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not all gmrs radios have the same channels? That's new to me. I know repeater chanel 17 on my midland is the same frequency as the one in my btech. Considering they use the same frequency you would think the repeater channel using the simplex 17 frequency would be called repeater 17? Or does your radio have channels that mine doesnt?

Please understand I speak to this from a perspective of a ham that has had exposure to how to do ARES WRONG and 12 years of being a commercial radio tech with 90 percent of my work being in the public safety arena and being a CERT member. The 'problem' with ARES is it's turned into a solution looking for a specific problem that has been worked on since 9-11. 30 years ago when every little town and burg had a police force with their own radio system and those systems being all sorts of different technology, on different bands and being supported and maintained at vastly different levels, ARES and the idea of needing to provide EMCOMM to served agencies was a thing. Now we have these state wide communications systems that everyone is on. Have overlapping coverage from hundreds of sites throughout the state (I am in OHIO... largest trunked Motorola system in the world) the need for EMCOMM is really not there. Of course, depending on where you are your mileage may vary. The next thing is ARES is not and never has been considered a first responder. So they don't fall under the public safety umbrella. CERT actually does. This means that CERT can have private commercial repeaters and radio systems / and access to the large trunked radio systems for EMCOMM. I pushed long ago for CERT to take up use of the now largely abandoned VHF/UHF public safety radio systems that stopped being utilized after everyone went to 800Mhz. The biggest issue with HAM is it's not controlled. And while it does say in the rule book that emergency traffic on ham takes priority, have a situation and see how many idiots come out of the woodwork on the local repeaters that are still in operation. My advice, for what it's worth.... research CERT and have a discussion with the local EMA director about CERT. There is a training component to it, and you learn some valualbe skills. And you are more that just radio operators at that point. You are still available to do the things that ARES would be involved in, but you are also trained and recognized to do more than that.

I see it as a matter of pride: I’m proud of my callsign! There’s nothing special about it other than it’s mine, and that’s good enough for me!!!

93 Wrangler YJ 4.0 Cobra 75 inside the dash with a Firestick on a standard right tail light mount Midland MXT115 where the ashtray used to be with a PCTEL Maxrad NMO on a standard left tail light mount. CB works fine, But almost no activity in my area GMRS can easily talk simplex over 13 miles so far, even across town.

My Icom IC-F21GM from 2004 has GMRS in what I think of as their natural channel assignments, whereas most radios now follow an FRS-centric numbering pattern. For instance, if your “17” is 462.6MHz, that shows up on 3 on my IC-F21GM. The high-powered GMRS frequencies are first, then come the 7 lower-powered (5w max) follow. So, if your “4” is 462.6375MHz (which, to me, should be akin to CB19 as it is the middle frequency on the band), that would show up as “12” on my ’GM. Plus, that radio has a button to switch the repeater channels to simplex mode whereas on a midland, the repeater channels come after the simplex channels (15 vs. 15RP, for example). This is why the frequency makes more sense to use, & I wish displays would give the frequency instead of the channel. I have another radio that is a commercial radio that has everything mixed together, so “600” (462.6 MHz) may precede a repeater on “550” (462.55 MHz). I’ll usually label it by city: “600” becomes “Kingston”, and “700” becomes “Plymouth”. Anyway, the FRS-centric channel numbering is confusing because it is non-intuitive, unless you’re using a strictly FRS radio. IC-F21GM channeling: 1: 462.55+ 2: 462.575+ 3: 462.6+ 4: 462.625+ 5: 462.65+ 6: 462.675+ 7: 462.7+ 8: 462.725+ 9: 462.5625 10: 462.5875 11: 462.6125 12: 462.6375 13: 462.6625 14: 462.6875 15: 462.7125 16: scan.

Exactly. I think these guys all understood it that way as well they are just trying to be difficult. My main chanel that my family uses has next to no traffic on it. Maybe once every few days I will hear a short call but thats it. But like you said if you are being respectful and not tying the chanel up or interupting other people then I doubt the fcc is sitting their with a timer ready to hunt you down when you miss your 15 min ID. Now when the business downtown has 80 people all speaking Spanish and talking over each other and yelling (possibly being vulgar) and making everyone's radio sounds like a telenovela being interupted by an auctioneer all day then yes they probably will look into it to keep the paying members happy. Me telling my wife im stopping at the store on the way home after 30 hours of dead air.... not so much.

Grand Cherokees WJ ‘99-‘04 WK ‘05-‘10 WK2 ‘11-‘21 WL ‘22 and up We had a ZJ, a WJ and now we’re on our 2nd WK2, both with V8s and air suspension. The air let’s us jack the clearance up by 8” or so.

I tried posting pics and failed. I am not a forum newb. Hoping somebody can help me navigate this forum's needs as far as pics go. Wrangler models: After the CJ came the '87?-'95 YJ. Leaf sprung and weird square headlights. Then came the best Jeep, the '97-'06 TJ. Coil sprung and proper round Jeep headlights. Just the right amount of modern but still stupid simple. They also made an "Unlimited" variant people unofficially call the LJ (long Jeep) which is stretched similar to the Scrambler. Also the Rubicon model had a better transfer case and locking beefier axles. '07-'17? were JK's. These saw the advent of the 4 door option which has seen them explode in popularity. It also means a lot of people who would have otherwise bought an SUV to haul the kids around bought these, so a lot of earlier Jeep guys kind of look down on these. You'll see a lot more stupid low profile 24" rims or bought not built mall crawlers in these years. The JKU just means JK unlimited which is the 4 door version. JKUR = Unlimited Rubicon model JK. The '18+ are JT (Jeep truck) and JL. They are nice and very expensive. I wouldn't want to scratch mine or roll it. Non-Wranglers: XJ is the classic Cherokee. Super dope. I love these. '87-'06? ZJ is the original Grand Cherokee. These are very cool. Because v8 and you can still wheel them

you should hear all the crap I get in NYC, on both sides hi and low. not to mention the range of languages and the colorful language.

I think the OP understands the rules same as the rest of us. The practical everyday usage of callsigns on the frequencies was his question, and I don't think too many people strictly abide by that rule. I don't. I do use them on an initial call or when signing off though. Just depends on if I'm on somebody's repeater or not and if I know the person I'm calling is sitting there waiting for me to talk. I really think the rules are there so the FCC can have something to enforce when people abuse the frequency, not to guide our everyday use. Again, this is GMRS, not ham. Good behavior and courteous use of the frequencies are what matter IMHO.

I wonder how many of us on here are actually Jeep addicts with a radio problem as well