Was wondering what folks thought the best GMRS transceiver was? I
have the Baefeng UV-5R mini.

... 73s de WSNK792
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On 07 Jul 2026, Robert Wolfe said the following...

Was wondering what folks thought the best GMRS transceiver was? I
have the Baefeng UV-5R mini.

the FCC likes it if you use a GMRS-specific radio. i always liked the UV-82
and the GMRS-V2 that's based off it is nice, but it looks like there are a
ton (just as an example, not familiar with the site) here: https://shop.mygmrs.com/

tbh though if you're going to put one in your car (or maybe on your desk) all the mobiles are junk, especially at the price they're sold, and it's really
not worth paying premium for them when you can get a Motorola XPR model on
eBay (search for like 'motorola XPR 403' or something) in the same sort of $180-220 range. pretty much everyone ends up with one of those motorolas

caveat though.. they're not designed for programming on the fly, or are potentially hard to program in general. some eBay sellers will program them
for you with all the channels (just no CTCSS tones) and if you have any repeaters in town they can add those too. you'd be better off being able to program it yourself though.

ORRRRR just use an unlocked ham radio. nobody will know. i hate carrying / keeping set-up extra radios just because papa FCC doesn't like the thought that joe random from amazon might program their radio the wrong way. and the filtering on the chinese radios is BAD (see this video i made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aka8HSvlR9M )

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Re: best gmrs transceiver
By: Robert Wolfe to all on Tue Jul 07 2026 22:13:00

Was wondering what folks thought the best GMRS transceiver was? I
have the Baefeng UV-5R mini.

I have a grms license myself, but have never used it yet.
When looking for a radio you want something that is FCC part 90 certified.

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On Jul 08, 2026 07:41am, FUSION wrote to Robert Wolfe:

the FCC likes it if you use a GMRS-specific radio. i always

liked the

UV-82 and the GMRS-V2 that's based off it is nice, but it looks

like

there are a ton (just as an example, not familiar with the site)

here:

https://shop.mygmrs.com/

I've looked ayt this site and tbh drooled over the repeater they
have listed in their shop :P

tbh though if you're going to put one in your car (or maybe on

your

desk) all the mobiles are junk, especially at the price they're

sold,

and it's really not worth paying premium for them when you can

get a

Motorola XPR model on eBay (search for like 'motorola XPR 403'

or

something) in the same sort of $180-220 range. pretty much

everyone ends

up with one of those motorolas

thamnks fotr the feedback.. I wqsa lucky enough to catch the local
repeater (local as in 5 miles away house at the same location as
the transmitter for our local Fox TV affiliate WUTV ch. 29.) alive
with chatter this morning. So I keyed up an introduced myself.

... Platinum Xpress & Wildcat!..... Nice!!!!
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On 08 Jul 2026, Robert Wolfe said the following...

thamnks fotr the feedback.. I wqsa lucky enough to catch the local repeater (local as in 5 miles away house at the same location as
the transmitter for our local Fox TV affiliate WUTV ch. 29.) alive
with chatter this morning. So I keyed up an introduced myself.

awesome! do they run nets or was it more informal?

it's kind of a shame the callsigns for GMRS are 8 miles long :)

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fusion wrote to Robert Wolfe <=-

it's kind of a shame the callsigns for GMRS are 8 miles long :)

I always thought it was cool seeing old HAM callsigns - the smaller the
older, I presume.

Phil Karn worked for Qualcomm and wrote Qpopper, a POP3 mail server I
used, and KA9Q, a DOS TCP/IP router. KA9Q is his call sign. Given that
the K is fixed, if they're given in alphabetical order, he'd be license
number 1207?



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Re: Re: best gmrs transceiver
By: poindexter FORTRAN to fusion on Sun Jul 12 2026 09:25 am

alphabetical order, he'd be license
number 1207?

Not sure if it's always been this way,
but call signs get shorter the higher
level license you get. The number
indicates the area you got the license
from. So the first license gets you a
2x3 call, then the next a 2x2, and the
next 2x1 or 1x2, I think. The K isn't
necessarily fixed, but also has to do
with where the license was from. These
days, though, you can get any call with
a vanity call request (I think).
There's probably someone that knows all
this junk better than I do.

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Re: Re: best gmrs transceiver
By: phigan to poindexter FORTRAN on Sun Jul 12 2026 04:14 pm

Not sure if it's always been this way,
but call signs get shorter the higher
level license you get. The number
indicates the area you got the license
from. So the first license gets you a
2x3 call, then the next a 2x2, and the
next 2x1 or 1x2, I think. The K isn't
necessarily fixed, but also has to do
with where the license was from. These
days, though, you can get any call with
a vanity call request (I think).

Yup, you have it, aside from the K, N, A or W indicating where a license was issued, only the numbers reflect that. Some of us (like me) are weird and like our original 2x3 call so much that we just keep it as we upgrade (changing your call each level of license you obtain is optional). True on the vanity callsigns, although a Technician class (first level) can only select a 1x3 or 2x3 callsign, and only Extra class (top class) can select a 1x2 or 2x1 (I think.)

Okay I'll quit being a ham nerd now lol

-Tim KB9SNL
-Tim KB9SNL

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