2-way radios for fishing safety-- but please be legal!
My neighbor and fishin' buddy Ralph has a pacemaker. My Dad is 75. We live and fish in extremely rugged mountain terrain, with little to no cell phone coverage, and no phone lines. So, we ALWAYS carry radios.....also good if you have a really big fish on and need help with netting and a photo! And it means we don't have to yell and disturb others when fishing a lake on float tubes.
The latest FRS and GMRS radios are available *everywhere* these days, and they are incredible technology for a low price ($30-$80 for a pair of radios)-- far more powerful and useful than the 'walkie talkies' I had as a kid in the 70s. BUT -- please READ THE MANUAL that came with your radios before transmitting! I love my Motorolas, but they came set up for breaking FCC regulations.
The problem is that the FCC granted permission for dual-mode FRS/GMRS radios. FRS is limited to 1/2 watt and channels 1-14 -- it's for families and personal use, and requires no license. GMRS is for business and family use, but with more power -- up to 5 watts, with base stations and repeaters allowed. It *requires* an FCC license (no test needed, just pay your $80) and *requires* you to identify yourself with your call letters when transmitting. The reason for allowing dual mode radios is so the different services can communicate -- for example if a fishing lodge has a GMRS license, they can use their mountaintop repeaters and powerful base radio with tall antenna to talk with clients who are unlicensed and own FRS radios. The 'dual' FRS/GMRS area of the band is channels 1-7.
The reason for my posting? My nice new Motorola radios are dual band, and there was precious little info packed with them or from the store about the GMRS license requirement. AND, my radios were set up out of the box to transmit 1 watt on channels 1-7--illegal without a license!
I'm a licensed ham operator, and don't want to pay 80 bucks for a GMRS license. So, I set my GMRS/FRS radios to use only channels 8-14 at 1/2 watt. I was unable to set them to use only 1/2 watt on channels 1-7, they default to 1 watt -- that's Motorola's fault!
How much havoc will you wreak by operating on GMRS illegally, and will you get caught? Probably not much havoc, because these radios are in the 462-467 mHz frequency band, which doesn't carry well around obstacles. But there is a havoc potential! On a busy resevoir in summer, you could easily interfere with legitimate businesses like guide and boat services. And, wildland firefighters and disaster relief workers often use GMRS because they can install repeaters. If you accidentally pick a channel and tone code that trigger their repeaters, you will be talking about your big fish over a range of many miles, with dozens of people listening in whether they like it or not! And if you tick them off enough, licensed GMRS operators *WILL* turn you in to the FCC.
So, if you buy these marvelous little FRS/GMRS radios for fishing, RTFM (read the friggin' manual) before transmitting, and please set your radio to be legal.
NOTE -- in an emergency, all bets are off. You can do ANYTHING needed to get thru -- any power level on any channel.
And -- if you REALLY need to communicate, get your ham radio license. $14, an easy test (you might have to study for a few nights), and no Morse code needed. You can buy tiny handheld VHF/UHF ham radios for under $100, and you can use very high power compared to FRS or GMRS. Add in numerous mountaintop repeaters and telephone autopatch (you can call 911 direct!), and it's an incredible communications and safety tool.
Have fun, stay legal.
DANBOB
KC0VRD
[This message has been edited by danbob (edited 22 December 2005).]
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