VOX- Voice Operated Switch
This means that you can say something and it will automatically broadcast without having to press any buttons.

FRS- Family Radio Service
An improved hand-held radio that operates on ultra-high frequency or UHF and uses Frequency Modulation than Amplitude Modulation. Better range than most radios like CB’s or other license-free radios.

GMRS- General Mobile Radio Service
A hand-held mobile radio that operates on ultra-high frequency or UHF and typically used for short-distance 2-way communication.

It really depends on how much you want to spend. Bigger screens are the best, but there must be a dollar limit you have.

I bought the 450s for my boat, the screen is big enough and is preprogrammed with all the info I need, no chip necessary.

FRS stands for Family Radio Service. GMRS stands for Ground Mobile Radio Service. They both use frequencies in the 462-468 MHz range. There are many 2-way radios now which are both FRS and GMRS. What’s the difference?

The FRS service is fairly new, invented about a decade ago based on a petition to the FCC from radio manufacturers like Motorola and Radio Shack. People didn’t want to carry around huge CB walkie talkies anymore and the 49MHz band with all the cordless phones wasn’t cutting it for serious use. So, the FCC created an UNLICENSED band of 14 channels for walkie talkies. They limited power output to 500mW, and restricted radios to have NON-REMOVABLE ANTENNAS. These radios typically work a mile or two outdoors, largely depending on surrounding terrain and foliage.

GMRS has been around a lot longer. GMRS is a LICENSED radio service. Unlike ham radio, a test does not need to be taken to acquire a license, just a form filled out and money sent in. You are then assigned a callsign and you and your family are permitted to use GMRS channels. GMRS users may also set up repeaters and are allowed higher power than FRS. They may also use EXTERNAL ANTENNAS. The range of these are a bit greater than FRS radios as the portables can go up to 5 watts typically, however with the assistance of a repeater, they can go 30 miles or further. There are a couple GMRS channels that are exactly the same as FRS channels, however only GMRS licensees may exceed the half watt FRS power limitation on these channels, and use external antennas. GMRS repeaters may not be placed on those channels.

All 2-way radios that are capable of using GMRS channels have a license application included in the box. To set an FRS/GMRS radio to operate on GMRS channels, you MUST be a licensed user. It is against the law to transmit on GMRS channels without a license and you can be fined a lot of money for doing so

I baught the GPS from the vet, check out the company I used 4 my cat, its called ” Home Again Pet Recovery Service” ..Good Luck!!

its a matter of choice, check with other captains see the gps system thay use. most boaters will help you in your selection

While Garmin makes good equipment, they have a history of changing their technology so that nothing is backward or forward compatible!!! If You want newer charts for your gps you will have to buy BOTH the new chart AND a new gps ….
Also, whats with the display at the bottom ??? your hands have to cover it in order to mash the buttons at the top … most others have the controls at the bottom so you can see the results as you enter.

A couple of months ago I made the best investment of my life and bought a gps from newelectronx and have used that to find my last 280 caches and LOVE IT!!. It’s comparable to the Garmin Gps’s (which is the GeoCachers preferred handheld GPS)…..but better!! It’s has everything the Garmin has and more. It’s WAAS enabled which makes it 5 times more accurate than anything else that’s not WAAS enabled. The built in compass is awesome, and it has a built in cool functions….

The idea sounds like a winner, but since GPS relies on satellites, I don’t see how you can use it without a subscription service. There must be something like it though, as wildlife biologists track wild animals that have large ranges. The GPS tracking devices listed on the Web are mostly for large animals like cattle, elephants and deer. The two Websites below do offer some products that they claim work for pets, but I have no idea how practical they really are. If you find a product that is reasonable and would work with cats, please let us know about it. Good question.

A good basic Garmin handheld gps for geocaching would be the Garmin GPS 60. It has special geocaching features in a basic handheld gps. Go here for info on the GPS 60:

garmin handheld gps

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I’ve tried a few over the years: Lowrance iFinder H2o, Garmin Geko 101, Garmin eTrex Summit, Garmin eTrex Vista CX, and my latest and greatest: Garmin Colorado 300.

The Colorado 300 will also do street navigation if you add city navigator maps. The system and menus are different from the eTrex series, and it took a bit of playing around to get used to it, but now I can almost use it in my sleep. It’s easy to load a bunch of downloaded geocaches, and it has all the features like altimeter, compass, sun/moon and fishing/hunting time calculators. I think it’s a great unit, and the batteries last all day, too.