So I am interested in acquiring some comms for me and my family that will be able to be mounted onto plate carriers. After digging through some information on here, it seems like some of the HAM stuff is the way to go but apparently one needs a license for these? I guess all I need is something that can be mounted on my plate carrier, as well as maybe half a dozen other guys armor, and be able to communicate over just a few miles. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated, I am new to this subject but just need to be able to communicate with a few family members over a few miles reliably. Thank you.
Fieldcraft survival did a video and podcast on this subject and would be a great place to start.
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The ham amateur license is pretty easy to get and offers you a whole new level of communication options. With that said, most of the semi-cheesy frs/gmrs radios are good enough for family comms and hunting stuff. I haven’t bought any in a while but they usually have a setting that would technically require a license but nobody seems to care.
If you step up your game to ham level, then you gain access to repeaters. In my area there are several repeaters on several high locations. Some are run by our local amateur radio club and are very sophisticated, others are owned by individuals, and have varying levels of usefulness. Many of them have solar and battery backups and will keep running in a lot of eotwawki situations.
Don’t buy a ham radio and start d!cking around on the frequencies without a license- there are many self-appointed guards of the frequencies that WILL locate you and send off complaints to FTC LE about you. They are crazy about it in my AO…
I’m a ham and if you were interested in radio and helping with emergency efforts and such then by all means pursue a ham license it’s pretty easy now as mentioned.
That said there were some very good gmrs handhelds and for $80 for 5 years you can be legal with an FCC license.
They will interop with FRS and there’s a very good chance that there are gmrs repeaters in your area that you can use. (Some require joining a club or association.)
I use Kenwood gmrs radios on my property, and have some over 20 years old that are still Rock solid. They are water resistant, and have extremely good range.
There are some part 90 approved Chinese radios that are surprisingly good. And some that are just okay.
TYT make some decent part 90 approved radios that can be used on gmrs, and also ham if you get your license.
TYT MD-380 and 390 handhelds also work quite well on FM for gmrs and have the plus of being able to do DMR if you get your ham license.
I have current generation Motorola’s as well as many Ham and other commercial radios. Despite what you’ll read or hear from old hams, some of the Chinese radios are quite good. And to put it in perspective current Motorola’s are made in Malaysia. And there are certainly some junk radios out there from Asia.
The very common Bofung 5rv or whatever is not as bad as some old farts say, but is not as good as some other radios like the TYTs I mentioned. I will say that they’re pretty tough, before I put a tyt mobile on my tractor, I used to clip the boefung on. It got knocked off and I ran over it with the tractor. Tires went over it, squished it into the grass. I wiped it off and I’m still using it.
Anything but a radio sold as gmrs will require programming to be put on the gmrs frequencies, so if you’re not technical you may want to make sure that whatever you get is sold pre-programmed or you line up someone to program them for you.
The nice thing about the gmrs focused radios is you can often change the subaudible tone from the radio without requiring a cable or PC.
If you get somewhere and it turns out someone else is using the same tone as you, you can change the radios on the spot. (if you remember how 
)
One other thing, if you’re thinking about doing ham radio, then a dual band radio (VHF / UHF) will be nice to have. Otherwise just a UHF radio will be less expensive and is all you need for gmrs / FRS.
I’m very active on ham radio, but the handheld radio I use the most is the MD-380 as I can use it on ham and gmrs.
Thanks man I appreciate it. It sounds like HAM is the way to go to get the most capabilities.
Thank you I appreciate the info. I think that investing in a license will probably have to be my best option.
This is interesting on maybe the exams being online.
https://qrznow.com/usa-conducts-first-all-online-ham-radio-exam/
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Getting licensed is easy. There’s no reason not to do it if you have a few hours to study. The entire entry-level test bank is published online and there are several free websites for practice tests and study sessions.
Technician class license privileges: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Tech%20Band%20Chart/US%20Amateur%20Radio%20Technician%20Privileges.pdf
Test bank, 428 questions: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/VEs/2018-2022%20Tech%20Class%20Pool%20Final%20with%20errata.pdf
Study guide: https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-no-nonsense-tech-study-guide-v1-1.pdf
I really liked this website for test prep. It will walk you through all of the questions and as it identifies your strengths and weaknesses it will target particular content areas. If you take the test enough, you can simply learn every question and answer: https://hamstudy.org/tech2018
The proctored test you ultimately take for Technician level is only 35 questions and you can miss 9 of those. I think it was about $20.00. It took me longer to sign in and walk to the room than to take the test. I’m currently working on my General class using the same methods. I may do the Extra class, just because.
So if you do get a ham license I would be looking at handhelds that are capable of DMR. Most of the repeaters in our area are converting over, very little FM activity left.
A DMR radio can do FM, but FM radios can’t do DMR in most cases.
Ham radio is a great hobby in its own right. Just be aware, you can only talk to other hams. So your other family members will also need to take the test if interested.
Where gmrs is good for the entire family.
I’m not really looking for a new hobby, plus reloading and a pilot’s license are higher on the list. If I’m just looking for that mile, really at most that would be my 95%. I’m mainly looking for something for when we are on the range and I can stop yelling like an idiot when we are setting up steel. My son has some Peletor ComTac IIIs and I’m looking to buy a set of higher end active ones like that. What is the best off the shelf, non-license, compatible with electronic muffs out there?
About a month ago, I found a 2 radio set from Midland for a super discount (~75% off) and jumped on it. Camping, hunting, hiking, etc was the thought of their use. They are GMRS and have 50 channels. They’ve been sitting on my shelf ever since I read in the instructions it requires an 80 dollar license to even use. Further googling revealed that apparently the gov can come inspect them whenever they want once you have that license. It seems like a lot of BS/money/headache for something to use while outdoors. I wanted something that wouldn’t fall apart and be reliable.
For my intended use, is it even worth dumping money (more than double of what the radios even cost me) plus the promise of potential inspections? Is there a way to use them that won’t tread on pay-the-gov-to-use frequencies? I had always found the concept of HAM interesting but just want something to use for fun and if SHTF, to have comms. Would the self-appointed guards track you down for using hand helds?
Completely new to this stuff and want to learn without getting in too deep.
You need a license to use either GMRS or FRS channels (I can’t remember off the top of my head which one) in a national emergency the license isn’t required.
Even if you get your technicians license the likelihood of the government visiting you is 0% unless you’re holding the key down so people can’t use the frequency thus tying up the channels or being a complete D Bag and using the radio to harass people.
Those Midland radios advertise 30 miles but you’d be lucky to get a mile if you have line of sight.
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Fee is now $35 for 10 years. I aint taking any tests at this point in my life and the decades of school and such… I went with a pair of Retevis NR30 which are up to 10w, but I leave on 5w to save batteries. Water proof, very simple to use, seem well built, will keep me in contact with SO should cell service go down etc. They get good reviews for the $. Being in FL, where it’s dead flat, range is excellent. I can join repeater “clubs” to and get considerable range extension, but not bothered as of yet. Seems like for many, GMRS is a good choice.