GMRS advice

shootist16

shootist16

knife law moderator
Moderator
Joined
Dec 25, 1998
Messages
7,394
I bought a pair of Motorola T-5920 radios to take with me on vacation. I was disappointed to say the least. The batteries didn't last long and the reception wasn't very good.

I have come across the Midland GXT-500. Does anyone have any experience with them? Should I expect better quality than the Motorola?

Any other recommendations out there?
 
The only real GMRS radios out there are Icom F21GMs, but they're $150 each. TRULY 4 watts though, compared to the 1 watt max from the "blister packs"
 
Garageboy and I use very often the Icom T2h (under 100 bucks each) modified to transmit on MURS as well as other VHF channels...

At 6 watts on VHF, they're great for outdoors, crappy for inside buildings and good for car to car if you use a roof mount antenna. Lacking major obstruction, they will outperform any UHF at the same wattage, not to mention that usually the best UHF's top off at 4 watts.
Modded Ham stuff is the way to go if you don't mind bending a few dumb rules...

Find Ace Nim-Rod and he'll spill the beans...
 
CODE 3 said:
What is the 'MURS' radio service?

That acronym escapes me.
Click to expand...

Multi-Use Radio Service...

Technically, they took a few of the VHF business band freqs and made them like FRS... a free for all... this was mostly a reaction to Radio Shack and Motorola churning out 2 watt motorola and motorola copy radios and selling them to anyone and everyone. No one followed the rules and got a business license so the FCC just went ahead and legalized half the frequencies... the funny thing is that almost no one uses it anymore. They just go out and buy the GMRS radios and actually expect to get 5 to 12 miles with it. The power limit on the freqs is 2 watts, but there is no way someone what kind of power you're putting out unless you tell them. I occasionally use a modified Icom 207H mobile that puts out 50 watts on VHF in conjunction with a well mounted full wave antenna which gives me a good real 10 miles out on flat ground and even more if I'm on top of a mountain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top