Midland Uhf

Could your handheld radios be confiscated in Mexico after debarking from a cruise ship?

The Mexican free-use FRS channels also include many others at VHF and UHF, some allowing up to 5 watts output. To find Certified Mexican radios for sale even in mexico is hard and I already own Midlands and want to use them but was told they would be taken and I would be fined if I used them on a shore excursion. Anyone have any info on this? Thanks for your time!

Technically this is correct, it is not legal to use FRS or GMRS radios outside of the US (and Canada top I believe but I’m not positive).

You can in fact be fined and have your radios confiscated.

The problem isn’t necessarily the radios but the frequencies they use. In the US those frequencies are reserved for FRS/GMRS use, however many of those frequencies have other uses in Mexico. As a result using your FRS/GMRS radios in Mexico could interfere with other users, and that is where you’ll get into trouble.

I just don’t know enough about the Mexican version of the FCC to know how big of a risk you’ll be taking if you use the radios. If it was me, I’d keep the radios on the ship and just stay with my group on the excursion. Either that or use my cell phone.

Common Terms and Descriptions for Users of Two Way Radios

Everyone can remember when they were kids and their first experience with two way radios at a play ground or a friends house. What is it about radio communication that is so special? No one is quite sure but for the actual inventors of the technology that experienced it for the first time, the experience must have seemed close to magical. For adults though, radio communication is usually far more utilitarian and their use of two way radios is governed by numerous rules and regulations.

What Do They Mean?

This is why any conversation about two way radios and the use of them will always be interlaced with abbreviated terms, such as UHF, CB, VHF and FCC. All of these abreactions and many more just like them all mean something that pertains to two way radios and their usage. For instance, FCC stands for “Federal Communications Commission”, which is the federal agency that oversee all communications on public airwaves.

Some are Slower and Some are Faster

UHF and VHF both refer to the frequency of radio waves. VHF is the abbreviation for “very high frequency” and UHF stands for “ultra high frequency”. If you were to hold a long piece of string at each end and wiggle it gently it would adulate in such a way as to create long smooth visible waves that passed by slowly or “infrequently”. Now agitate you hands aggressively and you produce shorter waves that contain more energy in them that move at a quicker rate or more “frequently”.

Take a Look for Yourself

This describes exactly how radio waves move through the air, only instead of moving in a straight line like the waves on a string do,  radio waves move in all directions. To get a much better, but still not yet completely accurate view if how radio waves move through the air, simply throw a stone into a body of calm water and watch the waves move outward away from the stones place of impact.

About the Author

Written by Domingo Mandelo. Now you can find more info on Midland Two Way Radios plus 2 Way Radios