By Woody Phillips – KJ7YYI

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a 2-way radio service that requires only a $35 fee for a no-test license, good for 10 years, that covers all of the immediate members of your family.

The FCC defines it this way;

The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a licensed radio service that uses channels around 462 MHz and 467 MHz. The most common use of GMRS channels is for short-distance, two-way voice communications using hand-held radios, mobile radios and repeater systems.

Despite the fact that many new Amateur Radio Operators have started with GMRS, their is a tendency to dismiss it as “the new CB Radio”.

I disagree. I believe it can be a very valuable in one area of society many tend to ignore … Emergency Preparedness. And nothing I have found provides a more powerful argument for that position than this video presented by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Some Arizona resources on such a service as is described in the video can be found at https://www.arizonaemergencyservicesgroup.org/