portable radios

[Vytas Miknaitis]

Our church safety team is thinking of getting handheld radios for improved communication. These will see perhaps 4 hours of use per week but need to be long term reliable. UHF was suggested as the right band for our style brick and mortar building. Of course, we are on a tight budget. Any experience in this community with such gear? Untrained people will be using these so simplicity is key; push to talk. We are looking at acquiring 6 or so units.

[Lee Schierer]

Where I used to work they used Motorola radios and other than folks dropping them they were reliable and rechargeable. However I think commercial ones have to be licensed. The FRS radios you can buy at any sporting goods store also worked well and are much less costly. They don't require a license.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Use their own mobile and invest in a good Wifi router. Apps like whatsup and others can connect everyone.

[Art Mann]

I agree with Lee. Within the confines of even a very large church, FRS radios will provide flawless communication. A set of two is cheap enough that you can try them to see how well they work before going the more expensive licensed radio route.

[Myk Rian]

If they will be used during services, I suggest getting headsets. There is nothing more annoying than hearing the roger-beeps from the radios.

[Marshall Harrison]

I would stay away from FRS as too many people have them and you will get lots of interference from other users.

Instead take a look at MURS. Its also a non licensed service and works well for our team. We have had pretty good luck withe these radios for the last 7years. We use them with a Secret Service type ear piece to keep from alarming people around us.

I started our team back in 2010. If I can be of any help just ping me.

[Art Mann]

I have used FRS/GMRS while traveling in caravans and while RV camping with large groups of people for about 10 years. All the radios are set up to suppress communication from other radios without the same sub channel. This is a standard on all but the cheapest FRS toys. I have never heard any other noise from any unwanted operator in all that time. Your mileage may vary. As I already mentioned, they are cheap enough to just try. If you lived near me, I would let you try mine out. There are differences in quality but very good ones are around $100 for two.

[Greg Myers]

I bought a set of 6 Baofeng UV-5r radios from Amazon for $125. This came with chargers and ear pieces. They are great radios.....not toys. The battery last for approx. 16 hours of use. They are great!

[Vytas Miknaitis]

Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions. I'm getting a FRS and MURS education. 6 reliable radios for $125 - crazy!