GMRS is a great entry point for those wishing to communicate with others over radio beyond the standard CB, FRS, and MURS frequencies. Getting licensed with GMRS has a number of advantages as well:
- It’s much easier than acquiring a ham radio license. There’s no test required!
- Your whole family can use your license! This is great in case of emergencies!
- Unlike CB, FRS, and MURS which only go up to 2 watts or 4 watts, you can communicate using up to 50 watts!
- You can access repeaters with a small handheld! Once you are licensed and have a radio, you can use our repeater to get connected in the Oklahoma City area.
- It’s valid for 10 years!
Please note that GMRS is only available for individuals and their families per FCC Rule 95.5. You also do not qualify if you have ever been convicted of a felony. There is an associated filing fee of $35 at the time of writing.
As a note, while there are many radios to choose from, this guide does not cover purchasing one. We suggest you read our buyers guide for help picking one out.
With that introduction out of the way, let’s get started!
Navigating the FCCs website
Navigating the FCCs website can be a pain if you’ve never used it before. Our first stop is acquiring an FRN, or FCC registration number. This number is the central ID number that your call sign(s) will be associated with. If you already have a ham license, you will already be familiar with this.
Getting an FRN.
To get started, go to the FCC CORES website. If you have an FRN, skip to the registration step. For the rest of us, we will need to get registered. Start by clicking on the “Register” button.
After clicking on the registration button, fill out your information and press “Create Account”.
You will receive an email from the FCC containing and account verification link. Once verified, we can now login! Once logged in, you will see the below screen.
To view your FRN, click on “Manage Existing FRNs & FRN Financial” and then “Manage FRNs”. Your FRN is the 10 digit number located on the left of the table.
Wew! We now have an FCC FRN! Now let’s get licensed! Make a copy of your FRN number as we will need it for the next step.
Getting your GRMS license
Now for the fun part! The FCC utilizes a universal licensing system to get registered. You will need to access it here. Login using your username and password.
Once logged in, we will now move on to applying for our license. There will be a pane on the left. On that pane, we will want to select “Apply for a New License”.
There’s a lot of services that are available, but we are only concerned with GMRS. We will want to select “ZA – General Mobile Radio (GMRS)”. Once selected, click the “Continue” button on the right hand side.
The FCC will ask you some questions. The answer to these will be “no” as they do not apply here.
Next, we will want to fill out our information.
Now we have to confirm that we aren’t a felon. If you have ever been convicted of a felony, stop here. Unfortunately, you do not qualify for a license.
We’re almost done! After clicking continue, you will see a summary page. Ensure your information is correct and click “Continue to Certify”.
You will be redirected to the fees page. As of writing, the fees are currently $35. After paying your filing fees and completing your submission, your application is off and away!!!
So what now?
Wait to push that that PTT button! After you submit your application, we have to wait for it to be processed by the FCC. This typically takes less than 24 hours. You are allowed to begin broadcasting on GMRS frequencies once your license appears in the FCC database. To check this, you can login to the same Universal Licensing System we did earlier. Your call sign will be located front and center.
To get connected, please see our Getting Connected page. If you do not know how to get your radio online, there are many online guides made for each model. If you still have questions after doing some research, try hopping on our Facebook group. Our members would be happy to assist!
