"Bill Horne" ...
Smed wrote:
Some of my friends and I are planning a 110 mile canoe trip in Montana
next year. I would like to bring along a pair of walkie talkies that are
somewhat water proof, can accept AA batteries, have decent range, and
have NOAA in case the weather takes a turn. I've been doing research and
found the Midland GXT1000VP4 walkie talkies fit the bill.

Of all the websites I hit, only one brings up the FCC license subject. I
can't get a direct answer from anyone since everyone is trying to sell
them to me and not worried about what I think after they got my money.

Will I need an FCC license? They say the radios work right out of the
box but some of the channels might be blocked without the license. How
much is the license? Are the unblocked channels over crowded and
worthless?

AFAIK, if you use only the FRS channels, you won't need a license. You
won't get to use the higher power settings, though.

If you want to use high power, you'll need to apply to the FCC for a GMRS
(General Mobile Radio Service) license.

See http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605.html for details on the
application process.

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you: you're going to an isolated area,
you'll be talking across water most of the time, and so I think FRS will
be fine.

HTH. YMMV.

Bill, W1AC


Thanks for the reply!

Even if I'm on FRS without a license, will that effect the NOAA channel or
does that just limit the transmissions and not the receptions?

Thanks again.

Smed