hello all,

With all these super cheap FRS radios around, is it possible to
reprogram/convert these trancievers to the 440 Amateur band?? I
realize they would be probably simplex but seems if they can make
these radios that cheap, why cant they do the same thing for the
amateur 440 band??

73s
Steve WA4GZE

Steven Fritts wrote:

With all these super cheap FRS radios around, is it possible to
reprogram/convert these trancievers to the 440 Amateur band?? I
realize they would be probably simplex but seems if they can make
these radios that cheap, why cant they do the same thing for the
amateur 440 band??

Yes, but for the most part the receive RF performance on the things is
so bad that it's not really worth the trouble.

On the other hand, it's no worse than the folks that used to move 49 MHz
walkie-talkies onto the 6M band. Nothing like writing "Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle Walkie-Talkie" on the back of the QSL card...
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article , Steven Fritts wrote:
hello all,

With all these super cheap FRS radios around, is it possible to
reprogram/convert these trancievers to the 440 Amateur band?? I
realize they would be probably simplex but seems if they can make
these radios that cheap, why cant they do the same thing for the
amateur 440 band??

If you can get European models for the same price, it would be a much better
deal. They already operate in the 446 mHz band.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: 972-2-679-6896 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
VoN Skype: mendelsonfamily

In article ,
says...

hello all,

With all these super cheap FRS radios around, is it possible to
reprogram/convert these trancievers to the 440 Amateur band?? I
realize they would be probably simplex but seems if they can make
these radios that cheap, why cant they do the same thing for the
amateur 440 band??

I can't imagine why anyone would want to. FRS radios are, by
design, cheap, nasty, and poor performers where RF is concerned. You'd
get better performance out of an old Motorola HT-220 portable
(discontinued in 1979) than you would out of an FRS unit.

If you want some inexpensive radios for amateur 440 use, pop over
to Greed-Bay or your nearest ham radio swap meet, and poke around for
some Motorola HT600's or something similar. You'd be much better off,
and there are plenty of folk who can program and align them for you if
you lack the equipment to do so yourself (I know, because I'm one of
'em). ;-)


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

Dr. Anton T. Squeegee wrote:

I can't imagine why anyone would want to. FRS radios are, by
design, cheap, nasty, and poor performers where RF is concerned. You'd
get better performance out of an old Motorola HT-220 portable
(discontinued in 1979) than you would out of an FRS unit.

Hey, this brings to mind that I need about a dozen VHF HT-220 sets, preferably
tuned for the business band rather than 2M, but I'll take what I can get.
I'd sort of rather have them working.

If you want some inexpensive radios for amateur 440 use, pop over
to Greed-Bay or your nearest ham radio swap meet, and poke around for
some Motorola HT600's or something similar. You'd be much better off,
and there are plenty of folk who can program and align them for you if
you lack the equipment to do so yourself (I know, because I'm one of
'em). ;-)

Those things cost real money, though! More than $25, anyway.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Some of the European models sound interesting. I wish to take the opposite
point of view regarding the FRS radios. We use Motorola radios for Search
and Rescue, and we also use FRS radios. One of the advantage of the FRS
radios is that the news media is not monitoring those channels and they do
not go as far.

And, talk about sensitivity, one local boy made national news when he picked
up some injured climbers on Mt. Hood, who had FRS radios. He was standing
out in his dad's pasture about 70 miles distant from the injured climber and
picked up a distress call. So, they some are sensitive. However, some
radios may be better than others.

One real advantage of the FRS radios over the HT-220 is that you can pick up
replacement batteries for the FRS radio for a buck or two at any store. The
HT-220 battery is about $30 and must be charged. On a trip into the wild,
the FRS blows away the HT-220 in terms of battery convenience and light
weight. It may just be all the communication ability you need.

Colin K7FM

In message et, COLIN
LAMB writes
Some of the European models sound interesting. I wish to take the opposite
point of view regarding the FRS radios. We use Motorola radios for Search
and Rescue, and we also use FRS radios. One of the advantage of the FRS
radios is that the news media is not monitoring those channels and they do
not go as far.

And, talk about sensitivity, one local boy made national news when he picked
up some injured climbers on Mt. Hood, who had FRS radios. He was standing
out in his dad's pasture about 70 miles distant from the injured climber and
picked up a distress call. So, they some are sensitive. However, some
radios may be better than others.

One real advantage of the FRS radios over the HT-220 is that you can pick up
replacement batteries for the FRS radio for a buck or two at any store. The
HT-220 battery is about $30 and must be charged. On a trip into the wild,
the FRS blows away the HT-220 in terms of battery convenience and light
weight. It may just be all the communication ability you need.

Colin K7FM



Have a look at
http://www.delboys446.co.uk
Ian.
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