FRS Radio newbie question

U

uitlander

Joined
Sep 8, 2004
Messages
237
Hi.. I am looking at FRS radios, mostly for fun with the son and cordinating moving cattle around on the farm. Found a half price deal with Syvania's advertising 5 miles range but with Nimh Battereies. Of the others I found locally the range seems limited to 3 max. miles but use AA's, easy to replace... Not likely to use these for anything other than fun but you never know. The question to the gear guys is.. how well do the Nimh batteries stand last, both in use and long term? I am thinking I didn't bring enough info here but would appreciate input on range vs battery life choice, or is one a function of the other?
thx
cheers
 
I believe FRS radios have a maximum power or 1/2 watt which gives the nominal 3 mile range, the larger range radios are probably GMRS which are very similar but more powerful, like 2 watts or so so they have the greater range, as far as I know you need a license to operate the GMRS (in the USA at least).

Greater power and range means more battery use, AA alkalines would probably not be a good choice for GMRS.

Typically an AA alkaline battery gives about 750 mah (milli amperes per hour) which is about half or less than what a typical AA NIMH gives, if you go for the NIMH you can check their rating, like one with 1800 mah will discharge sooner than one with 2100 mah.

I use rechargeable NIMH AA batteries in my cameras and portable CD player, they cost much less in the long run, even if you go for the FRS with AA batteries I would recommend getting a NIMH charger and batteries.

You can see some good reviews on NIMH batteries and chargers here:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

You can see some battery comparisons here:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

Luis
 
If you want to work within strict legality,
Use MURS which is VHF at a 2 watt maximum.

However, it's absolutely impossible to track a radio's wattage without actually being the person who programmed the radio, you can easily get away with a VHF tuned to MURS frequencies putting out 5 to 6 watts.
My best recommendation is if you were to get the Icom T2H amateur walkie talkie and do the modification for frequency expansion and tune it to MURS or any other freq you wanna use.

Also Don, most Alkalines move out well over 2100mah of current. The problem is that your current drops as you use it while the rechargeables give you full current and then have a sudden drop, giving you the illusion that Alkalines have less power.
 
Don and Melancholy
Thx for replies.. right you are, they are GMRS type and a quick Google says they are license exempt in Canada at 2 watts or less. Just found one set advertising 8 mile range for about $120 Canadian. Also thx for battery test links. These units come with batteries and chargers. Maybe buy a set of spares for ease of mind.
cheers
 
The limitations with FRS is both power and antenna. You will realistically get about a quarter of a mile to half a mile with most FRS radios.

I always try to steer people away from FRS radios and onto at least 2 watts of VHF or 4 watts of UHF. Distance is the key and it's closely tied into how many volts you're putting into your transmitters (aka how many batteries you're sticking into them)
I just noticed that you're from Canada... what are the Canadian regulations?
 
MelancholyMutt said:
My best recommendation is if you were to get the Icom T2H amateur walkie talkie and do the modification for frequency expansion and tune it to MURS or any other freq you wanna use.
Click to expand...
My recommendation is NOT to do this, as amateur radios are not type accepted for use in the MURS frequencies. But since you are in Canada, dunno what you can or can't do regarding type acceptance.

If your communications are for fun, then you and your son sit down for a few nights study for your amateur licenses.

Just my .02 worth.
 
Saunterer
Dang...see this all started off due to me seeing a sale on inexpensive FRS system, then I saw the more expensive GMRS at only $50 more, and then I asked a few questions and then a better system was found at only a bit more...
Is it still called "Bait and Switch" when you do it to yourself?
For the amount of use forseen I probably won't go the license route but thx for the idea.
cheers
 
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