What are the best 2-way radios to use for neighborhood watch groups? I’m in western Canada and am looking to set up a group channel for our neighborhood watch group. A few of us have baofeng uv-5r radios used to monitor at the moment. They are chirp programmed on low power & only use original antenna. Are the FRS/GMRS frequencies good to use with a pl code? I know putting a pl code doesn’t make it so everyone else can hear. There is no murs in Canada. Lots of LMR ( land mobile radio) frequencies that have to be licensed to use them. We are a community of about 300 close to a urban city. The problem with the box store bubble wrap 2-way radios is that lots of kids &
A**holes constantly pushing the call button and doing whatever be annoying.
In Canada, you don’t need a licence for GMRS, but you are limited to 2-watts of power. There are no repeaters allowed in Canada, but GMRS radios can use full two-watts power on all combined GMRS/FRS channels (1-7, 15-22), and .5-watts on the FRS channels (8-14).
U.S. changed GMRS rules recently and they actually align more with Canada. An FRS radio in the U.S. is licence-free and limited to 2-watts, so you now have a choice of some good quality FRS radios.
Technically, GMRS/FRS radios in Canada must have an Industry Canada (IC) approval. You can also use CTCSS and DCS tones for better filtering. (It doesn’t make it private as you know, but it can filter out kids and drive-throughs.)
If you still have interference, maybe have a backup channel and tones.
Above this, you are limited to LMR radios with a business licence or licence-free Motorola DTR/DLR radios. The Motorolas are high-end radios and are not inexpensive, but they cannot be monitored or interfered with by almost anyone. The big issue of course is that every person would have to own a DTR or DLR radio, and they may balk at the price.
A radio that accidental prodding can make unusable seems a poor choice. People fiddle, intentionally or accidentally. There are plenty of business radios with a little more power that have a volume and channel knob, and can be licenced simply. Many are not even expensive. The kids that annoy, will still ruin your idea, and of course will be listening in to your conversations, and some will potentially be the very people you want to talk about! A big user base can afford the licence and buy reliable but simple radios, not hobby radios that do a zillion things you do not want.