Does anybody make a GMRS with full power and a reasonable antenna? I'd like a better radio to use as a sort of base station and give the kids a bubble-pack that they can abuse.

I have a GMRS license. I know the UV-5 Baofengs are not allowed to transmit on GMRS or FRS, but dammit, that would be SO convenient. Getting thee whole family to pass Tech isn't really an option.

I just ordered one of these.  I don't have any personal experience, but it's worth a shot.

Anytone TERMN-8R

ETA: There are other radios in the 8R series for less money and fewer features.

I'll second the TERMN-8R or the OBLTR-8R. You get GMRS and the bonus of MURS.

MURS fun...





Cheers,
Brick
The Radios

The Brick is the word but I also 3rd the TRMN-8R for the GMRS.  I am going to be putting it through its full paces next week if the weather is decent.   But my testing so far shows its a decent little radio on GMRS.  Perfect, no.  But better than bubble pack.  Plus it does MURS, Ham, and part 90.  


I am still trying to figure out the base station part as I need several of those as well.  I would love to find some surplus mobiles that are certified for part 95 AND easily programmable.  I need to go hound the guys at the radio shop again to see if any have come in.

Do those Anytones use the same programming cable as the Baofeng? That also happens to be the programming cable for the Kenwood and I've got one laying around.

It does.  The one I had uses the prolific chip and its not working now so I ordered one of the FTDI that should be here Monday.

I have the Anytone TERMN-8 and a few Kenwood Tk-390's.

I use the Prolific for both the UVR5 and the TERMN-8. Are you using the Prolific 3.2.0.0 version? I had a newer version and had to downgrade to 3.2.0.0 to get it to work.

So my definition of full power and everyone else's definition of full power must be completely different if HT's are all anyone is suggesting…

Let's see, 3 out of the 5 analog only mobiles Kenwood offers have 90/95A certification. I have no clue how hard it is to get programming software. Nearly all legacy Kenwood UHF radios are 90/95A certified.  I've seen plenty of ancient GE mobiles with 90/95A certification. Motorola Radius and Maxtrac had 90/95A certification. All of the Motorola 1225 series had 90/95A certification…I could go on writing radios that fit for the next hour or so.

Now, the general consensus is any decent Part 90 radio equipment (i.e. not the Chinese stuff) is okay to use in GMRS as long as the technical specs of the service are met (wideband, analog FM) but that is up to the operator to decide whether or not they want to stick to stuff specifically type acceptance in Part 95A or if they want to run Part 90 equipment.

Another interesting note…the rules do actually state the a GMRS station may not communicate to an amateur station (except in emergency) doesn't say a GMRS station can't communicate with a station in the commercial, marine or license-by-rule services.

I'm glad I asked. I've learned a few things.

I'm just going to mirror what has already been said, my GMRS radios are Kenwood TK-390's for the HT's and a TK-880 for a mobile/base, and I have a pair of TK-860's that I'm hoping to turn into a repeater.

Not to hijack the thread but what blister pack GMRS radio's are best?  My thought is to augment the radios I already have and would use these as backups and wouldn't mind getting beat up or destroyed.  I would also like for them to run on alkaline batteries so I don't have to worry about them being charged when I need them.
Thanks

I don't know about "best" but I have a set of these Motorolas.

They come with chargers and rechargeable batteries but will run on AAA's. They've been pretty durable so far, as Number One Son and Super Sweetie Princess Girl are hard on them and leave them out in the rain but all four still work. At the price I paid, the Baofeng was cheaper.

Motorola sells a set that have repeater shift capability. MR3350 or something along those lines. Cabelas sells them was well as Sam's Club (at some locations). What I generally don't like about the bubble packs…they are all narrowband to comply with FRS regulations where all of the operators running traditional commercial communications gear will be running wideband. I think there are a few that have Motorola's X-pander compression/decompression codec but as far as reliability goes…its very hard to beat the surplus radios that many departments gave away as they upgraded to trunked P25 systems.

I spent a few days looking for one of my HT1000's one time…this is where I ended up finding it.


Really nothing considering I have a pair that only know the Colorado Rockies and get left on quads in rain, snow, used as snow breaks when skiing, etc.