Say Goodbye to Your CB Radio

[MidlandUSA]

Being the first manufacturer of CB radios we definitely know their value but also know that they are limited to 4 watts of power by law. That's why we decided that we needed an alternative with better range, and to be compatible with FRS/GMRS walkie talkies. Enter the GMRS MicroMobile Two-Way Radio available in 5, 15, and 40 watt options!

READ MORE

 

[Beowulf]

Range?

 

[Beowulf]

40 watt version

 

[prerunner1982]

40 watt version

View attachment 488790

The most important thing on that image are the last 4 words in the lower right... "Actual distance my vary"

 

[Dougherty03]

Those 40 watt GMRS (UHF) units will be FAR better than CB for the overwhelming majority of users.

Edit: These radios require a GMRS license, which has a fee, good for a few years, test free, and cover your immediate family.

 

[Beowulf]

I believe it is $70-75 for 10 years.

 

[dreadlocks]

despite the majority of users being unlicensed, its easily worth the $7/yr to keep the FCC from auctioning the band off to commercial interests or allowing it become as useless as CB has been for decades now.. if you cant afford $70 every decade, then stick to the unlicensed FRS radios..

sooo @MidlandUSA, any plans on releasing licensed repeater hardware? A mobile base station with built in duplexer and an dedicated receiver would be extremely popular with this audience as a basecamp radio.

 

[Billoftt]

The most important thing on that image are the last 4 words in the lower right... "Actual distance my vary"

And here in the Southeastern US that would be 4-5 miles.

Stupid hills and trees...

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk

 

[pugslyyy]

FRS/GMRS is a "new era"? I sure thought they had been around for a while...

 

[craig333]

Still not ready to remove my cb. Just found another group going to the Mojave road requiring CB. Not my preference but at least I could play.

 

[ghcoe]

I have both in my vehicle. Seems most people have CB's. I have been a ham for 2 years and only once in all my trips did I have a person only using a ham radio. To be honest it was kind of a pain in the butt relaying info on two different radio types since no one else in the group had a ham license or ham radio. All people in a convoy should have one mode of communication. Sorry CB just still seems to be the communication of choice still. Basically because it is so cheap easy and no license required. Maybe the GRMS channels will grow, but until everyone changes over it is going to be a big pain in the butt for comms.

I think CB works great for most convoy comms and the GRMS is good for lead and tail vehicles if something should go south and longer range communications is needed. That is how I am currently setting up my convoys.

 

[Billoftt]

You have to admit, it is nice to have a 1/4 wave antenna that is 6 inches tall instead of 8 feet.

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk

 

[Martinjmpr]

Hopefully this will catch on. Much easier to use than 2m. Unlike the dual band radio which has been gathering dust in my cabinet, I would actually use this!

 

[Martinjmpr]

sooo @MidlandUSA, any plans on releasing licensed repeater hardware? A mobile base station with built in duplexer and an dedicated receiver would be extremely popular with this audience as a basecamp radio.

How would that work with uplink/downlink frequencies? I would think you'd have to dedicate a few "pairs" of channels, one for uplink and one for downlink.

Neat idea but if it makes the radios more difficult to program or use it's a non starter IMO. If people want complicated radios they can do lots of stuff with, they can stay in the HAM world.

For those of us to whom radios are not a hobby or interest and just need to talk, the simplicity of FRS/GMRS is its most important feature.

Realistically speaking, when was the last time you NEEDED repeater capability in the lower 48? Particularly now that cell phone coverage is only growing, the "benefit" of 2m/70CM Ham bands ability to use repeaters is not significant enough to offset the difficult user interface.

 

[Martinjmpr]

View attachment 488724
Being the first manufacturer of CB radios we definitely know their value but also know that they are limited to 4 watts of power by law. That's why we decided that we needed an alternative with better range, and to be compatible with FRS/GMRS walkie talkies. Enter the GMRS MicroMobile Two-Way Radio available in 5, 15, and 40 watt options!

To Midland: I know this sounds like heresy to any good electronics engineer, but IMO it would be a good idea to offer a dual band radio that covers both 11 meter (CB) frequencies as well as GMRS. I realize that a radio like that would be unneccesssarily complex but I think it would be an excellent way to "bridge" the current communications gap.

Here's why: The primary reason most users would be reluctant to get a new radio is because "it only works if other people are on that frequency too."

So, offering a CB/GMRS combination radio would allow someone to "upgrade" to GMRS capability while still retaining the ability to communicate with those who are still on CB.

It's kind of like when DVD's first came out, lots of people had "libraries" of movies on VHS, so manufacturers made combination VHS/DVD players so people could adopt the new technology (DVD) while still retaining the ability to use the old technology (VHS.) Eventually, people weaned themselves off of VHS and the VHS/DVD player combination disappeared from the marketplace.

I suspect the same will happen with CB. But it helps to get people to adopt GMRS if they can also use the same radios to talk to their friends who HAVEN'T yet made the change.

(and before anyone says "it can't be done", of course it can - the Yaesu FT-8900R operates on the 10m, 6m, 2m and 70cm bands. So there's no reason a CB/GMRS radio could not be built)