2-Way Radios Review – FRS, Talkabout, Ham, More for Backcountry Skiing
I’m a big advocate of using 2-way radios for communication while backcountry skiing, especially in avalanche terrain. To minimize risk in avalanche areas, it’s essential to spread your party out, often traveling or skiing down one at a time. When doing so communication can be a challenge; shouting and wild gesturing only go so far, especially in storm conditions. In one documented fatal accident, party members below a skier tried to gesture and shout for the skier to turn out of the avalanche path, but the skier keep heading down and was killed.
If every backcountry skiing party member carries and uses a two way, you can prevent these types of situations, more, you’ll find you can relax a bit more, and your whole day of backcountry skiing or other outdoor recreation may yield more fun. (Tip: rig heavily used 2-ways with a small speaker mic that’s clipped in a convenient location on the exterior of your jacket or pack strap, so you don’t have to dig for your radio every time you use it.) A wide choice of small consumer “blister pack” two-way radios are available. What is more, if you choose to acquire an amateur (ham) radio license, you can use a variety of well made mil-spec radios that are perfect for backcountry sports.
Family Radio Service (FRS & GMRS, see glossary at bottom of this article) “talkabout” are the radios most commonly marketed to average consumers, and are known by hobbyists as “blister pack” radios such as those in our recommended shopping links to the right (as opposed to higher quality units).
Blister pack radios use frequencies (AKA channels) specified by the FCC with little to no licensing requirements. Low-end versions work fine if you’re chatting strictly line-of-site a short distance. Indeed, they’re so meager you can lose contact with someone as soon as they round a corner on the trail. More more powerful models using GMRS frequencies will work slightly farther apart. GMRS frequencies are included in nearly any good quality FRS “blister pack” radios these days, and we’d say having them is essential. How to know? Generally, any blister pack radio sold these days with 22 channels has GMRS and provides more transmit power to some degree. Again, for an example of such models see our shopping links to right.
Sadly, all blister pack radios are nearly useless for calling help in an emergency (as in most areas the channels are not monitored), and they’re usually restricted to line-of-sight unless you get lucky with your signal bouncing around and projecting into a nearby valley. Also, you’ll usually have no system of repeaters (as sometimes exist for ham radio, some business systems, etc.) that’ll get your FRS/GMRS signal some distance to the right people in an emergency. Thus, for backcountry emergency help calls, you’ll still need something like a SPOT or Satphone.
In terms of specific product recommendations, we’ve tested dozens of blister pack radios over the years. We’ve enjoyed using some of the smaller ones that save weight and bulk, but such models frequently lack features, power and battery life. Instead, we favor slightly larger units with more battery and larger, easier to operate controls. Best we’ve found in that class are the Motorola MJ270R (slightly smaller) and Mj35OR (larger, more power options) models. These take AA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack, have LCD flashlight feature, Denali tested. One such model, the Garmin Rino, even combines a decent quality GPS with an FRS/GMRS radio, and has tested out well. New models of blister pack radios are constantly introduced, suggestions welcome, please leave comments.
When you shop for a radio, look for these features:
- 22 channels, radio sold as “FRS/GMRS”
- AA battery capability, along with rechargeable option
- Control key lock (most better radios have this)
- Easily accessed dial/knob volume/on/off control rather then fiddly buttons
- Speaker mic and/or earphone connector
- Privacy codes
- Weather channels
- Lots of options to turn OFF annoying beeps and rings
- Battery meter
When shopping, you’ll see packaging verbiage about how the radio is good for “22 miles, 37 miles” and so on. I have no idea where they get those numbers, they’re stupid, but do indicate relative power of different models within a brand. Even so, the claimed mileage rating is of little concern for backcountry skiing or ski mountaineering use so long as you’re buying a good quality unit in the upper ranges.
Nearly any 2-way radio will let you set a “privacy code” or “interference eliminator code” with each frequency (aka channel). These are simply subaudible tones known as CTCSS tones. The idea is your radio will only let you hear transmissions that include the code. This works fairly well, but can be of limited usefulness if someone else nearby of with high power is transmitting on your chosen frequency, as you’ll still get “stepped on” and momentarily be unable to transmit or receive despite the use of privacy codes. Remember this glitch if you’re using your radio in places where radio use is heavy, such as ski resorts. Solution is to simply turn off all privacy codes, then switch channels till you find one that’s being used less. Communicate use of that channel to your friends, turn a privacy code back on, and you should be set.
Note that beyond the blister pack models, FRS/GMRS radios of ostensibly better quality and more power can be had. While some of these might be worth considering, we’ve found the blister pack units to work so well we see little need to spend more money. If nothing else, we like the feeling of using a radio that’s inexpensive enough to not worry about dropping or loosing.
Other radio options
Citizen Band (CB) The trucker “10-4″ type radio. For backcountry use don’t bother with this interference prone, limited range band, filled with bandit high power operators shouting profanity and clogging the airways (thanks for nothing FCC). It can be useful to have a small inexpensive CB mounted in your vehicle, left off most of the time and used to chat with truckers on the open road or with others while on 4×4 trails. Some CB radios are sold with weather channels, a useful feature (use it as your weather radio, while using your other radios for communication).
Amateur Radio (ham) If you’re serious about using a two-way radio for trail “inter-comm” — and for emergencies — get your amateur “ham” license (easier than you think). Doing so allows you to use a wide selection of high power “dual band” handheld radios, many of which are waterproof and shock resistant. Pricy, however.
The beauty of ham radio is that ham clubs everywhere in the country have amazing systems of repeaters that allow effective emergency communication from places where a cell phone call is a joke.
The problem with using a ham radio for backcountry skiing or other recreation is that very few of your buddies will take the time to get a license. It’s best if they do so, but if you fail to convince them here is the solution: They can still carry a ham type radio configured for all the emergency frequencies, but they can only transmit on those freqs in an emergency (it’s legal to transmit on any freq in a life/death emergency). For inter-party communication (inter-comm) on the trail, simply get an FCC business license for one of the frequencies in the business band (see information later in this article). Keep everyone on your licensed frequency, and you’re cool. I’ve also heard that many people simply use the FRS frequencies with a ham radio (see below) for trail intercomm. Using FRS/GMRS with a programable ham radio possibly breaks FCC rules, but in some expert’s opinion can be done in ways that make it acceptable.
For example, if you make the correct hardware modifications to a dual band ham radio, you can use such a radio to monitor (scan) the the blister pack FRS/GMRS frequencies. To keep this legal, you can’t transmit anything but emergency calls on the FRS freqs. Some experts say you can also follow a few rules and transmit FRS/GMRS, mainly by limiting your transmit power and using an antenna that’s permanently attached directly to your radio. Others have told me that the rules require you to be using a radio certified by FCC for FRS or GMRS. Whatever the case, we’ve found that simply using blister pack radios is brilliant for 95 percent of our needs so using other radios has become a non issue.
2-Way Radio Reference Information
FRS and GMRS Radio Frequencies (aka freqs or channels, indicator (channel) numbers used by Motorola and many other brands but are not a standard)
1—462.5625 GMRS/FRS
2—462.5875 GMRS/FRS
3—462.6125 GMRS/FRS
4—462.6375 GMRS/FRS
5—462.6625 GMRS/FRS
6—462.6875 GMRS/FRS
7—462.7125 GMRS/FRS
8—467.5625 FRS (limited power in any radio)
9—467.5875 FRS (limited power in any radio)
10–467.6125 FRS (limited power in any radio)
11–467.6375 FRS (limited power in any radio)
12–467.6625 FRS (limited power in any radio)
13–467.6875 FRS (limited power in any radio)
14–467.7125 FRS (limited power in any radio)
15–462.5500 GMRS/FRS
16–462.5750 GMRS/FRS
17–462.6000 GMRS/FRS
18–462.6250 GMRS/FRS
19–462.6500 GMRS/FRS
20–462.6750 GMRS/FRS
21–462.7000 GMRS/FRS
22–462.7250 GMRS/FRS
FRS freqs 8 through 14 can be best for short distance communication, since they don’t overlap more powerful GMRS frequencies other people may be using. On the other hand, if you’re in a relatively unpopulated area I’d suggest figuring out what higher power options your radio has, and using those channels/settings if your party tends to get spread out. Penalty for doing this is battery life, but keep your transmissions short and you shouldn’t have any problem (transmitting is what uses up battery, listening uses minimal power). Tips for better radio range: Radios have much better range between units if the antennas are oriented in the same plane. Standard in radio use is to orient antennas vertically, thus, remind all party members to hold or locate radio so the antenna is vertical. Know that any solid object between you and your intended receiver can attenuate your signal, that includes your body and backpack. If you’re having problems with reception, try holding the radio as high as possible at arms lengh above your head, or seek higher ground. If you’re in the fringe of performance, sometimes simply walking around while receiving can help you find a sweet spot.
If you and your friends use programable ham type radios and don’t want to attempt using FRS/GMRS, the following business “Dot” Frequencies are good for radio chat. Always listen before you talk, so you won’t interfere with someone — use of these frequencies is common. These frequencies require an easy to obtain license. One license for one business covers any number of radios used by that one operation. For license information, contact the FCC at 717-337-1212 or http://www.fcc.gov. An itinerant freq is one used when moving around (such as by a delivery service). Before licensing a freq, monitor it when you’re at your backcountry haunts to make sure it’s not being heavily used by someone else. Hopefully, the FCC will try to analyze this when you get a license, but nothing is better than checking for yourself.
color and freq
Red…….151.625 itinerant
Purple….151.955
Blue……154.570
Green…..154.600
White…..462.575
Brown…..464.500 itinerant
Yellow….464.550 itinerant
no color..151.505 itinerant
no color..158.400 itinerant
no color..469.500 itinerant
no color..469.550 itinerant
GLOSSARY OF RADIO TERMS
HT… handheld transceiver or handy talkie
Freq … radio frequency
GMRS … General Mobile Radio Service (consumer frequencies that FCC allows to be used with more power though license may be required)
Ham … an amateur radio operator licensed by the FCC
FCC … Federal Communications Commission
Broadcast … to transmit like television or commercial radio
Transmit … to talk on a 2-way radio
Receive … listen to a 2-way radio
Hand mic … a small microphone/speaker attached by a cord to your radio
PTT … Push-To-Transmit, usually refers to the switch you press to talk
Speaker mic … same as above
VOX … voice operated transmit switch, acronym for VOX or Voice Operated eXchange (usually works poorly in backcountry sport environments due to incidental noise)
More two way radio shopping options and more below…
Comments
23 Responses to “2-Way Radios Review – FRS, Talkabout, Ham, More for Backcountry Skiing”
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Do any in-helmet radios exist? Any suitable for ski touring?
Robert, I’m not sure of any units that are totally in the helmet, but it’s easy to wear an earbud with a tiny mic and transmit switch, and keep the radio in a pocket. Louie and I did that for a while, I suspect it’s pretty common on ski movie making.
Cool stuff here, including wireless: http://www.pryme.com/
Lou, I’ve heard that cell phones can interfere with transceivers working properly. Not sure of the accuracy of this (but heard via ski patroller friends). Thus, I am wondering if there is any similar concern with two-way radios?
Beacon interference from a simple cell phone or FRS/GMRS radio is typically only when actively transmitting and even then is usually pretty minor.
“Smart” phones though are another situation entirely: even when not [apparently] doing anything, a smart phone can cause nearly crippling interference when worn somewhere on the body, and with the searching beacon held fairly closely to the body as it often is.
So, although good to test with your particular setup, I highly doubt that an FRS/GMRS radio sitting in your pocket or strapped to your pack is going to cause a problem when searching with a beacon (unless you’re calling someone on the radio, in which case simultaneously trying to talk on a radio and conduct a beacon search isn’t a good idea anyway).
Dave, nothing more than a headlamp would cause, unless you choose to transmit, and in that case even if it did happen it would be intermittent and cease as soon as you quit talking.
Most of this concern is blown WAY out of proportion. It’s like, you know how they ask everyone to turn off electronic devices during aircraft landing and taking off? You want to bet that a good proportion of folks don’t bother. Does it affect anything? Probably not, or planes would be falling out of the sky left and right.
Nonetheless, just as they ask us to do in aircraft safety, it’s probably a good idea to turn off your smartphone/cellphone and not transmit on your radio when you’re doing a beacon search.
Here are a few other useful frequencies for the masses:
Weather Band Frequencies:
162.400
162.425
162.450
162.475
162.500
162.525
162.550
And if you happen to be coastal or hitting the vast and treacherous Minnesota Backcountry around the Mississippi:
Marine 14: 156.700
Marine 16: 156.800 (hailing/emergency).
Nice Hojo, thanks.
Thanks Lou and Jonathan! Good beta.
After getting my ham license few years back, I splashed out for a Kenwood TH-6A. Tri Frequency, dual band, programmable. 400 channel memories. Programmed via my laptop and an obscure cable. Lithium battery, AA adapter if you need. You can limit the TX power per frequency so you don’t blow up your friend’s half watt FRS radio.
After a little surgery, you can also expand the transmit range into a lot of frequencies the FCC doesn’t think you should be on. These include all the SAR and Ski patrol frequencies. I have the surrounding 500 miles of freqs on my radio. Why would you do this? Cause in an emergency, if my buddy is bleeding out, I’m going to use them. And if the FCC wants my radio and license they can have it. And I’ll pay the fine.
Meantime, I don’t transmit on them. Ever. But I do listen. On 2 bands at once. One band for my buddy’s blister pack radio and the other on ski patrol when I’m in-bounds so I know when the chute you don’t know about is about to get opened. Radiostays tucked inside my jacket where it’s warm with a PTT speaker mic clipped on my lapel.
Because it’s line of sight, it’s kind of a crappy emergency tool. In the states I’m carrying a SPOT in the backcountry, overseas I rent a sat phone and pay for GlobalRescue. But I have to carry another GPS to tell them where I am to send the heli if it all goes to hell. More weight, more gear. I’m lusting after buying the new Iridium Extreme with GPS and the emergency button but the yearly fees are still holding me back. But, they’re coming down, and it’s less stuff to carry, so who knows.
Jonathan, good job with that radio. Not sure about the Iridium Extreme GPS, as it probably eats batteries like a grizzly munching on strawberries, and if the firmware in the model 555 is any indication, the GPS functions will be at the stone age level, but we’ll see (To be fair, 555 menu system, while primitive, is easy to navigate when you don’t use the phone daily). I’ve found my satphone to be the ultimate solution. Somewhat expensive, but I save the yearly SPOT fee of course, as well as lots of time I would have otherwise spent messing around with other systems. I’m on the Iridium plan where you buy minutes in advance, and I buy the minimum every year. I don’t recall exactly, but I think I spend about $550/year. Per month, not bad for a guy like me who is out of cell phone range at least several days a week.
I cannot find any information regarding the “dot” frequencies mentioned in the story on the fcc.gov site. Do you have any links?
Mike, perhaps that’s an antiquated term. Whatever the case, the FCC allocation for those frequencies still exists as far as I know and they can be easily licensed for business use. I’ve heard quite a few folks transmit on those frequencies without license, in places where they won’t step on other users, but doing so is illegal no matter what.
Here is an FCC page: http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=service_bandplan&id=industrial_business
Lou
you’re also supposed to license your GMRS radios- once that’s done, your whole family is covered. The “dot” frequencies are called itinerant frequencies in FCC rules. Get acquainted with the rules and possible penalties- your buddies definition of emergency might not be the same as the fed’s.
I reccommend a Wouxun hand held for an everything radio. Not water(proof). $125 at Wouxun.us. Get a ham licence and the programing cable.
NB: The CTSS tones (privacy codes) are not standard between makes or modles of FRS/GMRS radios. Get a modle w/ the option of no privacy code when mixing makes and modles.
When licenced FRS (Ch 8-14) is legaly limited to .5 Watts.
GMRS is licenced up to 2 Watts and can reach about twice as far.
Repeater operators, including Gov’t entities often chance repeater frequencies et al. Repeaters can also go off line, many are seasonal . . . Don’t count on them.
Also leave the frequency info that you monitor with whoever is going to call the sheriff to rescue you.
If all your devices (avy beacon, camera, GPS, headlamp, radio . . .) reqire the same batteries (I use AA), then you will have batteries when you need them. Rem fresh Lithium batteries may fry some devices.
Some of the “dot” frequencies are also known as Multi Use Radio Service I believe. The MURS freqs are license free in the US and will also be able to be used in Canada next year. The regs state that they are only to be used with a MURS radio that is limited to two watts.
I agree with James Hamaker & Jonathan L. amateur radio is the way to go. I come from a background of 37 years as back-country forest/park ranger. Worked throughout the U. S. I personally carry both a SPOT & 5 watt VHF/UHF amateur radio while in the back-country. Side note Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) with both GPS & 406 mHz FM transmitter are better than SPOT with GPS transmitter/receiver for emergencies. But back to amateur radios, there are networks thousands of radio repeaters worldwide for most countries in the free world. There is no morse code required anymore to study for amateur license. Today newer amateur handhelds radio also can send text messages, email, and live tracking through repeaters link to computers on internet (D-STAR / APRS). Several amateur radios radio are mil spec for cold, heat, dust, waterproof, & falls. Lastly a basic 5 watt amateur handheld radio with a basic external antenna attachment can use repeater to satellites (about 10 minute windows) and are capable to talk to astronauts or cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS).
Are there any combination earphone/microphone accessories for two-way radios out there that folks would recommend? I think I’d rather keep the radio tucked away in a jacket pocket while in the backcountry.
Alex, in my experience what works best for tucking the radio away is to simply run a speaker mic. I don’t like the way an earphone plugs up one ear, since being able to hear situation sounds from both ears is important for safety etc.
I’m pretty sure this speaker mic works for most Motorola radios, many others are available if this one doesn’t
Speaker Mic for MOTOROLA
I always liked the idea of coupling a FRS radio with a police scanner, which increases the range tremendously. You could put the Yagi antenna on the police scanner and program the freq of the channel the person out in the wild is using to hear them better. If you have a FRS that has the remote antenna that mounts on a car even better, as you can put this on the roof of the shack and have reliable communications as well.
Theron, is there an FRS sold with remote antenna?
Big appreciation to all the “hams” – James H, Jonathan L & Lee – for bringing up the advantages of VHF/UHF. I’ve ordered some books and am going to study up for my ham license. This extra knowledge and ability to use amateur radio seems like it’ll be a big convenience and extra safety in the backcountry! Thanks so much, guys!!!
This is a very complete list, thank you for the article. I’m another amateur radio user. FRS and GMRS are nice, but ham radio is just in a whole ‘nother class. The ability to hit repeaters 10 or even 30 miles away is fantastic, and adds a new communication capability to the backcountry. Thanks again for the article — Ben, KD8POH