Family Radio Service
From The RadioReference Wiki
The Family Radio Service, or FRS, is an unlicensed, simplex only, personal radio service in the US covered by Part 95 of the FCC's regulations. Hand-held FRS transceivers with a maximum output of 500 mW are typically used by families, children, and campers to communicate. Shopping malls, theme parks, and special events are all great locations to monitor FRS communications. Radios may not have external antennas or power amplifiers attached to them (See 47 CFR 95.194c).
GMRS users may also communicate with FRS users, and among each other, on the lower 7 channels in the 462 MHz range, with a maximum of 5 watts ERP on those channels.
Frequencies
Channel Frequency GMRS 01 462.5625 * 02 462.5875 * 03 462.6125 * 04 462.6375 * 05 462.6625 * 06 462.6875 * 07 462.7125 * 08 467.5625 09 467.5875 10 467.6125 11 467.6375 12 467.6625 13 467.6875 14 467.7125
See also FRS/GMRS combined channel chart
Recognized Channels
Some groups try to consistently use the same channel/tone combinations. See below for tone equivalents.
- 01/CS - "Emergency"
- 11/22 - Birders (no roger beep, please)
- 14/38 - MilCom/Airshow Hobbyists (7/15 - backup)
CTCSS
Most FRS radios have CTCSS capability. The companies marketing the radios usually refer to these tones as "privacy codes" even though they provide no privacy. Instead of asking FRS users to understand the actual tone values, integers are used instead. Most, but not all, manufacturers use the same numbers as Motorola:
| Actual CTCSS tone | Commonly assigned "code" |
|---|---|
| 67.0 | 1 |
| 71.9 | 2 |
| 74.4 | 3 |
| 77.0 | 4 |
| 79.7 | 5 |
| 82.5 | 6 |
| 85.4 | 7 |
| 88.5 | 8 |
| 91.5 | 9 |
| 94.8 | 10 |
| 97.4 | 11 |
| 100.0 | 12 |
| 103.5 | 13 |
| 107.2 | 14 |
| 110.9 | 15 |
| 114.8 | 16 |
| 118.8 | 17 |
| 123.0 | 18 |
| 127.3 | 19 |
| 131.8 | 20 |
| 136.5 | 21 |
| 141.3 | 22 |
| 146.2 | 23 |
| 151.4 | 24 |
| 156.7 | 25 |
| 162.2 | 26 |
| 167.9 | 27 |
| 173.8 | 28 |
| 179.9 | 29 |
| 186.2 | 30 |
| 192.8 | 31 |
| 203.5 | 32 |
| 210.7 | 33 |
| 218.1 | 34 |
| 225.7 | 35 |
| 233.6 | 36 |
| 241.8 | 37 |
| 250.3 | 38 |