FRS Walkie Talkie Style Radios with punch

[nelson]

I bought a set of the radios above at a Walmart in Minneapolis a couple of years back and I can't complain they perform exceptionally well most of the time ( tho the 27mile range on the pack was a bit of a stretch lol )

I'm working in a very high security area about a km across quite often and the Midlands work well outside the buildings but the high metal content, steel fences etc kills the quality inside buildings. I just use them to check cable runs of a few hundred metres with another engineer across this site, so don't need secure channels or anything.

Have any of you guys experience or recommendations of similar radios with bit more punch?


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[kd8fre]

I'm an amateur radio operator, and have a bit of experience with different kinds of radios.
Your best bet for longer-distance work would be something in the VHF frequency range (136-174 MHZ in the USA). 
Over here we have an unlicensed radio band called MURS (Multi Use Radio Service) that has 5 channels in the 150MHz area.  I have no idea if GB has MURS or something like it available.
FRS and GMRS Radios run in the UHF Frequency range (440MHz+), and that is why they don't get great range.  They are a tad better for working inside buildings with dense walls as the UHF radio waves will pass through walls better, but they still don't get the range you can get with a pair of VHF radios.

If that was a tad too in-depth / geeky, let me know and I can try to explain it further.

[gustophersmob]

Also, not sure what it is like in the UK, but in the US FRS band have limits on Tx output power.

I have a feeling the UK would be the same.  Problem with this is that it is difficult to increase range without increasing the output power, which may be illegal.

[Millhouse]

In the UK, the PMR446 standard is for unlicensed 2 ways. The PMR446 service is operated with 8 RF channels between 446.00625MHz -446.09375MHz, with regulations permitting a maximum transmit power of 500mW. Anything else requires a license.

Unfortunately, the radios you have are illegal to use in the UK.