Next time you are at a department or sporting goods store, take a look at the FRS radios that they have available. The packaging of these little radios often has a designation that it will work for a specified number of miles. While this may sound like a great deal to the uneducated, you are about to find out why you should not count on that designation at all.

Most people are generally skeptical of those claims, and rightly so. How can the manufacturers put this on the packaging without it being considered false advertising? Part of the answer is found in the fine print where it will generally say something about the results depending on terrain, etc.

The other factor to keep in mind is what the radio is able to do in comparison to what you can legally do with it. The FCC rules have some major limitations on the ability of FRS radios including that they can only operate with a maximum of ½ watt out. Most of the radios that are sold today are dual FRS/GMRS radios.

GMRS is another radio service that does require a license to use. Many times, the tests with these radios are done on the GMRS frequencies where the radio puts out anywhere from one to five watts of power (which increases the range) and yet if the average purchaser were to use this radio legally, they would only be able to use ½ watt on the official FRS frequencies.

The companies will also find a place where the terrain will give them the best performance possible (hilltop to hilltop for example) rather than car to car on a highway. So yes, the radios you can pick up at the store for a relatively low price will work for the range they say, but there should be a note on there that says “results not typical” or something to that effect.