Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Using GMRS radios on whitney

Can anyone tell me what I can expect as far as reception with GMRS radios on the main trail? My radios specify 5 mile range but that is with line of sight. They are motorola talkabout t7200. How far up the trail can you contact the portal? What about along the trail? How far up and down can you communicate with trail camp? Outpost camp?

Thanks!

The GMRS radios we used about 5 years ago were as powerful as anything allowed today. We had an older fellow (77 y/o) who had a recent knee replacement and used them to stay in touch with him.

Basically they were LOS (line-of-sight). From the summit we lost him around the spires, picked him up again on the switchbacks and had good communications with him at Trail Camp, where he stayed the night.

The next day he started down from Trail Camp, we from the summit, and except for when behind the spires could communicate all the way down.

I don't know about Whitney Portal. There was no one on the channel we were using besides us. Radios may have improved in receiving sensitivity and the Portal may be within range.

Hope this helps.

Your GMRS radio will not be able to communicate over a 5 mile distance (line of sight, maybe) unless your signal goes thru a GMRS repeater. Just in case you didn't know, GMRS requires a FCC license to use. Last time I checked the license was $85.

If your radio is a hybird and has FRS frequencies then no license is required for the FRS frequencies. Expect one to two miles at best. Lots of people use FRS radios when hiking Whitney but please realize they are pretty much only line of site capable. I've used FRS radios in the Sierras when hiking and while skiing in Mammoth with pretty good results. However, I do realize my communication range is very limited.

Manufacturers of GMRS radios do not tell the whole story in their advertisements for their radios. A license is required and their claim you can achieve X amount of miles requires perfect conditions (i.e., line of sight) or a repeater.


hiiker

The Motorola GMRS Radios I bought a few years ago had a pamphlet inside for a free license online. I don't have any of the information with me, so I can't remember what was needed, but they included it as part of the radio cost from Motorola. Also, it doesn't neccesarily guarantee more distance, it just licenses you to use more power (which the Motorola pumps out on those higher GMRS channel numbers), which 'should' mean better distance, but doesn't always work out that way. I think I have gotten about 3 to 4 miles line of sight with mine, but you will be out of line of site of portal and outpost almost immediately for both.

We used a couple of Motorola Talkabouts and could talk to each other from Lone Pine Lake to the Portal. We tried to contact each other every hour, but many times we couldn't get reception. The BEST we had was when we were at Outpost Camp and were able to talk to the rest of our party at Trail Crest. That was not line of site, and I was amazed. There was a bit of static, but we were able to get our messages across. When we moved down to the Portal, we lost communication until they got to Lone Pine Lake.

Thanks. Thats about what I expected. I have a license.