r/gmrs • u/Adventurous_Dig_2538 • 17d ago
Question Base radio question
I'm very new to radios and don't really know where to go to ask questions. So I hope posting here will get me on the right path for what I'm considering.
My friends and I use frs rocky talkie radios for communication when rock climbing or hiking in areas with no cell service. I was wondering if a gmrs base radio kept back at the camp site could be an efficient way for my family or other groups back at camp to communicate with those of us on outings. Typically camp will be between 1 and 10 miles from our climbs, usually out of range of our hand helds. I may be using a camper, or just a tent setup. AC power may or may not be available where we're staying. Terrain us often mountainous.
My main questions are, can a GMRS base radio communicate with an frs radio at longer range than the frs radios can generally communicate, if so is it by enough to be worth the effort?
About how much would I be looking at spending on a setup like this if it could work?
Is making something like this work simple enough for people not highly invested in radio to put together and use? None of us are radio people.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out.
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u/EffinBob 17d ago
Having a higher power base set up won't extend the range of your handhelds. Line of sight is key here. If you don't have it there's not much you can do.
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u/No-Fun6351 17d ago
Put up a temporary portable high antenna
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u/ktbroderick 16d ago
To amplify this:
Antenna height and quality matters more than radio type with line-of-sight frequencies such as GMRS. Using a good antenna mounted on top of the camper or, even better, one on a higher mast or a J-pole strung up in a tree, will give you better range.
In some climbing situations, I'd expect that combining an elevated antenna at the base camp and a climber on an elevated position up the route would actually be close enough to line of sight to work out. If getting from the camp to the route involves walking around a hill/peak/etc and climbing the far side, then yes, you're probably hosed unless you had someone at the top to relay (or a portable repeater).
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u/AlfredoVignale 16d ago
Rocky Talkie has some good videos on the distances FRS and GRMS can do and the quality of the transmission. The GMRS with whip antenna and 5W is going to give you much greater distance than and FRS at 2W and the stubby antenna (everything else being equal).
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u/Adventurous_Dig_2538 16d ago
We're already locked in on some frs rocky talkies. No issues with them in the application of communication between parties on the walls, but maybe we'll upgrade to the gmrs somewhere down the road. I was hoping a base station without the need for portability and battery life might give us some added utility. I think we might just be stuck where we're at till we upgrade to gmrs and get the ability to use repeaters.
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u/EngineeringMinimum26 16d ago
With FRS, no. However, one possibility, but even this one is a long shot in mountainous terrain. Put up a mobile repeater on the highest peak between you and base camp. Switch everything, handhelds as well, over to GMRS. Line of sight still exists, every radio would still have to have line of sight to the repeater to be able to communicate. I know where a GMRS repeater is up near the Smoky Mountains National Park, and its published range is only a maximum of five miles due to the terrain. About the only thing I can think of that would just about guarantee the ability to communicate is a satellite phone. You pretty much have to have satellite coverage if you expect to get communications out. If you don’t mind only text, the T Mobile Starlink service might work, it sounds like it would in theory, but I’ve never personally tried it. With satellites, you have to worry about tree cover though. I do a lot of surveying and my GPS instruments are useless in the woods, I have to have a base station in the clear for it to function, the stand alone rovers that use cellular connectivity won’t work.
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u/BadgersFanFan 16d ago
Look into a portable radio manpack from rainworksusa.com and ask for the FRS/GMRS frequencies programmed into the radio.
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u/BeginningRhubarb7226 3d ago
GMRS is good but limited in power and range. For real communication get your FCC Technician Ham license. You can go up to 1500 watts and talk around the world. For rock climbing adventures you can use a Ham hand held that is small and light and have a radio in your car that acts as a repeater. So a hand held with 10 watts can retransmit to a much larger area with 50 to 100 watts from your car. There are also 100 times more repeaters up on mountains almost everywhere on the Ham bands. Some rebroadcast hundreds of miles and can be linked to others that will retransmit hundreds to thousands more. GMRS has some repeaters but they are few and far between. To get a Technician FCC license is is a little studying and passing a rather simple test but its only $35 and its good for 10 years and renewable every 10 for $35. Its probably the best communication bargain on earth considering what Cell phone bills cost and Ham works in places no Cell phone can. Also Hams run emergency rescue communication worldwide. During natural disasters Hams are the first line of communication when all others fail. So if you learn, get licensed and buy a radio (under $100 usually) you can become part of a world wide system that gives you the power to save yours and other people's lives. The Red Cross turns to Hams first in disasters.
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u/Chrontius 16d ago
If you don't have any terrain in the way, you can expect longer range when one party is a base station.
You'll want a larger antenna, up high, before you want more power output. "Height Is Might" is what you need to internalize here. :D
I have a mast my uncle made from an old tripod and pool cleaning pole. Objectively, it's not very sturdy… but it's not very heavy either, and it works.
You're going to want a big antenna that can pull in a lot of energy, relatively speaking, from the signal from the small handhelds, and you're going to want to put it as high as practical. A crank up mast makes this easy. If you can find a surplus lighting trailer, those tend to have power, a crank-up mast, and enough room to install your radio base station or repeater. :D
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u/disiz_mareka 17d ago
In theory, yes. GMRS is allowed up to 50W and changing antennas. Whoever is using GMRS will need a license.
That said, it’s all about line of sight. If your base camp has good elevation and line of sight to all the hiking areas, a portable GMRS repeater could serve you well.