A Quick and Practical Guide to Radio
March 10, 2025
The best option for local comms is old fashioned radio. I hope this post will help you make the necessary comparisons to decide which type of radio system is best for your use case.
TL;DR
If you’re a normal guy with a family, use GMRS.
- They are interoperable with normal storebought “walkie-talkies” but can use higher power and repeaters. They also generally have better hardware.
- You can get a $35 license from the FCC that covers your whole family.
- Buy a set of portable (handheld) radios that you can stuff in a backpack, and mobile (car mounted) radios that have higher power and will always have power as long as your car has gas.
Radio Features
Bands
The “band” a radio uses refers to a range of frequencies it uses. Different bands have different properties. For our purposes, you only need to worry about two groups.
- VHF/UHF a.k.a. “Very High Frequency” and “Ultra High Frequency”. Radio signals on these bands can travel line-of-sight only. This means the curvature of the earth limits their range to only a few miles, depending on terrain. VHF/UHF radios are generally cheaper, much simpler to use, and need lower levels of licensure.
- HF a.k.a. “High Frequency”. These radio signals can bounce off the earth’s atmosphere and travel worldwide, if conditions are right. Radios that use these bands are more expensive and require more skill and licensing.
If you want to talk worldwide, you need to figure out how to get into HF. If you just want local comms, stick with the VHF/UHF bands.
Station Type
There are three ways to carry a radio.
- Portable. These are carried on your person in a manpack, or are handheld, like the ubiquitous storebought “walkie talkies”. They use lower power, have a small form factor, and rely on batteries.
- Mobile. These are mounted in a vehicle. They use higher power and have a larger form factor. Because of how their antennae mount to vehicles like cars, they can get much better range and reception, and lightning protection isn’t a concern.
- Base Station. These are mounted in a home or other building, such as the classic “ham shack”, a room or building chock full of ham radio equipment. They can use very high levels of power and allow for more sophisticated equipment that wouldn’t fit in a vehicle, such as computers, amplifiers, and other stuff. The antennae can be mounted much higher and have a more sophisticated form, allowing great signal propagation. However, lightning protection and other safety features are required to safely operate a base station.
Modulation
Modulation is the process of converting a signal into a radio waveform. There are two general categories of modulation.
- Analog. This is the kind that most radios we use in daily life operate with, including walkie talkies and FM and AM radio.
- Digital. These are newer modes that have more specialized uses.
Mode
Mode refers to what kind of data is communicated between radios.
- Phone, a.k.a. “voice”, like talking on a telephone. This mode requires fairly good signal strength to be intelligible.
- Data. Where text, or other kinds of data, are transmitted. These modes can generally use lower signal strength. APRS and Meshtastic are examples of data modes.
- CW (continuous wave) a.k.a. “Morse Code”. This was the original mode of radio communication, and is still superior for low signal strength applications. It obviously requires training to use.
Licensure
In the United States, you must have a license to use certain parts of the radio spectrum above certain amounts of power. There are tons of licenses the FCC regognizes, but there are only a handful we care about.
- FRS, a.k.a. “Family Radio Service”. These are the ubiquitous “walkie talkies” you buy at Walmart. No license is needed to operate these, but they use very low power.
- GMRS, a.k.a. “General Mobile Radio Service”. This is a $35 license from the FCC that covers your immediate family members. It doesn’t require a test, and allows the user of higher power (and generally better built) radios on the same channels as FRS. So, if your neighbors use FRS, you can still talk to them on GMRS.
- Amateur Radio, a.k.a. “ham radio” is a tested license for an individual. The test costs $15, and the license itself is $35. It is a test you have to study for, so you’ll likely need to buy study materials too. There are three levels of Amateur Radio licensure.
- Technician. This is the lowest level, allowing operation on the VHF/UHF ham bands.
- General. The next level, allowing all Technician privileges in addition to much of the HF ham bands.
- Extra. The highest level, allowing full access to all the ham bands.
Encryption
Encryption is not allowed in FRS, GMRS, or Amateur Radio.
Meshtastic, an unlicensed analog data mode, allows encryption.
Repeaters
Repeaters are radios that recieve a radio signal and “repeat” that signal, usually over a much wider range and at a higher power. Using a repeater boosts your range; you don’t need to reach the person you want to talk to, you just need to reach the repeater.
There are two types of repeaters based on usage.
- Open. Anyone can use the repeater. Most ham repeaters are open to all licensed ham operators.
- Closed. Permission is required to use the repeater. Many GMRS repeaters are closed.
Comparisons
Like any technology, the answer for best choice of system that implements the above features is “it depends”.
A Table of Systems
Below is a table where I have ranked different radio systems from best to worst, top to bottom, according to capability, cost, and ease of entry (including licensure).
| System | Bands | Type | License | License Test | Repeater Use | Setup | Encryption | Modes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portable GMRS | UHF | Portable | GMRS | No | Yes, usually closed | Minimal | No | Phone |
| Mobile GMRS | UHF | Mobile | GMRS | No | Yes, usually closed | Moderate | No | Phone |
| FRS “Walkie Talkies” | UHF | Portable | None | No | No | Minimal | No | Phone |
| Meshtastic | UHF | Any | None | No | Yes | Involved | Yes | Data |
| Portable UHF/VHF Ham | UHF/VHF | Portable | Amateur Radio Technician | Yes | Yes | Minimal | No | Phone |
| Mobile UHF/VHF Ham | UHF/VHF | Mobile | Amateur Radio Technician | Yes | Yes | Moderate | No | Phone |
| Base Station UHF/VHF Ham | UHF/VHF | Base Station | Amateur Radio General/Extra | Yes | Yes | Involved | No | Phone |
| Mobile HF Ham | HF | Mobile | Amateur Radio General/Extra | Yes | Yes, not common | Moderate | No | Phone/CW |
| Base Station HF Ham | HF | Base Station | Amateur Radio General/Extra | Yes | Yes, not common | Involved | No | Phone/CW |
Amateur Radio
If you want to be able to talk to the world, you need to get your Ham license and set up an HF base station. Or, if you’re really interested in radio in general, or you want to be able to talk to others on the air outside of your family and friends, getting your Ham license is a great way to learn and connect.
Ham radio also has a civil use. The ARES is a group of licensed ham radio volunteers who provide valuable communication services to people on the ground during emergencies, such as natural disasters where normal communication modes are down. If you’d like the ability to have some broader resilience in case of widespread cell phone or internet outages, ham radio is the way to go.
GMRS and FRS
For the average family, ham is too much of an investment of time and learning to be feasible. The licensing and testing process is designed to weed people out. It takes training to operate ham radio properly, so it isn’t very friendly for kids or uninterested spouses (who would need their own licenses).
One solution for the family is FRS. It’s in the name: Family Radio Service. These cheap walkie-talkies are great if you need something quick or want to give the kids something to play with. No licensing needed; just buy a pack and do what you need to do. However, they really lack in range and power. Beyond a mile or so, they’re pretty much useless depending on the terrain.
The limitations of FRS is where GMRS comes in. It’s a good balance of capability and simplicity. A GMRS radio works just like a walkie talkie, but with better build quality, way more power, and the ability to use repeaters. They often come with better antennae too, which is often the best upgrade you can make to a radio.
If you do a lot of driving, hiking, hunting, or camping, GMRS works really well The higher power and quality can improve performance in less than ideal conditions, and there is no licensing exam required. Just pay a fee to the FCC, and the license covers all your immediate family members. If you want to talk with other families that use FRS, GMRS is already totally interoperable with their radios; just talk on the same channel they are using.
Base Stations
Unless you’re really into radio, you probably don’t need a base station. A better option is just to get a nice mobile radio for your car. It will automatically be grounded and lightning protected, and it will always have a power supply that works (your gas tank and battery), which is a plus for emergency situations.
Meshtastic
One system that hasn’t been discussed much is Meshtastic. It works with small radio boards that connect to your phone via bluetooth and allow you to send and recieve text and position data.
This system doesn’t require a license to operate. Anyone can get a radio, download the app, and start making contacts. The system also functions as a mesh network, with each node essentially acting like a tiny repeater, re-transmitting ant traffic it recieves. It even allows for encrypted channels.
The downside is that Meshtastic is mostly a DIY hobby. You can find off-the-shelf radios on Etsy, but for the most part, you have to do everything yourself: buy the board, flash it, hook up the antenna, attach a battery, etc. Some people get very creative with this; they’ll build waterproof boxes equipped with solar panels and install them to function as repeaters, expanding the network. Or, you can carry a radio in your car or pack, often very discretely. If you need encrypted text and position data and don’t mind having to do a little research and DIY, then Meshtastic is a really good option.
The Bottom Line
Get yourself and your family some portable and mobile GMRS radios.
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