November 12, 2008
I needed an FRS Radio, is there a difference between a marine radio and a normal 2 way programmable radio?
I bought a midland Marine VFH handheld radio and was wondering if it’s channels wile line up with a normal FRS hanfheld radios channels (1 for 1 s for 2 etc..)
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Product Description
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Product Features
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32 hr. alkaline (3AA) or 11 hr. NiMH estimated talk time
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Technical Details
Brand Name: Motorola
Model: T8550RCamo
Item Package Quantity: 1
device_type: FRS/GMRS Unknown modifier
radio_channels: 22-channel Unknown modifier
Talking Range Maximum: 95040 feet
call_alerts: 10 Unknown modifier
voice_operated_transmission: With optional accessory Unknown modifier
Display: LCD display
Battery Average Life: 11 HoursUSD 55.99
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Comments on I needed an FRS Radio, is there a difference between a marine radio and a normal 2 way programmable radio? »
No, a marine VHF radio is not an FRS radio.
a FRS (family radio service) is not a MARINE VHS.
tHE POWER IS RESTRICTED TO 0.5 WATTS MAKING IT A VERY “WEAK” SIGNAL THAT WON’T TRANSMIT VERY FAR.
check this site for some good info on FRS
A marine radio is for use over water *only* (yes, you might get in trouble for attempting to use it for land to land contacts). It is VHF (30 MHz to 300 MHz) and will not communicate with FRS units, which are UHF (300 MHz to 3GH).
Most handheld units, whether FRS, VHF, or UHF (and it doesn’t matter if they are ham units or FRS) will generally not be usable for more than about 3 to 5 miles between handhelds over flat terrain. This is due to the curvature of the earth and there exists a formula which can give you a pretty good “guestimate” as to their range. That formula is to take the height (in feet) of the antennas and double that number. In the case of handhelds, 5 or 6 feet is about right. Now take that number and double it. Let’s use 5.5 feet doubled, which is 11. The square root of that number is the distance in miles to your radio horizon. The square root of 11 is between 3 and 4 (closer to 3). So long as your radio horizon intersects with another station’s radio horizon, you can communicate. In this case, another handheld would have a radio horizon of 3 to 4 miles. You may well be able to communicate with another handheld for 6 miles.
Getting a higher antenna (standing on top of a hill, for instance) will improve the situation considerable. Although my handheld antenna is but 5 or 6 feet off the ground, the repeaters I communicate with are often hundreds of feet off the ground. If a repeater is located atop a hill and has a tower that puts the antenna at 200 feet above average terrain, doubling 200 yields 400 and the square root of 400 is 20. 20 miles to the repeater horizon plus my 6 miles would indicate that I can use the repeater some 26 miles away. When I was atop a 23 story building, I could communicate with repeaters over 100 miles away. The building was on ground 600 feet above local terrain plus the 23 stories plus the height of other repeaters. I chatted with another handheld over 100 miles away.
27 MHz CB is different as F layer (or sporadic E layer) propogation can come into play. Then openings can occur over thousands of miles (although the are not legal in the United States).
For what it is worth, power is not as important as some think. It is the antenna and (at VHF and above) elevation. 2 amateurs succeeded in communicating via moonbounce (bouncing signals off the moon) using under 100 watts. The moon is some quarter of a million miles away and the signal has to complete the round trip of half a million miles. 85 watts. Go figure.
You might consider MURS, a VHF offering that is license free and offers very little interference (unlike 27 MHz CB). You could get your 6 miles between handhelds or perhaps 20 miles between a mobil and a base unit.
For longer distances on a consistant basis, about your only legal alternative would be an amateur radio license (no more Morse code!!!). I have included a URL.
You can do a search of Yahoo groups to find a number of amateur radio groups, some devoted to helping swls, cbers, and others in obtaining their first license as well as others in upgrading their license. For me, six double a batteries has been sufficient (with the aid of one repeater) for a nice chat (all rf path, no internet involved) with Australia. On FM.
Hope this helps
Best regards,
Jim