newbie needs some gmrs guidance

[lilradiojon]

hey, i dont know if this is the right place or not but ill give it a shot, delete it if its wrong.

anyways, i need a mobile unit that will talk with these handheld 2-way radios. the ones you buy from almost any outdoor store in the bubble packs, say 36 miles,but your very luky to get 5. you know what im talking about. so the question is, what are some easy to use, mobile units that i can use with these? also antenna recomendations, and just basic info on what i should look for. thanks for anyhelp, and links to anything that will get me started. sorry i have nearly no knowledge about these high frequency rigs.

is there any that can be used as a handheld also, and are better than these small ones. the reason i need this is because our hunt club uses the cheapo 2way radios from **Censored** sporting goods on ch.5 and being a ch.19 cb guy i like to be loud and proud and outdo everyone else. im good with cb 11meter stuff, so it should come second nature once i get a idea on what im looking for. and if i need a liscense i'll look into that over the summer since hunting season is over now. mabe in the future i'll really get into this hf stuff, but for now this is all i need it for.

again, thanks for any and all help. i really appreciate it

[Night Crawler]

They're not type accepted for GMRS but if you don't want to spend a lot of money get a new or used mobile 440 Ham Transceiver or HT and modify it usually a clip of a diode or move of a jumper will allow it to receive and transmit on the GMRS frequencies. A 440 antenna for the ham band can be shortened to use on GMRS.
The mobiles will do around 50 watts maybe more or less and the HT's around 5 watts a big step up from something in a bubble pack that you get at K-mart.

[lilradiojon]

im sure haha, so ill check those out tonight. anyone else got opinions?
dont have to be cheap, but nothing too upper end either.

['Doc]

lilradiojon,
Why not fill in the rest of the information from that other thread? It would sure save some time.
- 'Doc

[lilradiojon]

what thread ar you talkin about doc?

[goofy]

My advice would be to just go ahead and get your no-code ham license.

It's cheap, and not that hard.

That way you'll get to talk on 144-148mhz 430-450MHZ, with 100s of watts of power if you really want..

You'll also get the benefit of using repeaters which helps you communicate immensely.

You can also talk on the lower part of 10 meters

['Doc]

And just remember, ham stuff, or amateur radio is just that, can't use it for commercial purposes.
- 'Doc

[lilradiojon]

would a FD-450A or FDC FD-268B be able to work on the same frequencys as the bubblepack radios? i see theyre really cheap and that kinda worries me, but ide rather stay cheap on my first radio to make sure i like it before buying something high end.

[TICKDOG]

The hunt club I'm in switched to marine radios in 2006 and it works great for us...I've got a uniden in my truck(some guys have HH's as well) and we have a base antenna up in a tall pine at camp that we hook up to.
check and see if some of the sponsors sell marine VHF equipment...there are alot of channels, some with 25 watts, and no noise!!!I've seen VHF amps, don't know about power mics or mods but thats another topic...
They also have a line of sight signal and work really well here in FL

['Doc]

Marine radios? Bad advice! Them 'Coasties' will come after you a lot quicker than the FCC will.
- 'Doc

[goofy]

Not to be a broken record, but just get your basic Ham tech license. No Morse required (actually no amateur license requires morse now).

Cheap, and anybody with a room temperature IQ or greater can pass the test. Once you do 2m and 70cm are open to you..

['Doc]

The only problem with getting a ham license is that everybody involved would need one. that could certainly be a hang-up.
- 'Doc

[Night Crawler]

Get this and you'll have the option of using MURS on VHF or GMRS on UHF
[Please login or register to view this link]

[lilradiojon]

Get this and you'll have the option of using MURS on VHF or GMRS on UHF
[Please login or register to view this link]

thanks for the link, would this be kind of plug and play to work with bubblepack radios like this?

[Please login or register to view this link]

(please delete it if im not allowed to post that link)

['Doc]

The wouxun "KG-UV" series of hand held radios will probably cover a band that may be of use to you, but depending on what you call 'plug-n-play', it may not be what you are looking for. They do have to be reprogrammed. That's not difficult, but it is something that should be done. None of that says anything about legality.
- 'Doc

[lilradiojon]

thanks for the reply doc, i know it wont be a straight forward task but if it can be done ill figure it out eventually lol.

[Night Crawler]

i know it wont be a straight forward task but if it can be done ill figure it out eventually lol.

The Wouxun is programmed to transmit on the amateur frequencies only when it comes from the factory to get it to transmit on all the frequecies that it's capable of you will need the progamming cable and software.

The progamming cable goes between the radio which plugs into the mic jack and the other end goes to your computer then just follow the instructions it's easy to do.

[5xray792]

the baofeng radios are cheap and work pretty good for the money. I own a few of them. I just have to remember that if your GRMS frequencies someones has to have a license for the repeater legally. But the good part is the license is free now through the FCC. Also watch how many Watts your transmitting and a pl would be advisable

[MDYoungblood]

the baofeng radios are cheap and work pretty good for the money. I own a few of them. I just have to remember that if your GRMS frequencies someones has to have a license for the repeater legally. But the good part is the license is free now through the FCC. Also watch how many Watts your transmitting and a pl would be advisable

Could you post where you saw that it is now "free", the last I saw it was still an $85 filing fee.

3's

Greg

[5xray792]

greg it was actually on the fcc sight starting this year 2016

[MDYoungblood]

greg it was actually on the fcc sight starting this year 2016

This is on one of our sponsors that sells the GMRS radio, and it's up to date.
[Please login or register to view this link],
That is why I asked because I could not fined it on the FCC's site.

3's

Greg

[dougw181]

I renewed my license a couple of months ago and I believe that it was an $85 fee and it is good for another 5 years.
Doug