Amateur Radio Stack Exchange
Amateur Radio Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [frs]

Family Radio Service, most common "Walkie Talkies"

10 questions
17
votes
4 answers

Using my Baofeng UV-5R to talk to walkie talkies

I have a few walkie talkies at home and sometimes I connect my UV-5R to them to talk to them and act as another walkie talkie. At one time, I built a little simplex repeater out of it. Should I not be doing this? I don't think the other walkie…
Skyler 440
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15
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4 answers

FCC tracking of unlicensed FRS/GMRS transmissions

If a transceiver such as the BaoFeng UV-5R is used to transmit over FRS/GMRS frequencies (unlicensed), it is illegal in the United States due to FCC regulations that state that the power must be <0.5W and that the radio must not have a detachable…
J. Taylor
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7
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2 answers

Options for family short range communication in an emergency

I work in an office building about 3 miles from my apartment. I live in a medium sized city in the US. I have thought about getting a pair of walkie talkies for communicating when the cell phone services are not working (I have experienced this),…
user926
3
votes
3 answers

NFM and FM compatibility

I read that using narrow band (NFM) when you should be using normal(FM)/wide-band(WFM) can result in the a reduced volume at the receiver. What happens in the opposite situation? (What if you are transmitting with FM and the receiver is expecting…
Bort
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2
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3 answers

Trouble communicating between Baofeng and Midland walkies

I'm very new to walkies and radios, and I know next to nothing. My friends and I bought a box of Baofeng 888s radios (which apparently also go by quite a few other names and manufacturers) and I'm having trouble getting them to communicate with my…
Ezratic
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2
votes
1 answer

Transmitting on FRS using a chinese handheld radio

I bought a Chinese-made handheld radio with detachable antenna. I programmed it for FRS/GMRS frequencies, but its output is about 3W. Is it illegal? If it is, why and how would anyone find out?
Kirill
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2
votes
6 answers

Looking for a way to create a radio link between a pair of antique telegraph keys

I'm trying to design a way to link up two antique telegraph keys wirelessly. This is for a friend to use with his granddaughter between the house and the playhouse, so we plan to use FRS to avoid licensing requirements. My current thought is to use…
soupwell
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1
vote
2 answers

GMRS/FRS data communication

Is it possible to use an ordinary GMRS/FRS UHF handheld set for data communications? I hope to use a Motorola UHF GMRS handheld with a terminal node controller device to for data communication. Are there any terminal node controller devices for…
Rookie.S
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1
vote
3 answers

Why are no 2w FRS walkie talkies on the market?

I have read that the new laws regarding FRS radios state that you may use up to 2 watts power, yet I can't find a single 2 way radio that advertises 2 watts power; only .5 watt, or they don't state anything at all. Why are no 2w FRS walkie talkies…
John
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0
votes
1 answer

What to do to get different brands of FRS radios to communicate?

I'm the driving force behind our CERT at a 55+ community in FL, USA. We have different brands of FRS radios but not all will communicate with each other. None of us are radio/electronics savvy (where's that Grandkid when you need them?) All of the…
Confused
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