Non ham radio choices

Mark J - November 18, 2020

Which non Ham radios format do you recommend, FRS, GMRS or MURS? And second to that which hand radio do you recommend that would also allow for listening to NOAA, emergency radio, FM, AM, etc?

2  

This is a great question! And something that I think previous forum posts could answer much better than I could. 

Let me link you to two previous forum posts that should give you some great information:

https://theprepared.com/forum/thread/licensed-gmrs/

https://theprepared.com/forum/thread/emergency-radio/

 

I went with a three pack of these: Motorola T260TP Talkabout Radio

FSR/GSMR +NOAA
They operate at less than 1W of power so you’re free to use all of the channels without a license including the GSMR channels. But correct me if I’m wrong and I’ll edit this post. Source: https://midlandusa.com/6-things-you-should-know-about-fcc-changes-for-frs-and-gmrs-radios/

I’ll admit these are probably less capable than what many people here are looking for but they fit our needs pretty nicely. 
They’re small, easy to use, and they’re easily carried and packable, they charge with USB, they’re inexpensive and easily replaced.
We tried them out in Yosemite in the early summer and I was pretty satisfied with the range. We were talking pretty clearly with each other at a range I would guess of 3-4 miles.

In a bug in or bug out situation I think they provide plenty of range to venture out and explore if traveling by foot. My thought is if radios are necessary then this means cell service is out and the grid is probably down too, so there won’t be much competing interference from other radio sources like cell phones and home WiFi networks. Which would make it easier for low powered radios like these.