Lots of thoughts here, David, since Red River Region converted to FRS
two years ago. I'll try to be as concise as possible based on my
experience:
1) The more channels you have, the less interference you'll get. Go
for the 14 channel radios with the 38 CTCSS subchannels. That will
give you 532 possibilities.
2) Once you've selected a channel and subchannel, make sure that the
radios can be LOCKED with that selection and stay locked when they're
turned off and back on or when you change batteries. The six Radio
Shack (Maxon) radios we bought originally have that feature. The two
Cobra radios we recently added for spares do not. You have to lock
them each time you turn them on and unlock them before you can turn
them off. That leaves the door wide open for somebody to
inadvertently change channels if the radios aren't locked as soon as
they're turned on. (The Cobras also have a bunch of unwanted audible
bleeps and bloops. But, for $80/pair, they were a pretty good buy!)
3) The audio output from most FRS radios is far less than it might be
from a CB or VHF/UHF Business Band radio. So you have to hold the
radio closer to your ear to be able to hear what's being said. Ear
buds are a waste of time and money. The wires are so tiny that they
can be easily broken. Then they have to be replaced and, in the
meantime, you can't use them.
4) We borrowed a trick from you guys there in Houston. We WEAR our
radios on a lanyard around our neck. You take a regular lanyard,
remove the hook, and replace it with a key ring. Then you take the
radio's belt clip and hook it through the key ring.
5) If you use a radio with the 38 CTCSS subchannels, remember that it
takes the receiving radio/s about 1/2 second to lock onto the CTCSS
code. So, when you transmit, you need to key up the radio and wait
about a second before you start talking. Otherwise, you'll chop off
the first few syllables of what you're trying to say.
6) You can't "work" FRS radios as closely as you do some other walkie
talkies. It's one of the tradeoffs in their design. If you do work
them closely, whatever comes out on the receiving end is going to be
distorted. You need to be 4-to-6 inches away from the radio when you
talk, unless you have a really light voice.
I could go on and on, but those are some of the key issues I've found
over two years of using FRS radios at autox events.
On the positive side, they have great range for their price. They
take up a lot less space to store. And they're very easy to find on
the open market. Expect to pay at least $50 each for a 14/38 radio.
$60-$80 per radio is more in the proper price range for good ones.
Motorola, Radio Shack (Maxon,) Cobra, GE, RCA, Kenwood, and a whole
bunch of other major manufacturers all make good FRS radios. Just
shop around before you buy.
BTW, in case anybody is interested, it was RADIO SHACK that got the
FCC to approve the FRS (UHF) band!!! All of the other manufacturers
jumped on the bandwagon after The Shack got that approval. 8<{)
John (Old Fartz & TLS #37) Lieberman
Radio news guy and once-upon-a-time electronics technician
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