At one point, Solid Signal sold a lot of FRS and GMRS radios. The uninitiated might call these “walkie-talkies.” They were popular in the 1990s before cell phones got cheap. With range measured in miles and generally rugged packaging, they were a must for families going everywhere from Disney World to Big Bear Lake. FRS radios were intended for land use while GMRS radios were intended for mobile use. The frequency ranges were similar, so by the mid-2010s we saw a lot of low-priced mixed FRS/GMRS radios hit the market. Ones like this were fairly reliable sellers for us.
The biggest problem
Right off the top, the biggest problem with these was that we had really high return rates for them. Even the ones we sold they were low-priced, they still were so unreliable that people didn’t want to keep them. And then, in 2019, the ones we sold became illegal. The issue is that GMRS radios required an FCC license while FRS radios didn’t. And yet you could operate these radios without a license in the GMRS bands if you wanted to. The best that we at Solid Signal could do was say “pretty please don’t do that.”
We removed mixed FRS/GMRS radios from our site shortly after that, and never looked back. We do offer GMRS marine radios for sale, as well as thousands of other marine accessories. GMRS is a basic part of marine communications. Yes you do need a license for it, but it’s really not that much of a burden.
The fate of these radios
In the meantime, FRS radios have largely faded from the market. There are still some overseas manufacturers like Baofeng that put out sub-par product sold on shopping apps. I’d encourage you to avoid them. If you’re one of the few people who really feel like you need this tech, please buy a reliable brand and spend a reasonable amount of money.
At Solid Signal, we’ve moved away from that entire segment. Poor-quality overseas product, combined with low demand, have meant that our purchasing team’s time is better spent finding other products to sell. Most people would rather use a cell phone, and something like 99% of the populated areas of the country have some sort of cell coverage. For those who are going hiking into the deep woods, an emergency radio is a good idea, but unfortunately it’s just not something we offer.
On the other hand…
When I was a kid I really wanted these “Star Trek Communicators.” Despite bearing only the faintest resemblance to the ones used on the TV show, they still had the air of mystery around them. They were really pretty poor walkie-talkies, with a range measured in feet rather than miles. They had cute features like a morse code key, but the real draw (for a kid) was the lid that sort of flipped up like the communicators on the show.
A friend of mine whose name has been lost to history had some of these. I’m telling you, they were really not good. I remember that just yelling to them was a more effective way of communicating. Yet, I’m not the only one who had some affection for them. Well-preserved examples routinely fetch over $500 on auction sites. That’s more than you’ll pay for a much better looking communicator replica, even one that has Bluetooth built in.
If only I’d thought to put an unopened box aside in 1974… oh well.
