My wife and I had been using MURS around our property but we now are using the 900 MHz ISM band. It is also license free. We are using the Retevis RT-10. It is a true DMR radio and has AES encryption. We found that MURS was very position sensitive (moving the radio less than one foot could change the reception) but the RT-10 doesn't have that problem. I have not done any distance testing but it works great outdoors here and had no problem in a 3 floor hotel that we stayed at. The RT-10 has 8 zones with 16 channels each. The problem was, if you accidentally hit a key next to the PTT it would change the zone and you would need to press it 8 more times to get back to the zone you were using. Since we only use one frequency, I reprogrammed that key that to something else. Now we have a 16 channel radio. Works for us.
Excellent idea. Thank you for the suggestion. This is absolutely something to explore. The RT10 looks to be a very simple radio, at a good price and packed with features. I'll have dive into and see if it's true AES-256 bit encryption. It looks to be 1 watt, but for local communication that should be fine.
Great video. Love the way you did it. For license free, I chose FRS for UHF FM mode very short distance communications, MURS for VHF FM mode a little more distance, and CBRS for HF AM/FM/SSB modes for extra distance. For Text Messaging and image via RF I chose a license radio service, Amateur Radio D-STAR mode and use the 1.2GHz (Where I can use my radio to browse the internet (ICOM IC-9700 has a modem to help you use that option), or. DSTAR on VHF,UHF, HF, and SHF..
I would take a look at getting your GMRS license. I think amateur radio is still the way to go and offers the best options. However, for family members who maybe don't want to take a test but need more power, GMRS is a good option. In a true life-threatening emergency, licensing is not important, but there are lots of cases where you need to communicate outside of dire emergencies. If nothing else, a GMRS license is just another tool in the toolbox. $35 is a cheap price to pay for access to some more frequencies and it might come in handy someday. 73 KI5SLS
I agree with you. I’m a ham and I just got my GMRS license for the family. My kids like to use the gmrs radios. It’s great to have when we go hiking or on a road trip with other people that would otherwise not pursue an amateur radio license.
My local ARC is buying old commercial band radios and reprogramming them to GMRS frequencies and giving them out to people who want to join the radio neighborhood watch.
This video is an excellent demonstration of a practical application of radio comms. I think a LOT of people today would underestimate the importance of comms in a SHTF situation, probably thinking they're okay because they have a smartphone. When the SHTF, a phone won't work because the base station it's talking to will be saturated as well as the PSTN that the base station is connected to. This is one of the things that compelled me to get my GMRS license as well as radios. I have begun practicing using the radios to establish comms with people, programming repeaters and talking to other contacts over repeaters. This way, when something happens, I'll be comfortable on the radio.
Apologies for the delay in response. I've been backpacking. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the demo. This channel is 100% focused on showcasing the practical application of offgrid comms. There is no one perfect radio or radio service for everything. I hope to show the preparedness-minded community a series of radios, radio services, antennas systems, modes and bands that can be used to solve almost any offgrid comms scenario. GMRS is a great radio service with a lot of band for your buck. I'll be covering it later this year once I get my GMRS license. Take care and thanks for the comment.
It might be worth taking a look at FRS. Specifically the ones that are more recently designed to operate at 2 watts. I've found that in small community watch situations the building penetration of UHF at 2 watts actually works better than 2 watts of VHF MURS unless you go the external antenna route. I did my testing with the Retevis H-777s (program them before using the factory program is fubar, a kenwood/baofeng cable will do it) and Motorola T482 radios. It took a couple days of looking at FCC type acceptance data to find radios that actually operated a close to 2 watts. these were more than 1.5 but less than 2 watts. You are correct the old 500mw FRS radios were pretty worthless. 73, great episode.
Thanks for the video. It may be worth investing in the GMRS capability. It is a part of our plans, because it opens up to simple radios that have a TX power level around what an Amateur Radio would be. Midland makes some micro mobile radios that can be operated easily and have some nice capabilities, including using GMRS repeaters. Its a nice segway between unlicensed and amateur radio, in my experience. My wife and kids currently have no interest at all in gaining an Amateur Radio license. We also have some old Nextel PTT radios for "secure" comms.
I like seeing all the GMRS comments and I agree... GMRS is an awesome option for families. I have my GMRS license and use it regularly. I live in a rural mountainous community where cell service is spotty or even fails completely for two to three days at a time... I have been able to count on my GMRS radios to keep in touch with family up to 15 miles away without using repeaters.
GMRS is a great tool and highly recommended. Especially if you are near GMRS repeaters or invest in a 50 watt mobile rig. It's great that the license is inexpensive and covers your family. My only complaint is that it is very crowed compared to MURS where we live, but that may not be the case for everyone. The one nice thing about "band overcrowding" is that you can call for help if needed. Lots of pros and cons to every radio system. Thanks for the comment.
@@pen25 for the most part yes. We are on a mountain with terrain ranging from 3500 to 4500 feet over my 160 acre parcel. On my property my GMRS radios reach every crevice. From every point that I've tried so far. It doesn't reach the mail boxes roughly 5 miles away but if I go another 200 yards past the mail boxes it does work. So that's my work around for that... The 15 miles I mentioned is from roughly 4000 ft elevation on my property to town roughly 800 ft elevation with only one narrow line of sight corridor between two roughly 4500 ft hills... This leaves one corner of town out of reach but that's OK.... MURS just won't do that... I've tried. I plan to have my ham license within the next year which will open more possibilities for me but not for my family. So until my family members get the ham bug. GMRS is the best back-up comms solution for me and my family...
Thank you so much for this series man, no one else is creating videos like this. No random contact communication about two states away is exactly my goal. I've watched the entire series twice and I'll be honest, I still don't know exactly how to achieve that goal just yet, what radio equipment myself and my contact would need, etc. but I understand a lot more about how this all works now thanks to your videos. I'm just a new tech. and all I have presently is a Yaesu ft65-R but I've learned how to communicate regionally, use repeaters, and scan local frequencies.
MURS is a great tool in the kit. It's definitely under utilized by the non licensed market. Your wife is a good sport. Mine would not participate in radio tests 🤣 Great video Gaston, 73!
It is. In fact, the 150 MHz Smiley Antennas just arrived. It's going to be tough to convince the YL to help me with a second test to compare the performance. Mine barely wanted to participate in the first test, hence the intro. ;-)
@@TheTechPreppereach time you keyed up at your distant way points you should have keyed up at least 4 or more times and change the direction you faced!! You’d be surprised how your signal performance can change drastically just repositioning yourself several degrees at a time.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇳🇿
Excellent video. I'm looking forward to the series. I'm currently a licensed GMRS operator and intend to get my HAM license also. I am also impressed with the Zello app for use when power and internet are up. I recently tested this in a remote camping location with very good results. I was using LTE (cell service) and the reception was excellent. You can also set up private channels on the Zello app for friends and family. But, the obvious advantage to having a radio is the functionality if/when the power or internet is out. Thanks again for a great resource. I will be sharing this information with two groups of people who want to be prepared in the event of an emergency.
GMRS is the way to go, radios are still cheap and get 5W on HTs, 50W base, and the license is cheap.... The GM-30's are great. If you do not want to hear any outside traffic, use privacy codes in "your" radio community...
I too have a GM-30 it has 5 watts out, not 2 watts of MURS, and has 22 channels not only 5. Plus the UHF works inside buildings better than a MURS Radio can. I will admit the Programming of Additional Frequencies is a little strange for a Chinese Radio. GMRS you can put a higher gain antenna on it as well. GMRS is better for a Neighborhood Radio. There is no Privacy on any Radio unless you have very expensive Commercial Radios. That requires you be a Government communications systems Police Sheriff coast Guard etc.
In my area I have found that FRS will work . I have ran my wife through some tests and we have the radios to cover . If needed we could bump it up to ham . I have a bunch of uv5r . That the wife knows how to start and get them on three channels we might use . Chances are it would not get that far . We do not need to go that far in my area and I could get enough radios to get my community to have one for every one . We need to protect the elderly. You made a good video. We should think about these things .
Glad to hear that FRS is working for you. That's the most important thing. Use whatever tool meets your given communication's needs. A lot of people knock the UV-5R, but there is value in having those in your fleet. Legal issues aside, they have traditionally been fully unlocked and will transmit out of band and technically allow you to communicate with the amateur radio frequencies, MURS, FRS and GMRS. We have a number of elderly neighbors in our area that we want to look after during an emergency. That was the other reason to find easy-to-use radios. Something as simple as a larger knob to turn on/off the radio versus a radio that is difficult to manipulate with arthritic hands was one of the reasons I selected the Retevis RT21V over RB38B.
Great video. I have 12 of the Retevis RT-27V. They are great radios for the price. The biggest difference is the antenna is not removable. The main problem was they were set at 0.5 watts. The regular software didn't let you put it to 2 watts. I got software from another vendor that looked the same but it allowed the power to be set to 2 watts. You might want to verify that your radios are set to 2 watts.
Great video showing the value of MURS for local emergency situations. It is the best option for those who do not wish to be licensed on GMRS or amateur radio. With a higher gain antenna you should be able to reach from one end of the neighborhood to the other. I might look into getting a few simple MURS radios to hand out in a local emergency situation.
Another TTP winner! What’s funny is I never played with MURS, FRS, or GMRS.... went straight for my Tech license. Nice to hear about options for those who aren’t licensed and part of your MAG. Looking forward to the expanding rings of coverage in your up coming episodes!
Thank you, sir. I think these radios solve the problem of helping those around you have communications when needed. I plan to pickup a total of 16 units for our area. I can hand hand these MURS radios out without breaking the bank. The ham radios are not as easy to hand out given their price point. I will have a different recommendation for secure comms (AES-256 encryption) and small team tactics as part of this series.
Using MURS is an good option as you are trying to communicate short distance to known friends who are not radio people (yet). GMRS/FRS is all you spoke about and though I use it around the neighborhood if you are going to use it with non radio people you may as well just give them a ham radio and an roof antenna if you are using them for SHTF . You are doing great work! Scott
Morning, Scott. All great points. I have plenty of ham radios to hand out if stuff goes side ways. We'll be exploring a variety of higher gain antennas in this series. Height is everything! I have been using a simple, inexpensive design for mounting a higher gain antenna using the Mr. LongArm painter's poles. The 23.5' version runs ~$39. Stay tuned.
@@TheTechPrepper the painter pole you use is very good as they can be relocated if the user needs. You are very humble as to your experience but I will say you are in better shape and know communication better then many in the military. Who ever may criticize you just push on past the trolls, they matter not. You are leading from the front keep it up.
Where I currently live large city, if you drive around and monitor the radios criminals and drug dealers use MURS and FRS, GRMS to stay in contact with there crews. Another great video here, I give your wife a lot of credit for being involved in your field tests. Even your neighbors are receptive too that's awesome to setup lookouts and extra eyes in time of emergency. How long can the cellphone carriers operate in AZ without APS power? How much fuel are they required to have in there gensets? Looking forward to your next video. 73s
Great point about the people going around doing wrong using radio. This is why it's so important to monitor. If you like technical, also check out T. Rex Arms and S2 Underground on youtube. They have some excellent videos. Some very good DF and OPSEC info. Much of it parallels the info on this channel.
@@TheTechPrepper if you really want to know what's going on just pick up a police scanner and a discone antenna, you will be amazed at what going on around you, even just down the street. The better ones are very pricey like my Uniden SDS100, I listen to it often since I can hear everything (police, fire, EMS, undercover ops, Gov't, news helicopters, businesses, railroads, etc....) The list is lengthy but you will know what's happened way before anyone else! You look to e in the Phoenix area, I'm in East Mesa. I have my ham license, GMRS, DMR and looking to pick a a CB. I'm going to cover all the mods since they each have some unique benefits. We should meet up some time.
Just completed testing with the UV5R on 2m with the upgraded antenna, MFJ-1717SF. Range was 19 miles to a station up on a bridge with a vehicle roof mounted antenna. We use Google Earth mapping the same way you show. Today we compared the vehicle and a man pack on a bridge with marginal results at 50 miles from my base station, both antennas were at about 70 feet. Yes, we had "random" callers and interference so we have a channel jumping list for the future. We have observed simple improvements with antenna orientation held vertical and away from the body. Your video shows the radio close to your head with the antenna tilted back. A simple speaker mic and the improved 17 inch antennas would let you use the radio held up above your head. You might find in your terrain the needed margin of improvement with the MURS radios using these tips. I am building a portable set up on a hand truck cart to look like a pier fishing rig. My camouflage is a tourist or beach goer, which fits in around Cocoa Beach. Other members are more nerdy or military so they like the hit and run of the handhelds or man packs. The cart is more of a hub station with bigger battery, more power, portable antenna and some staying power. Even though we are long time radio operators from technical backgrounds, we are learning from your channel, inspired and having fun.
Excellent as usual, I perfectly understand as my Wife, and Son, and a good friend are the only licensed hams in my responsibility circle. This has given me some ideas, but I would also mention to you an idea I have. My nephews have been resistant to obtain licenses and unfortunately live too far away for MURS to be of use. Cheap CBs and ways to power them are my hoped for solution. I do admit that at this time I don't know if a license is required, but from my past encounters with CB'ers I do not believe so. And anyway they would only be used in dire times. Again thank you for your efforts in making these! Your 1st FAN!
Thanks, Tim. I am struggling to figure out the right sequencing without losing too many people. The series should be valuable even if I have to go over some of the viewer's heads. Take care.
Great video! Loved the actual data points. I use murs for work, never heard traffic outside of channel 4 and 5 (blue and green dot) around Walmart or hardware stores. I always figured 2m (-ish) would have more distance than frs. Gotta love data!
Thanks, Richard! I appreciate you sharing your data points. Data is everything. These are just local test, so everyone's tests will vary. In general, I have been happy with MURS for this very specific use case. When I am hiking behind the house and get some elevation gain we're doing 3-4 miles and possibly father, but this is the exception. Radio horizon line-of--sight is the major obstacle for VHF/UHF.
That B-Tech gmrs-v1 will reach way further than those cheaper ones. Tactically speaking you can monitor 2 channels and switch quickly and have the other cheap radios locked out. Also repeater capable and you can buy a cheap out of the box gmrs repeater for almost nothing and have decent extra range. I love gmrs. Our north ga gmrs network is the largest in the world. Just discovered your channel.
Good series and I will be looking forward to the rest. For the MURS op you did today you are right in that better antennas will greatly help as well as a base station antenna for the radio at the TOC, Keep up the good work 72+1s
Retevis is making a MURS specific antenna for $15.00. I watched a video of this antenna used on a Retevis MURS radio and it performed excellent on that radio. That radio showed 1.2 watts out with the stock antenna. With the Retevis antenna, the same radio showed 2.1 watts out. So obviously it has good SWR. Very clear audio from 1.2 miles to a radio in the guys home. Looks like an excellent investment for MURS use. It is about 27" long, so it's a 1/4 wave antenna, SMA. It's orange, not my favorite color for an antenna.....But, you get what you get.
Good to know. Thanks! I noticed that there was an option to buy a the upgraded antenna. I am actually thinking of going with the Smiley Antennas. The SLIM DUCK 150 MHZ looks promising.
Another great antenna. The N9TAX roll up antenna. It's available in 2M/70 CM and a duel band GMRS/MURS roll up. For $31.00 you get the roll up antenna made of window line. It has a ferrite choke attached, 16 feet of RG-213 coax and your choice of connectors. I have not had the chance to try it on MURS, but having 3 other N9TAX antennas, I have no doubt it will be excellent. On GMRS, a repeater that I have a hard time getting into with my HT is very clear with the N9TAX antenna just hung in the front window. These are very well constructed and can be used outside as they are weather proof. I've used the 2M/70CM outside as an extra antenna for a year now and it still looks and works perfect. If you want a short GMRS or shorter MURS antenna, he will make them to any single frequency you wish to operate on. I have two for GMRS. One is in 462.600, the other 467.550 for repeater input. These antennas are the best deal going in a roll up. Fantastic build quality and quality materials. Try one, you won't be sorry. No, I'm not affiliated with N9TAX, I just know they work and hold up and want to pass this on to others. N9TAXLABS.com is their contact. It is made in AMERICA.
I love the N9TAX Slim Jim. I have been carrying one for amateur radio for a few years. I'll need to test the SWR on mine for MURS and GMRS and see where it lands, but it may good just to buy a second one cut specifically for those bands. Thanks for sharing.
@@TheTechPrepper I just bought the GMRS/MURS version. My GMRS/FRS N9TAX antenna has as close to a flat, perfect SWR as you can get on both bands. It's a great performer and will greatly extend the range of any GMRS/MURS radio. For $31.00 with 16' of RG-213, it is a smoking deal.
I would encourage getting the GMRS license. For general use you can have a licensed high power GMRS base station with an elevated antenna, and others can utilize FRS. This can make the otherwise limited FRS sets more useful to a broad general public, and the handsets are cheap, widely available, easy to use, and can be utilized for all sorts of domestic purposes, including on trips, for household chores, and for distracting grandchildren. A much easier sell to neighbors. (Gmrs has limited power on frs channels, but a better, elevated antenna, and much better performance with other gmrs stations more than makes up for that)
"Sometimes the woman can be a bit difficult." A comment that could be made by any man who has been married longer than 10 minutes! But to be fair, most women would say that about their male significant other...such is the human condition. All kidding aside, great video...very detailed, as usual. I would echo some of the previous comments and recommend GMRS...fairly simple to obtain a license that covers everyone in a family unit. Thank you for sharing!
I love me wife. She's amazing and we completely get each other even after 17 year of marriage. Yes, she's says the same about me. I am getting my GMRS license this next month. The Wouxun KG-1000G is already in route. As for this MURS test, we will revisit this scenario with a Slim Jim j-pole up at 16' and a 150 MHz antenna from Smiley Antennas.
The range problem you experienced is mostly antenna related. A properly sized antenna at your TOC will make that 2W go a lot further. Longer HT antennas will help, too. Retevis sells longer ones. Another minor point. Every time you talked on the radio, you held the radio in a way that the antenna was tilted over. That didn't help range either. Hold the radio antenna up.
You're probably aware of this but FRS radios are now allowed to operate at up to 2 watts of power. So now the only difference between them and MURS is the frequencies and that MURS can swap antennas. But their power limits are the same, so there might be times when FRS will work as well or better than MURS. Plus, they have interoperability with GMRS, making them flexible when using with other people.
My FRS radio are bit older, so they are the 500mW units. In terms of next steps, I ordered two 150 MHz Smiley Antennas as a comparison for the MURS HT's shown in this video, but I am also getting my GMRS license next month. I've settled on the Wouxun KG-1000G for my first GMRS radio and already have a manpack build for it underway. Even with new rules around 2-watts on FRS, I am personally sticking with the MURS for the community. I can hand these out and add a high gain antenna if needed. Thanks!
I really appreciate the series. I bought a 4 pack of MURS radios for my family. I am a technician-class HAM and will be watching your other videos with interest. QUICK QUESTION -> Since my family members do not share my hobby ... I was thinking of laser-engraving an aluminum dog tag to connect to each radio. What information would you suggest I put on that tag so I can just "hand out" these during an emergency situation? The tags are about 2 x 1" and double sided. Thanks again!!
I like this idea, but these radios are very simple to use so there is very little need to put usage instructions. You may just want to put which channel to monitor as your standard. "Turn on radio. Select channel 1. Press PTT button on side to talk."
Great video, and a point that might be worth considering is, there's little to no traffic, so if you do hear someone chatting, you know they are waaaay too close for comfort. I am NOT a fan over transmitting. I mean if I only need to talk a mile away, why do I want everyone who's within 100 miles to hear what I'm saying. For "ME", that's VERY poor operational security. Something else that you might want to think about, is will you always be talking out in the open like that all the time, or will you be near the ground and laying low hiding from someone who happens to be in the area, and then what kind of commo do you have? Might have a false sense of what you're range actually is, when you try to warn TOC while on your belly, only to find out that they can't hear you. Just a thought. Keep up the great work.
To find ideal locations for reception Topographical maps or 3D satellite maps work best. Radio doesn’t transmit through hills, you need line of sight. Also it doesn’t go through buildings very well. So being able to see the 3D landscape will pretty much tell you exactly where you will and will not be able to make radio Comms. Google earth pro is great for this.
Thanks for sharing. Google Earth Pro and ATAK are both great for this application. I have a custom tool (EmComm Tools) that I wrote that does radio horizon/line-of-sight calculations using offline maps. It's not yet publicly available. We'll get more into LOS in future videos...I wanted to keep this one simple for our first video.
I've really been looking forward to this series. It aligns 100% with why I got into radio and what I want to learn and do with it. I hadn't given MURS much consideration before, but you make good points about its advantages. Like others in the comments here, I've planned on using FRS & GMRS radios for my non-ham friends, family and neighbors. Around me, there isn't much activity on MURS, GMRS, or FRS, so I'm guardedly optimistic that I won't have a lot of noise to deal with in an emergency scenario. And if I do, I've got channels programmed with CTCSS codes to filter out transmissions from people outside of my group. Do you happen to have a scanner? I've got a Uniden SDS-100 which I've used to do signal tests while running, similar to what you did in this video and others. I set the scanner to record on the frequency I'm using, and when I get back, I listen to the recording. It leaves out all of the "dead air", so the full recording is only a minute or two. Lately, I've been using the scanner to listen to GMRS and MURS frequencies during my workday. That's given me a good sense of who's using it and how much. Thanks again for what you're doing here. Keep up the great work!
Glad to hear it! I appreciate the support. The plan is to only cover practical comms to solve real-world scenarios. I do not have a scanner yet, but will be picking up a Uniden scanner soon. I am actually using a $30 SDR these days and using software to record audio only when the squelch is broken and above a certain dB level. I did a small SDR series on my channel. Here's the video where I show the voice activated recording to solve the problem a different way: th-cam.com/video/szAZO4iUrXY/w-d-xo.html
Argent Data Systems makes a simplex repeater that can be used with transceivers that are not repeater capable. These would primarily be FRS/GMRS, MURS, and even CB.
I can vouch for this. I have one and works great, just have to get people used to the duplicate transmission and wait. Little bit of a learning curve for non radio people
@@alpha6tango860 To keep it simple for those who need to keep it simple, and to avoid the need for a repeater, if they have hand helds with detachable antennas, connecting them to an omni-directional antenna at least 15 feet in height, there can be an increase in signal strength of around 7.7Dbd relative to the attached antenna. MURS is a smart choice for this. Another option is to use CB for longer distances, and common FRS/GMRS handheld transceiver for very short ranges. The ADS-1 repeater (Argent Data Systems) can also be used. See videos from Guerilla Comms on the ADS-1 simplex repeater. The cost is about $100, plus the expense of a PV panel and charge controller and other components. High gain omni and directional antenna can make a significant difference not only in terms of ERP, but also an increased ability to 'hear' weak signals. I have many articles on survival blog com about all this and more....
I just now watched the video and thought simplex repeater too. I use mine for tests like this frequently. My ADS SR-1 is about 10 years old. It’s seen some rough use. Zero issues. They have so many uses!
@@RandomWire107 Yes, it is much more than a repeater. As you know, one of the most important function is that it can be instrumental for conducting what is known as a 'radio survey'. I've use a digital voice record, but the ADS-1 provides instant feedback and confirmation that we have both TX and RX for both transceivers.
By the way, I forgot to mention that you can install a roof antenna on your home and a lot of those problems that you had with range will be solved. Specially if your neighbors are willing to install a roof antenna as well. Which you can do with MURS radios. There is a limit. of how high can be, but for your purpose roof and tennis could solve a lot of your problems. Even when it comes to handheld to a roof antenna, it will stain your range quite a bit.
These radios are sometimes shipped switched to low power:) there is an app for them, and you can adjust the power in app and add sub codes to the channels:) I have 3 of these and the only thing I don’t like is the un detachable antenna:) I used my Baofeng uv5r programming cable with them:)
Hope you see this. Check out the homemade Plate Carrier Antenna on the "Radio Prepper" youtube channel. It would work great on a pack also. Only thing I might change would be to add a BNC to the bottom of the antenna so I could easily change out damaged coax and use a signal stick antenna on top. Check it out. It would be far more efficient than just an antenna on a radio and on a Man Pack, with a Signal Stick, will take 50 watts. It's a half wave vertical dipole on your bag.
Thanks for putting this on my radar. I saw that video pop on my feed, but I have not be able to watch any TH-cam videos lately due to time constraints, but I'll definitely make time for this one. I appreciate the comment.
I'm surprised that Murs couldn't pick up position 4. I started out with GMRS and really like the ability to use repeaters unfortunately in my part of the country there really isn't much traffic on them. I just got my general license and I've become a big fan of 2m and 70cm simplex. Now I usually listen on 146.520 and 446.000. Many more cool random people and less bs than cb.
Not bad. I still need to measure the output power and actually verify that it's putting out 2 watts. Either way, this will work for this particular use case. Our plan is to have 16 units total to hand out to the neighbors if needed during an emergency.
Great call out. Yes, I'm aware. We are running a pair of 150 MHz antennas from Smiley Antennas. They perform much better than the stock antennas. I've even connected my wife's radio to my 2m vertical on the roof with great success.
@@TheTechPrepper Check again. You can use external antennas with MURS on vehicles. If the car has lots of metal, you get a great ground plain. You can also have an external antenna on your house or tree or whatever with your unit. There is a limit of 20 ft beyond the highest point of attachment but that is an amazing line of sight gig. Firestick even makes base antennas specifically for MURS.
You likely would have had better performance if the “base station” radio had an elevated antenna. This can be a useful approach as it doesn’t involve extra equipment and modifications for all users. You will get some transmission line loss of power (unless you can convince your spouse to get on the roof with the ht), but if it is not too long, the height will probably make up for it in performance.
Yep. We'll be revisiting this scenario. Actually, I have the Wouxun KG-1000G arriving soon. I'll run a 2m j-pole outside at 16'. I even have two 150MHz Smiley Antennas on the way for the HT's. Cheers!
Absolutely brilliant suggestion. The V10MR is absolutely a tool, not a toy. I am a hug fan of rugged and IP67 rated radios. You get what you pay for. For your immediate circle of loved ones, it's worth the investment. It looks similar to the chassis of the new Icom T10. Both of these radios are on my list. Thanks! Personally, my wife and I will be running our VX-6R's due to the rugged construction and long history of reliability. We get the added benefit of being more wide-banded.
I recommend reconditioned business radios which make extremely solid MURS radios, a lot of choice there. I personally use a VX-231 but I know people who use nice HT1250s. Or if you're feeling special an old public safety model like the XTS5000 would make a badass MURS setup. Make sure to program your local NOAA channel on it too.
@@ironmatic1 Great recommendation. I will actually be covering the Motorola XTS-5000 later in this series. We'll be discussing the UCM crypto boards as well as how to build a key loader for our encryption keys.
QUESTION: now that you've had the Retivis units for a while, do you have a feel for battery life? I got four of them and since they don't have a battery indicator, how long can they sit - roughly - before they need recharging? Or do you have them sit in the charge cradle constantly? THANKS as always for the great vids and straightforward analysys.
I need to get some more experience with them before I can comment. I am taking them in 3-day backpacking trip with no ability to field charge, so it will be a good test.
i love in Tarrant county Texas, about a mile away from ft worth Texas, I had my murs radio in the search mode, I herd a repeater I'd on it. i know that repeaters are not allowed on it by FCC rules. i thought it was a little odd.
GMRS is a great option, but if shtf, everyone is going to be on those frequencies since they share them with FRS. Same with CB. It's a part of why I do like MURS, but hate why it is so limited plus Walmart uses it. It's why I try to convince others to go with the ham license, but I'm going to a broken record at this point commenting on it repeatedly in the comments of your videos. The thing I can think of is maybe trying to get a private frequency via private land mobile radio. Then, just set up a repeater with a high but stealth antenna. It seems like it would be a better answer if community is the main focal point. Or maybe I'm just overcomplicating things again?
You are going in the right direction. All of my ham radios are modified to interoperate with GMRS, but at some point we'll be getting a GMRS license for the family for completeness. We will be over complicating things as part of this series. This first radio is more for the elderly couple that lives next door that could use assistance during an emergency. We'll be getting into ham radio pretty much exclusively for the next few months. Then, we are going to circle back and talk about Land Mobile Radios (LMR) that provide encryption and secure comms. There's a big leap between these $20.00 radios and the the Motorola XTS 2500/5000 with crypto. I promise...we we'll get there. Have a good one.
Could you please tell me the best murs radio that is water proof? … also, can I buy an antenna to put on my roof or vehicle to help signal? I want to buy and start learning, but it’s soooo confusing.
My pleasure. There's appears to be an aftermarket Bluetooth adapter, but I can't speak to the quality as I have never used it. Try searching for "pryme bluetooth adapter vx6"
@@TheTechPrepper I hope to do an article for survival blog this winter on field phones. Until then,... field phone solve many problems and may save you time and money.... Untrained persons can use field phones. They can have long conversations to sort a problem or to simply chat. COMSEC is not a problem. Field phones are EMP resistant, especially if the line is buried. A PV system for charging lots of batteries is not necessary as a single set of 'D' batteries last for months. Drones can have RDF capability. Using the VOX function one can transmit from several miles away I would use commercial phones on the same WD1a wire to transmit and receive. And signalling can be performed on the same wire using pezio electric buzzers and momentary switches. For example, my neighborhood can be awaken from a sleep by any number of buzzers placed throughout the home using the same field phone circuit. These buzzer are very loud and can be used as ringers for the phone system.... simple alarms activated by a trip wire can be placed far away from the home. using WD1A wire... While I am certainly into radio comms, for fixed locations, I prefer field phones for most traffic.
You should get a gmrs license even if your neighbors won't, since you are the TOC operator you'll be able to intercommunicate with FRS but with higher power
You make a great point. I plan to get a GMRS license before the end of the year. It has the added bonus that I can install a 50 watt GMRS mobile rig in my wife's vehicle. Thanks for the suggestion.
Sometimes 2-3 feet in elevation can make a otherwise rough or no copy into a decent copy, you had a couple of places where the terrain was slightly higher than the ground you were transmitting from. Looking around for a slightly better location to transmit from can be the difference between contact or no contact. EDIT : Every electronics device comes from china, there is no way around it
She was outside on an exact RT21V handheld with the same stock rubber duck antenna. The plan is to do a follow-up video later in the series with: 1) A 155MHz antenna elevated 16 to 24' at the TOC; 2) incorporate the neighbors. I am a big fan of starting small and collecting data. Thanks for the suggestion.
@@TheTechPrepper it's common sense and you knew it already, I was just stating the obvious. I do see that those radios do have a factory extended antenna option, which would probably pair well with a Slimjim Jpole strung about 20ft up at the TOC! Do that and run some new tests! Be interesting to see how much better it worked. Thanks! Appreciate your videos and went with the 818nd/Armoloq route based upon them. 73's
@@DerHossMeister I'll certainly do another test. I have been wanting to build a EDZ for 2m using some arrow shafts, so I may do that on the channel and cut if for 155 Mhz. If that is too ambitious, I'll just use my N9TAX slim jim. Glad to hear that you went the 818/ARMOLOQ route. That's honestly my favorite radio combo. You may get a kick out of this private post: www.buymeacoffee.com/thetechprepper/the-tech-prepper-manpack-bag-prototype
You may! Those are great antennas. I have a couple that are cut for the 2m amateur band. I need to get one that's cut for 155MHz center frequency. Great suggestion.
Great concepts, good examples, maps and real time use. If I could give a little constructive input. You are too militaristic in the way you present to new radio users. I've been a PD Officer and a ham for 11 years. It works fine with me, however I have found with the general public, who have no radio experience, that plain language is best. Using blocks and miles vs. kilometers. Not using terms such as TOC. In many cases, you kind of lose the average joe if you are too technical or use less common terms. Radio is scary to many who have never used it. I'm also the CERT commander for my county and have found when getting people interested in radio, simple is what works the best. And I try to get every member into at least GMRS and push for them to get their Tech license. Just my 2 cents from my experiences. Your idea of using MURS vs. GMRS for close in comms is a good one due to the heavier traffic one will find on GMRS. I also think you should spend the $35.00 and get your GMRS license. For no other reason than so many people do have GMRS radios. Gathering intel and being able to make more contacts could be very important. In my area, there are many people getting GMRS and using repeaters. The GMRS repeaters are a major advantage for those who don't have their ham ticket. Especially if you are a ham and others in your family or group are not hams. With GMRS, they still have the ability to communicate with you at far greater distance. Simplex or repeater. I have just about every type of radio for every radio service. I pick and chose which to use depending on the circumstances just as you do. I think it is a major bonus to have the ability to communicate on every type of service. Yes, I know you can cover almost all of the VHF/UHF services with your Yaesu. But many others don't have an amateur radio. They do have a GMRS. Don't overlook GMRS. If the worst happens, GMRS may be the most used service for the general public. MURS for your neighborhood and GMRS which covers the center out to circle #2 or even #3 for those who will not or don't want to get their ham ticket. I wish more people would get their Ham ticket, but sadly, most won't. GMRS being more like ham does help get some interested in Ham. Thank You for the videos you do. You put a lot of effort into every one. It does not go un noticed. For IP67, low cost GMRS get the Boafeng GMRS radio. If IP rating is not an issue, the Radioddity GM-30 with USB charging at $40. is an outstanding deal for a good radio.
Good Morning, John. I appreciate the constructive feedback. It's very rare these days. Unfortunately, I am probably the wrong channel for a lot of people starting out and expecting to learn everything from my channel. My goal is to give people a high-level overview and show what is possible with radio and hopefully spark an interest of self exploration. I'll make the point in the next video that viewers should look to other channels like HRCC and David Casler for step-by-step handholding. For example, I plan to touch on both GMRS and amateur radio in the next video and explain the virtues of both as it relates to some of the scenarios I see for preparedness in the real-world. I will be getting my GMRS license, but the focus for the videos starting with Part 3 will be almost entirely focused on ham radio and will get technical very quickly. Again, I am a firm believer in getting viewers interested by showing them what is possible , but leaving it to them to do the homework. I am not an expert, so my goal is just to share with people what I am actually doing to arrive at my ultimate communications goals. As a man-portable field operator, trail runner, hiker, and prepper, the concepts I cover in my videos tend to be more tactical. If I go in a different direction unfortunately I will lose interest in creating content. There are much more qualified teachers out there to hold people's hands step-by-step. I am working towards a very narrow direction of radio prepping, so by design it will narrow the audience. I am ok with remaining a small channel and appealing to those with my POV. I can't be all things to all people. The good news is, if you're looking for a content creator that is on a mission to merge civilian and military radio techniques for the purpose of being an effective communicator in the absence of infrastructure, please stick around. My work on civilian manpacks along with my custom EmComm Tools software platform is part of a larger vision to make tactical radio easier for those who need it. Take care and I hope this helps explain my POV for the channel. Cheers. 73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper If I misunderstood what "Community" meant, I'm sorry. If you are talking about your MAG or group (and other mags and groups) and getting them up to speed with radio, then you are right where you want to be. I got the impression that this new series might have been for those who were new to it all as you were talking about neighbors. Maybe those neighbors are a part of your mag. Thought you were taking a different direction from your normal content. My Bad. Carry on and 73. P.S. Loved your wife giving you the business at the start of the video. Reminds me of mine. Very into the prepping but not 100% about running around with the guys doing man stuff. And I'm OK with that. Be sure to check out T. Rex Arms and S2 Underground on youtube. They have some very good technical info on DF and OPSEC with radio. Their videos fit right in with yours.
I agree with John using yards or feet instead of kilometers or meters quicker to follow along. You don’t wanna shrink your audience that much. Love the channel keep up the nice work. I’m sold on theses radios for our situation with an upgraded antenna
Excellent! Thank you for the support. You are on the list. You just made it. I only have a couple left. There's a special private video coming your way soon. The FT-857D/891 manpack will happen next year. We are looking good for the smaller manpack well before the end of this year. I have you covered on the FT-8900 manpack before Christmas. Cheers.
By the time a person gets a pretty thorough understanding of comms and has a decent plan in mind, they realize they want it all. We want to be able to listen to everything and transmit on as much as we can. Dedicating a comms plan to MURS or buying specific MURS radios is really a waste of time and money. If privacy is a concern, and there's enough people using FRS to make it an issue, then there's gonna be some people also listening to MURS, and if you're using it while nobody else is then you'll stick out like a dick on a fish, whereas you'd be more likely to blend in or be overpowered in a crowd of FRS/GMRS. Ultimately, both GMRS and Ham is what's going to be the best answer. If you want more privacy then you'll want to be in the encrypted business radio arena.
The MURS radios are simply to solve a problem in which one party (the commuications guy on the street) needs to hand out his own equipment to non-technical and unlicensed people. They are at a price point that's affordable and simple enough to solve this problem. MURS is just one tool in a larger comms plan. For the family and my mutual support group, we are actually going to use Motorola XTS-5000's with UCM crypto boards. I am obtaining my business license this year and will be building a key loader. We will cover this later. As for amateur radio, that's where you get the most power of being able to communicate at all the communication layers I described. We'll be covering ham radio next. For what it's worth, I have developed an an offline-first, end-to-end encryption platform that works with all my amateur radios. It's called EmComm Tools, but I have not released it yet. This MURS video is just the first step. The series will get more technical very quickly with bigger radios, purpose-built antennas, and various operating techniques. We'll get into ARPS, Winlink, JS8, ALE, etc. Cheers.
Would have been helpful to travel down the block towards plan south to find communication boundary where comms dropped. Would be helpful to know comm range on say a patrol. Do that with your planned antenna.
We'll revisit this exact question. The plan for the community is to establish two Alternate Operations Centers (AOC): one at the farthest position South (where it was a dead zone) and the other on the North side. These locations will have a variety of comms abilities including a higher gain, elevated VHF antenna for MURS. Thanks for the comment.
@@TheTechPrepper all good, I like the effort. I tried to find the limits of my radios in the neighborhood by walking around making a map of where each radio works. I live in hills, so it’s not as simple as a circle, but it is helpful. We altered the regular dog walk loop to accommodate the map as well. Also helpful to know where to walk when you need to call back to the house if you are in the signal shadows. I also did this for the few neighbors that have a radio on. It’s nice to know where I can hit their base stations as well. Was fairly easy to set to memory for the regular places I go.
FRS should have 2watt radios but I've heard that MURS gets more distance than FRS.(notarubicon did a vrs video) I think that the GMRS radios that are meant for professional use may be the ticket. They seem to have the power and encryption that you may need. It's not going to be a license free cheap route, but.... they should be better or you're right back to a Dual band HT. lol
I appreciate your persistence. Thank you. TH-cam drives me nuts for a number of reasons. Yes, I am Instagram and much more active there. You'll have a better idea of what will appear on a future video on that feed. instagram.com/thetechprepper/
MURS is 151-154mhz up to 2 watt power. FRS is 462-467mhz and 0.5watt power. MURS will go much further, and you can also add a larger antenna to go even further
@@chrisgullett4332 Yes, they did bump some channels up to 2 watts for FRS. MURS will almost always have better range than FRS. The detachable antenna means that you could put on a better antenna, or a larger mobile or base station antenna and increase range even further. Any radio benefits from a detachable antenna. 20 miles on FRS is a ridiculous exaggeration, you will be lucky to get over a mile. I agree that FRS is obsolete, and that MURS or GMRS is a better choice.
I would seriously look at GMRS as well. It offers the potential for far greater simplex range (especially mobile) over MURS, and repeaters are becoming far more commonplace as well. And of course, many dual-band HT's can be MARS/CAP modded to work on GMRS. I held out for over a year until the price finally dropped to $35 and had my license a few days later. I find the ability to seamlessly integrate non-licensed individuals (via FRS) into a small, localized net to be a huge benefit, one that Amateur radio simply doesn't provide.
That's a good point. I picked up a Wouxun KG-1000G a few days after this video and will be getting my license in November. We'll try the same test with it and an FRS and GMRS radio. Thanks for the suggestion. Take care.
I don’t know, but I have a feeling that you think everybody else are pretty dumb. You keep talking about confusing people unless you’re talking about mostly senior citizens or mentally disabled people, I really don’t see why people cannot learn how to use the radio. The BTech radio it’s a pretty good radio. I have the GMRS version and I have to say pretty good radio. So I imagine that the MURS version it’s just as good. One of the best things you can do with that radio because of its display that you can program the so-called privacy codes on the fly. So if you need to communicate with other groups outside of your little group, you can easily change the privacy code or tone. If you’re too afraid of people, not knowing how to use it, you can set it up for them and then lock the keypad. Radios with a display are good but if you ever need to change the privacy codes, you must connect it to a computer or some other device. You also forgot to talk about the limitations of MURS. One of those limitations is that it only has five channels. if more people start buying MURS radios, those frequencies can start getting saturated with traffic. Of course, the same is true with GMRS and even HAM radio. Please is one of the reasons why using privacy codes and tones in MURS radios is important. Of course, privacy codes are not really that private. We all know that, but that allow to block most unwanted chatter. I like MURS radios and I have a few of them, just like I do GMRS radios. Both have the good and bad side. You must learn those weaknesses and strengths to select the best radio fir your needs. I’ve thought about getting a HAM license, but the attitude of most Sad HAM heads turn me off. Nothing but a bunch of overinflated egos and entitled fools. Most think that their crap doesn’t stink. Now many Sad HAMs are trying to carry over their HAM etiquetes over to the GMRS scene.
FRS/GMRS is terrible in a disaster. 1000’s and 1000’s of ppl within a mile of you all trying to talk on all the channels at the same time. If you have never done a GMRS field exercise, it will be eye opening for you. Go to a nature reserve or wilderness park and start hiking around with friends and talk on GMRS... you will notice just how much random traffic is on there in non-emergency situations. Now just imagine 10x or 20x more ppl trying to talk. Also realize FRS and GMRS share the same frequencies. So everyone with a Walmart radio in an emergency will be jamming up all the channels calling out for help. Get your ham license. It’s really the only thing that will work in a disaster. Well Ham and Satellite phones/text messengers.
Excellent points. We travel in the RV and spend time at various camp sites across the country. You are almost guaranteed to have lots of chatter on FRS/GMRS. We have never heard any traffic on MURS. I am also a big fan using lesser known frequencies that are not used due to hardware being somewhat exotic. In an emergency, I have a number of ham radios that work in the 220 MHz (1.25cm) band. This band is extremely quiet. When stuff goes sideways, we'll use our encrypted LMR rigs...more on this later in the series. I appreciate you taking the time to share. Happy Friday!
@@TheTechPrepper ...MURS is cool but it’s VHF so signal quality isnt all that great and it doesn’t go “through” stuff as well as UHF does. And in urban areas you can get a lot of interference because every garage door opener, security camera, dog collars, PA systems in stores, apartment call boxes, etc all use MURS channels. Honestly the best thing you can do is get a tri-band radio and use the 1.25m band during an emergency. Almost nobody has a 1.25m band capable radio so it’s the best way to get reliable Comms up and running between family and neighbors. To call out for help you can jump over to 2m and 70cm and hit some of the local repeaters, then switch back to 1.25 to talk to neighbors and family. In my American Contingency Group, when doing emergency radio Comms testing, that has been the most reliable plan so far... and then we use HF and SDR to reach out to other groups across the country. We are also looking at LoRa Meshtastic. A couple group members bought a bunch of them and are placing them all around their neighborhood to have an off grid text messaging network with all their neighbors. It’s been working pretty good so far. So that is something to keep in mind. You put one on your pack that is connected to your phone, and you have a bunch throughout the neighborhood, then everyone can text message each other in emergencies.
That's a fair point. It really depends who you are planning on supporting during an emergency. We have a few elderly folks that need the support of the community and they would have an easier time with fewer buttons.
MURS only has half the power of GMRS, go GMRS, not MURS. Plus they only have 5 channels on them. PLUS GMRS is better for inside buildings where MURS is not too good inside Buildings. GMS is only 35 dollars for a 10 year license now, where the MURS is a Freebe. Plus you can have 22 channels on GMRS, not just 5.
GMRS does not cover non family members. The goal for this video was to supply radios to the neighbors. For a family, GMRS makes sense as the more appropriate tool. Thanks for the sharing the comparison.
Please, please don’t discount GMRS radio. At least get your gmrs license and get one radio and experiment with it. Or listen to gmrs channels on one of your existing radios.
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My wife and I had been using MURS around our property but we now are using the 900 MHz ISM band. It is also license free. We are using the Retevis RT-10. It is a true DMR radio and has AES encryption. We found that MURS was very position sensitive (moving the radio less than one foot could change the reception) but the RT-10 doesn't have that problem. I have not done any distance testing but it works great outdoors here and had no problem in a 3 floor hotel that we stayed at.
The RT-10 has 8 zones with 16 channels each. The problem was, if you accidentally hit a key next to the PTT it would change the zone and you would need to press it 8 more times to get back to the zone you were using. Since we only use one frequency, I reprogrammed that key that to something else. Now we have a 16 channel radio. Works for us.
Excellent idea. Thank you for the suggestion. This is absolutely something to explore. The RT10 looks to be a very simple radio, at a good price and packed with features. I'll have dive into and see if it's true AES-256 bit encryption. It looks to be 1 watt, but for local communication that should be fine.
Great video. Love the way you did it. For license free, I chose FRS for UHF FM mode very short distance communications, MURS for VHF FM mode a little more distance, and CBRS for HF AM/FM/SSB modes for extra distance. For Text Messaging and image via RF I chose a license radio service, Amateur Radio D-STAR mode and use the 1.2GHz (Where I can use my radio to browse the internet (ICOM IC-9700 has a modem to help you use that option), or. DSTAR on VHF,UHF, HF, and SHF..
I would take a look at getting your GMRS license. I think amateur radio is still the way to go and offers the best options. However, for family members who maybe don't want to take a test but need more power, GMRS is a good option. In a true life-threatening emergency, licensing is not important, but there are lots of cases where you need to communicate outside of dire emergencies. If nothing else, a GMRS license is just another tool in the toolbox. $35 is a cheap price to pay for access to some more frequencies and it might come in handy someday. 73 KI5SLS
I agree with you. I’m a ham and I just got my GMRS license for the family. My kids like to use the gmrs radios. It’s great to have when we go hiking or on a road trip with other people that would otherwise not pursue an amateur radio license.
And the GMRS license can legally be used by other family members, so you just need to convince one member of a household to get onboard.
My local ARC is buying old commercial band radios and reprogramming them to GMRS frequencies and giving them out to people who want to join the radio neighborhood watch.
While Canada does not have MURS, GMRS is licence free here. At times it is a gong show when you get close to parks and camping areas.
I'm pretty sure the GMRS license was $70 when I got one last year. Understanding antenna and radio wave theory is going to help a lot too.
This video is an excellent demonstration of a practical application of radio comms. I think a LOT of people today would underestimate the importance of comms in a SHTF situation, probably thinking they're okay because they have a smartphone. When the SHTF, a phone won't work because the base station it's talking to will be saturated as well as the PSTN that the base station is connected to. This is one of the things that compelled me to get my GMRS license as well as radios. I have begun practicing using the radios to establish comms with people, programming repeaters and talking to other contacts over repeaters. This way, when something happens, I'll be comfortable on the radio.
Apologies for the delay in response. I've been backpacking. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the demo. This channel is 100% focused on showcasing the practical application of offgrid comms. There is no one perfect radio or radio service for everything. I hope to show the preparedness-minded community a series of radios, radio services, antennas systems, modes and bands that can be used to solve almost any offgrid comms scenario. GMRS is a great radio service with a lot of band for your buck. I'll be covering it later this year once I get my GMRS license. Take care and thanks for the comment.
It might be worth taking a look at FRS. Specifically the ones that are more recently designed to operate at 2 watts. I've found that in small community watch situations the building penetration of UHF at 2 watts actually works better than 2 watts of VHF MURS unless you go the external antenna route. I did my testing with the Retevis H-777s (program them before using the factory program is fubar, a kenwood/baofeng cable will do it) and Motorola T482 radios. It took a couple days of looking at FCC type acceptance data to find radios that actually operated a close to 2 watts. these were more than 1.5 but less than 2 watts. You are correct the old 500mw FRS radios were pretty worthless.
73,
great episode.
Thanks for the video. It may be worth investing in the GMRS capability. It is a part of our plans, because it opens up to simple radios that have a TX power level around what an Amateur Radio would be. Midland makes some micro mobile radios that can be operated easily and have some nice capabilities, including using GMRS repeaters. Its a nice segway between unlicensed and amateur radio, in my experience. My wife and kids currently have no interest at all in gaining an Amateur Radio license. We also have some old Nextel PTT radios for "secure" comms.
I like seeing all the GMRS comments and I agree...
GMRS is an awesome option for families. I have my GMRS license and use it regularly.
I live in a rural mountainous community where cell service is spotty or even fails completely for two to three days at a time... I have been able to count on my GMRS radios to keep in touch with family up to 15 miles away without using repeaters.
had to have clear line of sight along with 1 party at least being elevated. or two peaks and line of sight.
GMRS is a great tool and highly recommended. Especially if you are near GMRS repeaters or invest in a 50 watt mobile rig. It's great that the license is inexpensive and covers your family. My only complaint is that it is very crowed compared to MURS where we live, but that may not be the case for everyone. The one nice thing about "band overcrowding" is that you can call for help if needed. Lots of pros and cons to every radio system. Thanks for the comment.
@@pen25 for the most part yes. We are on a mountain with terrain ranging from 3500 to 4500 feet over my 160 acre parcel. On my property my GMRS radios reach every crevice. From every point that I've tried so far. It doesn't reach the mail boxes roughly 5 miles away but if I go another 200 yards past the mail boxes it does work. So that's my work around for that...
The 15 miles I mentioned is from roughly 4000 ft elevation on my property to town roughly 800 ft elevation with only one narrow line of sight corridor between two roughly 4500 ft hills... This leaves one corner of town out of reach but that's OK....
MURS just won't do that... I've tried.
I plan to have my ham license within the next year which will open more possibilities for me but not for my family. So until my family members get the ham bug. GMRS is the best back-up comms solution for me and my family...
@@TheTechPrepper That’s why CTCSS tones were invented.
Thank you so much for this series man, no one else is creating videos like this. No random contact communication about two states away is exactly my goal. I've watched the entire series twice and I'll be honest, I still don't know exactly how to achieve that goal just yet, what radio equipment myself and my contact would need, etc. but I understand a lot more about how this all works now thanks to your videos. I'm just a new tech. and all I have presently is a Yaesu ft65-R but I've learned how to communicate regionally, use repeaters, and scan local frequencies.
You're welcome. Good luck with your comms journey.
MURS is a great tool in the kit. It's definitely under utilized by the non licensed market.
Your wife is a good sport. Mine would not participate in radio tests 🤣
Great video Gaston, 73!
It is. In fact, the 150 MHz Smiley Antennas just arrived. It's going to be tough to convince the YL to help me with a second test to compare the performance. Mine barely wanted to participate in the first test, hence the intro. ;-)
@@TheTechPreppereach time you keyed up at your distant way points you should have keyed up at least 4 or more times and change the direction you faced!! You’d be surprised how your signal performance can change drastically just repositioning yourself several degrees at a time.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇳🇿
Boy your right on about wife’s not participating.. mine would definitely not do it😅😅
Need a simplex repeater, easier to get to cooperate than a wife 😂
Excellent video. I'm looking forward to the series. I'm currently a licensed GMRS operator and intend to get my HAM license also.
I am also impressed with the Zello app for use when power and internet are up. I recently tested this in a remote camping location with very good results. I was using LTE (cell service) and the reception was excellent.
You can also set up private channels on the Zello app for friends and family. But, the obvious advantage to having a radio is the functionality if/when the power or internet is out.
Thanks again for a great resource. I will be sharing this information with two groups of people who want to be prepared in the event of an emergency.
GMRS is the way to go, radios are still cheap and get 5W on HTs, 50W base, and the license is cheap.... The GM-30's are great. If you do not want to hear any outside traffic, use privacy codes in "your" radio community...
the problem with that is the higher likelyhood of others listening to what you are saying.
I have a GMRS license
I too have a GM-30 it has 5 watts out, not 2 watts of MURS, and has 22 channels not only 5. Plus the UHF works inside buildings better than a MURS Radio can. I will admit the Programming of Additional Frequencies is a little strange for a Chinese Radio. GMRS you can put a higher gain antenna on it as well. GMRS is better for a Neighborhood Radio.
There is no Privacy on any Radio unless you have very expensive Commercial Radios. That requires you be a Government communications systems Police Sheriff coast Guard etc.
In my area I have found that FRS will work . I have ran my wife through some tests and we have the radios to cover . If needed we could bump it up to ham . I have a bunch of uv5r . That the wife knows how to start and get them on three channels we might use . Chances are it would not get that far . We do not need to go that far in my area and I could get enough radios to get my community to have one for every one . We need to protect the elderly. You made a good video. We should think about these things .
Glad to hear that FRS is working for you. That's the most important thing. Use whatever tool meets your given communication's needs. A lot of people knock the UV-5R, but there is value in having those in your fleet. Legal issues aside, they have traditionally been fully unlocked and will transmit out of band and technically allow you to communicate with the amateur radio frequencies, MURS, FRS and GMRS.
We have a number of elderly neighbors in our area that we want to look after during an emergency. That was the other reason to find easy-to-use radios. Something as simple as a larger knob to turn on/off the radio versus a radio that is difficult to manipulate with arthritic hands was one of the reasons I selected the Retevis RT21V over RB38B.
Great video. I have 12 of the Retevis RT-27V. They are great radios for the price. The biggest difference is the antenna is not removable.
The main problem was they were set at 0.5 watts. The regular software didn't let you put it to 2 watts. I got software from another vendor that looked the same but it allowed the power to be set to 2 watts.
You might want to verify that your radios are set to 2 watts.
Excellent point. I'll have to measure the RF power output and check the stock setting.
Great video showing the value of MURS for local emergency situations. It is the best option for those who do not wish to be licensed on GMRS or amateur radio. With a higher gain antenna you should be able to reach from one end of the neighborhood to the other. I might look into getting a few simple MURS radios to hand out in a local emergency situation.
Another TTP winner! What’s funny is I never played with MURS, FRS, or GMRS.... went straight for my Tech license. Nice to hear about options for those who aren’t licensed and part of your MAG. Looking forward to the expanding rings of coverage in your up coming episodes!
Thank you, sir. I think these radios solve the problem of helping those around you have communications when needed. I plan to pickup a total of 16 units for our area. I can hand hand these MURS radios out without breaking the bank. The ham radios are not as easy to hand out given their price point. I will have a different recommendation for secure comms (AES-256 encryption) and small team tactics as part of this series.
@@TheTechPrepper Very much looking forward to the secure comms!
Using MURS is an good option as you are trying to communicate short distance to known friends who are not radio people (yet).
GMRS/FRS is all you spoke about and though I use it around the neighborhood if you are going to use it with non radio people you may as well just give them a ham radio and an roof antenna if you are using them for SHTF .
You are doing great work!
Scott
Morning, Scott. All great points. I have plenty of ham radios to hand out if stuff goes side ways. We'll be exploring a variety of higher gain antennas in this series. Height is everything! I have been using a simple, inexpensive design for mounting a higher gain antenna using the Mr. LongArm painter's poles. The 23.5' version runs ~$39. Stay tuned.
@@TheTechPrepper the painter pole you use is very good as they can be relocated if the user needs.
You are very humble as to your experience but I will say you are in better shape and know communication better then many in the military. Who ever may criticize you just push on past the trolls, they matter not.
You are leading from the front keep it up.
@@kb6lcw99 Thanks. These poles are great for low NVIS antennas supports. I have two for the 80m dipole. Take care.
Where I currently live large city, if you drive around and monitor the radios criminals and drug dealers use MURS and FRS, GRMS to stay in contact with there crews. Another great video here, I give your wife a lot of credit for being involved in your field tests. Even your neighbors are receptive too that's awesome to setup lookouts and extra eyes in time of emergency. How long can the cellphone carriers operate in AZ without APS power? How much fuel are they required to have in there gensets? Looking forward to your next video. 73s
Great point about the people going around doing wrong using radio. This is why it's so important to monitor. If you like technical, also check out T. Rex Arms and S2 Underground on youtube. They have some excellent videos. Some very good DF and OPSEC info. Much of it parallels the info on this channel.
Well, that's interesting. I need to drive into town monitor the airwaves. I'd bet that's some interesting traffic. Cheers!
@@TheTechPrepper if you really want to know what's going on just pick up a police scanner and a discone antenna, you will be amazed at what going on around you, even just down the street. The better ones are very pricey like my Uniden SDS100, I listen to it often since I can hear everything (police, fire, EMS, undercover ops, Gov't, news helicopters, businesses, railroads, etc....) The list is lengthy but you will know what's happened way before anyone else! You look to e in the Phoenix area, I'm in East Mesa. I have my ham license, GMRS, DMR and looking to pick a a CB. I'm going to cover all the mods since they each have some unique benefits. We should meet up some time.
Just completed testing with the UV5R on 2m with the upgraded antenna, MFJ-1717SF. Range was 19 miles to a station up on a bridge with a vehicle roof mounted antenna.
We use Google Earth mapping the same way you show. Today we compared the vehicle and a man pack on a bridge with marginal results at 50 miles from my base station, both antennas were at about 70 feet. Yes, we had "random" callers and interference so we have a channel jumping list for the future.
We have observed simple improvements with antenna orientation held vertical and away from the body. Your video shows the radio close to your head with the antenna tilted back. A simple speaker mic and the improved 17 inch antennas would let you use the radio held up above your head. You might find in your terrain the needed margin of improvement with the MURS radios using these tips.
I am building a portable set up on a hand truck cart to look like a pier fishing rig. My camouflage is a tourist or beach goer, which fits in around Cocoa Beach. Other members are more nerdy or military so they like the hit and run of the handhelds or man packs. The cart is more of a hub station with bigger battery, more power, portable antenna and some staying power.
Even though we are long time radio operators from technical backgrounds, we are learning from your channel, inspired and having fun.
Well done! Keep up the good work.
Excellent as usual, I perfectly understand as my Wife, and Son, and a good friend are the only licensed hams in my responsibility circle. This has given me some ideas, but I would also mention to you an idea I have. My nephews have been resistant to obtain licenses and unfortunately live too far away for MURS to be of use. Cheap CBs and ways to power them are my hoped for solution. I do admit that at this time I don't know if a license is required, but from my past encounters with CB'ers I do not believe so. And anyway they would only be used in dire times. Again thank you for your efforts in making these! Your 1st FAN!
Woot! Thanks for stopping by. It's always a pleasure. CB is an interesting idea to revisit in 2022. I'm thinking... Have a wonderful day.
Nicely done. Very useful and practical
Thanks!
Great vid. Looking forward to the entire series!!
Thanks, Tim. I am struggling to figure out the right sequencing without losing too many people. The series should be valuable even if I have to go over some of the viewer's heads. Take care.
LOL great start of the video. I thought with 2 watts you would been good but the effects of rolling terrain definitely effected your outcome.
The funny part is that was not even scripted. That's just my wife being herself. We have plenty of rolling terrain here.
Great video! Loved the actual data points. I use murs for work, never heard traffic outside of channel 4 and 5 (blue and green dot) around Walmart or hardware stores. I always figured 2m (-ish) would have more distance than frs. Gotta love data!
Thanks, Richard! I appreciate you sharing your data points. Data is everything. These are just local test, so everyone's tests will vary. In general, I have been happy with MURS for this very specific use case. When I am hiking behind the house and get some elevation gain we're doing 3-4 miles and possibly father, but this is the exception. Radio horizon line-of--sight is the major obstacle for VHF/UHF.
That B-Tech gmrs-v1 will reach way further than those cheaper ones. Tactically speaking you can monitor 2 channels and switch quickly and have the other cheap radios locked out. Also repeater capable and you can buy a cheap out of the box gmrs repeater for almost nothing and have decent extra range. I love gmrs. Our north ga gmrs network is the largest in the world. Just discovered your channel.
Good series and I will be looking forward to the rest. For the MURS op you did today you are right in that better antennas will greatly help as well as a base station antenna for the radio at the TOC, Keep up the good work 72+1s
Two 150 MHz Smiley Antennas just arrived. We'll re-run this test. If there's time, I'll put up a j-pole at the TOC. 73's
Retevis is making a MURS specific antenna for $15.00. I watched a video of this antenna used on a Retevis MURS radio and it performed excellent on that radio. That radio showed 1.2 watts out with the stock antenna. With the Retevis antenna, the same radio showed 2.1 watts out. So obviously it has good SWR. Very clear audio from 1.2 miles to a radio in the guys home. Looks like an excellent investment for MURS use. It is about 27" long, so it's a 1/4 wave antenna, SMA. It's orange, not my favorite color for an antenna.....But, you get what you get.
Good to know. Thanks! I noticed that there was an option to buy a the upgraded antenna. I am actually thinking of going with the Smiley Antennas. The SLIM DUCK 150 MHZ looks promising.
Another great antenna. The N9TAX roll up antenna. It's available in 2M/70 CM and a duel band GMRS/MURS roll up. For $31.00 you get the roll up antenna made of window line. It has a ferrite choke attached, 16 feet of RG-213 coax and your choice of connectors. I have not had the chance to try it on MURS, but having 3 other N9TAX antennas, I have no doubt it will be excellent. On GMRS, a repeater that I have a hard time getting into with my HT is very clear with the N9TAX antenna just hung in the front window. These are very well constructed and can be used outside as they are weather proof. I've used the 2M/70CM outside as an extra antenna for a year now and it still looks and works perfect. If you want a short GMRS or shorter MURS antenna, he will make them to any single frequency you wish to operate on. I have two for GMRS. One is in 462.600, the other 467.550 for repeater input. These antennas are the best deal going in a roll up. Fantastic build quality and quality materials. Try one, you won't be sorry. No, I'm not affiliated with N9TAX, I just know they work and hold up and want to pass this on to others. N9TAXLABS.com is their contact. It is made in AMERICA.
I love the N9TAX Slim Jim. I have been carrying one for amateur radio for a few years. I'll need to test the SWR on mine for MURS and GMRS and see where it lands, but it may good just to buy a second one cut specifically for those bands. Thanks for sharing.
@@TheTechPrepper I just bought the GMRS/MURS version. My GMRS/FRS N9TAX antenna has as close to a flat, perfect SWR as you can get on both bands. It's a great performer and will greatly extend the range of any GMRS/MURS radio. For $31.00 with 16' of RG-213, it is a smoking deal.
@@johnk23705 It's time to get another N9TAX Slim Jim in this case. I love my 2m/440 Mhz version. Cheers.
Thanks for another video!!
Any time!
I would encourage getting the GMRS license. For general use you can have a licensed high power GMRS base station with an elevated antenna, and others can utilize FRS. This can make the otherwise limited FRS sets more useful to a broad general public, and the handsets are cheap, widely available, easy to use, and can be utilized for all sorts of domestic purposes, including on trips, for household chores, and for distracting grandchildren. A much easier sell to neighbors.
(Gmrs has limited power on frs channels, but a better, elevated antenna, and much better performance with other gmrs stations more than makes up for that)
Getting it next month. The Wouxun KG-1000G is enroute.
Your wife is so cool!!! That opening segment just cracked me up!
Yep, she is great. I'm lacing up for another field test that's she kindly helping me test. Glad you got a chuckle.
"Sometimes the woman can be a bit difficult." A comment that could be made by any man who has been married longer than 10 minutes! But to be fair, most women would say that about their male significant other...such is the human condition.
All kidding aside, great video...very detailed, as usual. I would echo some of the previous comments and recommend GMRS...fairly simple to obtain a license that covers everyone in a family unit. Thank you for sharing!
I love me wife. She's amazing and we completely get each other even after 17 year of marriage. Yes, she's says the same about me.
I am getting my GMRS license this next month. The Wouxun KG-1000G is already in route. As for this MURS test, we will revisit this scenario with a Slim Jim j-pole up at 16' and a 150 MHz antenna from Smiley Antennas.
The range problem you experienced is mostly antenna related. A properly sized antenna at your TOC will make that 2W go a lot further. Longer HT antennas will help, too. Retevis sells longer ones. Another minor point. Every time you talked on the radio, you held the radio in a way that the antenna was tilted over. That didn't help range either. Hold the radio antenna up.
Like your MURS choice for local communications. FRS/GMRS has lots of kids and other traffic. Consider a better antenna at least for the TOC.
That's absolutely the plan. I'll be adding a second, roof-mounted VHF antenna that is tuned for MURS.
You're probably aware of this but FRS radios are now allowed to operate at up to 2 watts of power. So now the only difference between them and MURS is the frequencies and that MURS can swap antennas. But their power limits are the same, so there might be times when FRS will work as well or better than MURS. Plus, they have interoperability with GMRS, making them flexible when using with other people.
My FRS radio are bit older, so they are the 500mW units. In terms of next steps, I ordered two 150 MHz Smiley Antennas as a comparison for the MURS HT's shown in this video, but I am also getting my GMRS license next month. I've settled on the Wouxun KG-1000G for my first GMRS radio and already have a manpack build for it underway. Even with new rules around 2-watts on FRS, I am personally sticking with the MURS for the community. I can hand these out and add a high gain antenna if needed. Thanks!
I really appreciate the series. I bought a 4 pack of MURS radios for my family. I am a technician-class HAM and will be watching your other videos with interest. QUICK QUESTION -> Since my family members do not share my hobby ... I was thinking of laser-engraving an aluminum dog tag to connect to each radio. What information would you suggest I put on that tag so I can just "hand out" these during an emergency situation? The tags are about 2 x 1" and double sided. Thanks again!!
I like this idea, but these radios are very simple to use so there is very little need to put usage instructions. You may just want to put which channel to monitor as your standard. "Turn on radio. Select channel 1. Press PTT button on side to talk."
Great video, and a point that might be worth considering is, there's little to no traffic, so if you do hear someone chatting, you know they are waaaay too close for comfort. I am NOT a fan over transmitting. I mean if I only need to talk a mile away, why do I want everyone who's within 100 miles to hear what I'm saying. For "ME", that's VERY poor operational security. Something else that you might want to think about, is will you always be talking out in the open like that all the time, or will you be near the ground and laying low hiding from someone who happens to be in the area, and then what kind of commo do you have? Might have a false sense of what you're range actually is, when you try to warn TOC while on your belly, only to find out that they can't hear you. Just a thought. Keep up the great work.
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
To find ideal locations for reception Topographical maps or 3D satellite maps work best. Radio doesn’t transmit through hills, you need line of sight. Also it doesn’t go through buildings very well. So being able to see the 3D landscape will pretty much tell you exactly where you will and will not be able to make radio Comms. Google earth pro is great for this.
Thanks for sharing. Google Earth Pro and ATAK are both great for this application. I have a custom tool (EmComm Tools) that I wrote that does radio horizon/line-of-sight calculations using offline maps. It's not yet publicly available. We'll get more into LOS in future videos...I wanted to keep this one simple for our first video.
I've really been looking forward to this series. It aligns 100% with why I got into radio and what I want to learn and do with it.
I hadn't given MURS much consideration before, but you make good points about its advantages. Like others in the comments here, I've planned on using FRS & GMRS radios for my non-ham friends, family and neighbors. Around me, there isn't much activity on MURS, GMRS, or FRS, so I'm guardedly optimistic that I won't have a lot of noise to deal with in an emergency scenario. And if I do, I've got channels programmed with CTCSS codes to filter out transmissions from people outside of my group.
Do you happen to have a scanner? I've got a Uniden SDS-100 which I've used to do signal tests while running, similar to what you did in this video and others. I set the scanner to record on the frequency I'm using, and when I get back, I listen to the recording. It leaves out all of the "dead air", so the full recording is only a minute or two. Lately, I've been using the scanner to listen to GMRS and MURS frequencies during my workday. That's given me a good sense of who's using it and how much.
Thanks again for what you're doing here. Keep up the great work!
Glad to hear it! I appreciate the support. The plan is to only cover practical comms to solve real-world scenarios.
I do not have a scanner yet, but will be picking up a Uniden scanner soon. I am actually using a $30 SDR these days and using software to record audio only when the squelch is broken and above a certain dB level. I did a small SDR series on my channel. Here's the video where I show the voice activated recording to solve the problem a different way: th-cam.com/video/szAZO4iUrXY/w-d-xo.html
Oh yeah, good point about SDR. It's amazing how much you can do with one of those for so little money.
Interesting to see MURS capability out of
the box 📦 in the first tests. 73 de W2CH
Ray, New Hampshire.
Argent Data Systems makes a simplex repeater that can be used with transceivers that are not repeater capable. These would primarily be FRS/GMRS, MURS, and even CB.
I can vouch for this. I have one and works great, just have to get people used to the duplicate transmission and wait. Little bit of a learning curve for non radio people
@@alpha6tango860 To keep it simple for those who need to keep it simple, and to avoid the need for a repeater, if they have hand helds with detachable antennas, connecting them to an omni-directional antenna at least 15 feet in height, there can be an increase in signal strength of around 7.7Dbd relative to the attached antenna. MURS is a smart choice for this. Another option is to use CB for longer distances, and common FRS/GMRS handheld transceiver for very short ranges. The ADS-1 repeater (Argent Data Systems) can also be used. See videos from Guerilla Comms on the ADS-1 simplex repeater. The cost is about $100, plus the expense of a PV panel and charge controller and other components. High gain omni and directional antenna can make a significant difference not only in terms of ERP, but also an increased ability to 'hear' weak signals. I have many articles on survival blog com about all this and more....
I just now watched the video and thought simplex repeater too. I use mine for tests like this frequently. My ADS SR-1 is about 10 years old. It’s seen some rough use. Zero issues. They have so many uses!
@@RandomWire107 Yes, it is much more than a repeater. As you know, one of the most important function is that it can be instrumental for conducting what is known as a 'radio survey'. I've use a digital voice record, but the ADS-1 provides instant feedback and confirmation that we have both TX and RX for both transceivers.
By the way, I forgot to mention that you can install a roof antenna on your home and a lot of those problems that you had with range will be solved. Specially if your neighbors are willing to install a roof antenna as well. Which you can do with MURS radios. There is a limit. of how high can be, but for your purpose roof and tennis could solve a lot of your problems. Even when it comes to handheld to a roof antenna, it will stain your range quite a bit.
These radios are sometimes shipped switched to low power:) there is an app for them, and you can adjust the power in app and add sub codes to the channels:) I have 3 of these and the only thing I don’t like is the un detachable antenna:) I used my Baofeng uv5r programming cable with them:)
Hope you see this. Check out the homemade Plate Carrier Antenna on the "Radio Prepper" youtube channel. It would work great on a pack also. Only thing I might change would be to add a BNC to the bottom of the antenna so I could easily change out damaged coax and use a signal stick antenna on top. Check it out. It would be far more efficient than just an antenna on a radio and on a Man Pack, with a Signal Stick, will take 50 watts. It's a half wave vertical dipole on your bag.
Thanks for putting this on my radar. I saw that video pop on my feed, but I have not be able to watch any TH-cam videos lately due to time constraints, but I'll definitely make time for this one. I appreciate the comment.
Great intro, I was really laughing...
Thanks. She had me laughing, too. This was not scripted. She literally thought the entire exercise was ridiculous.
I'm surprised that Murs couldn't pick up position 4. I started out with GMRS and really like the ability to use repeaters unfortunately in my part of the country there really isn't much traffic on them. I just got my general license and I've become a big fan of 2m and 70cm simplex. Now I usually listen on 146.520 and 446.000. Many more cool random people and less bs than cb.
It would be interesting to run GMRS along side to see the difference. Good test.
@LoneScout But GMRS gives you more power so it would seem it would do much better.
Remember to keep that antenna pointed straight up when TX'ing.
Excellent point. I was a bad operator at a couple of points. Thanks.
LOL ... You were talking to my wife on the radio in the intro.
They might be sisters. ;-)
Did a nice job for 2W!
Not bad. I still need to measure the output power and actually verify that it's putting out 2 watts. Either way, this will work for this particular use case. Our plan is to have 16 units total to hand out to the neighbors if needed during an emergency.
I was watching your video and I am not sure if you aware but the fcc does alow an outdoor antenna when using a murs radio as a base station.
Great call out. Yes, I'm aware. We are running a pair of 150 MHz antennas from Smiley Antennas. They perform much better than the stock antennas. I've even connected my wife's radio to my 2m vertical on the roof with great success.
@@TheTechPrepper Check again. You can use external antennas with MURS on vehicles. If the car has lots of metal, you get a great ground plain. You can also have an external antenna on your house or tree or whatever
with your unit. There is a limit of 20 ft beyond the highest point of attachment but that is an amazing line of sight gig. Firestick even makes base antennas specifically for MURS.
You likely would have had better performance if the “base station” radio had an elevated antenna. This can be a useful approach as it doesn’t involve extra equipment and modifications for all users. You will get some transmission line loss of power (unless you can convince your spouse to get on the roof with the ht), but if it is not too long, the height will probably make up for it in performance.
Yep. We'll be revisiting this scenario. Actually, I have the Wouxun KG-1000G arriving soon. I'll run a 2m j-pole outside at 16'. I even have two 150MHz Smiley Antennas on the way for the HT's. Cheers!
During SHTF if you used an unlocked HAM or GRMS radio that would give you 5 to 10 watts with a good antenna I wonder how the range would be?
Any opinions on the Retevis RB27V? Amazon is selling a 4 pack for $55.99. The price point isn't bad considering what you're getting!
If you are serious about MURS, Icom makes professional grade mil-spec models, the V10MR and the V3MR. Yes, they're pricey.
Absolutely brilliant suggestion. The V10MR is absolutely a tool, not a toy. I am a hug fan of rugged and IP67 rated radios. You get what you pay for. For your immediate circle of loved ones, it's worth the investment. It looks similar to the chassis of the new Icom T10. Both of these radios are on my list. Thanks!
Personally, my wife and I will be running our VX-6R's due to the rugged construction and long history of reliability. We get the added benefit of being more wide-banded.
I recommend reconditioned business radios which make extremely solid MURS radios, a lot of choice there. I personally use a VX-231 but I know people who use nice HT1250s. Or if you're feeling special an old public safety model like the XTS5000 would make a badass MURS setup. Make sure to program your local NOAA channel on it too.
@@ironmatic1 Great recommendation. I will actually be covering the Motorola XTS-5000 later in this series. We'll be discussing the UCM crypto boards as well as how to build a key loader for our encryption keys.
Great idea!
Thanks!
Here is New Mexico, the Hams are using GMRS more than 2m and 70cm. Of course i got my license before they lowered the price.
QUESTION: now that you've had the Retivis units for a while, do you have a feel for battery life? I got four of them and since they don't have a battery indicator, how long can they sit - roughly - before they need recharging? Or do you have them sit in the charge cradle constantly? THANKS as always for the great vids and straightforward analysys.
I need to get some more experience with them before I can comment. I am taking them in 3-day backpacking trip with no ability to field charge, so it will be a good test.
MURS is the best choice in this case because even Tech Prepper has his GMRS, his neighbors do not, MURS is free to all
i love in Tarrant county Texas, about a mile away from ft worth Texas, I had my murs radio in the search mode, I herd a repeater I'd on it. i know that repeaters are not allowed on it by FCC rules. i thought it was a little odd.
I wonder how your radio would perform with a signal stick antenna, since MURS is roughly 2m.
The swr would be quite high unless you trimmed it which would be easy to do with a Signal Stick.
GMRS is a great option, but if shtf, everyone is going to be on those frequencies since they share them with FRS. Same with CB. It's a part of why I do like MURS, but hate why it is so limited plus Walmart uses it. It's why I try to convince others to go with the ham license, but I'm going to a broken record at this point commenting on it repeatedly in the comments of your videos.
The thing I can think of is maybe trying to get a private frequency via private land mobile radio. Then, just set up a repeater with a high but stealth antenna. It seems like it would be a better answer if community is the main focal point. Or maybe I'm just overcomplicating things again?
You are going in the right direction. All of my ham radios are modified to interoperate with GMRS, but at some point we'll be getting a GMRS license for the family for completeness. We will be over complicating things as part of this series. This first radio is more for the elderly couple that lives next door that could use assistance during an emergency. We'll be getting into ham radio pretty much exclusively for the next few months. Then, we are going to circle back and talk about Land Mobile Radios (LMR) that provide encryption and secure comms. There's a big leap between these $20.00 radios and the the Motorola XTS 2500/5000 with crypto. I promise...we we'll get there. Have a good one.
Could you please tell me the best murs radio that is water proof? … also, can I buy an antenna to put on my roof or vehicle to help signal? I want to buy and start learning, but it’s soooo confusing.
Try doing the same test with GMRS. I get using Murs. When I go out hiking i pass out these radios because of being vhf and not as populated.
Thanks man! Looking forward to the new antenna video. Is the Yaesu Bluetooth compatible?
My pleasure. There's appears to be an aftermarket Bluetooth adapter, but I can't speak to the quality as I have never used it. Try searching for "pryme bluetooth adapter vx6"
Also, look into field phones. I finally got in big, and glad I did .
Excellent point. It's been on the to-do list for a while. Thanks!
@@TheTechPrepper I hope to do an article for survival blog this winter on field phones. Until then,... field phone solve many problems and may save you time and money.... Untrained persons can use field phones. They can have long conversations to sort a problem or to simply chat. COMSEC is not a problem. Field phones are EMP resistant, especially if the line is buried. A PV system for charging lots of batteries is not necessary as a single set of 'D' batteries last for months. Drones can have RDF capability. Using the VOX function one can transmit from several miles away I would use commercial phones on the same WD1a wire to transmit and receive. And signalling can be performed on the same wire using pezio electric buzzers and momentary switches. For example, my neighborhood can be awaken from a sleep by any number of buzzers placed throughout the home using the same field phone circuit. These buzzer are very loud and can be used as ringers for the phone system.... simple alarms activated by a trip wire can be placed far away from the home. using WD1A wire... While I am certainly into radio comms, for fixed locations, I prefer field phones for most traffic.
You should get a gmrs license even if your neighbors won't, since you are the TOC operator you'll be able to intercommunicate with FRS but with higher power
You make a great point. I plan to get a GMRS license before the end of the year. It has the added bonus that I can install a 50 watt GMRS mobile rig in my wife's vehicle. Thanks for the suggestion.
Time for an update!
Yes, it is. I have a jungle antenna and a better rubber duck from Smiley Antenna.
Sometimes 2-3 feet in elevation can make a otherwise rough or no copy into a decent copy, you had a couple of places where the terrain was slightly higher than the ground you were transmitting from. Looking around for a slightly better location to transmit from can be the difference between contact or no contact. EDIT : Every electronics device comes from china, there is no way around it
Wondering....where was she at the TOC? Was she using the same handheld? If the TOC had an elevated external antenna it would probably do much better.
She was outside on an exact RT21V handheld with the same stock rubber duck antenna. The plan is to do a follow-up video later in the series with: 1) A 155MHz antenna elevated 16 to 24' at the TOC; 2) incorporate the neighbors. I am a big fan of starting small and collecting data. Thanks for the suggestion.
@@TheTechPrepper it's common sense and you knew it already, I was just stating the obvious. I do see that those radios do have a factory extended antenna option, which would probably pair well with a Slimjim Jpole strung about 20ft up at the TOC! Do that and run some new tests! Be interesting to see how much better it worked. Thanks! Appreciate your videos and went with the 818nd/Armoloq route based upon them. 73's
@@DerHossMeister I'll certainly do another test. I have been wanting to build a EDZ for 2m using some arrow shafts, so I may do that on the channel and cut if for 155 Mhz. If that is too ambitious, I'll just use my N9TAX slim jim. Glad to hear that you went the 818/ARMOLOQ route. That's honestly my favorite radio combo. You may get a kick out of this private post: www.buymeacoffee.com/thetechprepper/the-tech-prepper-manpack-bag-prototype
May I recommend the Smiley 5/8 SLIM DUCK 155 MHZ antenna?
You may! Those are great antennas. I have a couple that are cut for the 2m amateur band. I need to get one that's cut for 155MHz center frequency. Great suggestion.
Great concepts, good examples, maps and real time use. If I could give a little constructive input. You are too militaristic in the way you present to new radio users. I've been a PD Officer and a ham for 11 years. It works fine with me, however I have found with the general public, who have no radio experience, that plain language is best. Using blocks and miles vs. kilometers. Not using terms such as TOC. In many cases, you kind of lose the average joe if you are too technical or use less common terms. Radio is scary to many who have never used it. I'm also the CERT commander for my county and have found when getting people interested in radio, simple is what works the best. And I try to get every member into at least GMRS and push for them to get their Tech license. Just my 2 cents from my experiences. Your idea of using MURS vs. GMRS for close in comms is a good one due to the heavier traffic one will find on GMRS. I also think you should spend the $35.00 and get your GMRS license. For no other reason than so many people do have GMRS radios. Gathering intel and being able to make more contacts could be very important. In my area, there are many people getting GMRS and using repeaters. The GMRS repeaters are a major advantage for those who don't have their ham ticket. Especially if you are a ham and others in your family or group are not hams. With GMRS, they still have the ability to communicate with you at far greater distance. Simplex or repeater. I have just about every type of radio for every radio service. I pick and chose which to use depending on the circumstances just as you do. I think it is a major bonus to have the ability to communicate on every type of service. Yes, I know you can cover almost all of the VHF/UHF services with your Yaesu. But many others don't have an amateur radio. They do have a GMRS. Don't overlook GMRS. If the worst happens, GMRS may be the most used service for the general public. MURS for your neighborhood and GMRS which covers the center out to circle #2 or even #3 for those who will not or don't want to get their ham ticket. I wish more people would get their Ham ticket, but sadly, most won't. GMRS being more like ham does help get some interested in Ham. Thank You for the videos you do. You put a lot of effort into every one. It does not go un noticed. For IP67, low cost GMRS get the Boafeng GMRS radio. If IP rating is not an issue, the Radioddity GM-30 with USB charging at $40. is an outstanding deal for a good radio.
Good Morning, John. I appreciate the constructive feedback. It's very rare these days.
Unfortunately, I am probably the wrong channel for a lot of people starting out and expecting to learn everything from my channel. My goal is to give people a high-level overview and show what is possible with radio and hopefully spark an interest of self exploration. I'll make the point in the next video that viewers should look to other channels like HRCC and David Casler for step-by-step handholding.
For example, I plan to touch on both GMRS and amateur radio in the next video and explain the virtues of both as it relates to some of the scenarios I see for preparedness in the real-world. I will be getting my GMRS license, but the focus for the videos starting with Part 3 will be almost entirely focused on ham radio and will get technical very quickly. Again, I am a firm believer in getting viewers interested by showing them what is possible , but leaving it to them to do the homework.
I am not an expert, so my goal is just to share with people what I am actually doing to arrive at my ultimate communications goals. As a man-portable field operator, trail runner, hiker, and prepper, the concepts I cover in my videos tend to be more tactical. If I go in a different direction unfortunately I will lose interest in creating content. There are much more qualified teachers out there to hold people's hands step-by-step.
I am working towards a very narrow direction of radio prepping, so by design it will narrow the audience. I am ok with remaining a small channel and appealing to those with my POV. I can't be all things to all people.
The good news is, if you're looking for a content creator that is on a mission to merge civilian and military radio techniques for the purpose of being an effective communicator in the absence of infrastructure, please stick around.
My work on civilian manpacks along with my custom EmComm Tools software platform is part of a larger vision to make tactical radio easier for those who need it.
Take care and I hope this helps explain my POV for the channel.
Cheers. 73 de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper If I misunderstood what "Community" meant, I'm sorry. If you are talking about your MAG or group (and other mags and groups) and getting them up to speed with radio, then you are right where you want to be. I got the impression that this new series might have been for those who were new to it all as you were talking about neighbors. Maybe those neighbors are a part of your mag. Thought you were taking a different direction from your normal content. My Bad. Carry on and 73. P.S. Loved your wife giving you the business at the start of the video. Reminds me of mine. Very into the prepping but not 100% about running around with the guys doing man stuff. And I'm OK with that. Be sure to check out T. Rex Arms and S2 Underground on youtube. They have some very good technical info on DF and OPSEC with radio. Their videos fit right in with yours.
I agree with John using yards or feet instead of kilometers or meters quicker to follow along. You don’t wanna shrink your audience that much. Love the channel keep up the nice work. I’m sold on theses radios for our situation with an upgraded antenna
Those rubber duckies need to be vertical. Any tilt is bad , for example the tip could have a null pointing at your house.
FRS has 22 channels. Channels 1 to 7 and 15 to 22 are 2 watts. Channels 8 to 14 are limited to 0.5 watts.
right but MURS is 2 watts of VHF instead of UHF. isnt that neat.
do you have a Fridge instead of a TV in your Living room?
This is third car port in my garage. The TV is inside the house.
Hi Gaston, I just bought you a coffee, but I forgot to mention that I am interested in your custom pack for my FT-857D and FT-8900R. 73, Jim KD7HTG
Excellent! Thank you for the support. You are on the list. You just made it. I only have a couple left. There's a special private video coming your way soon. The FT-857D/891 manpack will happen next year. We are looking good for the smaller manpack well before the end of this year. I have you covered on the FT-8900 manpack before Christmas. Cheers.
By the time a person gets a pretty thorough understanding of comms and has a decent plan in mind, they realize they want it all. We want to be able to listen to everything and transmit on as much as we can. Dedicating a comms plan to MURS or buying specific MURS radios is really a waste of time and money. If privacy is a concern, and there's enough people using FRS to make it an issue, then there's gonna be some people also listening to MURS, and if you're using it while nobody else is then you'll stick out like a dick on a fish, whereas you'd be more likely to blend in or be overpowered in a crowd of FRS/GMRS. Ultimately, both GMRS and Ham is what's going to be the best answer. If you want more privacy then you'll want to be in the encrypted business radio arena.
The MURS radios are simply to solve a problem in which one party (the commuications guy on the street) needs to hand out his own equipment to non-technical and unlicensed people. They are at a price point that's affordable and simple enough to solve this problem. MURS is just one tool in a larger comms plan.
For the family and my mutual support group, we are actually going to use Motorola XTS-5000's with UCM crypto boards. I am obtaining my business license this year and will be building a key loader. We will cover this later.
As for amateur radio, that's where you get the most power of being able to communicate at all the communication layers I described. We'll be covering ham radio next. For what it's worth, I have developed an an offline-first, end-to-end encryption platform that works with all my amateur radios. It's called EmComm Tools, but I have not released it yet.
This MURS video is just the first step. The series will get more technical very quickly with bigger radios, purpose-built antennas, and various operating techniques. We'll get into ARPS, Winlink, JS8, ALE, etc. Cheers.
Would have been helpful to travel down the block towards plan south to find communication boundary where comms dropped. Would be helpful to know comm range on say a patrol. Do that with your planned antenna.
We'll revisit this exact question. The plan for the community is to establish two Alternate Operations Centers (AOC): one at the farthest position South (where it was a dead zone) and the other on the North side. These locations will have a variety of comms abilities including a higher gain, elevated VHF antenna for MURS. Thanks for the comment.
@@TheTechPrepper all good, I like the effort. I tried to find the limits of my radios in the neighborhood by walking around making a map of where each radio works. I live in hills, so it’s not as simple as a circle, but it is helpful. We altered the regular dog walk loop to accommodate the map as well. Also helpful to know where to walk when you need to call back to the house if you are in the signal shadows. I also did this for the few neighbors that have a radio on. It’s nice to know where I can hit their base stations as well. Was fairly easy to set to memory for the regular places I go.
@@Qwiv It's nice to see others taking the initiative to perform their own RF site surveys. Keep up the good work!
FRS should have 2watt radios but I've heard that MURS gets more distance than FRS.(notarubicon did a vrs video) I think that the GMRS radios that are meant for professional use may be the ticket. They seem to have the power and encryption that you may need. It's not going to be a license free cheap route, but.... they should be better or you're right back to a Dual band HT. lol
Noticed I was not Subscribed mashed that button for the second time. SMH TH-cam sucks. You anywhere else?
I appreciate your persistence. Thank you. TH-cam drives me nuts for a number of reasons.
Yes, I am Instagram and much more active there. You'll have a better idea of what will appear on a future video on that feed. instagram.com/thetechprepper/
She was hoping for position 2.🤣
So. What’s the difference of capability of MURS and FRS? Why use MURS over FRS for local?
MURS is 151-154mhz up to 2 watt power. FRS is 462-467mhz and 0.5watt power. MURS will go much further, and you can also add a larger antenna to go even further
Chris is only regurgitating what he read or watched from notarubicon. Real world not even close.
@@chrisgullett4332 no way you are getting 20 miles out of frs. About 1 mile max is all you will get. The advertising is a lie.
@@chrisgullett4332 Yes, they did bump some channels up to 2 watts for FRS. MURS will almost always have better range than FRS. The detachable antenna means that you could put on a better antenna, or a larger mobile or base station antenna and increase range even further. Any radio benefits from a detachable antenna.
20 miles on FRS is a ridiculous exaggeration, you will be lucky to get over a mile. I agree that FRS is obsolete, and that MURS or GMRS is a better choice.
@@chrisgullett4332 OK, THIS IS THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE SEEN ON THE INTERNET TODAY!
After watching this video I think I know what she was laughing at.
I would seriously look at GMRS as well. It offers the potential for far greater simplex range (especially mobile) over MURS, and repeaters are becoming far more commonplace as well. And of course, many dual-band HT's can be MARS/CAP modded to work on GMRS. I held out for over a year until the price finally dropped to $35 and had my license a few days later. I find the ability to seamlessly integrate non-licensed individuals (via FRS) into a small, localized net to be a huge benefit, one that Amateur radio simply doesn't provide.
That's a good point. I picked up a Wouxun KG-1000G a few days after this video and will be getting my license in November. We'll try the same test with it and an FRS and GMRS radio. Thanks for the suggestion. Take care.
I don’t know, but I have a feeling that you think everybody else are pretty dumb. You keep talking about confusing people unless you’re talking about mostly senior citizens or mentally disabled people, I really don’t see why people cannot learn how to use the radio.
The BTech radio it’s a pretty good radio. I have the GMRS version and I have to say pretty good radio. So I imagine that the MURS version it’s just as good. One of the best things you can do with that radio because of its display that you can program the so-called privacy codes on the fly. So if you need to communicate with other groups outside of your little group, you can easily change the privacy code or tone.
If you’re too afraid of people, not knowing how to use it, you can set it up for them and then lock the keypad. Radios with a display are good but if you ever need to change the privacy codes, you must connect it to a computer or some other device.
You also forgot to talk about the limitations of MURS. One of those limitations is that it only has five channels. if more people start buying MURS radios, those frequencies can start getting saturated with traffic. Of course, the same is true with GMRS and even HAM radio.
Please is one of the reasons why using privacy codes and tones in MURS radios is important. Of course, privacy codes are not really that private. We all know that, but that allow to block most unwanted chatter.
I like MURS radios and I have a few of them, just like I do GMRS radios. Both have the good and bad side. You must learn those weaknesses and strengths to select the best radio fir your needs.
I’ve thought about getting a HAM license, but the attitude of most Sad HAM heads turn me off. Nothing but a bunch of overinflated egos and entitled fools. Most think that their crap doesn’t stink. Now many Sad HAMs are trying to carry over their HAM etiquetes over to the GMRS scene.
Just get the GMRS license. 35 bucks, multi year, multi person. No one cared if used minus license anyways.
FRS/GMRS is terrible in a disaster. 1000’s and 1000’s of ppl within a mile of you all trying to talk on all the channels at the same time. If you have never done a GMRS field exercise, it will be eye opening for you. Go to a nature reserve or wilderness park and start hiking around with friends and talk on GMRS... you will notice just how much random traffic is on there in non-emergency situations. Now just imagine 10x or 20x more ppl trying to talk.
Also realize FRS and GMRS share the same frequencies. So everyone with a Walmart radio in an emergency will be jamming up all the channels calling out for help. Get your ham license. It’s really the only thing that will work in a disaster. Well Ham and Satellite phones/text messengers.
Excellent points. We travel in the RV and spend time at various camp sites across the country. You are almost guaranteed to have lots of chatter on FRS/GMRS. We have never heard any traffic on MURS. I am also a big fan using lesser known frequencies that are not used due to hardware being somewhat exotic. In an emergency, I have a number of ham radios that work in the 220 MHz (1.25cm) band. This band is extremely quiet. When stuff goes sideways, we'll use our encrypted LMR rigs...more on this later in the series. I appreciate you taking the time to share. Happy Friday!
@@TheTechPrepper ...MURS is cool but it’s VHF so signal quality isnt all that great and it doesn’t go “through” stuff as well as UHF does.
And in urban areas you can get a lot of interference because every garage door opener, security camera, dog collars, PA systems in stores, apartment call boxes, etc all use MURS channels.
Honestly the best thing you can do is get a tri-band radio and use the 1.25m band during an emergency. Almost nobody has a 1.25m band capable radio so it’s the best way to get reliable Comms up and running between family and neighbors. To call out for help you can jump over to 2m and 70cm and hit some of the local repeaters, then switch back to 1.25 to talk to neighbors and family.
In my American Contingency Group, when doing emergency radio Comms testing, that has been the most reliable plan so far... and then we use HF and SDR to reach out to other groups across the country.
We are also looking at LoRa Meshtastic. A couple group members bought a bunch of them and are placing them all around their neighborhood to have an off grid text messaging network with all their neighbors. It’s been working pretty good so far. So that is something to keep in mind. You put one on your pack that is connected to your phone, and you have a bunch throughout the neighborhood, then everyone can text message each other in emergencies.
I understand you want to make it idiot proof, but you can't beat a UV-5R for the price and capability (22 bucks on Amazon).
That's a fair point. It really depends who you are planning on supporting during an emergency. We have a few elderly folks that need the support of the community and they would have an easier time with fewer buttons.
Was your wife inside or outside? Sorry if I missed you saying that.
She was outside.
FRS is dead to me 😂😂😂
MURS only has half the power of GMRS, go GMRS, not MURS. Plus they only have 5 channels on them. PLUS GMRS is better for inside buildings where MURS is not too good inside Buildings. GMS is only 35 dollars for a 10 year license now, where the MURS is a Freebe. Plus you can have 22 channels on GMRS, not just 5.
GMRS does not cover non family members. The goal for this video was to supply radios to the neighbors. For a family, GMRS makes sense as the more appropriate tool. Thanks for the sharing the comparison.
Please, please don’t discount GMRS radio. At least get your gmrs license and get one radio and experiment with it. Or listen to gmrs channels on one of your existing radios.
I plan to file my license soon.
Takeaway from intro…don’t give women radios