Leaderboard

I would agree ham radio can probably be safely classified as a hobby. But, I would not make the same statement about GMRS. Yes, for some GMRS is a hobby. But, as @wayoverthere notes, probably a greater percentage of MyGMRS members than of the general GMRS population fit that description. Look at the history and licensing to get a feel for what GMRS is. It's roots were as a business service, and those early licenses are still grand-fathered in, and business use is still perfectly legal on GMRS. Licensing is by family unit, not individuals. This encourages use of GMRS as a practical communications tool, rather than as a hobby. Another point of comparison is repeaters. GMRS repeaters are limited to 8 frequency pairs, have no coordinating body, and commonly share frequencies using PL, etc. to control access. GMRS repeaters tend to be used for short, task oriented communications and less for rag chewing. So, sharing channels works well. Ham radio, with frequency coordinators, etc. seeks to limit the number of repeaters in an area to avoid interference. There are many other differences, but I think I have covered the main points. But, I would add one more thing. Where is it written that either as a hobby, or a personal communications tool, that getting people interested in two-way radio is, or even should be, a commonly agreed upon or shared objective? I think that is an admirable goal. But, I would also not fault someone who did not share that goal.

I'd add, since the radios being used are not certified for either GMRS or FRS, they do not automatically set or limit bandwidth and power in accordance with the channel requirements. This means it is quite possible someone is transmitting wideband at 5 watts on a channel designated for narrowband at 0.5 watts. Note also, a certified radio blocks the possibility of operating simplex on the GMRS repeater input frequencies (not allowed by the rules). But, this is possible with the radios you are using. While operating a non-certified radio is a technical violation of the law, it generally will not cause harm to other people's communications. However, running too much power in wideband mode on the wrong channel could easily interfere with other users, both simplex and through a repeater. Personally, I don't care what kind of equipment people run on GMRS, as long as the equipment has a clean transmitter, they otherwise conform to the rules, and don't advertise the fact they are running non-certified equipment. However, flagrant violation of the FCC regulations can become especially notable when there are 175 cars in a long queue on the highway. So, you might want to make sure your group at least adheres to the operating rules.

That's real nice, but on this forum, we generally try not to recommend people doing illegal things. Keep in mind that Baofeng UV-5 series and F8 series radios are not type accepted for use on GMRS, thus, you are in fact breaking the law. If you were running a Part 95 accepted 25-40 Watt radio such as a Kenwood, Motorola, or even a Midland MXT400 with a quarter-wave antenna on your roof, you would be able to easily reach the back of your convoy at 3-5 Miles, legally.

I have several acquaintances who own GMRS repeaters. They are personal property, not owned by a club or group, installed at their homes and were put in place for use by them and their family. I have never seen/heard of anyone licensed being turned down. However, as a property owner, it seems reasonable to have someone ask for permission to use my stuff and to want to know who is using my stuff. I had a 2m repeater at my house for years and never stopped anyone from legally using it. Eventually I got tired of maintaining it and took it down. Now I only use it for emergency work in the field. Sometimes literally in a field. LoL

Hi WRJH488, Just want to say thanks for repeater in Miami. I'm absolutely brand new to the radio hobby. Live in Davie, but work off the Causeway. Your repeater is the first one I'm trying to get programmed into my radio. Haven't got it all figured out yet, but appreciate you making the huge tower available!

Back... haven't checked regularly in a while... sorry about the delay. I think I meant "ask around" in terms of performance, not to ask to find one. The place I've used so far is eBay... there you can find 2nd hand commercial radios for dirt cheap. In fact, I recently acquired a few Moto XPR6550 for about 100 bucks a pop... I'll be selling all other non Vertex/Motorola radios I own after I am done swapping all the radios with 6550s. G.

I've mentioned it before, but in some areas, gmrs is a very closed group, utility only mindset, more like "frs-plus", instead of the "ham-lite" hobbyist mindset you might expect looking at the web (and I had hoped for). It's kind of a false image, though, because it's mainly the hobbyists that are the ones likely to be visiting forums like this to expand the interest.

A little more correctly stated, the repeater uses a PL tone (CTCSS) of 141.3 (also known as “travel tone”).

At the risk of sounding arrogant. I've said this before and will re post it again