FRS specs need a serious upgrade

[Black_Bart]

you see those itty bitty walkie talkies in walmart or any BigBox store for about 30 bucks a pair? they are so low powered and just cheaply designed and manufactured they hardly work for more than a block, i think the specs should be bumped up to about like a CB radio = 4 watts and an external antenna capable of being used.

i would buy a base station and put mobile radios in my car and pickup to keep tabs on family, (friends too)

they would be a great alternative for local communications when the DX/skip has the CB radio saturated with 30+ db of DX/Skip noise and congestion

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I just use my 2m and 70 cm rig for that.

 

[office888]

you see those itty bitty walkie talkies in walmart or any BigBox store for about 30 bucks a pair? they are so low powered and just cheaply designed and manufactured they hardly work for more than a block, i think the specs should be bumped up to about like a CB radio = 4 watts and an external antenna capable of being used.

i would buy a base station and put mobile radios in my car and pickup to keep tabs on family, (friends too)

they would be a great alternative for local communications when the DX/skip has the CB radio saturated with 30+ db of DX/Skip noise and congestion

FRS is supposed to be really short range. Hence why the channels seem empty.

Get your GMRS if you want real range.

 

[Beetle]

FRS is supposed to be really short range. Hence why the channels seem empty.

Get your GMRS if you want real range.

Exactly. FRS is for short distances, not from one side of a large city to the other side. If we had had today's technology and equipment back in the 1950s, that which we now call FRS would have been CB.

 

[RustDemon]

good luck getting the fcc to do anything other than make money from fining people for violations.