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
Canada
American-standard FRS radios have been approved for use in Canada since April 2000. The revised technical standard RSS 210 has essentially the same technical requirements as in the United States. Since September 2004,low-power GMRS radios and dual-standard FRS/GMRS radios have also been approved for use in Canada, giving additional channels. In Canada, no license is required and no restrictions are imposed on the GMRS channels. http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf01320.html Industry Canada RSS-210 - Low-power Licence-exempt Radiocommunication Devices (All Frequency Bands) retrieved 2009 Oct 23</ref>
Mexico
Since tourists often bring their FRS radios with them, and since trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is of great value to all three countries, the Mexican Secretary of Communication and Transportation has authorized use of the FRS frequencies and equipment similar to that in the US. However, dual-mode FRS/GMRS equipment is not approved in Mexico, so caution should be exercised in operating hybrid FRS/GMRS devices purchased elsewhere. http://web.archive.org/web/20091026203800/http://geocities.com/wd9ewk/xe-frs.html Mexico's Family Radio Service (FRS) equivalent retrieved 2009 Oct 23</ref>
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 |