r/gmrs

Hi r/walkietalkie. I just bought an RV, and I'm looking for a weather alert/base camp radio that will work with walkie talkies.

I'm looking at this for a base radio:
Amazon.com: Midland® - XT511 - Emergency Radio - 22 Channel Two-Way Base Camp Radio with 5 Power Options, 121 Privacy Codes, 3-LED Flashlight & NOAA Weather Scan + Alert - Gray/Black : Electronics

And I was considering these for portables:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001WMFYH4/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B001WMFYH4&pd_rd_w=q5UUk&content-id=amzn1.sym.ac210bc5-f6e8-418c-8a77-e0c4ca3bcd7f&pf_rd_p=ac210bc5-f6e8-418c-8a77-e0c4ca3bcd7f&pf_rd_r=RJZXC59M0NDH34JFZ3K6&pd_rd_wg=1poKv&pd_rd_r=4eff35b2-5c23-47fb-b6d3-0dfde18daa01&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

I want the portables mainly for getting assistance directing my RV into parking, but will also use them for excursions/hiking etc.

I assume that as long as they operate on the same frequencies, we can use them together, but I really no nothing about walkies/radio equipment.

thanks!

My local repeater has input tone of 503 DPL. I am not able to enter this on my RB 48 walkie-talkie. How can I do this?
In the manual, the DCS code list suggests a code of 130, to enter a input tone of 503. However, I cannot enter a code any higher than 121. Am I doing something wrong? 😑

A frustrating misconception in the GMRS community is that repeater owners bear responsibility for what gets said on their machines. This is false, and counter to the actual regulatory framework governing GMRS under 47 CFR Part 95 Subpart E.

The foundation of GMRS regulation is individual licensee accountability. §95.1705(b) states plainly that the holder of an individual license is responsible at all times for the proper operation of their own stations in compliance with applicable rules. Every GMRS operator holds their own license and bears responsibility for their own transmissions. When a licensed operator keys up a repeater, they are operating their own station, not the repeater owner's.

The regulations do place specific duties on repeater licensees, but they are narrowly scoped to technical operation and access management: Ensuring the repeater itself operates within technical parameters — power, frequency, emissions Maintaining access to and control over their station (§95.1705(f)(2)) Determining who is authorized to use the repeater (§95.1705(d)(1)) Notice what's absent, there is no provision making the repeater owner responsible for the content of third-party transmissions passing through their machine.

Some point to amateur radio as a model, where the Part 97 control operator doctrine creates clear responsibility chains. That framework explicitly places transmission responsibility on the designated control operator, not the repeater trustee — and even in ham radio, the repeater owner isn't liable for what licensed third parties say through it. GMRS under Part 95 has no equivalent control operator doctrine. Instead it relies on individual licensee accountability. If anything, this makes the responsibility picture cleaner, every operator on the air carries their own license and owns their own transmissions.

So anyone saying repeater owners are responsible for what occurs on their repeater is simply wrong, and you should question their understanding of FCC regulations and radios in general.

I recently purchased a couple of TD-H3's to get into the radio game, mainly so that my friend (and soon to be one of three roommates) and I can initially use them for my long-distance move road trip for non-cell phone communication, and for our future backroading endeavors throughout Colorado. My main question is this: do we each need our own GMRS licenses since we are not family members? Or since we will be living together is one license sufficient? Let me know, thank you!

There a a number of sites that list it but many of them seem a bit sketchy. I tried to order it from Amazon and they shipped me BB4502NL, the one without the spring base, twice.

What are some reliable sites to order from?

Hey all -

Got a DB20-G from a friend to borrow and try out. The problem is, he also inherited it and it might be a little bit too tweaked from factory settings. I do NOT have the cable to re-program this thing with a chirp setup, so I'm doing it all manually with the microphone.

Trying to manually set up a channel for a local repeater and noticed that option 10 (the Offset function) is missing, along with a few others, even when in frequency/VFO mode.

Go easy on me - I JUST got my license yesterday - but what am I missing?

Thanks in advance!

Looking for recommendation for a set of GMRS radios that would get me a legitimate 3-4 mile range, set of two in the $50-$75 range. These would be used for emergency communication in the event of cell phone towers going down. That for any input!

Got two Baofeng GM15 pros waiting for me, but the great sadness is upon me for the next few hours 😩

Hi. 👋

I'm quite new here, and I need to play catch up on current radio tech. I used to be an avid CB guy who modified every unit he ever owed until they had between 80 to 300 channels, so I'm pretty familiar with the old 11-meter tech.

But I'm looking at something more portable these days, and GMRS walkies have caught my attention. But the little Cobras and Midlands and such are right about as worthless as the old 27 Mhz handhelds were. However, I'm told that there's a step-up available in the GMRS realm, with more antenna and/or more power in the licensed side of the GMRS world.

So my question is: Do those handhelds offer a significant improvement in range/performance ability vs the little "avaliable absolutely everywhere" ones?

So i want to talk to family that is about 30km or 23 miles from me. Issue is the antenna and coax needed. I need an antenna 25 feet up and my family needs coax 100 feet up for line of sight for simplex. Add a few feet to get in the house and its a lot of coax and too much loss with 5 watts.

Would putting a transceiver in a water proof box with just the antenna sticking out and hoisting it up a tree and having a second transceiver on the ground work for each location? I figure this is the easiest way and while it would take either a long power cord or multiple sets of batteries, would it work?

Hey folks …. I have a small collection of UV-5G Minis and wanted to set them up as such …
*- Dual Watch
A-side: tuned to rx-only frequency
B-side: tuned to a tx/rx GMRS frequency with a PL set

The goal is for folks to be able to monitor the frequency tuned on A. When someone in our group wants to tx on B, I want it to interrupt / priority over A.

Any way to set a priority? The problem I’m finding is that if A doesn’t drop carrier, B will never interrupt, meaning the team’s transmissions can’t be heard.

Any way to set A or B as a priority? In other words - “if I hear something on B; shut A up.” Or the reverse - either way is fine - “if A talks, mute B and listen up to A.”

Something that can be done with the UV-5G Minis or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Note: Just because someone filed a petition does not mean FCC will take the petition seriously. It doesn’t mean FCC must now take public comments on the petition, or take any other action on it.

I have the midland MXTA25 antenna hooked to a btech gmrs pro 50w mobile radio.

This antenna worked well for about a day and now seems to be junk... I dont know what happened or what to do..

I’ve read through the posts. Every post I read is very overwhelming. It’s just because I know nothing about Gmrs. Reading through the posts I’ve come to the conclusion there are many different opinions. I’m trying to decide which to buy. I would like for it to be preprogrammed, easy to use, maybe have weather on it. Just traveling to another state to ride side by sides. Would like to have to something to communicate on the trip there and while riding. We are all good at staying together. Just would like if someone goes down a trail a little way to radio back if it’s safe.

Can anyone give me an idea as to what might be going here? I am seeing this double peak....thing while transmitting. I am really new to this space so I am not even sure what information I should provide at this point. Apologies for that ahead of time.
EDIT: added a bit to clarify the question.

https://preview.redd.it/vvxtgp7zzd1h1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b706f144394c3fa1cbe9704f9e5ca05b1ac26a60

Created this so I could look up callsigns easier since the fcc site isn't always working. You can also use a wildcard like `wry*344` if you're not sure what the person's callsign was you were talking to.. there's also a lot of fun data about gmrs licenses (how many per day, etc..). Dropped the 'actual' addresses and left just city/state.

Edit: Updated with fcc data at noon EDT each day
Edit2: or, search your local town/city .. or click "near me"

The TidRadio TD-H9 a GMRS radioclaims to offer ARPS, but this seems impossible. How does APRS which uses only 144.390 MHz in North America work on GMRS which uses only 462 & 467 MHz?

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0096/6479/0607/files/H9_GMRS_Version_User_Manual.pdf?v=1775805601