Trail Two-Way Radios

I think others have mentioned lots of good units. Keep in mind, the antenna height of the transmitter and receiver and proper tuning often mean more than transmit power in distance and clarity. Make sure you put your antenna as high as possible and have it tested with an SWR meter to make sure you are maximizing the potential of your equipment. I am currently using a trail site mount and swap between a stubby antenna for daily use or a Midland MXTA26 6db gain whip when we are out on a larger group ride. It ended up with about a 1.2 SWR (1.0 is “perfect “) I think the max distance I have seen on the trail is about 5 miles (GMRS only works line of sight so any hills or dense buildings/trees/hills will limit range regardless of power) but those of us with external antennas definitely connect when handhelds inside the vehicle can be more limited. I do carry a portable Btech 5W unit for spotting and loaner/back up as well. Nice thing with that unit is 2 channel access for monitoring a common channel like 16 while keeping the club channel active at the same time.

James M.

I’ve come to the conclusion that at our age, we need to stop lone wolfing our off-road adventures. We have joined the Az. Bronco club. So I’m looking for recommendations for brands and model #’s of two way radios. I’ve have not kept up with what is available today, or with the new technologies that are out there now.
I would love to hear about your experiences as well with different radios good and bad. Thanks.

The whole purpose of going out into the outdoors is to get away from people, seem counter productive to bring others.

I like the ease of the handheld ham and the Midland GRMS radios but a hardwired unit with mounted antenna would be a lot better. I do have a end of the world communication devices hardwired with speedstix antenna for backup 😂

deaconagent

I like the ease of the handheld ham and the Midland GRMS radios but a hardwired unit with mounted antenna would be a lot better. I do have a end of the world communication devices hardwired with speedstix antenna for backup 😂

End of the world radio??? I do not foresee a lot of use for a radio after the end of the world.....😂

TechnicalDisaster

I went with a Midland XT275 kit with a Mountains2Metal under dash bracket, and then installed a marine style CAT6 port to plug in the handheld. Wired everything to AUX6. There are a few videos on YouTube of similar installations.

I did a short video of what it looks like on my Bronco:
Parts:
MidlandUSA GMRS: https://midlandusa.com/collections/micromobile/products/mxt275vp4-micromobile-two-way-radio-bundle-1

Mountains2Metal Bracket: https://mountains2metal.com/under-dash-mount-for-amp-radio-fits-2021-ford-bronco/

Mountains2Metal Mirror Cowl Mount: https://mountains2metal.com/BR6LAPAM/

CAT6 Port:

I did the same. There is a good thread on the G6 forum, sorry can't give you a link cause they don't like me anymore, boo hoo. I used the same bracket, with the Cat6 connector, etc. Getting older as I am, it was hard for me to get the radio mounted under the dash. Body just won't bend the way I need it to. If you are just looking to have communications on trail runs and short distance, I would buy a good set of handhelds before I waste you money on this type of radio. Send me a private message if you want the reasons why.

My dad and I went with midland 575. We were told the midland 275 had distance issues in canyons.

Mandogus

My dad and I went with midland 575. We were told the midland 275 had distance issues in canyons.

There are a bunch of people on here that know a lot more about this than I do....

But the way I understand it is that the GRMS transmission wave is really line of sight only (kind of like FM vs AM) . That would mean they all will have an issue transmitting from inside a canyon beyond it's walls. the 575 does have more transmission power and therefore transmit for a longer distance, but again along line of site. Any of them can only receive what someone else can transmit. A better antenna can help with that.

Those using midland hand held, are you using the T290VP4 X-talker GMRS?
I have both the Midland T290VP4 and Baofeng UV-5R (but I do not see where it says GMRS) in my Amazon wish list.

I own and use a pair of Midland T77VPS X-talker long range walkie-talkie FRS units we use in the side-x-side. I don't suppose they would be able to communicate with the GMRS units being used.

Lots O Fords

Those using midland hand held, are you using the T290VP4 X-talker GMRS?
I have both the Midland T290VP4 and Baofeng UV-5R (but I do not see where it says GMRS) in my Amazon wish list.

I own and use a pair of Midland T77VPS X-talker long range walkie-talkie FRS units we use in the side-x-side. I don't suppose they would be able to communicate with the GMRS units being used.

GMRS radios share channels 1-7 with FRS radios.

I purchased the same Midland unit @TechnicalDisaster bought and I've heard a lot of good things about it. My original idea was to rely solely on a pair of walkie-talkies to keep up with others sharing the trail and/or getting guidance over obstacles, but opted for the hard-wired unit instead. I may bring hand-helds with me as well when I go off-road.

Midland MXT275

Bschurr

GMRS radios share channels 1-7 with FRS radios.

And what channels are folks using out 4 wheeling, specifically the Arizona group. It used to channel 4.

Lots O Fords

And what channels are folks using out 4 wheeling, specifically the Arizona group. It used to channel 4.

Channel 16 (4x4 😎 ) is the general off-road trail channel. However it can be quite busy if you are in a crowded area. It’s good to know in an emergency if you are by yourself and need to find someone nearby.

If you’re in a group, your group decides what channel you all want to be on. Usually in the teens if you have 15 and 50 watt radios in the group.

I run my Btech GMRS-V2 and love it! Dual channel is nice to use if I have people on 2 different channels I can monitor. As others said, get your GMRS license through FCC first.

Link to radio

Foxtrot Bravo

The whole purpose of going out into the outdoors is to get away from people, seem counter productive to bring others.

Not if you live isolated. Then getting around people is refreshing. If you spend a lot of time by yourself in isolated conditions, you really get to know yourself. One caveat, you may not like what you find.

MIGeezer

I did the same. There is a good thread on the G6 forum, sorry can't give you a link cause they don't like me anymore, boo hoo. I used the same bracket, with the Cat6 connector, etc. Getting older as I am, it was hard for me to get the radio mounted under the dash. Body just won't bend the way I need it to. If you are just looking to have communications on trail runs and short distance, I would buy a good set of handhelds before I waste you money on this type of radio. Send me a private message if you want the reasons why.

My wife is on 6G, so I can look it up. Thanks.

Unicorn

There are a bunch of people on here that know a lot more about this than I do....

But the way I understand it is that the GRMS transmission wave is really line of sight only (kind of like FM vs AM) . That would mean they all will have an issue transmitting from inside a canyon beyond it's walls. the 575 does have more transmission power and therefore transmit for a longer distance, but again along line of site. Any of them can only receive what someone else can transmit. A better antenna can help with that.

Exactly! So, why would you want to have a 50W radio as opposed to a 25W or a 5W handheld? As @Unicrn mentioned, these radios are basically line of sight. So, assuming there's nothing to block them (hills, trees, building, etc) the 50W will give you a longer range than the 25W or the 5W. If you live/wheel somewhere that's VERY flat, that can make a big difference in the range. If, on the other hand, you are wheeling someplace like, Colorado with lots of canyons, hills, and mountains, there might be little or no difference in the range between the 3. UNLESS you're trying to key up a repeater (yes, there are GMRS repeaters). Repeaters are typically located in high locations, which often puts them in "line of sight" even if you're in a canyon or in a hilly/mountainous area. Then having the added range of, say the 50W might help you "reach" that repeater that's sitting on a mountain top 30 miles away from you.

@Unicorn is also spot on in regards to the antenna. A good antenna placed properly, with a low SWR, can make all the difference. The rubber ducky anntena that comes with a lot of hand held radios is terrible. Something like the NA-771 can help a lot. The only downside is that it's 15 inches long and can be annoying to use in the cab of your Bronco. So, you can mount your hand held using something like the Trackform mount, and attach a mic. to it so it's got the convenience of a mobile and you don't have to worry about dealing with that long antenna.

IL21Bronco

I run my Btech GMRS-V2 and love it! Dual channel is nice to use if I have people on 2 different channels I can monitor. As others said, get your GMRS license through FCC first.

Link to radio

Dual channel is great! I keep one on the channel that we are using for the run, and set the other one to a nearby repeater.

Late to this party, but thought I would chime in. Go with whatever folks around you are running. GMRS is a great choice for trail coms. Its clearer than CB and easier to use than Ham, and getting licensed is fishing license easy.

I run a Wouxon 1000G GMRS radio in the Bronco. I chose it because of the remote mounting face plate so I could put the radio chassis up under the dash and the faceplate up out of the way. Its out of the way, a nice set up and plenty powerful. Here is my install thread- https://thebronconation.com/trail-communication-n.148/kg-1000g-install-t.17107/
Two drawbacks here- first there is no dimming setting on the radio, so when you driving at night with it on, its hard on the night vision. I got some dimming film and cut it out for the display to make it more managable. Second, while this has two speakers in the chassis and one on the mic, it can be hard to hear when running fast in the Bronco. I could solve this problem with an external speaker nearer to my ears, but haven't done that yet.

However, I am preparing to install a dual- band ham radio and it will probably take this location. I will probably go back to the Radioddity DB-25G GMRS I ran for a while but put it on the dash rail. https://www.radioddity.com/collections/consumer-radios-frs-gmrs-radios/products/radioddity-db25g Its a pain to get this radio set up, but once you do, I like the functionality. Its 25 watts or thereabouts and really loud, so I think it will be easier to hear on the dash. Its a quad monitor too, so I guess if you really needed to listen to four conversations at once, you could do it. I generally turn it back to two, because that's about all I can process at once.

@JoergH is right about the line of site with GMRS- terrain will always beat power rating. Yeah, under the right circumstances on a flat plane or from mountain top, more power means more distance, but I generally dont do a lot of off roading in the middle of perfectly flat planes. I think anything about 15-20 watts is more than enough in a mobile setup.

What does make a big difference is antenna selection and placement. I messed around with this a lot, and got the best results with a midland ghost antenna on the Mountains 2 Metal mount by the A pillar. I would not have guessed this at all because, its a relatively low location and a lot of folks have not had good luck with the ghost antenna. It was the one that performed the best, and I cant really argue with that. Be prepared to play around with it and go with what works best. Also- remember this is for trail coms, not bouncing a ham radio signal off the moon. Good enough is good enough.

One note on the Handhelds- They are convenient as heck to hand to folks, so I generally carry a couple cheapies around with me for spotters, folks in the party who didn't bring one etc. The midland ones are fine, but you can get some cheap ones like the radioddity GM-30 https://www.radioddity.com/collections/consumer-radios-frs-gmrs-radios/products/radioddity-gm-30 for like $30. At that price, it's not a total tragedy if it gets dropped in a creek or runover on the trail.

I've just got a Cobra 29LTD classic in my work truck. Backed by a texas star 350. I don't think it will be moved to the Bronco lol.

I'm assuming all of the radios ya'll have mentioned run on the same channel/frequency? You'd definitely want everyone in your group to be able to communicate even if they have different Radio's.

Polaris425

I'm assuming all of the radios ya'll have mentioned run on the same channel/frequency? You'd definitely want everyone in your group to be able to communicate even if they have different Radio's.

All the different Types of radios do. CB radio in the CB bands, GMRS and FRS in those bands, and Ham in the ham bands. Its important to know what family of radios the group is going to use and go with that.

I think most folks using GMRS stuff for trail coms like to use channel 16, but that's not a requirement. So long as you are all on the same page about what you all are doing, you all should be on the same frequency. I would include that in my driver meeting before I departed on the trail.