AA wrote:

The claimed range of these radios (FRS) is on the order of 2 miles. The
manufs mention terrain and weather as limitations.
How do they do in a wooded (flat) environment?

Heh....I LOVE those claims! Two miles...in a vacuum and direct LOS (line of
sight)....yup. Normal terrain? 1/2 mile to 1 mile for the typical FRS units.
The GMRS units will do better, as they're higher power out....but the licence
is $75 in the US...not sure what the deal is in Canada.

MURS (if legal in Ca.) is another good choice....if you can find the units.
FRS units are ubiquitious....MURS less so. The difference is frequency...MURS
is in the 155 mhz range, FRS is in the 462 mhz range. MURS also has no licence
requirements here, IIRC. They do well LOS and better than FRS (in my opinion)
non-LOS. I picked up a set of cheapie RatShak MURS mobiles and have had as
much as 10 mi. between them with decent reception. (external antenni) Don't
know how MURS is handled in Canada, do check with the local authorities.

Cheers;
A



Thanks, I've never heard of MURS. I'll look into it. If I read the tea
leaves correctly, GMRS will be usable w/o a licence in Canada by the
fall. Might be worth waiting until then.

Cheers,
Alan

--
--e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--