Anyone using GMRS radios while chasing?

[Walt VanRheen]

Just wondering if anyone else is using GMRS for car to car? My handheld scanner that I was using for WX radio died, and I was thinking about getting a set of GMRS. Input? Brand? Features to watch for?

 

[Ric Burney]

While GMRS (uhf band) is great for urban areas it's not so great in rural settings where MURS (vhf band) would get you better distance. MURS radios may be a little harder to find than GMRS but do not require a license like GMRS.
For a little more info on GMRS, MURS and other services check out this site:
http://www.popularwireless.com/
As far as WX radio, I would invest in another scanner just to have the flexibility to monitor other bands. A ham radio license would be the ideal way to go but that would require that a person in the other car hold a valid ham license in order to communicate with you.

 

[fplowman]

I have used different brands.

Something I cant stand is trying to hear the other person or them trying to hear you. Why? Well, the speaker in them is small and with road noise etc. it is just damn hard to make out what others are saying with road noise and other background noise.

They work between vehicles optimally when stopped and within line of sight. Otherwise for my use I consider them toys. A good set of real 2 way HAMS would be better.

 

[Paul Austin]

If you do decide to use GMRS or any other hand held device, test it with your video equipment. I found out the hard way that our pair of GMRS radios put out a signal that interfered with the video signal (internally) of one of our cameras. This happened on May 5, 2007 during our best intercept of the day in a low-light/low-contrast situation - very frustrating. Every time my brother, Marc, who was holding the camera at the time, would talk into the radio, the video would show snowy interference, but not enough to notice on the LCD (only later when played back and captured at full size). We hadn't noticed this before, because the two devices weren't so close together prior to this particular encounter. I think the radios used were Radio Shack and the camera a Sony Handycam (not sure the model offhand). So test your gear or use an external roof-mounted antenna...and test that one too

Oh, and the radios worked pretty well for us, but the batteries drained pretty quickly, and the estimated maximum effective distances these devices advertise are in reallity found only under the absolutely PERFECT conditions, which don't exist anywhere that I'm aware of, LOL. Line of sight is a pretty good rule of thumb. Ours were effective out to about 5 miles maximum under ideal conditions.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Those little hand held radio's are pretty much useless, why don't you just study and take the exam to get your technician license and get a ham radio? You can easily obtain one, it's not that hard. I studied for 5 days and then took the exam and passed. You will get a much better range with a ham radio than you would with a GMRS radio. Additionally you will be able to receive NOAA Weather Radio by tuning into the frequencies on the ham radio.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

While HAM Radio would be far superior, I doubt they're going to get a couple handhelds for $20

It's a good idea to get a ham radio license, but for 2 cars to talk to each other, you're looking at a significant investment (At least $200-300 for 2 hand held radios, plus another $30 for 2 people to take their tech test)

 

[Steve Polley]

Paul makes a good point, I have had the same issue with my uhf radio interfering with my camera as well. UHF, which is the same band that GMRS runs on, sometimes will do strange things especially at 110 Watts . Just something to keep in mind whether you will be using GMRS or UHF Ham freqs.