If we all spent $30 and carried a FRS radio with us in our MINI's we would all be able to talk to each other when we cross paths while motoring. They are so cheap now and work so well that it could be a really useful tool if we could get enough people to use them. . . .

Perhaps we should establish a standard channel and sub-channel that we will all know and use.

7-21 sound good?

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

That would be fun but you would need one with a headset so you could still do the motorin thing. I use them when we have a family caravan going.

 

>>If we all spent $30 and carried a FRS radio with us in our MINI's we would all be able to talk to each other when we cross paths while motoring. They are so cheap now and work so well that it could be a really useful tool if we could get enough people to use them. . . .
>>

You're not a FRS salesman are you?

 

7 sub 21 works nicely.

I love my Motorola TalkAbouts. They are great to have on group drives. It really makes things much easier when everyone has a radio. Things like stoplights, bathroom breaks, figuring out where to eat, pulling off to take group pictures are much easier to coordinate on the road with the radios.

 

my cousin works for motorola so I bought a set for use while skiing when they first became available. Now they are 1/3 the price I paid even with the employee discount. They are handy for shopping malls also. I find a place to have a drink or food and say "call me when it's over"


_________________
S.D.

 

I had a pair of Kenwood FRS talkies long time ago, have since upgraded to GMRS (5 mile range to 1 mile).

These are great things to have when traveling in caravans.

We always used ours when groups of us would take multiple cars up to the ski resorts. Once up there, they are a fun way of communicating to your friends while spread out all over the mountain.

They are great for road trips, hiking, snowboarding/skiing, climbing, or even around the office! Our IT department at my last couple jobs used them to communicate to each other while around the buildings.

These are a rad thing to own. I highly recommend.

 

I use a CB radio instead, longer range. I'm going to request all my club's members to purchase one if possible. Also helps avoid cops. :smile:

 

>>I use a CB radio instead, longer range. I'm going to request all my club's members to purchase one if possible. Also helps avoid cops. :smile:

I tried skiing with a CB radio, the wires keep getting tangled up!

 

>>You're not a FRS salesman are you?

No, just a guy that thinks it would be cool if we all spent a few bucks and were able to communicate with other MINI motorists.

Besides, at $30/set, I'd have one heck of a time competing with Wal-Mart!

My off-road clubs use CB's, and they are certainly better for long-distance use, but they just are not MINI-sized or styled. Even a tiny one that is little more than a handset still requires an external antenna and a place to mount it inside the vehicle. Just too much in my opinion when the FRS radios are so easy to get and use.


_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

Can you set them all to one channel?

 

Recently upgraded to the Motorola T7200 NiMH models. These suckers give you a full 2 watts of power (FRS is 0.5 watt and the other motorola radios that have GMRS capability only transmitts at 1.0 watts) AND now have the NOAA capability in them. Channel 7 Code 21 would work great because this is technically a split FRS/GMRS frequency thus giving me a full 2 watts of transmitting power (insert tool time laugh)! These come in both an alkaline and NiMH models.

Here is the cheapest place I could find on the web for the NiMH model:
Motorola T7200 NiMH

Hey has anyone actually purcahsed a GMRS license though? Oh an no I don't work for Motorola. I just use these radios for everything from Caravaning to hiking, mountain biking, skiing and kayaking. I have a total of 10 radios now ranging from one of the first (non-digital displays) FRS models to the new T7200's. My wife thinks I need some kind of counseling

One of the coolest movements in technology in my opnion.

 

Motorola® Talkabout® T6400 GMRS/FRS Mobile Two-Way Radio
I was looking at this??? Any good?? :smile:

 

BTW I can get a great deal on that Motorola today...
Any advice? $35USD with rebates....
Advice is needed.

 

I think the T6400's are a good choice. They are small and powerful (FRS 0.5/GMRS 1.0 watts). They do not have a ton of fancy features but most people don't need all that fancy stuff (i.e. digital compass, altimeter, etc). I would recommend this model for what you plan on using it for (motoring?)

Comes in cool colors too

 

Well this isn't market place...and I don't work there...
but this model is available...in the store only for $34.99.
That is a great deal!! So now the conundrum...since this
is not the marketplace...
If you were going to buy something for your office would
you go to a depot???
...and in the store is cheaper than online....

 

Go for the cheapest deal is what I would do. You will really like these radios. I have headsets for all of mine and lend them to my wife's school for use in the production of their plays, etc.

 

10-4. Thanks for the ADvice. :smile:

 

I was in my least favorite store (Worst Buy) looking for DVD X-mas gifts when I came across their display of GMRS/FRS radios. I was pleased to see that the combined GMRS/FRS radios with a bit more transmitting power were surprisingly cheap.

I got a Motorola T6250 that does all 22 channels and transmits at 1.0Watts. Very small and nice grey/black color and style that I like. It has the NOAA weather radio as well as hands-free talking without additional accessories. It runs on AA batteries and you will have to pay extra for a a NiMH battery and charger if you want to use rechargable batteries instead of throwing away Alkalines. About $45 after $15 rebate.

That t7200 with 2 watts is super nice, but the T6250 seemed to be a great choice with very similar features for my MINI-sized budget, although by the time I buy a NiMH battery and car charger, I will about double the final price, but still about $30 less than the nicer T7200.

I only bought one of these, as I have a set of older but still very nice motorola FRS radios that I plan on sharing with others who do not have them for club meets and drives.

Here are some pics of these two radios:

T7200


T6250



7 Sub 21

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement

 

Hmm... I might just have to look into the FRS thingamajigs... $45 is a lot cheaper than $120 for my CB setup, even if the range is shorter... I'm sure my club members would appreciate that. Not that I'm going to DEMAND that they purchase one... I can still avoid cops with my trusty Cobra CB though, lol... just wish more hotties had 'em. I've been single too long...

 

Yeah, a 2-5 mile theoretical range is plenty for a group of cars travelling together, and you will probably not get tarred and feathered by your club members when you demand that they all install bulky old fashioned CB's with ugly external antennas mounted on the MINI's

When I have used them for group drives through the mountains, only rarely did a slow-poke lose contact with the group, and that was with nobody having a GMRS based radio.

Probably a good idea to make sure that the first and last vehicle in the MINI train has a higher powered GMRS/FRS based radio to guarantee that everyone can at least receive transmissions from either the leader or the tail-gunner. Everyone else in the club should be able to get by with a very inexpensive FRS.

Also, advise club members NOT to buy the temptingly cheap FRS radios that do not use the 38 subcodes per channel. They should be able to easily find a quality and affordable set of 2 FRS radios with sub-codes for about $30-40 in the electronics section of the large department or electronics store of their choice.

I really do like the Motorola radios, both for their great styling as well as my perception that they make a very durable and reliable product.

In theory (by law), you are supposed to have a license from the FCC to operate a GMRS radio (but not a FRS radio transmitting at 0.5watts), but you do not need it for FRS. I doubt many people actually fill out the application, but you will need FORM 605 and FORM 159 from the FCC (Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view forms). You can also apparently file this online here: FCC.GOV

I wonder how many people actually go through the trouble of being legal with these things? I think I will do it, just so I don't find myself a fugitive from the radio cops. Or I might just make sure to only use the first 14 channels as they are all FRS channels and I think I could sweet-talk a radio cop into just giving me a warning if I promised to go and get a license ASAP.

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

Too cool, great idea, count me in.

But why 7 sub 21?

We all need a new hobby..............

retroom

 

Well, DaveInDenver is a strong fan of using channel 7, sub-code 21, and he has it in his signature here so I am not going to confuse the situation and propose anything different.

7-21: Easy to remember and it is one of the channels that the dual GMRS/FRS radios can broadcast with higher power, which was a concern of mine until I read through my manual to make sure that it was both a GMRS and FRS compatible frequency that everyone with even the most affordable FRS radio can use.

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

I think 7 sub 21 is a good choice for two reasons.

1.) Channel 7 is a dual channel. This means it is included on FRS radios but still is (technically) a GMRS channel. In other words channel 7 can be used by GMRS and FRS radios without any problems. This is particularly nice because those who have GMRS radio will transmit on channel 7 (Channels 7-14 of FRS/GMRS and 25-22 GMRS) at a full 1.0 watts of power. These are the people that should be spread out in a caravan.

2.) Code (sub-frequency) 21 is also a good choice just for the basic fact that it is easy to remember and more importantly most other people are morons. Let me explain. Usually people buy these things because they are "cool" and never read the manual. Often they will change the Channel but never advance the code beyound the first 10 or so sub-frequenices. Typically there is less traffic on the higher sub-frequencies. Anyone who ever used these things at a ski resort can attest to this.

I say we stick with 7-21

Motor On

 

And maybe those of us that think this is a great idea should also add 7-sub-21 to their signatures. In fact, I will get it in my sig right now and be as cool as DiD!

Driving_Hampster: it seems that great minds must think alike as we just posted basically identical explanations for 7-21 within less than a minute of each other!

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

7 sub 21

 

Okay then, what would the ideal radio be for me to buy? Seems like there are lots on the market... I'd kind of like to have everyone get the same radio, that way everything works just peachy.