapest FRS certified handhelds the Amazon was able to provide (Retevis RT38's, $9.50 each!).  They are cute, brightly colored, and have very few buttons or features.  After the kids played with them on channel one for a while this morning, they moved on to other things, and I picked one up to fiddle.  I discovered that not only can they *receive* on GMRS 15-22, they can transmit, as well. At 0.5 watts, of course, but still!  I even picked up a repeater ident on it...

If the cheapest, nigh-disposable FRS radios I can find are outfitted for GMRS, are there *any* that don't?  And are my kids technically breaking the law if they wander into a high channel?

[DownEastNC]

Happy Holidays @Blaise

Here's a link to a combined FRS/GMRS chart that shows the relationship between each;

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart

 

5 minutes ago, Blaise said:

If the cheapest, nigh-disposable FRS radios I can find are outfitted for GMRS, are there *any* that don't?  And are my kids technically breaking the law if they wander into a high channel?

No not technically breaking the law but the higher channels 15 - 22 should be avoided because you could get stepped on by higher wattage GMRS radios and those are repeater channels as well. You cannot connect to a repeater with an FRS radio but you can listen in if you happen to be in range. Best practice would be channels 8 - 14 for close distance contact @ 1/2 watt or channels 1 - 7 for 2 watt communications. You won't find many GMRS users on the low 1/2 watt channels but that doesn't mean you can't do so with a HT GMRS radio if you have one and want to monitor the kids. Visa versa applies if you want to listen in to channels 15 - 22 with the FRS.

[PACNWComms]

While I would never use Wikipedia for anything scholarly, this link describes FRS/GMRS after changes made in 2017. Long story short, you are not breaking any regulation, just working within them. There are shared FRS/GMRS frequencies, with power and bandwidth changes for FRS versus GMRS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service

 

[MichaelLAX]

Observations:

1) FRS can operate up to 2 watts on all Channels except 8-14, so that you have the option to purchase higher power FRS radios, as well; and

2) If you get your GMRS license, it covers all those in your family and everyone can move up to GMRS handhelds that have 5 watts on all Channels, except 8-14 and can operate through repeaters, too (sometimes called Channels 23-30)!

[Blaise]

OK, so I guess I was just confused (hardly uncommon).  But if FRS radios are allowed on the high channels, why did the Motorola Talkabouts I got 2-3 years ago come with a stern warning that I needed to get a GMRS license to operate on those frequencies?

[n4gix]

1 minute ago, Blaise said:

OK, so I guess I was just confused (hardly uncommon).  But if FRS radios are allowed on the high channels, why did the Motorola Talkabouts I got 2-3 years ago come with a stern warning that I needed to get a GMRS license to operate on those frequencies?

FCC Rules changes!

[mbrun]

OK, so I guess I was just confused (hardly uncommon).  But if FRS radios are allowed on the high channels, why did the Motorola Talkabouts I got 2-3 years ago come with a stern warning that I needed to get a GMRS license to operate on those frequencies?

N4GIX is correct. Rule changes!

The FCC screwed up when they allowed radios to support multiple services. The 2017 rule changes were part of their attempt to clean things up. But the cat was let out of the bag and there was too much product out in the market.

Most of the hybrid FRS-GMRS radios got reclassified as FRS radios in 2017 when the rules changed, but this occurred only if the radio’s specs met the new FRS rules. While most did, one popular hybrid FRS-GMRS radio, the Midland GXT1000, put out too much power on some of its channels (over 2 watts). Although identical in every other technical aspect to many other midland radios, the GTX1000 requires a GMRS license where as its siblings that output less than 2 watts do not require one.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM