I have made the first jump from CB to "two way" on my way to HAM.  While I navigate my way to getting my first HAM license I am curious about the GMRS capability of my new Uniden radios (1 "basecamp" and 2 handhelds).  As I read the manual it talks about getting a license to transmit on the GMRS channels, could anyone explain this to me?  I have gone to the FCC's website and even looked up the 605 form.  But what I am not finding is what/why and how much.  Any help would be much appreciated.

All from memory, but IIRC it's $80 and covers your family/household.  If you get some quality radios there may well be local repeaters as well, you can also go up to 50w with mobile/base radios.  GMRS is the highest performance "personal" communications service without an amateur license IMO.

Some of the bubble pack GMRS\FRS radios work quite well.  However they work nowhere near the claimed distances on the package. Not in real world use. We get around 3-4 1/2 miles. However the terrian is flat and building density is spread out, I would say we have a 50-75 foot average betwween houses in town. This is using the 2 watt setting.


We where experimenting with a pair of 2 watt radios with vox. Using a patch cable we set  on one channel and the other to diffrent channel. Set them on my roof about 6 feet apart. This more than doubled the distance with a little effort of wacthing where you stood and holding the radio proper. We stopped using it as its not on the proper repeater frequencies. Nce to know it works in an emergency.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=gmrs+radio+information&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=ee36edbd3c16a1c5