Buy Two Way Radios - The Blog

All of our consumer radios operate on either the GMRS or FRS channels, and most support both. We are sometimes asked for the exact frequencies of these channels. Below is a table showing the channel number, type of channel, and the frequency.

Posted by Danny at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

One question that we are frequently asked is "how can I get more range out of my two way radio?" In the case of consumer (FRS / GMRS) radios the amount of range you can expect is usually not even close to what the manufacturers advertise. There are, however, several things that you can do to be sure you are getting the most range possible from your radio.

If your radio supports GMRS channels, be sure that you are using one. Most consumer radios support 22 channels, some FRS and some GMRS. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not allow transmission on an exclusive FRS channel at more than half a watt of power. This means that if you are on an FRS-only channel, your radio will only transmit using its "low power" mode. The FRS-only channels are 8 through 14. Channels 15 through 22 are exclusively for GMRS, and channels 1 through 7 are shared by both FRS and GMRS.

Most consumer radios support two or more power modes. To get the most range, be sure that you are using high power mode. Lower power modes will not use all of your radio's possible the output power and will reduce range.

Finally, if you still find yourself pushing the range limits of your radio you can try the "monitor channel" feature. Enabling this feature will cause the radio to open the channel, allowing you to hear static and transmissions too weak to be received by the radio in normal mode.

Also keep in mind that to get the maximum output power on your two-way radio, you will need to use a GMRS frequency. An FRS frequency will only get you a maximum of .5 watts of output power which will decrease your range dramatically.

Posted by Danny at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

You may have noticed that most of the two-way radios you see around advertise between a 5 mile and 18 mile range. If you are buying a two way radio in hopes of getting this much range, then you are sadly mistaken.

The range that a two-way radio advertises is the range that the radio should get in "ideal" conditions. Ideal conditions are line of sight, open water, open desert -- no interference at all. Chances are you aren't going to be using these radios out in the middle of the ocean. You will probably want two-way radios for things such as hunting, skiing, malls, car trips or vacations. Anything that is not considered "ideal" conditions is going to take a lot of range out of a two-way radio.

So what type of range can you expect from your radio for all other conditions? Not even close to the advertised range. While we can't give you an exact range, we can give you some helpful tips. The amount of range you will get greatly depends on where you will be using the radios and how much interference there will be. Naturally, a football stadium isn't going to have as much interference as being in the middle of a heavily wooded area. These are things that you need to take into consideration when picking out which two-way radio is right for you. You also need to look at the output power of the radio, and also the advertised range. If you are using a .5 watt output power radio advertising a 3 mile range, then you can probably expect no more than a quarter of a mile to half a mile of actual range. If you are using a 5 watt radio advertising 18 miles of range, then you can probably expect one and a half to two and a half miles of actual range.

Posted by Danny at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi, this is Danny Feemster, owner of BuyTwoWayRadios.com. Thanks for checking out our new weblog!

There's several reasons that we decided to start this blog. Most importantly, there's tons of great information and advice that we provide to our customers on a daily basis via the telephone and email that simply doesn't exist on our web site. A blog will provide us with an easy way to make this information available. It's also going to give us a great place to make new product announcements and post other industry news.

Over the next few days I hope to provide a few posts to address some of our more frequently asked questions, and to talk about some of our more popular products. Check back soon!

Posted by Danny at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)