Pre-sale on the new 15-watt Midland MXT275 GMRS Radio

Are you sure you don't need a license for this?

I know in Canada these actually require a license to use like ham, from all that I can find. It's only the handheld 6 watt and lower gmrs that are legal without license.

 

It's all down to wave length.
Don't know the exact ones for each but they're all different frequency they work on
Somewhat like am and FM radio just different frequency so only said receivers will pick it up

CB will not be picked up by gmrs and vice versa.

CB
Gmrs/frs
Ham
Uhf
VHF

Just different forms of twoway communication some of which need license.

Those little walkie talkies you see are gmrs/frs but they are all low wattage vs this fixed one being much stronger.

Ham works the best but requires license.
All have their pros and cons.

For instance CB is crap in hills.

Most off road clubs seem to use CB though. Great for comms between rigs

I know locally UHF and vhf are Marine and many security guards use then within building etc.
CB is the most widely used. Very few people have ham around here

 

A search for "RJ45 Switch Toyota" leads to:
https://www.ebay.com/p/Toyota-Cb-uh...m=122671881326&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985

 

Right on, was waiting for the release...
Want to get into CB but none of my buddies have it so, I'm staying with gmrs

 

Thanks! I didn’t realize it was a simple RJ45

 

https://midlandusa.com/6-things-you-should-know-about-fcc-changes-for-frs-and-gmrs-radios/

 

4. Any radio above 2W of power is now classified as GMRS radio: and still requires a license from the FCC to operate. Not much change here, except sharing additional stations with FRS radio users.

so it needs a license in the US lol.
This is 15watt, you need a license, just like here.


And for good reason, you could interfere with EMS, fire, police etc if you use the wrong channels.

 

Sub-a-dub-dub....

Very interested in two way coms, but like a lot of people here I know very little.

 

The channels are all preprogrammed on the Midland units so no issues with interference. And the license literally requires zero training and some $$ so I doubt it’s to ward off interference.

HAM is a different story since those radio offerings allow custom programming.

 

oh no doubt, just stating how you do require a license from this whether its for interference or not you're technically supposed to have one and its just something to pay for.

Vs CB thats free lol.

 

This unit seems nice and has the potential to go farther than CBs but you must have other friends who use GMRS radios as well to communicate. If others have CBs, you wont be able to communicate. I really like this unit and its form factor but...nobody I know uses this type of radio sadly. CB radios work well enough, I will most likely be staying with a CB.

 

and require no license.

Think the licensing is why not many go with the GMRS options.

 

This is correct. GMRS has been sold in stores for years and technically to use GMRS you are required to have a license. There is fine print in the box to explain it is up to the user to acquire the license. It is a crock though because I highly doubt any FCC Volunteers are going to actively monitor and report users breaking the rules. So use at your own risk.

 

https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

 

its only illegal if you get caught right?

 

It all depends on use and environment. HF radio like CB can generally go further with uneven terrain but doesn't have the absolute power of GMRS. Lower frequencies bounce a lot easier so CB is relatively consistent while GMRS suffers horribly without line-of-sight.

I'm installing a CB and dual bander in my truck this weekend for trail use and keep a set of Midland handheld GMRS radios for when someone has to get out and spot or for campsite comms. I just haven't found enough people that have bothered to get GMRS licenses to use them on the trail and even fewer who have anything beyond a 5w handheld that would justify me buying a 50W base station. No reason to be pumping out 50W if the people don't have the power to answer back.

 

You are joking, right?


They’re all over the country and call it ”T-Hunting”. But you’ll be ignored if you dont abuse the system.

 

we just had a trail run last weekend with 5 trucks, one guy has no comms at all, and another had CB crap out and another with faulty CB. So basically only two CB radios that actually worked, we went with GMRS instead since it was a way we could all communicate.

On trail it was choppy at times. Places where I never had issues with CB.
Even worse was when we left the trail and all convoying home since we're all in the suburbs of the city (3 hours drive roughly from trail)
Country roads that go through tree lined areas and rocky areas couldn't even hear the truck at the back of the convoy at times when I was at the front leading.
Talking country roads with 80km speeds so doing 80-100km (50-60mph) and keeping safe distance. Even though I could still see the trucks behind me in mirrors at times the distance and terrain were enough where I couldn't get a clear signal and hear what was being said.

yet the handheld GMRS we were using say 35mile range lol. But really thats only with perfect conditions on open water. We've done the same trip before with CB instead and had 0 issues.

 

The FCC has "OOs". Official observers- Guys that sit around all day listening for illegal/OOB (out of band) xmissions. I wouldn't transmit on a licensed freq without a license. For emergencies, 40 meter CW and a hamstick antenna will get you help virtually any time of day.

 

Yeah the ratings are basically theoretical. I've been able to get 10 miles out of my "35 mile" handhelds but that's a clear line of sight between the top of my building to the top of my brother's old place - literally 20 floors up and 50ft above anything between the two. Even then, it was barely usable through the noise. Typically, I'll get half a mile in real world use and with rolling terrain amongst trees, that can quickly cut to a quarter of a mile in the worst conditions.