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I was testing a sma adapter the other day on one of the evx-539's, while listening to the local public safety frequency. I went to swap antennas while they were talking, and realized i could still hear the dispatcher, albeit with a bit of static, with no antenna at all. Tried touching my finger to the center pin in the SMA port and it was crystal clear. Don't know what kind of swr i'd present if i tried to transmit through my finger, though.

You evidently did not read the history posted on the NSEA website. Unfortunately, many have either never learned, or have forgotten the history of GMRS.

I use both Part 90 and Part 95 hardware for GMRS.....and while this subject comes up often, I know many people, myself included that will only take calculated risks when violating FCC regulation which could also take away our means of earning a living. This is due to also having commercial FCC licenses, that could be impacted by blatantly doing something that could create an FCC investigation. That being said, I agree with the above poster, there are many Part 90 radios available that will last for years, but do require software to program, knowledge of the particular radio, and may not be as easy to use as a cheaper dedicated GMRS radio. Type certification costs money, and some manufacturers do not see the benefit for some type certification, and for some models of hardware. I also use a Harris XG-100P handheld radio that has "mission plans" that include GMRS and Marine VHF for example, as Harris type accepted this radio, knowing that it might be used for many different use cases. Do not expect every manufacturer to do this, even if the radio is capable. Then there is the fact that FRS and GMRS are so ubiquitous that you have to do something very intentional to be investigated, and fined, after being warned. I myself will continue to use both Part 90 and 95 radios for GMRS.

Channel 20 (462.675 MHz) as a road channel is a common knowledge. Other things to be aware of: water is wet; Santa is not real; Earth is round; hot is on the left on the faucet; do not mix chlorine and ammonia; people do live to the north from Line A and these who don't, they sometimes travel into these uncharted wretched lands.

This won't be a wildly popular thought but if you teach your g/f how to use a GMRS radio and you guys follow the same standards a family member would no one is going to know the difference and no one is going to ask you to pony up a marriage certificate. To me, and this is just my opinion, this question is along the lines of Part 90 vs Part 95 gear. It seems the FCC just wants the spirit of the law followed. Do that and you will be left alone.

Actually, yes. That is how I discovered it. Early on when I was getting familiar with the radio and I was using the software. I was trying to get the reset menu to appear and work, assuming it would do what the rest of the GMRS radio reset functions do. At one point in my playing I had no channels in the software. When I sent the sent to the radio it was suddenly in VFO mode, wide-band, full power, with the ability to Tx on all tunable frequencies in its supported portion of the UHF band. All I needed to do was scroll to the frequency of choice. In another case I was trying to use an existing Chirp driver configure the channels. We all know it is a lot easier to use Chirp or RT Systems than the manufacturer software. In my experiments there, I discovered again that the firmware does not limit what the radio channels can do. Although I was using a non 805 driver for my experiments, I did discover that there were no firmware safeguards to prevent Tx outside the GMRS service. It could be configured at will. Of course when I was playing with Chirp I was well aware I may brick the radio, as others should know as well. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Not, not exactly. Wouxun does have an official part 95e FRS radio (805F). They actually have an 805 F, G, and M version. The F version is the exact same radio as the 805G, but power and bandwidth are theoretically limited to FCC FRS values. I suspect the software disallows using repeater input frequencies also. One thing I learned about the 805G is that the firmware is not locked down like the rest of the line. The radio can transmit out of band, wide bandwidth, and at full power. Compliance is actually achieved at the software level, not the firmware, but I digress. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Nearly all electronic gadgets we use show some parasitic drain on a car's battery. That is why I installed a battery monitor in the hot lead from the battery to the distribution block under the dash where all my 'gadgets' draw their power. If the battery voltage drops below 12.5 VDC, it will automatically disconnect the main power to the distribution block. I've never again had a problem starting the car due to a drained battery! $25 to preserve my sanity... ? CZH-LABS LVD Low Voltage Disconnect Module. (12V / 30Amp): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

I'd be cautious. First, those wires look a little thin, perhaps better suited to the 25 watt radios (hard to tell from the one pic, and no specs, though). Second, check what your lighter plug will support in terms of current draw. It's not uncommon to see them fused at 10 or 15 amps;running high power, my 50x1 draws between 10 and 11 amps, which doesn't leave much (or any) room for other draws sharing the circuit with the lighter plug.

Probably 40-50 dB attenuation. On a 6550 you can find out, via RSSI meter... I just don't remember at the top of my head, but on the 7550e the attenuation is quite low, since its not an SMA port..

I think the statement boiled down to it wasn't their intent to prohibit Part 90 equipment; this falls in line with the current wording in the code related to dual-certified equipment, in that it allows for dual certification (95 & XX) where the other service requires certification. So 95e & 90 dual certification is still possible, though it doesn't seem manufacturers are bothering. Along with Moto & Kenwood, I know the Vertex VX4207 (mobile) carried 95A as well; I have one that was doing dual duty in the truck, though it's since moved back to my desk, and the can be found on the auction site for less than some of the current crop of high power gmrs radios.

I know it's a month later for this thread, but I did a round trip with an Anytone 878 in my carry-on. TSA at both airports didn't care.

For the most part those self-labled "private repeaters" are very low profile "garage repeaters" and have a very tiny footprint anyway... Very few people can afford to pay monthly rent for tower space.

The line exists because Canada has long ago reserved those frequency pairs for their own use! That is why using them is forbidden to GMRS operators.

That simply is not accurate. NSEA* has a repeater on 462.675/467.675 141.3 for well over fifty-one years now! Call sign is also the oldest in Illinois: KAA 8142 NSEA | History | GMRS | Repeaters | Projects | Skywarn *Note: located in Parkridge, Illinois and covers most of Chicago.

Add in the Motorola M1225 and P1225 radios for dual Part 95/Part 90 certification. They're out of production for almost 20 years now, but I've still got a few hundred M1225's running in daily commercial service. I wouldn't call them rugged, but they've certainly been reliable.