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Greetings! New to the forum. I've had my GMRS license for about 9 months and I'm also an amateur radio operator. I recently purchased a Wouxun KG-805G HT, which is Part 95 type accepted for GMRS. It comes pre-programmed with the GMRS channels, including the repeater channels. The repeater channels are identified by number and repeater designation ("RPT20", for example). This makes things a bit unwieldy, because you have to remember the channel number and its relationship to the repeater frequencies you wish to use and then you have to manually go in and set the CTCSS or DCS tones every time you use that channel for a different repeater. Mostly out of curiosity, I checked CHIRP to see if I could identify other unprogrammed channels in the radio. My objective was to program specific repeaters and their tones and names in those unprogrammed channels, if they existed. I found that CHIRP does not identify the KG-805G as a radio which it can program; however, I also found that if you use the program for the Wouxun KG-816, it does, in fact, allow the uploading and downloading of data from and to the radio. Doing so revealed that the KG-805G has quite a few unprogrammed channels. I put in my favorite GMRS repeaters into the CHIRP programming matrix and then successfully uploaded them to the KG-805G. I also stopped scanning on the pre-programmed channels in the radio and allowed scanning on the channels I had programmed, so now I can scan my favorite repeaters. This may already be known to other KG-805G users, but I thought I'd put it on here in case someone didn't know. Incidentally, I really like the radio.

Perhaps the answer to the main question is this: Asking for permission to use someone’s property is the polite thing to do in a civil society. There are rights and responsibilities in life.

They deserve to lose their license for simply violating the regulations for simply interfering with another communication. § 95.333 Prohibited uses. No person shall use a Personal Radio Service station: ... (d) To intentionally interfere with the communications of another station; (e) To transmit obscene, profane or indecent words, language or meaning; or ... § 95.1733 Prohibited GMRS uses. (a) In addition to the prohibited uses outlined in § 95.333 of this chapter, GMRS stations must not communicate: ... (4) Music, whistling, sound effects or material to amuse or entertain; ... (10) Continuous or uninterrupted transmissions, except for communications involving the immediate safety of life or property; and ...

You seem to assume that repeaters were created in the first place for use by the general public. That is a fundamentally incorrect assumption. Yes, some people may create a repeater for public use, and plenty, maybe the majority, do not. It is impossible to really measure since we are unlikely to ever know about private repeaters that choose not to be listed somewhere. There are many. many GMRS repeaters with just a small handful of users, and that is the way those users want it. And that is their right according to the FCC regulations, which, other than power and certain technical aspects, place no limitations on repeater deployment. On the other hand, if you don't want to ask for permission to use some repeater, there is nothing to stop you from putting up your own repeater on the same channel pair. Of course, you'd have to use a different PL to avoid interfering, but that's it.

That's crap post. How would you like it if I just showed up at your house, decided to take your car to the grocery store and I didn't ask? Its my property. If you're not allowed to use my radio (repeater), too damn bad. While the frequency is not in use by someone else, talk simplex and don't be a jerk about it.

I know this is going to sound strange, but I have had to deal with this several times in the past. Fixing it on their end, psychologically, usually works best. First, never do or say anything on the air that would give the troublemakers an indication that they are impacting you. That is what they want... to know they are trolling you. The next thing to do is to make them think they are having zero affect on you. On repeater systems, We have gotten 3 or 4 people together in a parking lot and all started talking to each other on the mobiles, via the repeater. Even though jammers were jamming the repeater, we can all hear each other directly and just keep talking on the radio, having a full convo. Whenever the jammer lets his/her mic up and hears everyone talking as if nothing is happening, they start to realize that they are not impacting you. Then, they give up and go away. We do that on HF all the time too. We get some knucklehead try to cause interference on frequency, but most of the guys in the club are friends, we we get on the phone and talk over the phone in a conf call and on the radio at the same time. Me and my buddy Danny only live 35 miles apart and both have 1,500 watt stations. When someone tries to interfere with us, we just talk right over them. Using the methods I mention... usually 2 or 3 minutes of not getting the attention they want, and get get bored and go away. Lot easier than calling the FCC, who rarely does anything.

I am simply asking an open question here for anyone, not an argument. So everyone licensed for GMRS have an understanding that 141.3Hz PL tone is an open travel PL Tone. So why do people use that tone on a repeater they list here and ask for an email contact prior to use of repeater, if I am traveling, I cant possibly expect a response back within minutes right? If you want it selectively used wouldn't you then use a tone OTHER THAN the well known travel tone 141.3Hz? So... Just asking. I do have a repeater, no longer on air as I live in a very low spot and it didn't even cover my small town from my home. I guess what I am saying is if you don't want your repeater to be an open access repeater for ALL then wouldn't you select a PL tone other than the common travel tone? Just asking... r/ Glenn

Yes. Ground wires used for lighting protection and antenna grounding outdoors are typically without insulation. Less expensive and one less thing to catch fire if you hit. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As a quick follow-up, a Rhombic for GMRS packs stupidly small, as small as those tacticool folding antennas. You just need about 4 yards of wire, an 800 Ohm resistor, 4 one foot long sticks, a bit of feed line, and the hard part: a 16:1 balun, and you have 16+ dBd gain, or over 18 dbi gain. Radiotelegraph and telephone services used to use them on HF for AM voice and CW, they provided a reliable link from LA to Shanghai, and London to Johannesburg, among other pairs.

You all do realize, if the jammer(s) did get the PL times from MyGMRS, they are probably reading this thread and likely enjoying the attention.

Hi, first post on myGMRS and long time lurker. Ham licensed since the 1980s and GMRS licensed since 1992. This brings back memories of some dealings I had with a jammer 15-20 years ago. I had a GMRS repeater at home for local area chit chat and the jammer liked to target myself and a friend of mine. We were the only users of the repeater. The repeater was on DPL instead of PL which annoyed the jammer to no end because his antiquated equipment only had CTCSS/PL and he didn't have a clue about DCS/DPL. He also liked to target us when on local simplex since he lived in my friend's neighborhood. I lived several miles away so the repeater was not local to the jammer. The jammer was legendary for jamming on GMRS, FRS, and CB19...wherever he could get attention and hold an audience. He mostly stayed on CB19 because he managed to hold the largest audience there. He was legendary in the local CB, ham and GMRS communities and the FCC also dealt with him a few times. We were largely successful at ignoring the jammer on GMRS but he persisted. We continued to use GMRS legally like the jammer was not there, never acknowledging his existence. We also brought the fight to him. The repeater was at home and I lived several miles away so I took the repeater mobile and my friend rode with me in the car while we chatted on the repeater with our portables. We were separated by the distance between us in the front seats and the repeater was on the back seat, powered by the car and with a UHF mobile antenna on the roof. The repeater all by itself worked excellent in the mobile installation. We were in my friend's neighborhood and the jammer was just down the street from us. We were so close to the repeater that the jammer couldn't make a dent in our communications, no matter how hard he tried. We were close enough to the jammer that he could hear the repeater on a scanner while transmitting to see if he was successful at jamming us (he wasn't). I was also listening on the repeater input and heard him try multiple CTCSS/PL tones to try to key the repeater (he couldn't). I also later heard him viciously ranting on CB19 about being unable to get into the repeater. He finally gave up trying to bother us on the repeater. What worked best was to never let him see us sweat and make him think he was having zero impact on us.

Whatever radio you use be sure you can lockout unwanted channels from the radio's front panel. The first cheap Chinese radio I got to screw around with years back was the ubiquitous UV-5R. I quickly found out you can't change the scan options without using the programming software. It's been in the box for the past several years just because of this. I use my radios for scanning very often, and like you I may need to lock out a busy channel at times. One radio I got for digital use, DMR on the Ham bands, was the Anytone D878UV. The hardware seems good enough, but the software is something else. The radio firmware allows scanning channels, and you can organize memory channels, there is a total of 4000 in this radio, you want to scan into scan lists. The part that sucks is when you select a scan list to use the current channel is ALWAYS included even if you NEVER put it in the scan list using the programming software. The current channel happens to be whatever is showing on the display before activating the scan function. And there is noway to delete it either! I can delete any of the other channels in a selected scan list, just not the "current channel". Contacting Anytone I found out this was a deliberate design choice and not a bug. They seem to have zero interest in changing this. I have a big collection of various models of HT's, mostly Kenwood, and NONE do this except for this one radio when using the scanning feature.

You can still usually get out in an emergency, relying on a repeater as your only way out is usually a bad idea, anyway. Interference aside, what about power outages or maintenance, both of which are much more common? Put yourself on another channel, and use a bit of equipment to be prepared to try simplex on the traveler channel, or have somebody listening for you. GMRS actually has significant power available to it, 50W on UHF can do crazy things put through the correct antenna. Most, "Jammers," are using either CCR's or something like a Motorola Talkabout. Protip: the cheap radios that aren't Part 95 certified are generally dumping half of their power out to harmonics, and they will spill over to adjacent channels, so watch for that and open your squelch to check for it. First, set up a protocol to check back with someone back at civilization ... either you check in with them a few times/day and if not they send someone, or ask them to listen for your transmissions a few times/day, like the ham wilderness protocol. And if you're counting on GMRS to get out in the event of an emergency, I highly recommend getting a GMRS tuned HT antenna at bare minimum. I have yet to come across one that comes with a decent antenna, most of them might as well be dummy loads. Nagoya 701G/777G at minimum, and just throw the rubber duck in your bag as a, "Just in case," antenna. If you're using a HT the same as usual with a long GMRS tuned whip on it, you can expect a bit over 6 dB of gain (that's 4x the power pointed at the horizon) over your stock HT antenna ... if you use a speaker/mic and get the HT dead vertical and away from your face, about 8-9 dB if you use your body as a giant reflector. And of course, with portable Yagis and collapsible Rhombics fed from 50W, you can go crazy and sling GMRS upwards of 100 miles.

Glad you figured it out. The manuals for the GMRS and amateur radios less than optimum. Michael WRHS965 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Man... it kills me to see people keep saying that GMRS is not a hobby but Amateur Radio is. It's like people forget the meaning of words and how subjective they can be. First, I have to say, GMRS and FRS use can be a hobby. That includes rag-chew and anything else you can legally do on GMRS. GMRS can also be utilitarian. What makes it a hobby or utility is how YOU use it. That's it. Nothing else. I would wager to state the opinion that Amateur Radio is far more utilitarian than GMRS would ever be. Just because you can legally conduct business on GMRS and FRS doesn't take away that fact that for many private owners, it's purely an entertainment device. It also doesn't take away the utility value of Amateur Radio. Amateur radio is called such because of non-commercial exchanges, and no other reason. The organization and practice of amateur radio has led the world for more than a century with new inventions of methods for moving data, messaging and voice comms. There is wireless experimentation, self-training in electronics engineering, private recreational use, and emergency communications. If that isn't less a hobby and more utilitarian, I don't know what is. Radiosport, contesting and rag-chewing is just a small part of Amateur Radio culture. And again, what makes it a hobby or a service is how YOU use it.

FRS is a Family Radio Service. As in: you buy the (part 95) radios, you blabber on them, no restrictions. Families use them on camping, fishing, hiking trips, on playgrounds, on county fairs, in shopping malls. Business can use FRS if it suites the needs, like if you are a construction guy on the top of the 5-story building tired of yelling silly at your crew below. Or you are an employee at the valet parking lot. Proper certified FRS radios have fixed antennas. Anyone can monitor and listen on FRS frequencies. Anyone can perfectly transmit on FRS frequencies using FRS radio, including HAM operators. Illegal radios exist and will always exist, just like illegal guns and illegal drugs. And illegal speeding. And illegal fishing. To require to end FRS or pay for FRS license because your operations are inconvenienced, is very wrong, even if you paid $70 for 10 years. Amateur operators (HAMs) are not vital for the national security. It's a hobby, just like knitting or cat grooming. Nuclear subs, healthy economy, transportation network, energy independence, free press, sane leadership are vital for national security. You know what else is vital - a clear head on top of every citizen's shoulders.