GMRS Frequencies

GMRS Frequencies & GMRS Radio

GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) is a service using radios of low to fairly high power transceivers that are used for hobby, personal, or business use.  The GMRS Frequencies used in this service are in the UHF band.  So what are these GMRS Frequencies, and how can you find them on a scanner?  Are they narrow band or wide band UHF?  AM or FM?  On this site, we'll look at GMRS Frequencies allocated to GMRS channels, along with relevant information on this service including power output and GMRS repeaters.  If you're seeking to expand your radio horizons, aka bitten by the radio bug, you want to look into HAM radio, officially known as Amateur Radio.  I put together a page showing some excellent study guides and top quality radios for beginners all the way to old-timers!

GMRS Radio can easily be confused with FRS Radio (Family Radio Service).  The difference between GMRS and FRS is that GMRS Radio is permitted a higher output to reach further distances, and has more channels (however, within the GMRS frequencies, FRS does share some channels).  FRS on the other hand, is very limited in power output. GMRS walkie-talkies are available with outputs anywhere from 1 watt to around 4 watts output, and mobile/base units are permitted by regulation of up to 50 watts output on certain channels. FRS handie-talkies however, are limited to their 14 frequencies (channels) and to 500 mW (half a watt), and are not permitted in mobile or base form.  Also, FRS is restricted by a fixed antenna; you can't add an external antenna (which will greatly increase your range) as you can with GMRS.  However, there is no license required for FRS use.  It is entirely license free!  That alone can save you $85, the fee for a GMRS license.  For more information on a GMRS License from the FCC, go to the GMRS License page.

Although GMRS Radio is officially available only in the U.S. and Canada, although other countries do have their own variations thereof. PMR446 is a radio service available in many European countries which features 8 fixed channels in the UHF spectrum at 446 MHz, but it restricts users to 500 mW output, so it is closer to FRS than GMRS.  And the channels are not the same as North America uses for GMRS frequencies, so the two radios are not interchangeable with each other; using a PMR446 radio in North America will land you in a heap of trouble as you will be transmitting on someone's assigned frequencies; same thing would happen if you tried to use a North American GMRS radio with GMRS frequencies, in Europe.

The most popular and least expensive type of GMRS 2-way radio is the walkie-talkie, also known as handie-talkie (see below). There are also mobile units available, which offer much more flexibility along with higher power and repeater capability, but the vast majority of GMRS radios on the market today are the bubble-pack GMRS walkie-talkies. These are available in the absolute widest variety and at the best prices from Amazon.  You can find these in big box department stores as well, but selection will be poor.  Also, the professional GMRS Radios, which have longer range, higher output and more features, will not be found at all in retail stores but are available online at Amazon: Icom, Motorola and others (see right sidebar) offer higher power and have GMRS repeater capabilities.  Most all of these professional UHF radios will have quite a frequency spread however, so it's important to make sure you operate only on the designated GMRS frequencies and when on FRS channels, reduce power output to 500 mW.

 There are changes coming from the FCC with GMRS which will probably result in lower power output and the elimation of repeaters, but it is not cast in stone nor will any changes be in the short term.  See History and Future of GMRS for some more information.

FRS channels and GMRS channels are shared between the two services and in fact many GMRS radios will operate on both frequencies; however when using the less expensive walkie-talkies, output power is automatically reduced when on the FRS frequencies.

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GMRS Frequencies

The GMRS channels all work in the UHF band. Specifically, from fixed channels in the 462 MHz to 467 MHz range. They all use Narrow Band Frequency Modulation (NBFM). There is a GMRS frequencies to GMRS channels chart here which includes FRS frequencies. 

FRS frequencies have 7 channels allocated to them specifically, but also share 7 more GMRS frequencies, for a total of 14 channels. GMRS frequencies total 15 channels, plus another 8 for repeater input, totalling 23 GMRS channels.  However, the 8 repeater input channels are typically not installed on bubble pack walkie-talkies.  As well, most walkie-talkies sold will included the shared 7 FRS frequencies.  So this means that most all combination GMRS/FRS units on the market today are capable of operation on both GMRS frequencies and FRS frequencies, totaling 22 channels.  If you do purchase a walkie talkie made for FRS frequencies only, you will have 14 channels. As mentioned previously, seven of the shared 22 channels are subject to FRS regulations and will only be able to operate with 500 mW (half a watt) output. If you would like to use up to 50 watts in your mobile on one of the allocated high power GMRS channels, you will need commercial UHF gear such as the Icom IC-F221S shown here. 

Icom IC-F221S-52 Mobile Transceiver  

900 MHz Radios

There are some fairly new radios on the market which use the 900 MHz band and are license free! So far, only two manufacturers, TriSquare and Motorola manufacture walkie-talkies on 900 MHz frequencies. TriSquare handies are priced comparable to higher-end GMRS radios and are very reasonably priced, but the Motorolas are priced much higher, as they are marketed as "business" radios.

TriSquare eXRS TSX300-2VP 900MHz FHSS Digital Two-Way Radio (Pair)

Don't forget to check the GMRS Frequencies to channels chart along with all the most popular and best selling GMRS radio info in the links in the right hand column.