Back to FRS / GMRS??? So, you have some of those bubble-packed GMRS / FRS HT's sitting around, with wasted battery packs, so the charger is about useless. What do ya do with them? Convert them to GMRS / FRS scanners and listen to your neighborhood, travelers, and even local GMRS repeaters. Most of these 'lil HT's run on either 4.5VDC, or 6VDC. Just take out the battery packs, toss them, and replace them with a LM7805 in TO-220 package, with 12VDC lead-ins from either a power supply, or car's cig plug. Almost all of these HT's have a scan mode, so just put that on, and let it rock. Coming to a work zone? Most likely, the traffic directors are using those bubble-pack HT's, so it's kindda' neat to get the heads-up about this, even before ya get there. Not new, since we did this with CB's 40 years ago, when CB portables were used for that, and you could talk to the folks directing traffic. Now, you could take-off those 3" helical UHF antennas and solder in BNC connectors for an EXT UHF MAG mount, or just leave the built-in 3" antenna on, since UHF penetrates in / out of vehicles pretty good. Oh yeah... Some of the newer ones also have NOAA Weather Radio built-in as well. That seems to work mediocre, since you have to have a strong 162MHz signal to overcome an HT meant, & built, more for 462 / 467MHz. Still, can be a nice feature to have. I plan to put another one in my sister's car and have that scanning. BTW, with such a low current drain in RX mode, it's not like they'll drain the car battery anytime too soon. So, got these HT's laying around in the dust? Might as well use them. Ya just never know what ya might hear out there.
