Leaderboard

BINGO!!!! If a fixed station communicates to anything other than a fixed station the station class just changed.

This is where the FCC rules are mum. A station is just a radio. The definitions describe specific uses, but the only license is for the user. There’s no license for the station that limits it to a particular use, so there’s nothing that prevents a radio from being used as a base station and then switching to a fixed station. That’s the confusing part of the regulations.

I don't take credit for this, it's directly from Sshannon's down load. "with other fixed stations only". So what it isn't is a base station. You are right about Murs being used for alarms, gate and such (I often hear "Alert Zone one" on Murs from a nursing facility near by), and yes 15 watts may seem high for such a thing. I used that as an example. The definition and the rules for GMRS seem clear though. Granted they don't include an example, it just says what you can and can't do. No more no less. For me that's enough.

I think my first problem was buying equipment (got a good deal on them) before I knew what I needed or knew what I was doing. I thank everyone for the loads of information, I have learned more here then anywhere. I am going to stick with the gmrs and study for the ham tests and then go from there. If the world ends before I get licences , I will still have the HF radios in the closet. I have been looking for a place with more land in Indiana and then will set it up there. My next project will be solar for my security cameras and radios.

Maybe this will help. I put together a very short Word document that lists the definition and every mention of "Fixed Station" in Part 95. Here's the Readers Digest Condensed version: Subpart A - Definition Subpart C - Prohibition of RCRS causing interference to Fixed Stations. Subpart E - Rules regarding Fixed Stations in GMRS Remote Control of Fixed Stations allowed. Network Connections allowed for Fixed Stations. GMRS Channels - Fixed Stations allowed only on 462 MHz and 467 MHz main channels. GMRS Power Output - Fixed Stations limited to no more than 15 W output. That's it. There are no other references to Fixed Stations in Part 95. References to "Fixed Base Stations", etc. for other services are simply not important. I have reviewed the general rules before all the Parts. There’s nothing there that changes anything. Fixed Station.docx So, based on the rules, I believe a good example of a couple of Fixed Stations would be what I posted before. I could have a permanent radio station running at 15 watts at my cabin and another at my house. These two radios would have directional antennas pointed at each other and in fact they could use repeater hardware for full duplex communications between my cabin and house, since Fixed Stations are permitted to transmit on the 467 main or 462 main frequencies. Set up like this they could be a full duplex voice intercom system between my house and cabin.

I wonder if we will ever have radio frequences that you can just talk on or will they always end up turning into a computer and cell phone.

@UncleYoda GMRS is Part 95. Parts 90 and 97 don't come into play, so don't worry about them. If you buy a 20, 25, or 50 watt GMRS radio, set it on a table in your house, hook it to an antenna on the roof, and power it with a power supply, you are free to use it at full power on GMRS repeaters. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

It really doesn't matter what "you consider". Part 95 is clear: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95#p-95.303(Control station) Control station. A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations. The distinction between a "base station" and a "control station" (in 95e) is that "base stations" are simplex, and a "control station" uses a repeater to talk to other stations. Note that the definition says MAY also be used. That means, "you are allowed to". It does not mean, "you HAVE to". So using what most people think of as a "GMRS base station" (mobile radio with a power supply and a rooftop antenna) to access repeaters is perfectly legal under Part 95. Oh, and fixed stations talk to other fixed stations: Fixed station. A station at a fixed location that directly communicates with other fixed stations only. Your GMRS "base station" is not a fixed station.

Wait… you’re sending your 5 & 8 year old (bear snack sized) kids out to scout for bears? Guess you and your wife don’t have to be faster than the bear… just faster than your kids…lol

In the old days -- like 1997 when I got my GMRS license... Base stations couldn't even talk to another base station (besides having only two of the 8 main frequencies assigned). You have to look at the original GMRS intent: family or small business (the latter are grandfathered, but no new business uses are being licensed). In the case of the "family" -- think a moderately large farm. The base station would be in the farm house, while the family working the fields are using HTs or mobiles. Even a 640 acre farm is only 1x1mile -- and being a farm is likely flat enough that even a 2W HT could go corner to corner (1.4miles). Now... the tricky configuration: a repeater WITH microphone and speaker, located at the farm house. It would receive on the 467MHz frequencies, but only transmit on the 462MHz. This would qualify as a base station (think of it as a Dispatch operator, sending directions to scattered family members) when using the microphone/speaker, yet be a repeater for really wide spread family. Given the limited number of /shared/ frequencies in GMRS, and the prohibition on digital data (except for low power HTs sending location data on SIMPLEX frequencies) I don't think there are many "fixed stations" in GMRS -- unless part of a grandfathered business license. I think of fixed stations as things like telemetry or relays (not repeaters), possibly using DTMF tones to send/receive commands. "Fixed" stations don't "talk" to general public -- they use directional antennas (YAGI, dish...) aimed at another fixed station.