GMRS Radio Equipment Canada

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:46:00 +0000

FRS/GMRS radio equipment is similar to FM two-way radio equipment except that it is lower in power and made for general consumer use. In most cases two-way radio equipment requires a license however GMRS/FRS equipment is license-free in Canada!In April 2000, Industry Canada designated 14 frequencies in the frequency range 462/467 MHz for Family Radio Service (FRS) mass-market and consumer-based radio products in Canada. The radios were already a huge success in the USA at that point in time. FRS (Family Radio Service) is the predecessor of GMRS. FRS radios were low-power 500mW FM two-way radios. GMRS is a higher power version of FRS and was first unveiled in the USA. Canada followed suit in 2004 but limited the power output to 2 Watts.In the USA GMRS radios with an output power of up to 5 Watts are allowed and there are also repeaters that extend range. In the USA a license is required for some GMRS equipment.

FRS and GMRS share 7 channels. On these 7 shared channels GMRS radios are limited to just 500 mW (1/2 Watt) which is the maximum power allowed on FRS channels. BUYER BEWARE! Big box stores are famous for offering GMRS radios at rock-bottom pricing. Many of these radios are limited to 1/2 or 1 Watt on GMRS frequencies.

Unlike CB Radios, GMRS radios are virtually noise free and are much less prone to interference and offer a little more privacy. The chart below compares the features of GMRS vs CB Radio.

Shown here is the popular Cobra PR3500 Value package. Theses radios offer a full 2Watt output and come with rechargeable batteries and a drop-in charger.

Comparison Chart — CB vs GMRS

	CB	GMRS
Number of Channels	40	22
Sub-channels	None	38*
Mode	AM/SSB	FM
Output Power	4/12W PEP	2W
Atmospheric Interference	Almost constant	Infrequent
Man Made Interference	Susceptible to all kinds of noise	Almost completely immune
External Antenna	Permitted	Must be attached
* Industry Canada does not specify the number of sub-channels required. Some radios do not have any while others may have up to 121 privacy codes giving you a total of 2662 channel combinations.

GMRS/FRS Frequencies

CB Radio Frequencies (North America)

Channel	Frequency	Description
1	462.5625 MHz	GMRS/FRS
2	462.5875 MHz	GMRS/FRS
3	462.6125 MHz	GMRS/FRS
4	462.6375 MHz	GMRS/FRS
5	462.6625 MHz	GMRS/FRS
6	462.6875 MHz	GMRS/FRS
7	462.7125 MHz	GMRS/FRS
8	467.5625 MHz	FRS
9	467.5875 MHz	FRS
10	467.6125 MHz	FRS
11	467.6375 MHz	FRS
12	467.6625 MHz	FRS
13	467.6875 MHz	FRS
14	467.7125 MHz	FRS
15	462.5500 MHz	GMRS
16	462.5750 MHz	GMRS
17	462.6000 MHz	GMRS
18	462.6250 MHz	GMRS
19	462.6500 MHz	GMRS
20	462.6750 MHz	GMRS
21	462.7000 MHz	GMRS
22	462.7250 MHz	GMRS

Channel	Frequency	Channel	Frequency
1	26.965	21	27.215
2	26.975	22	27.225
3	26.985	23	27.255
4	27.005	24	27.235
5	27.015	25	27.245
6	27.025	26	27.265
7	27.035	27	27.275
8	27.055	28	27.285
9	27.065	29	27.295
10	27.075	30	27.305
11	27.085	31	27.315
12	27.105	32	27.325
13	27.115	33	27.335
14	27.125	34	27.345
15	27.135	35	27.355
16	27.155	36	27.365
17	27.165	37	27.375
18	27.175	38	27.385
19	27.185	39	27.395
20	27.205	40	27.405