A two way radio or “walkie talkie” allows two or more people to converse (often while separated by miles) by transmitting and receiving voice signals through the air. While they work very much like a telephone they have the advantage of being able to be used anywhere since they require no central network. The FRS/GMRS two way radios are by far the most familiar and well-known to everyday users and are the same ones you normally find in big-box stores. The frequency ranges or channels on which these devices can operate are FRS and GMRS. Channels 1-7 are shared by both the FRS and GMRS while channels 8-14 are FRS only and 15-22 are GMRS only. In order to talk to someone else with a radio, you have to get on the same signal. Radios that are on channel 7 will transmit your voice to anyone listening in on channel 7, including the other radio. Keep in mind that you have to watch what you say on your radios, since anyone could eavesdrop in on a particular radio signal. Therefore, you can establish a channel that you are relatively sure no one is listening on for you to communicate with. When your group is choosing the channel it will use, the primary concerns should be range and privacy. Purchase of an FCC license is required if you are using a GMRS channel when you use a GMRS channel. You can usually get between a one and a one and a half mile range from an FRS only channel since government regulations allow a maximum of .5 watts of broadcast power. When it comes to privacy, switch to alternate channels if you hear other people on that channel as well and want to talk to someone else privately. You might not get complete privacy if you are in a crowded area, like an amusement park; therefore, you could use a “privacy code” that comes with many mid range radios, which will divide up one channel into about 121 subchannels that you can work with. This provides thousands of possibilities for channels you can use to talk with.

Now Try – Two Way Radios

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