Gear
Equipment notes for GMRS, FRS, CB, and MURS: choosing the service, matching authorized equipment, and planning antennas and installations. My station and hands-on notes remain GMRS-specific because that is the equipment I actually use.
Gear guides & my station
Choose GMRS, FRS, CB, or MURS for the people you need to reach, then compare handheld, vehicle, and home equipment.
Service-specific power and antenna rules, exact-model connector checks, batteries, controls, repeater access, and receive-only extras.
How GMRS, FRS, CB, and MURS differ in a vehicle or at home, plus conditional power wiring, supplies, antennas, and feed line.
Match the service band and equipment first, then compare gain, connector fit, mounts, counterpoise needs, and calculated feed-line loss.
A GMRS-specific guide to +5 MHz channel pairs, the 50 W transmitter-output ceiling, access tones, duplexers, and site hardware.
Resources
Specialty retailers, radio manufacturers, antenna makers, coax suppliers, and repeater directory resources.
Track official Part 95 equipment authorization grants across GMRS, FRS, CB, and MURS from Baofeng, BTECH, Retevis, Radioddity, Wouxun, and Midland.
Gear entries in the journal
Dated write-ups rather than reference pages — what happened when I used the thing.
Baofeng UV-5G Mini review: hands-on impressions & firmware quirks
A hands-on review of the ultra-compact Baofeng UV-5G Mini GMRS handheld, covering U.S. firmware quirks, USB-C charging, and real-world trade-offs.
BTECH GMRS handheld comparison: U.S. models
A side-by-side comparison of BTECH GMRS handheld radios, covering GMRS-PRO, GMRS-V2, and GMRS-V1.
Nagoya GMRS antenna comparison: U.S. lineup
A side-by-side comparison of genuine Nagoya GMRS antennas, covering handheld whips, mobile mounts, and heavy-duty base/bull-bar setups.
Baofeng GMRS handheld comparison: U.S. firmware
A side-by-side comparison of common Baofeng GMRS handhelds, focused on U.S. GMRS firmware behavior.