Help me put together a GMRS setup

[WRKM896]

My family and I are moving to Gillette, Wyoming on May 22nd. 

While we will only be living on 20 acres, we will be running it as a homestead type of situation with some livestock, a greenhouse, and some other crops. 

Anyways, I'd like to run a GMRS setup on the property so that my family can communicate with one another with ease. 

I've been using GMRS a lot for off-roading in my Jeep and our SxS and I like it quite a bit. 

My thought is I'd like some nice handhelds for all of us as well as a repeater. The reason for the repeater being that I'd like extended range capability and I'd like to share it with others who might like to use it as well. 

That being said, I'm a buy once, cry once type of guy. I don't mind spending more money if it's going to get me something higher quality that will last longer. 

I've been looking at Midland, Rugged Radios, BaoFeng, and others. 

I'm interested in hearing what you guys would run in my situation and if there are any supporting sponsors of this forum I'd be happy to send my business your way.

As far as budget goes, I'm thinking $2000 or less.

This is the setup I was looking at:
https://www.retevissolutions.com/waterproof-gmrs-radio-solution-bundles

I don't know as much about GMRS as I do about guns and Jeeps, but I'm learning!

Thank you in advance and God bless!

[WRQW589]

You may find that you have very good communications with GMRS on 20 acres over simplex, no repeater. In that case you can put your 2k into the jeep instead.

 

At least test things out as is. See how it goes.

[TDM827]

Congrats on the homestead.

As far as handhelds, I am sure you will get plenty of great recommendations here.

BaoFeng, Wouxon, Retevis, all make plenty of good GMRS handhelds at prices which will fit into your budget. Starting around $30 up to about $150. Just keep in mind Midland GMRS handhelds you can buy today are not repeater capable, so that will limit their effectiveness in your plan. They serve us great for "around the neighborhood communications." But if I had to do it again I would go with repeater capable handhelds, which I ended up buying anyway.

More costly options includes include commercial radios, Kenwood, Icom, Motorola. Its a steeper learning curve and plenty of folks here will remind you that most of the commercial radios aren't "legal" for GMRS according the the FCC. Just search up these forums for commercial radios, grab some popcorn, and read the heated debates about the legality of commercial radios. In the end no one seems to care, well maybe a few.

Repeaters, depends on what you want to use it for. The one you are looking at is a portable repeater that gets good reviews for what its designed to do. If you want a repeater at a base station with more coverage you are probably talking more in the $900 to $1200 range, unless you want to hold out for a deal on a pre-owned one.

Lastly, Don't take my word for it. Recommend you check out the "Not a Rubicon" channel on you tube for more info before you spend your cash.          

 

[WRKM896]

44 minutes ago, TDM827 said:

Congrats on the homestead.

As far as handhelds, I am sure you will get plenty of great recommendations here.

BaoFeng, Wouxon, Retevis, all make plenty of good GMRS handhelds at prices which will fit into your budget. Starting around $30 up to about $150. Just keep in mind Midland GMRS handhelds you can buy today are not repeater capable, so that will limit their effectiveness in your plan. They serve us great for "around the neighborhood communications." But if I had to do it again I would go with repeater capable handhelds, which I ended up buying anyway.

More costly options includes include commercial radios, Kenwood, Icom, Motorola. Its a steeper learning curve and plenty of folks here will remind you that most of the commercial radios aren't "legal" for GMRS according the the FCC. Just search up these forums for commercial radios, grab some popcorn, and read the heated debates about the legality of commercial radios. In the end no one seems to care, well maybe a few.

Repeaters, depends on what you want to use it for. The one you are looking at is a portable repeater that gets good reviews for what its designed to do. If you want a repeater at a base station with more coverage you are probably talking more in the $900 to $1200 range, unless you want to hold out for a deal on a pre-owned one.

Lastly, Don't take my word for it. Recommend you check out the "Not a Rubicon" channel on you tube for more info before you spend your cash.          

 

I was wondering that about the Midland handhelds. I didn't see anything on their website about them being repeater capable so it had me wondering. 

In that case I'll have to nix Midland. I definitely want something that is repeater capable for when and if I ever need it.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm going to check out that channel and do more research now.

[Hoppyjr]

You’ll get lots of replies with ideas and advice, but do yourself a favor and spend some time watching YouTube videos and reviews. This will give you far more “pros & cons” and you’ll actually see the items.

Our own Randy has a great channel, with great reviews, and he’s entertaining as a bonus. (Randy, I’ll be watching my Venmo )

Affiliate link: https://youtube.com/@TheNotaRubicon?si=eguV0C9AX-2SL0Fa

Start with the most recent vids, as that’s typically the latest stuff.

Welcome & enjoy!

[WRWE456]

Twenty acres is not much for GMRS. You are not likely to need a repeater for that small an area. I would start with good hand helds and see how that works. The Midlands also do not have removable antennas as well as not being repeater capable.

[nokones]

According to this rule, you can operate Part 90 type-accepted radios such as Motorola and Kenwood radios, on GMRS channels legally.  Part 90 type-accepted radios are Land Mobile Radios (LMR).

See below:

95.335 Operation of non-certified transmitters prohibited.

Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, no person shall operate a transmitter in any Personal Radio Service unless it is a certified transmitter; that is, a transmitter of a type which has obtained a grant of equipment certification for that service, pursuant to part 2, subpart J of this chapter. Use of a transmitter that is not FCC-certified voids the user's authority to operate that station. See sections 302(a), (b), and (e) of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302(a), (b), and (e)).

(a) Exceptions. Under certain exceptions, non-certified Personal Radio Service transmitters, or transmitters certified for use in the land mobile radio services may be operated. Any such exceptions applicable to stations in a Personal Radio Service are set forth in the subpart governing that specific service. See e.g., §§ 95.735 and 95.1735.

 

[SvenMarbles]

Sounds like a ton of fun. I'm jealous.

You'll do fine with GMRS radios of any measure on your property. If my mental image of your agricultural property reflects reality it's going to be no problem for a kit of straightforward HTs doing simplex. Maybe all choose an agreed upon frequency and a tone as a family, just to sort of have "a private channel". 

If you want to get a repeater up to get off of the farm and into town, just do that Retevis thing and make yourself a nice mast up high somewhere. It's all about height. Higher the better. If you want to get out further, figure out how to get it even higher. Don't sweat radio power. It's the most overly discussed aspect of things on UHF radio, and it's almost not even a factor. 5 watts up high beats 50 in a hole all day long..

Another option for an ULTRA cheap repeater is a simplex repeater. It's just a real simple deal. It's a box that connects to a radio that you just set out somewhere (again, preferably really high), and it'll just sit there in the middle of comms, and record everything said, then spit it back out afterwards. They can be annoying if you're in range to hear both transmissions, but they do work very well and the simple nature of it means there's not much that can fail. Easily and quickly deployable for temporary type things. It could be a short term option if you don't want to spend on that full duplex repeater box quite yet..

You could get all of this done on just a couple hundred bucks worth of Chinese stuff..

[WRDJ205]

I hear that you want to buy once, but at 20 acres you should be able to get coverage across the entire property with a pretty simple set up.  We started with a couple of the Midland upper tier bubble pack GMRS radios on a larger property.  
 

We’re still just using some Baoefeng GM-15PRO and getting excellent results.  
 

[SvenMarbles]

1 hour ago, WRDJ205 said:

I hear that you want to buy once, but at 20 acres you should be able to get coverage across the entire property with a pretty simple set up.  We started with a couple of the Midland upper tier bubble pack GMRS radios on a larger property.  
 

We’re still just using some Baoefeng GM-15PRO and getting excellent results.  
 

I've got 1 Baofeng UV5R in particular that I bought in like 2013 and it's been my "knock around radio" since then. It was cheap and didn't care about it getting ruined. It's the one that got wet, dropped, given to people I didn't trust (), etc.. Guess what, it STILL serves that role after 11 years. The only thing wrong with it is that the backlight doesn't work anymore. I'd say I got my $17 worth in 2013 dollars.

So, as far as "Chinese crap radios" go. That's a case study. I was an early adopter of these things and I'm still waiting for one to not turn on and work, even after abuse. The hams will get upset that they have harmonics. Whatever. The batteries are even pretty great. Charge one up and don't turn it on for a year, and see if it doesn't still have 4 bars when you do . It's a great radio for the "emergency kits".

Nothing wrong with doing a Chinese radio thing. They do the radio thing.. And maybe they're not "as good" as some $150+ radios, but the law of diminishing returns kicks in real quick after $40.

[WRDJ205]

2 hours ago, WRDJ205 said:

We’re still just using some Baoefeng GM-15PRO and getting excellent results

I should add, we have good coverage with no repeater with both the Midlands and the Baofengs.  
 

We’re in a pretty heavily wooded area with rolling hills.  

[WSAW350]

On 4/19/2024 at 9:19 PM, WRWE456 said:

Twenty acres is not much for GMRS. You are not likely to need a repeater for that small an area. I would start with good hand helds and see how that works. 

I agree, 20 acres covers approx. 1/3 sq mile and if need be, comms can likely be covered by just handhelds only if used on property only, no repeater needed. I would get a base station in the main house, a Wouxun 20 watt mobile with a DC power supply, rooftop antenna and cable will cost maybe $500. Then maybe 3-4 handhelds (Wouxun KG905G are rated IP66 for dust/water resistance, $100 ea.) and perhaps a mobile radio/antenna in the main truck, the whole setup less than $1500.  But it all depends on number of family members, number of vehicles, etc. And depending on terrain, you can still communicate outside of the property lines, perhaps miles beyond.

[Sshannon]

47 minutes ago, WSAW350 said:

20 acres covers approx. 1/3 sq mile

20 acres is 1/32 square mile. 

[Sshannon]

There’s no reason to spend a ton of money. 20 acres, if square, is 933.4 feet on each side and only 1320 diagonally. You should be able to do that with FRS or MURS handheld radios if the land is flat (and Gillette mostly is.)

[WSAW350]

^^^^^^^^^

My bad math, My brain saw it as approx. 2.8 million sq ft in a sq mile, not 28 million sq ft. Off by a zero 

[TDM827]

Quote

On 4/19/2024 at 4:59 PM, WRKM896 said:

My thought is I'd like some nice handhelds for all of us as well as a repeater. The reason for the repeater being that I'd like extended range capability and I'd like to share it with others who might like to use it as well. 

You got some great advice to first test simplex range, radio to radio, for your 20 acre homestead operation. 

But you also are interested in a repeater for extended range capability and allowing others to use it. Before you put down a chunk of money on a repeater, see if the friends you want to talk to are also in simplex range. If the Gillette topography allows for it you might get some good extended range on simplex. 

However, if you are in a rural area, making contact with more distant friends, or if you want to keep in contact with family when they head to town, a repeater may be required. Looking at the GMRS repeater map I don't see any repeaters covering Gillette. But there may be some unlisted repeaters in the area you can discover when settled in.  

If you go the repeater route, you will find good information and advice here on brands, costs, build tips and reasonable range expectations. Of course You Tube has some good stuff. Repeater-builder.com has some valuable information as well.

As far as coverage, Scadacore.com has a line of sight map which will give you some very general ideas on what you might expect for effective radio to radio communications. All based on each radios map location, the topography between the two, the ground elevation of each unit and each radio's antenna height above the ground. It's not perfect, but it's really easy to use and a pretty good resource.       

Lastly, not are repeaters are equal. Your anticipated use, needed duty cycle (how often it's gonna be in use) and desired range will play a big part in the cost. 

 

Best of Luck