two way radios for ship need licence?

[AnnMorin]

Ok I am looking into getting two way radios for the ship this year. I know I need subchannels (anyone know what channel is best for the ship?) but when I looked at them on line it says requires a FCC license or something like that. How does one get a license and what does that cost?

 

[MrsG]

There are two types of radios. The radios with the longest range require a license, the ones with less range do not. We took Motorola Talk Abouts - (approx. $50) and they worked great! We were very creative (not) and left it on Channel 1. When we tried to communicate, we picked up someone else. We then decided on a different channel number and we were fine. You can buy them at Costco, Radio Shack or any where radios are sold.

 

[Jeanny]

Hey Ann, we bought a couple of motorola's at Target on sale for something like $29... they have 14 channels and 38 subchannels (or somewhere around that #)... We're still playing with them to figure out how to work them... (I don't believe in reading directions until I absolutely have to).

The 2 mile radio's are fine,,, I believe the 5 mile radio's are what you need a FCC license for.


Jeanny

 

[macbasset]

we just bought the motorola talk abouts 5720 with 5 mile range tonight; they have 22 channels and you need a license for only the GMRS channels not the FRS or family channels. so you have a whole bunch of channels to use without a license. if you wanted to purchase a license, it is around $20, but you don't need it to use the family channels. it explains this all in the directions. i was concerned too, before i bought them what that license meant; but was reassured by salesperson that you don't need it on standard channels which we would use onboard ship.

 

[AnnMorin]

Ok i saw some that had 22 channels with the privacy codes (subchannels I guess they call them privacy codes) they had a two mile range so I should be ok if I get them? (no license needed?) also any idea how to tell which is the most effective channel/subchannel combo? DS is only ten so I want to set it and forget it not have him searching channels for us.

 

[lsmac]

We had the Motorola Talkabouts T6320's on the December cruise and FWIW, if the kiddos are in the Lab (as Mike would be) the pagers work far far better! We used the radios on the first day and regardless of having subchannels etc., there was too much interference and static! Of course, ours are going up for sale on Ebay, sooooo...if ya want some for a good price, give me an email.

Lisa