So, this is something I haven't looked at in many years. A fairly elderly friend of my wife asked about "best" walkie talkie and sent some links to some FRS/GMRS radios.

When I asked "Is the intent to talk to another person she knows to whom she hands the other walkie talkie, or is she interested in being able to communicate with others she may not have handed the other walkie talkie? she responded "I want to talk to others who have them. Not hand to someone next to me. Hope that's clear."

I am not sure she understands the reality of needing to know what channel and what is the privacy code to make that work. Am I missing something here?

Anyway. 2 other questions:

If you had to get an FRS/GMRS, what would you get? (price not a consideration - she can afford it)

If you think some other com device would work better, what would you suggest and why?

Thanks!

It could be worth considering the very limited range of the frequency band of FMR/GMRS. If it suits her needs, it´s fine. Otherwise CB may be better.
I´d also try to gage her level of knowledge about the topic and the actual use cases.
For an elderly person I would select a model with an easy to read display and good ergonomy. I´d probably go for a Kenwood. Coming from Europe I do have a good overview over the US market.

Any ideas on the range she needs to talk to the other person/people? Does she want to do it from her home, while mobile, or both?
-Blast

I don't think she knows. Assume mostly fro home, since she doesn't go out much. Just wants to be prepared. I think there should be higher priorities, but just trying to help. Can't be too complicated.

Will the repeaters be working, which seems like where most of the range comes from unless she steps up to Ham, which I don't think she would do? <shrug> I think more range is better, as long as it is handheld. I will be suggesting getting a AA battery pack, regardless of what ends up being recommended.

This is a tough one to call... When I did my research I finally figured out I could not count on any one set up. I now have a CB, four sets of GMRS/FRS radios (also got the GMRS license) and ham radios with a tech license.

It seems that what she will need has to be specific to the neighborhood or community where she is. The decision should be driven by what "others" in her area are using or have planned to use. The only advantage to the hand held is you can walk around. If you are staying in place - there are several better 'base station' options on all the radio bands.

She may be better off with a 'mobile' radio and not just a hand held:
https://midlandusa.com/product-category/micromobile/ This thinking could also include a CB rig as a base radio. Maybe her best bet is a base station of some type and a compatible hand held to match it.

One such as the above and an external antenna on the car or house will do a whole lot better than the blister two-pack from Walmart.

ADDED: I was just thinking - none of this radio stuff is going to be as simple as a cell phone to use. There will be a need for her to learn how the darn thing works and will need to also practice actually using it so learning/training must also be considered.

As with so many emergency preparedness things, circumstances are everything. GMRS/FRS with randoms out there might be fine, if she learns how to scan channels and deal with privacy codes. A Ham Radio license would be amazing (with appropriate accompanying equipment, such a UV-5R). But I assume both of these options require too much training.

If money is truly of little concern, then I suggest a satellite phone or a satellite communications device, if she values portability. Such as SPOT. She might also hold out to see if Apple is really building some form of satellite communications into the next generation of iPhones (announcement regarding new generation of phones coming mid September).

If she's planning to stay in place (and her environment makes that a reasonable outcome, I.E., not wildfire/earthquake country), then she could copy me. I have Starlink satellite internet currently with an UPS and generator as backup power sources, but with solar and a whole house battery system on order.

Starlink does rely on a clear view of the sky, which was difficult for me to obtain. Now that I have things setup though internet stability and availability are very good, even in Beta. I in fact cancelled my other internet service. My reason for getting Starlink was at least in part because last summer when I lost power for day or two my cable internet went down after 4 hours (battery life of their backhaul equipment, apparently), even though I had power (generator) at my house the entire time.

Starlink with battery backup also offers the highest ease of use. Once setup she could lose power and her neighbors could lose phones/internet and she could continue to use her (say) iPhone as normal on wifi without even knowing her neighbors are down.

If she's really nervous, she could get Starlink ($99/month) as a back up to her primary internet. That's probably overkill. Cell phones with wi-fi calling turned on make calls just fine over starlink in my experience.

Assuming this is all over the top and GMRS/FRS are the solution, then I suggest that she buys a few sets of these and hand them out (with batteries), preconfigured, to the neighbors she wants to be able to talk to: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/walkie-talkies/motorola-talkabout-t100

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Perf...2dDbGljaz10cnVl

If that's the path she goes with then she and her neighbors (that I hope she's friendly with) should really test their setups once or twice a year so they're ready in a pinch.

Okay, so local/neighborhood communications? Here are my thoughts:

Not a CB...I have and still do use CBs for a long time. They require adding and tuning a quality antenna, power supply (for homebase use) and require a lot of fiddling with knobs.

Not a UV-5R. Yes, they are cheap and can often pick up EMS signals in some places but they are fragile, not weatherproof, and have poor microphones, and messy transmiting signals. They also require programming to use properly. Programming is easy if you understand everything about them but very complicated for newbies, even when using CHIRP software.

A GMRS license is, IMHO, the best way to go. Give her a Motorola or other quality handheld radio AND install a GMRS repeater + battery backup in a high spot in her house.
https://www.bridgecomsystems.com/blogs/b...rs-for-preppers

Doug, I'm always open to a phone call to discuss this more...or you and I can do a live show about it over on my social media platforms.
-Blast

Coming from an elderly person, that may translate to how to prepare for a power outage? They are staying put after all. That should always be the first step anyway?

I would want my grandparents to have the proper batteries (power bank or larger lifepo) to keep phones charged to use the internet, a decent am/fm radio with weather, a cheap landline phone to use in emergency even if no service?

https://www.energy.gov/articles/preparing-power-outage

I don't have much to add about the specific communication devices, but what I will add is to look in the social aspect of gmrs or ham. Are there repeaters for either locally, is there a ham club, or at least a group that meets near her location. I don't have a gmrs radio but I learned about the local gmrs repeaters from the local ham group. One of the local groups does a nightly check-in,training net. Having a friendly group of like minded people might give her enough enthusiasm to get licensed. I'm fortunate that where I'm at there are several clubs that are very welcoming of new members and are willing to help someone new to the hobby. If you can talk her into that she may have a new group of friends that are not only nice people but willing to help her if she needs it.

Where I live, this would not work well. There is very little FRS/GMRS communications around here when I’ve been listening for it.

Most FRS/GMRS radios are terrible; they have tiny little fixed antennas and grossly inflated claims of range. The best of that lot are actually good for somewhere between 1/4 mile and maybe five miles, in most environments. Peak to peak, you might do better. But with those awful antennas, you might not.

Could your elderly friend get a ham radio license? I have hit repeaters that were 50 miles away using a J-pole hung up high with a portable VHF rig; HF can get you far further but requires more gear and expertise. It’s easy to find hams to talk to on the radio, and when regular telephony and Internet goes down, it will be much easier still.

If that’s not an option, perhaps your elderly friend could organize a FRS net with a few nearby neighbors?

Without ham radio or nearby neighbors willing to participate, I think Blast’s idea of setting up ones own GMRS repeater with hardened power and encouraging others around to use it is the best bet.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I sincerely appreciate it.

FRS = very limited in power and range. Antenna must be permanently fixed to the radio, no range boost by better antenna allowed. Question is whether anyone around her has FRS. Is she in the boonies? Does she have neighbors within line of sight? If yes, maybe she can give them a radio and ask them to turn it on in case of an incident.

GMRS = better than FRS, there are repeaters that might or might not have emergency power, don't know story about acess to the repeaters, license is required ($75/5 years or something like that). No license test, just pay fee.

Ham = repeaters maybe more likely than GMRS to have emergency power, license is free but there is a multiple choice test, external antennas are fine, and if an old lady transmits "I'm on my grandson's radio and I need an ambulance at XYZ address" no one will care if she has no license.

Other possibilities = satellite phone or 2-way pager (yes, pagers are still a thing). These will have monthly subscription fees but maybe she will think they are worth it.

With all of the above, make sure to set up and test ahead of time.

I don't know the situation of cell phone services in emergencies these days. Cell towers do often have backup power, and in times of network congestions where you can't make a voice call, you can often get text messages through. I have felt for a while that the carriers should prioritize this and reserve a little bandwidth for emergency texts, that would otherwise go to mobile data = youtube on your cell phone.

For ham and GPRS repeaters, look at repeaterbook.com to find repeaters near her home, but again, make sure to check access policies and if possible, test ahead of time.

If your friend is thinking about using a handheld radio from inside her house (I don't care if it's FRS or GMRS or CB or HAM), she will get just about equivalent range by walking down her street hollering for anybody who happens to be around. And the advantage of the "walk and holler" approach is that she will have many more potential contacts than over a radio.

Now, you can improve range by learning about radio transmissions and installing an appropriate outdoor high-gain antenna. GMRS repeaters are generally few and far between in my experience. I am in the Denver area (suburbs, basically), and there are no GMRS repeaters here that I know of. There are HAM repeaters galore. Hit or miss hitting one of those from inside the house with a handheld (you can hear fine usually, but not trigger them for transmit). Outside with a decent antenna - no problem. HAM repeater use is nowhere near what it once was, but during an emergency I imagine there will be lots of people available for contact. Assuming the repeaters have power.

An FRS handheld from inside your house might be able to talk to your neighbor across the street inside their house, but that's about it. Outside, you might get 1/2 a mile to a mile if you're lucky and don't have hills and other obstructions.

While my "walk and holler" comment above might sound like a joke, it is probably the better and more reliable communication technique for non-radio enthusiasts who don't want to obtain a license and learn about feedlines, antennas (and their need for lightning protection), and such. The actual radio will be the least expensive part of the setup. You could do quite well with a handheld if you upgrade its antenna and walk to a hilltop overlooking a populated valley with other radio enthusiasts (you can't upgrade an FRS radios antenna). But unless you live on that hilltop - if you have to walk to it - might as well just walk and holler.

just a comment about CB range... in the late 70s I had a relatively modest CB base station.. it was a Cobra 21 mobile transceiver, powered by a Radio Shack 12vdc regulated power supply... the key part of the system as commented was the antenna... it was a 1/2 wave Shakespeare "Big Stick) length adjusted to give very close to a 1:1 SWR... it was mounted on a 20' mast and grounded with a 4'copper ground rod... on flat coastal Florida I could get 12mile reliable to a similarly equipped base station, and about 4miles to a mobile unit with a Cobra 21 and 1/4 wave stainless whip, bumper mounted...

about 2 miles reliable communication between our similarly powered autos... I had a 1/4 base load magnetic mount in the center of the roof to the 1/4 wave stainless whip

today, with side band available, the range should be somewhat improved... regards

It may be useful to know what the person in the original post expects from whatever radio device she decides on. For example, does she think of the device as some sort of "special 911" that she can count on for help in emergencies?

For the average person, there are three options:

FRS/GMRS radios. UHF band. These can be very good over very short distances; however, although GMRS is technically a licensed service, virtually no one actually gets licensed, and the transceivers are sold everywhere, so it’s complete chaos during times when people attempt to use the service en masse. Although GMRS repeaters theoretically exist, I’ve never heard of anyone actually operating one.

CB radio. HF band. Also unlicensed, also somewhat chaotic, but not as popular as it once was. CB operates in the 11-meter HF band, so even though you are limited by law to medium range comms, signals can travel much further than you might intend.

Amateur Radio. HF/VHF/UHF bands. A licensed service, the test is fairly easy to pass to get a Technician Class license, a second slightly harder test for General Class, and a much harder test for Expert Class. Repeaters all over the place in mainly the 2 m VHF and 70 cm UHF bands, and depending on your area, possibly still a fairly active enthusiast community.

An Amateur Radio Operator license will give you the widest range of options and the most powerful equipment options. Many good handheld transceivers from Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, and others. Equipment is capable of communicating globally, if you take the time to construct a good antenna system. Definitely the best option in times of natural disasters where widespread communications outages have occurred.

The problem with radios is, they are useless unless there’s someone else with a radio to talk to you.

The ARRL every year holds a competition we call “Field Day”, which is an exercise in readiness for emergency communications. I used to be a member of K2AA in New Jersey, and we regularly took first place in our class on Field Day.

You get extra points for running your radio equipment on emergency power, which helps encourage operators to invest in that sort of gear. So, there are a lot of hams out there who will definitely be able to run repeaters and transceivers in the aftermath of disasters.

K2AA owns several military surplus 50’ antenna towers (I think the AB-577 model?) that we can have up and running in a very short period of time. They break down into a bundle that fits in a pickup truck, about 8’ long, weighing about 300 lbs. They will hold some big honking antennas. We would choose a remote site show up the day before with RVs and tents and generators and computers and set up for the weekend.

My area has a few GMRS repeaters but they’re all “closed” — if the owner hasn’t given specific permission you’re not allowed to use them. And a minor nit: ham radio’s top class of license in the US is “Extra”.

Yes, "Extra", I mistyped that. Probably because I haven't bothered to study to take the Extra Class examination.