We and a buddy are going to go backpacking through Europe for 6 weeks. Obviously we are not going to separate that often, but in case we do I want a way to be able to keep in touch. I was just curious if any of the experts on here knew of two way radios that can be used overseas. I know that the FRS/GMRS frequencies are reserved for emergency services in Europe, but I can’t seem to find a radio that will work on the PRM service.
Cobra’s site asks what region I am from and when I specify Europe, I get a link to the same model FRS radios available for use in the US.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Nevermind. I clicked the link 5 times and it finally took me there. And of course, I forgot to just search on Amazon’s UK site. Stupid me. Now the only question is can someone tell me where to get them in the US. Amazon.uk will only deliver these within the UK. obviously I can wait til i get over there, but I would rather get them early since London will be our last stop on our excursion.
I live in the UK and have purchased US GMRS radios specifically for their increased transmit power. UK PMR radios are limited to 500mw output here whereas the Midland 750 and 800 GXTs I have are 5W.
I also work for one of the emergency services, though I can’t say which one!!! I have tested the radios with handsets we use at work and have found that whilst I can receive certain transmisisons I cannot be received. The transmit and receive frequencies currently vary for each emergency service and for different areas of the UK.
Perhaps not the best or most legal suggestion, but you could always take your current handsets and either set them to low power output or use FRS which should only be 500mw by default??
You will most likely find, as I have, that when using US frequencies in the UK you don’t get many people breaking in to your conversations!!!
Well, like I said, I read that they were illegal and would prefer to not get tossed into a French prison just because I want to ask my friend atop the eEffel tower about how the view is from up there while I sit on the ground floor.
I was looking at the Trisquare radios. Would those be legal to use? Obviously they don’t work on the FRS/GMRS channels. I can’t see them causing a problems, but am not sure. Just tryin to get some info from the experts.
I’m not going to be able to offer you much help. Unfortunately I am not aware of any suppliers for PMR radios within the United States. I’ve tried to carry a few of these models, but the manufacturers seem to be unwilling to sell European radios to a dealer that operates within the North American market. If you find them here, likely it will be from a dealer that is importing from Europe.
I am also unsure if the TriSquare radios can legally be used in Europe. If I had to guess, I would say probably not…
well, in my research I have found that it is unlawful to use PMR radios in the US as well. Although, technically they operate on the same band as licensed amateur radio. Further, I guess there is a law against companies shipping PMR radios outside the UK at least. The one company that I did speak with said I could ship it to someone in the UK and that individual could ship it to me.
So, Bloat, if you read this, would you be willing to have the radio shipped to you and then you ship to me? Obviously I would have to have a way to transfer funds to you. If this an acceptable deal, please let me know.