Updated April 22, 2025.
When we first announced Midland's 2008 FRS/GMRS radios back in the day, we found it interesting that most new models introduced that year were offering "extra channels" as a feature. Previously it was an industry standard that all the old dual service (FRS/GMRS) radios at the time supported 22 channels, each channel representing one of the 22 FRS and/or GMRS simplex frequencies. If they were to remain consistent, the new channels would need to use different frequencies than existing channels. Only 22 simplex frequencies had been approved by the FCC for FRS/GMRS usage, however, and those 22 frequencies were already represented. This is still true today.

The Midland radios that were introduced in 2008 had 22 extra channels, for a total of 42 channels. In the years since, the number expanded. The models currently in production, including the GXT1000, GXT1030, and GXT3000 have a total of 50 channels. The Midland GXT67 Pro includes 49 additional user defined (programmable) channels on top of the 22 simplex and 8 repeater channels, for a total of 99! While this is certainly not unique for many professional grade GMRS radios on the market today, it is a first for a Midland GMRS handheld radio.

So how do these extra channels work? It turns out that these channels are not channels in the sense that we have been historically used to (where a channel represents a frequency). These "extra channels" use a frequency already used by a standard channel, but have a pre-set privacy code that cannot be changed. This provides the illusion of a new channel, but has some side effects that could cause confusion. For example, if you transmit on Midland channel 24, a typical radio left in scan mode would receive your transmission as if it were sent on channel 3.

While these "extra channels" may make it a little easier for a novice to find an interference free channel, I feel like this is more marketing hype than anything else. A standard 22 channel Motorola or Cobra FRS radio is 100% compatible with every channel of a 50 channel Midland GXT1000 (cross reference chart below). Midland makes great radios and there are plenty of reasons to buy their products, but "extra channels" shouldn't be one of them.

The following is a cross reference chart that lists Midland's "extra channels" and the standard channel / privacy code that it matches up with. We have now updated the chart to show all 50 of these channels.

Midland Channel Frequency Actual Channel CTCSS DCS Code
23 462.5625 1 250.3 - 38
24 462.6125 3 225.7 - 35
25 462.6625 5 203.5 - 32
26 462.7125 7 179.9 - 29
27 462.5500 15 162.2 - 26
28 462.6000 17 146.2 - 23
29 462.6500 19 131.8 - 20
30 462.7000 21 118.8 - 17
31 462.5875 2 - 023 1
32 462.6375 4 - 031 4
33 462.6875 6 - 047 7
34 467.5625 8 - 065 10
35 467.6125 10 - 073 13
36 467.6625 12 - 115 16
37 467.7125 14 - 131 19
38 462.5750 16 - 143 22
39 462.6250 18 - 156 25
40 462.6750 20 - 172 28
41 462.7250 22 - 223 31
42 462.5625 1 107.2 - 14
43 462.6125 3 97.4 - 11
44 462.6625 5 88.5 - 8
45 462.7125 7 79.7 - 5
46 462.5500 15 71.9 - 2
47 462.6000 17 241.8 - 37
48 462.6500 19 218.1 - 34
49 462.7000 21 192.8 - 31
50 462.7250 2 - 025 2

With some radios such as the Motorola Talkabout you will need to add 38 to the code listed above. (Example: For channel 32, the code would be 4 + 38 = 42)