Okay, I hope my painful ignorance won't be too annoying here but I hope to get some recommendations on GMRS radios for trail use. Started looking around on my own but with the volume of info, and the fact that almost all 'reviews' are tied to some seller's site, to me, it's like which butter tastes best on an English muffin... I'm overwhelmed. Made in USA is my first choice. Will buy China stuff but only on good recommendations and dependability. It can always be used as backup stuff when I progress to better equipment. Thoughts and direction will be much appreciated.
GMRS recommendations
- Thread starter DaveKay
- Start date
nwoods
Expedition Leader
For vehicle to vehicle comms, GMRS really does work quite well. HAM offers broader spectrum of frequencies, higher power ratings, the use of repeaters, the ability to use the internet to ping location tracing, and if you are really into it, the ability to bounce signals halfway around the world off the ionosphere. But for day to day vehicle to vehicle coms, GMRS works just as well as Simplex HAM (ie, radio to radio, no repeater) .
The GMRS band plan is divided up into "channels" that are specific frequencies. There is a chart that shows you what maximum power you are allowed to transmit on with various channels. The "upper" channels are 15 to 24 and allow up to 50 watts for GMRS use.
Midland and Rugged Radio are probably the two most popular brands of vehicle mounted GMRS radios, with units ranging from 15 watts to 50 watts. The 50 watt Midland is a great radio, but it won't transmit on the lower power rated frequencies, so it is not a full range GMRS radio. The 15 watt unit however, will transmit on all the available GMRS channels, so keep that in mind. If you are with a club or group that prefers, say, channel 14, you are not going to be able to use that fancy expensive new 50 watt Radio.
I don't have any first hand experience with the Rugged Radio brand, but they appear to be more suited for side-by-sides (in my opinion). Midland has units that allows you to install the base unit under a seat or in the glove box and handle all the controls through the headset, which I really like. Midland also has a range of antenna styles with various degrees of gain / signal reception strength that are well suited for most vehicles.
A popular third option is to buy a variant of the ubiquitous UV-5R HAM hand held radio from Baofeng, which (illegally) lets you transmit across HAM and GMRS frequencies, has fantastic battery life (with the extended battery) and multiple antenna options, and is generally quite easy to use. And dirt cheap. It is intended for use by people with a HAM license, and not intended for use on GMRS channels because that would be contrary to FCC rules.
The GMRS band plan is divided up into "channels" that are specific frequencies. There is a chart that shows you what maximum power you are allowed to transmit on with various channels. The "upper" channels are 15 to 24 and allow up to 50 watts for GMRS use.
Midland and Rugged Radio are probably the two most popular brands of vehicle mounted GMRS radios, with units ranging from 15 watts to 50 watts. The 50 watt Midland is a great radio, but it won't transmit on the lower power rated frequencies, so it is not a full range GMRS radio. The 15 watt unit however, will transmit on all the available GMRS channels, so keep that in mind. If you are with a club or group that prefers, say, channel 14, you are not going to be able to use that fancy expensive new 50 watt Radio.
I don't have any first hand experience with the Rugged Radio brand, but they appear to be more suited for side-by-sides (in my opinion). Midland has units that allows you to install the base unit under a seat or in the glove box and handle all the controls through the headset, which I really like. Midland also has a range of antenna styles with various degrees of gain / signal reception strength that are well suited for most vehicles.
A popular third option is to buy a variant of the ubiquitous UV-5R HAM hand held radio from Baofeng, which (illegally) lets you transmit across HAM and GMRS frequencies, has fantastic battery life (with the extended battery) and multiple antenna options, and is generally quite easy to use. And dirt cheap. It is intended for use by people with a HAM license, and not intended for use on GMRS channels because that would be contrary to FCC rules.
Wow, thanks~! Very good info! The kind of info I'm looking for~! My future goal is to upgrade to a full HAM license but for now I'm just getting started on off-road comms. Thanks again!
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Thanks for that, and I am aware of the GMRS licensing requirements and wish to fully comply. I kinda' figured everything radio was Chinese these days, even Midland. But as with much of my offroad gear, I still strive for Made in USA products in the hope that anything even marginally better than Chinese junk will lower my blood pressure levels and, perhaps even limit the amount of time I might otherwise spend on cursing, fuming, gnashing-teeth and ranting over some broken down Made in China garbage, that is leaving me stranded--- which incidentally, may also help to prolong my life span as well as that of my dear spouse.../s
Thanks for that, and I do intend to have dash-mount radio as well as handheld for my off-roading ventures. Not to mention emergency recovery beacon type electronics, GPS, onXmapps phone app and Lord Knows what else. Further suggestions are welcome
ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Theres good info here for sure. Even more if you search.
jadmt
ignore button user
Bill Ruttan
Member
The “sweet spot”, for Garmin, is their MXT275 MicroMobile. Just buy the FCC License ($35 for 10 years), plug the radio into your ‘power point’ (cigarette lighter), place the little magnetic mount antenna on the outside of your vehicle, and you are good to go. Oh, one more thing: the Chinese GMRS units work just fine.
HWY395ghost
Member
KG-1000G+ for home/vehicle base unit.
KG-935G+ for hand held field use.
Both have decent programming features and are compatible with RTSystems' excellent programming that allows you to copy and paste "channels" between units.
Check out mygmrs.com for lots of info and product reviews.
KG-935G+ for hand held field use.
Both have decent programming features and are compatible with RTSystems' excellent programming that allows you to copy and paste "channels" between units.
Check out mygmrs.com for lots of info and product reviews.
Inyo_man
Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
I've been running the Midland MXT 575 with the Midland 6db gain antenna...
Our group is very happy with the clarity and distance of transmission and reception in both open desert and mountainous terrain. Coming from the CB world, this is a huge upgrade.
Cheers
Our group is very happy with the clarity and distance of transmission and reception in both open desert and mountainous terrain. Coming from the CB world, this is a huge upgrade.
Cheers
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Regards to made in USA or perhaps just not made in China. There have been such radios in the past but current production isn't really going to be an option. You might get not Chinese made but I'm not sure there's ever been a US-made GMRS/FRS. I'm not sure there's even been a US-made FM mobile in decades for any service, ham, public service LMR. Maybe some of the L3Harris or Bendix military or government radios will be but those are completely different ball of wax and a different price stratosphere.
Midland radios are made well enough, which is really the question you should ask.
Country of origin is a broad topic and China specifically will make a range of quality. They're just making what the contract says to make, which is usually cheap. Chinese factories are capable of making world class products. High end computers, cameras, electronics are made there, too. Whether your intellectual property is safe and if the all the components are legitimately sourced. Well. Yeah.
If you're dead set against Chinese made GMRS, which I doubt you are when push comes to shove, you can pick up older radios. Kenwood has made models of GMRS legal radios in their Malaysian factory along side public service radios you'd see in service with cops, fire departments and the like. It's good stuff. Same with a few Vertex-Standard or Motorola models that are GMRS legal. Motorola has been making mobile and portable radios in Malysia as well, now going on 50 years.
All of these will be radio from 10, 15, 20 years ago now, prior to the 2017 realignment of rules, they'd be grandfathered radios technically. Despite being high quality they are used, likely not gently coming from police cruisers and taxis, and will suffer aging issues so caps and filters will be drifting now.
Stick with new Midland and just don't dwell on it. Life's too short to worry about trivial things. If your new Midland breaks, get a warranty replacement and move on.
Datsun Man
Member
Personally I would go with Midland. They have both the MXT500 and MXT575 that are the most powerful a GMRS Radio can be(50 watts). Personally I have the MXT575 so I can hide the main unit and have the display and controls on the handset. With the 3DB antenna you get a good range and excellent sound quality. Paired with a 6DB antenna and you get even more range, but up close to the vehicle can be a bit rough.