Leaderboard

This is a little off-topic, and maybe it deserves its own post, but my take on linking is that it is perfectly fine providing the below criteria are met: The link does not use FRS/GMRS/MURS/Ham frequencies as the linking channel (900 MHz, WiFi, ISM [where allowed] would be OK) The link is not over a telephone line (Part 95 rules refer to this as "interconnection to the Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN]") There is no way to make autopatch phone calls (if you're using VoIP as the link technology, that's fine, but if someone can dial in or out using a real "public" phone number, that's NOT OK) Common sense is used: there should be some reason to link machines. Long distance links are fine in my opinion but if you have 5 repeaters all within earshot of one another, do they really all need to be linked? No, of course not. That's just cluttering the few GMRS repeater channels we do have.I know the FCC's opinion on this is still very nebulous. Some people take a pure approach and believe any linking is not allowed, and some believe that if it's not explicitly banned in black and white, then it's perfectly legal. I have played around with using Asterisk as a linking mechanism and I believe it's stable and secure enough to be used on GMRS provided the above conditions are met. If anyone has interest, I have set up a central Asterisk server and a web interface for monitoring the system here: https://link.mygmrs.com/stats/view/20042 I'd love to get more people on board as this has the potential to bring "responsible" linking of repeaters to GMRS without willfully violating any FCC rules.

Please keep us posted on that situation. It is not at all difficult to locate the violator these days. Thanks.