I had a similar path into amature radio. I got turned around on a hike in AZ in 2014 and found myself with no cell service and it really shook me. I quickly realized how unprepared and irresponsible it was of me to let that happen. In my quest to never let it happen again and while researching alternatives to sat phones I came across a forum post about 2m repeaters and backcountry rescue. Here I am 10 years later, this year I started operating CW an just recently passed my extra. This rabbit hole that is radio is deep and wide. Thanks for the videos!
I think GMRS is a good choice for most people who just want to have an alternative means of communication. I'm from WNC and after Helene, all communications were down in my area for several days, and cell coverage was spotty at best for several weeks. I had a boofwang and so did several of my buddies nearby, but we had no idea how to use them. I went ahead and got my GMRS license. Your channel taught me everything I needed to know to find a few radios, and program all of the simplex and local repeater channels I needed. I also programmed all of my friend's radios too so we can communicate in the event of an emergency. Keep up the good work, your channel is super helpful 👍
I really appreciate your videos. Of my immediate group I’m the comms guy. I can point to your videos and by then you’ve answered 90% of their questions. GMRS is overlooked because it’s basic, but I think that’s what should make it a staple in everyone’s kit.
I was once flying from NJ to WI. When we reached 10,000 feet, I turned on my laptop and plugged in an SDR dongle. Tuned in to a channel where there was some chatter. It was a GMRS repeater in Pittsburgh. I could hear it all the way from Jersey to Buffalo. I was absolutely amazed by "how many fars" it could could do.
Right! It's crazy what elevation will do. I've made satellite contacts on 1w before. As long as the antennas can see each other, you can talk. Crazy stuff.
@@EvanK2EJT Right. Hight is might. Even though I had a dinky little antenna, I could have heard anything. You know what's interesting? I couldn't hear the airport tower. VHF sucks from inside a metal hull. UHF rocks.
Fantastic overview. After realizing I wasn't going to get my family on ham I also got into GMRS. Our use case is area emergency coms and atv riding. I can still do the longer range, nerd coms on ham. One thing I would add is support your local repeaters.
Your channel is now at the top of the heap for radio content. Your focus on the products and theories is highly appreciated - thank you! Many other radio content creators think that they need to be entertaining, or have poor speaking skills, or simply don't know as much as they think that they do.
FRS was great for the family at county fairs and campgrounds. GMRS is great now that my family is grown up. COMs for the whole group when SHTF. Highly recommended service.
Similar story to mine. I am often in places with no cell service with family and friends. I also have a thorough emergency comms plan in case cell service is not available. With that said, I have since gone down the entire rabbit hole for comms as each system has its positives and negatives as well as things it excels at or is capable of. For GMRS, I am currently using a Wouxun KG-UV9GX, and I am very happy with it. I use GMRS more than anything else.
Great rundown. To clarify the identification rules, you need to identify at the end of a transmission OR series of transmissions or every 15 minutes if the transmissions are ongoing. I wouldn't want anyone to think they have to give their callsign at the end of every transmission. Interestingly, while researching the rules for this comment, I found that repeaters do not need to identify so long as they are only repeating transmissions from the licensee and the licensee follows proper identification processes. That simplifies the build requirements of repeaters if it only serves your family.
Thank you for the video! A quick comment. Folks, if you live in a densely populated area, stay away from the Btech radio. It becomes desensed in a high radio-frequency environment. In my area it is practically deaf unless you and your party are very close to each other. Also, if you plan on using your radio with a base/mobile antenna, it is better to use a superheterodyne radio. The reason is the same - direct conversion rigs become desensed much more easily than superhets.
First of all, I would like to say thank you Evan extremely helpful. I am new to this I have been following you for the last month and I like the way you explain radios, etc. you don’t talk over nobody’s head so with that being said I really enjoy the videos you put out so with that being said, I would like your opinion on GMRS radios I do have my license and Khole sign because this is where I want to start out I ordered two different types of Baofeng the first one is GMRS-9R in the second one is UV - 5G plus These radios have not shown up yet so I can return them with no problem. I would like to stay in that $40-$50 range for I would appreciate very much your opinion thank you as always God bless Frank
Both of those radios will absolutely do the job. The 9R is water resistant, which is a good thing. The UV-5G is basically a GMRS UV 5R so all of the standard Baofeng batteries, etc will work with it. I'd say start with those radios, and if down the road you want something nicer take a look at the Wouxun stuff. They're more expensive, but worth it. The Radioddity radios are nice as well, and more in your price range. Either way, start with what you've got coming and go from there.
Frs has some channel with a 2w limit and some with a half a watt. MURS is also an option. When i go out i tende to hand off murs radios because must people i go with don’t have a license
I have a set of both of the radios you mentioned, both have been excellent radios for me. I can chat through the sticks with a buddy that lives around three miles away or easily hit the local repeater that's about seven miles away that's up on a tower.
Thanks for all of the info! I’ve found your content super helpful as I try to get into comms for preparedness as that has always been a gap. I just got a couple of UV-5G Pro GMRS radios. Do you have any content on how to actually start using the radios? Is it really as simple as putting both units on the same channel and then transmitting? Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving.
It's exactly that simple. The only time it gets a tad more complicated is when you program them for repeater use. I'll be doing a video on that shortly. Thanks for watching, and I appreciate the feedback! Happy Thanksgiving!
@@EvanK2EJT thank you! I was able to test the range a little this morning, and I’d like to get about another mile out of them. I’m just a little short on reaching the family that I’m trying to get comms setup with. If I upgrade the factory longer antennas that came with them with the Nagoya NA-771G 15.3-Inch Whip GMRS (462MHz) Antenna, do you think that would help much? Also, do you have any content or info on using the privacy codes? Thanks again!
@@rhayes458 A better antenna will definitely help. The Nagoya 771G is a fantastic antenna. Give it a shot and see what happens. As far as privacy tones go, I don't have anything on the channel, but I'll likely be shooting a video soon that goes over a lot of that stuff. Keep in mind "privacy" tones is a misnomer. There's absolutely nothing private about analog radio. All the tones do is tell the radio not to break squelch unless it hears that tone. That means other people won't be stepping on your conversation. They will still be able to hear 100% of the conversation though.
Interesting. My Wouxun UV9D DOES charge from a USB-C to USB-C cable (Anker) connected to a Mac laptop power brick. But I agree, you have to be careful, some radios can't be charged like that. For example, the popular Quansheng UV-K5 series can't be. Also, if you are charging a Quansheng radio via USB-C, it not only stops receiving, but also tends to jam other radios around it.
@@EvanK2EJT One reason I think the Quansheng UV-K5 (5/8 or 6, or whatever they are called) should be in everyone's collection is because of its tone scanning. The radio itself is not expensive. About 30 bucks. I installed the Egzumer 21 (spelling?) firmware. I used the Vivaldi browser to do that. Then you go to whatever frequency or channel. Press F and *. This will activate tone scanning. Unlike with most radios, there doesn't have to be any activity at this point. You don't have to specify whether the tone is CTCSS or DCS. You just leave the radio alone. Once the radio gets a signal, it will display the tone to you, and it will be on the screen until you press the exit button.
This is how I know the tones of a bunch of repeaters in WI, IL, IN, and MI (when propagation is good). It is fun to check into a net or have a chat with someone a hundred miles away. And do so on UHF.
Im new new to grms radios. Your chart really help me understand. I got my radios working on .5w and 5w. Now I just need to program the repeaters near me and see if I can reach them. I do have a question though. Can you hop multiple repeaters for extended range? I am very green. Lol
The reason for the A and C lines is that in Canada, GMRS repeaters are not allowed. On the one hand Canada gives in that there is no GMRS license required, but they take back and not allow repeaters. Which, IHMO, greatly limits their usefulness.
I have a pair of Baofeng UV5G plus and like them except I can't seem to program to a nearby GMRS repeater. I can program my Baofeng HAM radios blind folded but I'm confused about the input freq to the output freq and the DPL tone etc I'm used to offset and ctcss etc.
So the idea is basically the same. The first thing you need to remember is the offset is set automatically to +5. On GMRS, because the frequencies are shared with FRS, they use tones both in and out for the repeater. Input tone is what you are sending to open the repeater. Output tone is what you set so you're *only* hearing the repeater. Some of the repeaters use CTCCC, others DPL, some a combination of those two. I'll do a video on explaining how to set up a GMRS radio for repeater use soon.
Don’t want the cheapest but not the most expensive. I just need something for emergencies. Based on what happened in NC I’ve been thinking of getting something more reliable. We have the regular FRS radios for our church and have a couple at home when we travel but would like something for real emergencies
@@maverickmig211 If you're in the under $100 range, there are several Radioddity and Btech radios that fit the bill. If you can swing between $100 and $150, the Wouxun radios are what I'd go with. They have the best receivers from what I've found.
Although I was a good little citizen and got the GMRS and Tech licenses, I wasn't thrilled to see that people can do a simple click on your call sign and see your name, home address, and even an overhead satellite view of your house. Big Brother much?
@EvanK2EJT I wasn't aware that was an option. Thank you for that bit of info. BTW, thanks for the easy to understand video. Forwarded to a friend who was asking me all the same stuff earlier this morning.
Very true! But you more than likely to fine someone on ham before GMRS. You’re still better off with cellular. You may be lacking enough signal to make a call. But most likely have enough to make a txt to someone you know will be on the other end.
@@corykroeger2231 That's area dependent. Some places GMRS is busy as all get out. Where I live, you're right....ham radio is a better option. As for phones, they're great when the network is up. After what we saw with Helene, anyone who relies solely on cell service for comms after a disaster is in for a rude awakening.
I had a similar path into amature radio. I got turned around on a hike in AZ in 2014 and found myself with no cell service and it really shook me. I quickly realized how unprepared and irresponsible it was of me to let that happen. In my quest to never let it happen again and while researching alternatives to sat phones I came across a forum post about 2m repeaters and backcountry rescue. Here I am 10 years later, this year I started operating CW an just recently passed my extra. This rabbit hole that is radio is deep and wide. Thanks for the videos!
I think GMRS is a good choice for most people who just want to have an alternative means of communication. I'm from WNC and after Helene, all communications were down in my area for several days, and cell coverage was spotty at best for several weeks. I had a boofwang and so did several of my buddies nearby, but we had no idea how to use them. I went ahead and got my GMRS license. Your channel taught me everything I needed to know to find a few radios, and program all of the simplex and local repeater channels I needed. I also programmed all of my friend's radios too so we can communicate in the event of an emergency. Keep up the good work, your channel is super helpful 👍
Awesome! I'm glad I was able to be of help! Thanks for the feedback, and thanks for watching.
I really appreciate your videos. Of my immediate group I’m the comms guy. I can point to your videos and by then you’ve answered 90% of their questions. GMRS is overlooked because it’s basic, but I think that’s what should make it a staple in everyone’s kit.
Thank you! Yeah, I agree, GMRS should be in everyone's toolbox
I was once flying from NJ to WI. When we reached 10,000 feet, I turned on my laptop and plugged in an SDR dongle. Tuned in to a channel where there was some chatter. It was a GMRS repeater in Pittsburgh. I could hear it all the way from Jersey to Buffalo. I was absolutely amazed by "how many fars" it could could do.
Right! It's crazy what elevation will do. I've made satellite contacts on 1w before. As long as the antennas can see each other, you can talk. Crazy stuff.
@@EvanK2EJT Right. Hight is might. Even though I had a dinky little antenna, I could have heard anything. You know what's interesting? I couldn't hear the airport tower. VHF sucks from inside a metal hull. UHF rocks.
Fantastic overview. After realizing I wasn't going to get my family on ham I also got into GMRS. Our use case is area emergency coms and atv riding. I can still do the longer range, nerd coms on ham. One thing I would add is support your local repeaters.
Best primer for GMRS. Very informative for newbies like me. Will be listening on the side!
Thank you, and thanks for watching!
Your channel is now at the top of the heap for radio content. Your focus on the products and theories is highly appreciated - thank you! Many other radio content creators think that they need to be entertaining, or have poor speaking skills, or simply don't know as much as they think that they do.
Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it
FRS was great for the family at county fairs and campgrounds. GMRS is great now that my family is grown up. COMs for the whole group when SHTF. Highly recommended service.
Similar story to mine. I am often in places with no cell service with family and friends. I also have a thorough emergency comms plan in case cell service is not available. With that said, I have since gone down the entire rabbit hole for comms as each system has its positives and negatives as well as things it excels at or is capable of. For GMRS, I am currently using a Wouxun KG-UV9GX, and I am very happy with it. I use GMRS more than anything else.
Your videos are always packed with great info. Thank you I'm learning so much!
Thanks for watching!
Excellent explanation! Well worth the time for this newbie! 🇺🇸👍
Your teachings are excellent. Thank you.
So, antenna’s are to radio what scopes are to rifles. Noted.
Thanks for the nice information again!
That's a VERY accurate analogy!
Excellent keep em rolling
Great review, thank you
Great rundown. To clarify the identification rules, you need to identify at the end of a transmission OR series of transmissions or every 15 minutes if the transmissions are ongoing. I wouldn't want anyone to think they have to give their callsign at the end of every transmission. Interestingly, while researching the rules for this comment, I found that repeaters do not need to identify so long as they are only repeating transmissions from the licensee and the licensee follows proper identification processes. That simplifies the build requirements of repeaters if it only serves your family.
You are correct. I should have been more specific. Thanks!
Lots of good info there. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Very Well Done
Thank you for the video! A quick comment. Folks, if you live in a densely populated area, stay away from the Btech radio. It becomes desensed in a high radio-frequency environment. In my area it is practically deaf unless you and your party are very close to each other. Also, if you plan on using your radio with a base/mobile antenna, it is better to use a superheterodyne radio. The reason is the same - direct conversion rigs become desensed much more easily than superhets.
Yeah, there's really no replacement for a good superhet receiver.
Can I admit I came for the t-shirt but stayed for the content... Lol
😂😂😂
First of all, I would like to say thank you Evan extremely helpful. I am new to this I have been following you for the last month and I like the way you explain radios, etc. you don’t talk over nobody’s head so with that being said I really enjoy the videos you put out so with that being said, I would like your opinion on GMRS radios I do have my license and Khole sign because this is where I want to start out I ordered two different types of Baofeng the first one is GMRS-9R in the second one is UV - 5G plus These radios have not shown up yet so I can return them with no problem. I would like to stay in that $40-$50 range for I would appreciate very much your opinion thank you as always God bless Frank
Both of those radios will absolutely do the job. The 9R is water resistant, which is a good thing. The UV-5G is basically a GMRS UV 5R so all of the standard Baofeng batteries, etc will work with it. I'd say start with those radios, and if down the road you want something nicer take a look at the Wouxun stuff. They're more expensive, but worth it. The Radioddity radios are nice as well, and more in your price range. Either way, start with what you've got coming and go from there.
@@EvanK2EJT thank you very much and I already did order quarter inch wave smiley antenna thank you again, Frank
Frs has some channel with a 2w limit and some with a half a watt. MURS is also an option. When i go out i tende to hand off murs radios because must people i go with don’t have a license
I have a set of both of the radios you mentioned, both have been excellent radios for me. I can chat through the sticks with a buddy that lives around three miles away or easily hit the local repeater that's about seven miles away that's up on a tower.
@@reloader7sixtwo thank you I appreciate the info
Liked and Subscribed!
Thanks Evan
Thanks for all of the info! I’ve found your content super helpful as I try to get into comms for preparedness as that has always been a gap.
I just got a couple of UV-5G Pro GMRS radios. Do you have any content on how to actually start using the radios?
Is it really as simple as putting both units on the same channel and then transmitting?
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving.
It's exactly that simple. The only time it gets a tad more complicated is when you program them for repeater use. I'll be doing a video on that shortly. Thanks for watching, and I appreciate the feedback! Happy Thanksgiving!
@@EvanK2EJT thank you! I was able to test the range a little this morning, and I’d like to get about another mile out of them. I’m just a little short on reaching the family that I’m trying to get comms setup with.
If I upgrade the factory longer antennas that came with them with the Nagoya NA-771G 15.3-Inch Whip GMRS (462MHz) Antenna, do you think that would help much?
Also, do you have any content or info on using the privacy codes?
Thanks again!
@@rhayes458 A better antenna will definitely help. The Nagoya 771G is a fantastic antenna. Give it a shot and see what happens. As far as privacy tones go, I don't have anything on the channel, but I'll likely be shooting a video soon that goes over a lot of that stuff. Keep in mind "privacy" tones is a misnomer. There's absolutely nothing private about analog radio. All the tones do is tell the radio not to break squelch unless it hears that tone. That means other people won't be stepping on your conversation. They will still be able to hear 100% of the conversation though.
Interesting. My Wouxun UV9D DOES charge from a USB-C to USB-C cable (Anker) connected to a Mac laptop power brick. But I agree, you have to be careful, some radios can't be charged like that. For example, the popular Quansheng UV-K5 series can't be. Also, if you are charging a Quansheng radio via USB-C, it not only stops receiving, but also tends to jam other radios around it.
I didn't know that about the Quansheng radios. Interesting!
@@EvanK2EJT One reason I think the Quansheng UV-K5 (5/8 or 6, or whatever they are called) should be in everyone's collection is because of its tone scanning. The radio itself is not expensive. About 30 bucks. I installed the Egzumer 21 (spelling?) firmware. I used the Vivaldi browser to do that. Then you go to whatever frequency or channel. Press F and *. This will activate tone scanning. Unlike with most radios, there doesn't have to be any activity at this point. You don't have to specify whether the tone is CTCSS or DCS. You just leave the radio alone. Once the radio gets a signal, it will display the tone to you, and it will be on the screen until you press the exit button.
This is how I know the tones of a bunch of repeaters in WI, IL, IN, and MI (when propagation is good). It is fun to check into a net or have a chat with someone a hundred miles away. And do so on UHF.
Im new new to grms radios. Your chart really help me understand. I got my radios working on .5w and 5w. Now I just need to program the repeaters near me and see if I can reach them. I do have a question though. Can you hop multiple repeaters for extended range? I am very green. Lol
No. It's a single repeater. GMRS repeaters can't be linked (they used to, but not anymore). Ham repeaters can be linked though.
The reason for the A and C lines is that in Canada, GMRS repeaters are not allowed. On the one hand Canada gives in that there is no GMRS license required, but they take back and not allow repeaters. Which, IHMO, greatly limits their usefulness.
Ah! Thank you for filling in the gap in my knowledge. I appreciate it!
Also limited to 2W!
I have a pair of Baofeng UV5G plus and like them except I can't seem to program to a nearby GMRS repeater. I can program my Baofeng HAM radios blind folded but I'm confused about the input freq to the output freq and the DPL tone etc I'm used to offset and ctcss etc.
So the idea is basically the same. The first thing you need to remember is the offset is set automatically to +5. On GMRS, because the frequencies are shared with FRS, they use tones both in and out for the repeater. Input tone is what you are sending to open the repeater. Output tone is what you set so you're *only* hearing the repeater. Some of the repeaters use CTCCC, others DPL, some a combination of those two. I'll do a video on explaining how to set up a GMRS radio for repeater use soon.
@@EvanK2EJT Thanks, so what the owner of the repeater sent me was this "input 467.6500 MHz - DPL 155 Output: 462.6500 Mhz - DPL 245 Analog - -25khz.
@@EvanK2EJT With that being said, do I just go to freq 462.6500 which should be channel 19 and set a DCS -T to 155? And thats it?
Nice video. Very informative. However I do want to point out that your KG-S88G will in fact RX UHF and VHF frequencies out of the GMRS band.
Hmm....I had no idea. I'll have to try it on VHF. I know it will on UHF
@@EvanK2EJT Hopefully it's not a type-o on the link you shared. It also shows that it supposedly RX VHF.
Nope. Just tried it. Only receives 400.000 through 480.000
@@EvanK2EJT Well the website is wrong too then. Fantastic
@@EvanK2EJTWow I misread the website. I feel like an absolute moron. Sorry to waste your time.
This is great content. So what radio you suggest for a beginner?
That depends on your budget and needs. How much do you want to spend, and are there any features you'd like on the radio?
Don’t want the cheapest but not the most expensive. I just need something for emergencies. Based on what happened in NC I’ve been thinking of getting something more reliable. We have the regular FRS radios for our church and have a couple at home when we travel but would like something for real emergencies
@@maverickmig211 If you're in the under $100 range, there are several Radioddity and Btech radios that fit the bill. If you can swing between $100 and $150, the Wouxun radios are what I'd go with. They have the best receivers from what I've found.
There are USB-C replacement batteries for the Baofeng [UV-5G] that charge C to C.
Yeah. I have a bunch lol
Can your next video explain how to "front keyboard " tones for privacy and repeaters?
I can definitely include that in my next radio programming video!
GMRS is best to start off.
Agreed
Although I was a good little citizen and got the GMRS and Tech licenses, I wasn't thrilled to see that people can do a simple click on your call sign and see your name, home address, and even an overhead satellite view of your house. Big Brother much?
Yeah, the only real way to fix that is to get a PO box and use that for your license
@EvanK2EJT I wasn't aware that was an option. Thank you for that bit of info.
BTW, thanks for the easy to understand video. Forwarded to a friend who was asking me all the same stuff earlier this morning.
Gmrs is a great option if you don't want to take a test on things you will never need to know. Just to talk to dinosaurs on ham repeaters.
I am North of line A by a bunch lol. Ding Dang Ole Canadians! I tell you what!
LOL yes you are
Milo buys a radio 🤘
YES! 😂
Im the only one watching this while doing it with my gf?
😂
It's 69 with gmrs tho isn't it?
LOL according to Randy, yes 😂
GMRS radios are no good if no one is on the other end. Keep that in mind.
That's the case with any radio.... Or any method of communication for that matter
Very true! But you more than likely to fine someone on ham before GMRS.
You’re still better off with cellular. You may be lacking enough signal to make a call. But most likely have enough to make a txt to someone you know will be on the other end.
@@corykroeger2231 That's area dependent. Some places GMRS is busy as all get out. Where I live, you're right....ham radio is a better option. As for phones, they're great when the network is up. After what we saw with Helene, anyone who relies solely on cell service for comms after a disaster is in for a rude awakening.
Agreed!