All Activity

I've been thinking about this for awhile. How, exactly, would the FCC go about "enforcing" anything? They are a regulatory body, correct? The have no law enforcement powers so what would they do? Issue you a fine and then, after a certain time of you not paying it, turn it over to the local Sheriff? I don't see a way that the FCC can directly come after you, other than to revoke your callsigns and credentials.

And the factory, chipless cable didn't work either even with the drivers installed. Again, the issue was not being able to choose a COM port to point the CPS to in order to find the radio. This isn't my first rodeo, I've programmed dozens of radios so I know how to connect the cable and make sure the radio is on.

I have been happy with the Signal Stick on my 2m / 70cm HT's. I would go with a BNC and the appropriate adapter If your radio connection is SMA assuming you plan to interchange antennas. https://signalstuff.com/shop/ I have kept the stock antenna on the GMRS HTs. They suit their purpose just fine.

If you're not looking for a date, then why are you trying to "make contacts" with anonymous men?

Yea so I'm absolutely not looking for a date from any of you weirdos.... But I'm new and finally made my first contact with someone on a local GMRS repeater and it was pretty cool. Can't remember his call sign cause literally right after we met my crap radio battery died... But if you were using the repeater around Trenton today at 1:15-1:30. Hi! I will get more batteries lol... But thanks for verifying my radio can transmit lol

Does anyone know a hack to make Mototrbo CPS 16 build 828 work out of region?

The DM-1701 programming cable is chipless; the chip is in the radio. Did you have the cable connected to both the computer and the radio AND the radio turned on when you installed the driver and checked Device Manager for the COM??

Welcome @jfelter, what he said ^^^

Lmao.... You guys are nuts. But there was some good info shotgun scattered into this discussion! Thank you, I feel I'm gonna like this place. And yea maybe I'm kinda a rule nerd sometimes but I'm kinda new to radios and just want to make sure my kids and me don't annoy people when we are talking around the camp. I am still trying to explain to them that they aren't cell phones and everyone can hear so they need to be very polite and not say personal stuff like "mom said bring the bag with the tampons" over the radio...

Fair enough.

They were properly and legally listed by good reputable sellers, and those good sellers aren't going to violate the laws/rules so they leave ebay... my point is that if someone still wants to sell those radios on eBay against the rules they very much can and do. The rules only stop the honest sellers on eBay and eBay does not care about people skirting the rules... I use to sell on eBay and closed my store because I can't compete with the criminals they let list on there.

You said cheapo baofeng, not cheapo radio. $35 is an expensive baofeng

It's an AR-5RM, it has the airband. I've been listening to the local airport chatter... And it was only $35 so I still consider that cheapo. It won't transmit on those channels but I don't have any need to transmit on those channels anyway as gravity, biology and poverty have rendered me flightless.

YES! - Here in southern California we have had two rounds of everyone in our local group(s) complaining about prohibited persons using/jamming our repeaters - a total of hundreds of complaints, submitted both online and via certified mail. ..and I have read online accounts of dozens if not hundreds of people filing complaints.. Filing a complain is so easy it is safe to surmise that the FCC receives hundreds per day from across the country. It is clear that the FCC has not cared for at least the last 15 years, based on their enforcement database which up until only a year or so ago included publishing warning letters.

That sounds like you can be kicked out but don't need permission to access in the first place. "May disallow" sounds to me like an after the fact term.

This goes a long way to explain why you don't see more in the way of TETRA systems here. https://www.powertrunk.com/pressroom/tetra-in-north-america/

Those are generally mutually exclusive. It can listen on those frequencies, but depending on model, can't receive AM transmissions. And the cheapo ones generally can't.

Brand new to radios of any kind except cheap blister pack radios for the kids. I got a cheapo baofeng to mainly use to listen too in emergencies, or God forbid maybe call for help one day. But it's basically just for the hurricane kit. I won't bore you with a whole program file but what I did was make one side of the channels 1-50 national "universal" frequencies. I have all 22 GMRS/FRS channels, I have the important civilian marine VHF channels since I live on the river (9,13,16,22,68,68,71,72), I have the 5 M.U.R.S channels even though I really dunno what those are, I have the national simplex calling frequencies for 146, 446, and 223, the international space station because why not, the airband emergency channels such as vhf guard, the 2 air to air ones, the helicopter to helicopter one, the air search and rescue one, the military uhf gaurd, and finally something called VSAR16 which I believe was ground search and rescue..... Does this sound like a good comprehensive list? Anything I'm missing as far as universal nationwide frequencies? I have the local stuff on the other side of the channels (999 and down) to make them more organized. I won't go into that list, I'm just focused on the national stuff first. Thanks in advance! Bill - WSJQ725

This the most current version of the CPS I could find on-line in the attached photo and have installed. I think I saw a reference to a V3.09.13.406 in the link below. So far I can't find a place to grab a downloadable copy. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267314153152

Depends on the price. I'm cheap.

Thanks for correcting my miss understanding.

I agree with all of your comments... Especial having it be the courteous thing to do. Some of my posts can get a bit spicy, so I feel it's important to point out that while I am having a conversation about not needing permission from a legal or regulatory standpoint, I do agree that it's someone's personal belonging, that we are using (or asking to use), and as a civilized society we should be mindful and respectful of that.

We are discussing GMRS, which has different rules, but for the sake of discussion... First, why would I be on those GMRS frequencies. Well, to use the repeater that the owner may otherwise want you to ask for permission, or any other repeater on the same frequency. There is a lot of overlap in the DC metro area. I can be heard on 3 different repeaters on .600 in my area when I am only using 20w. Also, fixed stations may transmit on those 8 channels without going through a repeater. I disagree about the interference and trespass concerns based on the FCC rules for Amateur Radio and trespass laws. If I am using a repeater without the owners consent, I am not causing interference nor trespassing. Use of the repeater itself is not causing interference. Intentionally talking over people and making it so others can't use it (or the frequency) falls under the harmful interference rules, which would be different than needing permission. Again, there are no laws that I have been able to find implying trespass on non-real property. I have two points to debate on this comment. Again, you are referencing Amateur Radio, not GMRS. There are different rules. Additionally, there are only 3 letters I could find that were issued to amateurs in the last 10 years for using a single repeater. All 3 letters were sent in 2017, went to 3 different people, and the complainants were the same person/trustee complaining about 3 people causing problems at or around the same time, preventing the trustee and club members from using their own repeater. So, there was a lot more to it than just not having prior authorization to use the repeater. With regard to GMRS, I cannot find a single direct warning letter for GMRS repeater use refusal. Not one. Meaning, there are no publicly available FCC warning letters or Notices of Apparent Liability that mirror the amateur radio pattern above, i.e., issued to a GMRS operator for continuing to use a repeater after being told not to. FCC rules clearly grant GMRS repeater owners control, but enforcement is murky at best. According to Part 95 rules noted in an earlier post, a GMRS licensee “may disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary” to carry out responsibilities under the rules. This implies the owner can refuse access. However, there’s no record of the FCC stepping in if a GMRS user ignored a private owner’s request to stop using a repeater, unlike the amateur (Part 97) precedent. Also, in 1999 the FCC issued a formal opinion in WT Docket 98-20, 96-188, RM-8677 and RM-9107 (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-99-139A1.pdf) about implementing a rule to require users to get permission to use a repeater 'prior' to repeater use. It has not been brought up since. Here is the text... "...repeater operators ask that we require users to have permission before using others' repeaters. We decline to adopt such a rule because it would interject the Commission into a GMRS licensee's private management of its GMRS system, including its repeaters. Such a rule also would be inconsistent with our efforts to eliminate unnecessary regulations and burdens for GMRS licensees and applicants. We emphasize that users are free to take steps to prevent unauthorized use of their facilities, including turning the repeater off as necessary, limiting or disabling receiver sites, and using tone-operated squelch or digital access codes. Moreover, the rule suggested by petitioners would do nothing to change access to repeater; even with the rule, an unauthorized user could cause a repeater to transmit, absent some engineering solution to limit access to the repeater input." Short of a new opinion from the FCC or a rule change, this very clearly states that GMRS repeater owners are on their own if they want an operator to stop using their repeater.

Well, @Lscott wants one. He just said he’s looking for one. Why would you put it on eBay. Just sell him yours.

Thus my comment “for whatever good it does.” Kind of a here are the rules and guidelines now you all figure it out amongst yourselves while we here at the FCC attend to more important things approach. This wasn’t lost on me. I was just pointing out the wording of “may disallow” indicates you have the right to ask someone to leave, meaning they need your permission. As @OffRoaderX has pointed out many times, enforcement isn’t. The rules are what they are. Enforcement is or isn’t what it is. Manners and social decorum, respect for others, what do we have without that? You can’t force people to act like good humans. It’s better for everyone if we do. Does this change your mind?