As a member of my local REACT http://www.reactintl.org , we practice regularly as a team to prepare for emergencies. Recently, organizations like National SOS http://www.nationalsos.com , EMCOM http://emcomus.org/commwp.html and DCERN http://www.dcradio.org were formed to use inexpensive common FRS Tranceivers as first line communications devices when Landlines and Cell phones fail due to congestion or City plans to shut them down. Shutting down Cell Phone Networks is a common practice during Terrorist Attacks to prevent triggering bombs http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060119-100624-9966r.htm . Channel 1 on FRS/GMRS has been adopted as the standard during emergencies and most Police and Emergency services monitor them. A cheap pair of $20 buck FRS/GMRS units are a good idea for your backup kits and also a good idea to practice using them with your family and friends. Ric
Good info! I have a couple of them, sitting in the closet of course, and not in the BO bag or my vehicles. Soon to change though. Mine are 6 mile I believe, as cheap as the 18 mile ones are I am going to be picking some up.
The 18 Mile ones require a GMRS Liscense that runs... $80 bucks for 5 years. They also rapidly eat batteries. I use a Commercial Motorola MT1000 for my REACT Unit. The MT1000 requires proprietary programming, so it is not suitable for most Ric WQET887 (GMRS Liscence) http://www.fcc.gov
They have 18 mile handheld units? I have a couple rhinos... frs, gmrs and gps... my handheld is a kenwood... decided on the kenwood over the yaesu....
You can buy them at Wal-Mart, Bear... They transmit above 1/2 Watt and require a GMRS liscence to operate. I have a GMRS liscense WQET887. In high power mode, they consume batteries quickly. Ric