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Some operators would choose to ID every 15 minutes with no breaks as a way to advertise their "presence" on a channel. If you were trying to locate a repeater to use in your area, picking the ID off of the one you hear the best could serve as a way to put you in touch with the owner of the machine. Not everyone posts their info on MyGMRS. Also, if you're going to invest the time and money to put up a genuine high elevation repeater with good coverage area, having a constant ID would serve as a way to Mark your Territory, letting others know that you're already on that channel. Also, having a unit throwing out an ID constantly can serve a "heartbeat function", letting the owner know that there's power to the site and the transmitter is still able to transmit. Those are just 3 of the reasons I can think of, there's probably more.

Ok, let's try to keep this in scale. If one were to renew for $70 the day before the new price went into effect. The total extent of the "damage" would be $3.50 per year over the 10 year life of the license. That is $ 0.0095 per day, $0.067 per week, or a whopping $0.29 a month.

$70-club? Phufffff. Whiners, no sympathy. There are people here who are members of $90-for-5-years-club. Some people are more than once members.

There is no stated limit. You need just one license.

For exactly the reasons/problems (plus more) you note in this thread, virtually every organization that makes serious use of two-way radio specifically instructs their members/users to not use any form of tone/code squelch. BTW, I will not say it can't happen... But, I have never heard of a radio in which PL/DPL could not be completely disabled. The problem is usually the operator and not the equipment.

Even a properly working cable may look for a comm port that is in use by other software on your computer. You may have to play musical chairs with comm ports to make one available to the cable driver.

Good Morning gjbartel. Do you own a second GMRS radio? What model do you have? While I don’t rule out the possibility of you having a defective unit, it is truly more likely that the two radios are simply not configured correctly (not configured in a complementary way). Since you are having issues, you need to start simple. Read the manual on your radio. Determine which memories (channels) on your radio that actually capable of being used for transmission (MicroMobile radios are not permitted to transmit on all channels and frequencies, some are receive only). Reset your radios to factory defaults, if that is an option. Pick a common simplex channel with frequency that both of your radios are both are permitted to transmit on. Configure both radios so they use that same frequency. Disable CTCSS and DCS codes for the channel/frequency you picked, and do this on both radio units. Set squelch control to minimum value, for any model you use with adjustable squelch (it may be a menu option). Now try and communicate between the two radios while in relatively close proximity (25’ or so). By eliminating use of any CTCSS/DCS codes, you eliminate the chance that it is your code settings that are preventing you from having success, leading you to believe your transmitter is defective. For basic simple operation: Both radios must be configured to transmit and receive on the same frequency. Both radios must be capable of transmitting on the chosen frequency. Both radios must be powered on. Both radios must be within radio range, with squelch settings low enough to permit the receive radio to unmute when the other radio is transmitting. Both radios must be configured with compatible, complementary CTCSS/DCS codes (or both with none at all). Any ‘group mode’ settings on your midland radios (if they have them) are turned off. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I wanted share my experience as I am new to GMRS and recently setup a TK-8180 in my truck. Not only was this was my first mobile setup, but also my first time programming. To be honest I was concerned that I was getting in over my head. I purchased the software and programming cable and couldn't get my computer to read the radio. After doing a little investigation I realized that the programming cable I bought was junk. I replaced it with a quality cable and everything worked like a charm. The KPG-89D software is pretty simple to use. After playing around with it for about 15 minutes I started programming the radio. 20 minutes after I started programming I had all of my repeaters loaded in zone 1 and all of the simplex channels loaded in zone 2. It really couldn't have been easier. I recommend buying your cable on Ebay from bluemax49ers. You'll pay a little more for his stuff, but it works great! If you follow this youtube link and jump to the 1 min mark you can see just how easy this software is to use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-S_DHkcg6o

Many farmers and ranchers use MURS for gate alarms, controllers for irrigation pumps, et cetera.

As KB2ZTX mentioned the repeater alone will not get you into the net. You would also need one of these: https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/repeaters-and-accessories/products/repeater-linking-bundle This unit connects your repeater to the internet and into the GMRS server, allowing you to operate on the network. Due to simplex (radio to radio) operations not needing a license, Rich does not want simplex nodes being set up everywhere that anyone can tie into which is why you would be required to have a repeater. As for repeaters themselves, I prefer the Motorola GR1225/RKR1225 (Its the same unit however the RKR1225 is rack mountable) They go for about $300 used and seem to work well. 100% duty cycle on low power (25W.) The nice part is that the bundle kit above is plug and play, order the maxtrac cable, plug it into the back of the radio and your done. If your somewhat serious about setting up a local repeater for friends or family, get a BP/BR duplexer(another $300ish plus tuning), good feedline($40-100 depending on length), and a fair 460-470 antenna($150), and mount it as high as you can. You should get some good coverage given the terrain you have, looks nearly flat farmland from google earth. Setting up a repeater is an expense, however if there are no linked repeaters, and very few operating repeaters around, it is an option to do if you have the time and money to put into it.

Maybe I am the only one, but I am confused about the purpose of this ongoing rant. Complaints on an online forum are not going to change anything. If you want change, file a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC. Then get people to support your petition. But, to the points you raise. First, about GMRS radios themselves: Some of your facts are wrong or off target, there is no need for a -5 MHz (not KHz) offset on a GMRS radio. There are only 8 repeater input frequencies defined and those are all 5MHz higher than the 8 defined repeater input frequencies. And, the number of internal memory locations (aka "channels) that a given user needs is very difficult to determine. Probably more than 22, but 180? Zello? Zello works just fine without a GMRS radio at all. But, Zello is an Internet (IP) based app, which means anything that connects to Zello needs an Internet connection. But, you also suggest GMRS should work when away from any cellular infrastructure. So, how is your Zello equipped GMRS radio supposed to connect to Zello when you are in the middle of nowhere? And you complaint about morse code, I really don't know what that is about? We live in a free market economic system. Manufacturers are free to offer products they feel will meet customer and investor needs. You have a choice. And, if you don't like the certified GMRS products you can choose from, there are plenty of other options, from super-cheap CCRs to super-high end Part-90 commercial equipment. Technical questions aside, your major complaint seems to be about licensing fees. Here again I think you are off base. Many services, especially commercial, marine, aviation, LMR, broadcast, common carrier, cellular, etc. have licensing fees and they are often quite expensive. At $7 a year, GMRS is cheap by comparison. Yes, it is more than Amateur. But, Amateur radio is also considered a public service, with a long history and International agreements. And, what difference does it make who you pay a licensing fee to the FCC, the ARRL, a local radio club or whatever? But, even here you are not current. There is now a proposal in the FCC to lower GMRS licensing fees to $50 and add a fee for Amateur radio. The reason? It appears federal law requires fees be set to recover costs. The GMRS fee was bringing in too much money, ham radio was bringing in nothing. You also object to being taxed on your GMRS radio, but have no issue with the FCC requiring a cell phone company to offer a GMRS repeater service on every tower for free. When you consider the equipment and installation costs, plus administration and maintenance costs, are you willing to pay for that every month when Verizon and AT&T raise your bill to cover their costs? There is no free lunch. Ok, you obviously feel strongly about something, otherwise you wouldn't have started this topic and posted 7 follow-up comments. But, it is really hard to understand just what it is you are complaining about and what you think should be done about it. Can you succinctly state the top 5 high level problems you see with GMRS today, the reasons you think those are problems, and 5 proposed solutions.