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This is like the old joke about how 3 people can keep a secret. It works as long as two of them are dead. That seems to be the only way it’s going to happen on GMRS, agreement on a travel channel.

dead horse beater

Sorry I disagree. GMRS was never a service to meet folks or talk to others outside your group. It was intended for private family communications. This is yet another topic that comes up many times thru the year. Some folks say 4 for 4x4, some say 19 because CB uses it (even though we can't above line A but most say who cares) and others say use CH20 that was the original "emergency channel". No one will ever agree and its not worth the effort. If someone asks me I say 20 as that's what my FCC license showed for years. To each their own. If you had searched this forum you would see multiple threads on this topic. None ever conclude with a true answer. As to your points above - # 1 - If you call me I wont answer. I dont use GMRS to meet new people. I use it as it was originally intended for. # 2 - Use PL or listen to FRS and the CCR World. Go to HAM, CB or any other band and hear the same. # 3 - 462.675 was the unofficial emergency channel (such as CH9 in CB). Many folks set up repeaters on that. Our SAR team inherited a repeater from REACT (go research that). It was on GMRS 462.675 as that was the emergency channel at the time. Over the years our SAR team upgraded it and incorporated the "travel Tone" when that came to be. Never once, including my REACT days did anyone ever call for help on the channel . I'm sure in a week we will have 200 posts on this thread with pro and con of all but in the end there is no need for a travel, emergency or call channel in GMRS.

@WRQC527, the FT-70 chews up batteries. I sold mine within a few weeks of getting it. The FT-3D and FT-5D have much better battery use and standby times. I used my FT-3DR as a remote net control operator (via my xband repeater in the truck) for a Marine Corps Marathon event. I was non-stop slammed for 5 hours, 50% duty cycle, at 5w. It also has about 6 weeks standby, with the battery in the radio, before the voltage drops to 7.2vdc. With the battery disconnected from the radio, I have no idea how long the storage time is, but I know it's more than 6 months, because that is the longest I ever went between charges on my spares. Even then, they were above 7.2vdc, and I just charged them for an event.

That is alot of words. I may have skipped reading one or two as i really only use it for family comms. My official travel channel is whichever one we agree on ahead of a trip.

I approve this message.

Wow. That is a lot of words.

I dropped my Alinco radio tonight and it landed on the Tidradio 771 antenna. The antenna was a copy of the Nagoya 771, which produced surprisingly good results. Compared to the standard rubber duck antenna, I get two whole s-units registered on the local DMR repeater; my signal report goes from S6 to S8, with no other changes. Not bad for an antenna that came free with my first UV5R. Anyway, I could see that it was at minimum bent, but when I picked it up it became obvious that a nylon stud that connects the antenna element to the SMA connector was sheared. I guess that means I need to go antenna shopping. ? Here is a picture of the innards:

Good grief, you're right! Somebody better tell OffRoaderX...

I have an Icom ic-7000. It was $1,500 new and is still selling used from $800 to $1,200 depending on condition. The stock microphone alone is $150. I would be thrilled to spend $2,000+ for a mobile radio if it was the build quality like what this radio was in 2005. The thought of spending $2k on a radio worth $300 is where the real headache starts. With today's tech, if you get a radio like the FT-891 (which is a bare-bones) for $650 and a FTM-300DR for $460, and you still don't have SSB on 2m or 70cm like the ic-7000 and the radios are trash compared to 20 years ago. The wild part is, go back to the days of Heathkit, Drake, Collins, Swan, Lafayette, Hallicrafters... those radios were (and still are) absolutely amazing. Even compared to 2000-ish time-frame. It seems like the more high-tech they get, the more they become disposable and unreliable.

1) It's allright. 2) It's allright. GMRS can be used for whatever purpose by anyone. Being this kids, cute moms of said kids, ugly angry fathers of said kids, sad hams, road flaggers, valet parking lots, you name it. It's a free country. 3) No, there is not. However, there is sort-of an agreement, explained by gortex2. And there is a certain youtube influenzer pushing something else. It is a free country. But you can always use a scan feature of your radio.

Update 1/23/22: We are up to 5 linked repeaters with 6th being planned in San Marcos. If you are in the area, throw out a call sign and see who’s monitoring! http://www.alamocitygmrs.com/supermon/index.php

The LAK17R GMRS repeater (id’s as WRKT697) operates out of Lake Oswego, OR on 462.600 (+5) and a PL Tone of 123.0. It’s an open repeater set up for local emergency communications in the city but available for general or casual use. There is a weekly net on Monday nights at 7:00pm. If you are in the area or passing through, reach out and say hello. Coverage spans well beyond LO into Wilsonville, Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Milwaukee, Oregon City and up into parts of Camas, Vancouver and Battle Ground, WA.

What is a radio “Travel Channel” and how do other radio services use the concept? These are my thoughts. I am not an expert, I am not a ham (sad or otherwise) but I might be “some people”. Some of you will disagree with my thoughts, some will point out that I am wrong on some issues (I invite that, my goal is to raise the knowledge base of GMRS operators not pretend to know it all). I may leave out important things, I don’t do it on purpose. When I refer to GMRS I also mean FRS unless I say otherwise since they both share the same frequencies. In my un-scientific review of the GMRS forums (that I know of) the three main recurring topics are: 1) I bought my new GMRS radio and now no one will talk to me or I don’t hear anyone talking. 2) I turn off my PL filters to scan GMRS so that I can hear EVERYTHING on those channels and now I am hearing too much (kids, highway flaggers or businesses) so I want them to stop using the channels. 3) Is there a GMRS Travel Channel (or road channel or calling/hailing channel)? I think GMRS was designed to solve particular communication issues among small groups of people that already know each other. But, I think finding an answer to Topic 3, a well thought out, commonly recognized national Travel Channel, could act like a magnet: drawing in people that WANT to be heard by strangers and repelling those that do not. But first I need to give my definition of some terms (that some will disagree with). TRAVEL CHANNEL I see a travel channel is comprised of three components. CALLING/HAILING The first is the most obvious and that is the channel used to call, hail, make initial contact with strangers. This could be to call that Jeep that just crossed the trail or contact a local for information. This includes those that hope a stranger will call, so they listen on this channel. CHAT/RAG CHEW CHANNEL You may think that this should be the same channel as above but you will see that some other radios services separate them. This is where information is passed, conversations take place and stories told. On CB 19 I think of it as just noise. DISTRESS CHANNEL This is the channel that could be used to call for rescue or more likely (due to GMRS short ranges) a channel to help rescuers zero in on the person in distress. I think that is what the Wyoming 307 radio plan is all about, assisting rescuers find the caller, not making the initial distress call. We will see that some of the other radio services have these 3 components on one channel, some have each on its own channel and some use a combination. CHANNEL What makes a channel different from a frequency? Some people confuse frequency and channel. Some confuse the radio or programing software memory location as channel. My definition of a “channel” is a combination of frequency, PL filter and a label. I know much more goes into a channel (TX power, band width etc) but for this rant it is all I will use. FREQUENCY Two-way channels have 2 frequencies (RX/TX- sometimes the same, some with an off set). Monitor-only channels have 1, but I will refer to frequency as singular most of the time. PL FILTER I am talking about CTCSS/DCS codes but I am using “PL” for short hand (get over it). I am calling them “filters” and not “codes” because filter is actually closer to how they work. LABEL Giving a frequency a label is what, in my mind, really makes it a channel. Most newer GMRS radios allow some type of label on a screen, even bubble pack radios have a label (618 is a label). Some labels are just common knowledge (CB 19, marine band channels), some are labeled on flight/mission plans, or on harbor or airport maps/charts, or just on a slip of paper Scotch taped to the radio or mic (that is how we did it early in my public safety career). When frequency is combined with PL filters our 30 (22/8) frequencies can become over 3,000 discrete channels, so assigning a label becomes very import when referring to any one of them. “Discrete” is used here according to Merriam-Webster dictionary meaning of: “constituting a separate entry: individually distinct”. NOT PRIVATE and certainly NOT SECURE. Just meaning a channel where you may not be bothered by unwanted noise and transmissions, most of the time. RADIO SERVICES CELL PHONE While not technically a radio “service” they do use radio waves. For this rant cell phones suck as a call/hail device to reach strangers. Once contact is made there is nothing better for chat. IF you have cell service there is no better way to call for help. 911 works almost everywhere and you can “stay on the line” to zero in the help. SATELLITE PHONE This is similar to cell phone with better coverage. But expensive. SATELLITE DISTRESS DEVICES (inReach, Spot etc) Also not really a radio service but does use radio. These are totally worthless for contacting strangers (or even friends) around you. They are very limited for chat, usually only text with pre-arranged computer equipped people. But they seem to be very good at calling for help (I must admit very little personal knowledge). I plan to buy one for my next out west adventure. MILITARY The military does not seem to have any national or generally recognized call/hail pre-set channels or distress pre-set channels. They do have those channels but they are geographic or mission designated. RAILROAD The railroads have many frequencies, both analog and digital, and they seem to be shared by all of the companies. But any call/hail or distress pre-set channels seem to be geographic, route specific or company specific. BUSNESS RADIOS On the business radio service frequencies are usually allocated by license to geographic areas. Communication between businesses is rare without a new license allowing it. So any call/hail or distress channels are within each license. Businesses make up their own labels. PUBLIC SAFETY Like business radios public safety is limited to local or regional licenses. Some states have statewide licenses for interop or mutual aid. For public safety I am using “channel” as interchangeable with trunked “talk groups”. At one time 155.370 was common but rarely used now. I do hear it being used in northern Indiana still. Most agencies use their dispatch channel for calling/distress and have Tac or car-to-car discrete channels for longer or more detailed info. So, there is not a real national pre-set channel. BUT since 9-11, National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG) has been developed. NIFOG has discrete channels on VHF lo, VHF hi, UHF and 700 and 800. On each of those bands there is a call discrete channel with 2-8 associated “Tac” channels, I assume, for more chat type traffic. NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER (NIFC) This is sort of a subset of public safety but also uses aviation channels. NIFC has many labeled discrete channels but they are incident assigned not really a general use group. CB (Citizens band) CB has both Call/Hail and Chat/Ragchew on the same channel (CB 19) and has its distress channel on another (CB 9). I know some people change channels to chat but not enough for me. I find it hard to listen to CB 19 due to the noise and language. BUT there is no better source of real time information in a traffic jam/situation. I have a $800 police scanner on my dash but when I come upon a traffic problem I go to CB 19. No where else can I get real-time info on which lane to use, what is actually happening and maybe even an alternate route. MURS These lonely little frequencies stuck in the middle of the business band are rarely used and don’t really have any discrete channel labels other than each business user. But MURS 3 (third when listed numerically) is listed on the 333 Radio Plan (SHTF) as are channels from many of the radio services including ours. I have seen this 333 Radio Plan dismissed or mischaracterized as having to do with something called the 3 percenters? The threes actually come from the plan, during SHTF, to turn on your radio at the top of each third hour, for three minutes on your radio’s channel 3. It seems like it is worth knowing about. They list our “travel channel” GMRS 20 with 141.3 PL filter and FRS 3 and GMRS 17. In fact, threes are use a lot in wilderness survival, SAR and prepping. One use is the survival “Rule of 3”: you can live 3 minutes with out air, 3 hours without shelter (could be as little as a hat/gloves or a tent), 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Threes also show up in emergency signaling. The mother of all emergency signals is SOS, which is just a series 3 dots and 3 dashes (I have no idea of the order so if I had to use it I would just dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot until someone figures it out). Also, with a lamp or mirror you should flash three times, there is three horn, whistle, gunshots. Three bon fires, three colored panels on the ground, three pyramids and on and on. I know none of this has anything to do with radio services but next time you are out adventuring and detect a series of three anythings, you may want to investigate. I am not suggesting that we (GMRS) adopt this but we should be aware. HAM Ham operators are by far the most knowledgeable, professional and educated about radio operations, science and devices. I come from public safety where we, as a group, have no idea how radios work, or why. We just push the button and talk. Ham does have some discrete channels labeled for calling and they seem to then rag chew on that same channel. Hams are boring to listen to. In disasters and disaster planning they set up some very good distress channels but they are don’t seem to be nationally recognized. AVIATION This service, along with marine, has the best Call/Hail, Chat and Distress channels, in my opinion. Hailing is done on one of two discrete channels. They call them UHF Guard and VHF Guard (or Military Guard and Civilian Guard). I believe that aircraft are required to monitor one of these channels. You will recognize these channels as the ones used in movies and TV when a fighter jet comes up to a civilian aircraft and orders it to land or tries to wake up the pilot. This and distress calls are all that is allowed on these 2 channels. I have heard plane-to-plane directing the plane being called to change to another frequency. There are a few listed as air-air (fixed wing and helo). Mayday calls can be made on these guard channels and (maybe more frequently) on local tower channels or regional center channels. By the way Mayday calls are also given in threes. Mayday is something we can consider but it can ONLY be used when life or craft are in danger. On aviation and marine radios, PanPan repeated three times, is used for non-threat to life or craft emergencies. Mayday is now being used by some fire departments. MARINE This service is, in my opinion, the best at handling the Travel Channel issue as I have defined it. No traffic is allowed on the discrete hail channel except for hailing and distress. You cannot even do radio checks on this channel. AND it is enforced by the US Coast Guard. Vessels are required to “set a radio watch” on this channel. This leaves this channel available for destress calls. They have boat-to-boat and bridge-to-bridge (navigation bridge, not road bridge) discrete channels labeled. CONCLUSION Why is any of this important? Well, if we are going to have a “Travel Channel” it should be with the knowledge of how others before us have handled the concept. We (GMRS) are probably the newest radio service and as such we can learn from earlier mistakes and successes. No need to re-invent the wheel or use an imperfect wheel. I know the un-official GMRS Travel Channel Committee has met. And while I disagree with the Committee’s findings I whole heartedly agree with the beginning premise. That is SOMEONE HAS TO TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORN AND JUST DECLARE A TRAVEL CHANNEL. I am just hoping, after I present more ideas in my next 2 rants that the Committee might reconsider.

I’m not sure it matters. See the bold portion of the preceding quote. It says “or any other network…“ That seems pretty clear but I’d like to point out that the actual wording in the regulations are not phrased that way.

On the map page there is a gear icon in the upper left hand corner. Click on it and select stale and offline repeaters. I think you’ll find your repeater there. I’m thinking it’s JAX675 but there are a few near you. ?

Someone has discovered the joy of using ChatGPT to pose wordy ramblings. Congrats.

Just curious ... what would you consider entry-level? I did a quick check and the FTM-6000R is on sale for $270 right now and there are a couple other options between $300 and $350 or so. If you are content to just have 2 meters, then there are at least four options for $200 or less. If someone is looking to spend less than that, you are correct, they aren't going to find a new "big 3" radio at that price point and your options are Anytone/TYT/Radioddity/Retevis/etc.

His name is Carl and he’s good with the burger meet up ?

I'm just wondering... And anyone feel free to chime in here. Who, exactly, is monitoring my GMRS communications for hidden meanings, and more importantly, am I going to get busted for asking my wife to "Rendezvous at Location Sierra Bravo" instead of saying "Meet me at Sonic Burger"?

? I too was compelled to disassemble things around the house to see what was inside when I was a kid. That never really goes away, does it? Thanks, Steve, for the photo. Always interested in peeking behind the curtain.

The 400 has known audio level issues on B and only supports digital on A. While the bigger screen was gone in the 300, I feel like the correction to the audio issues and dual C4FM was an improvement. Also, rejection on the 300 is much better, allowing you to pair two 300s and two antennas as a VHF or UHF repeater. The rejection on the 400 was so bad that we had to have the transmitter and receive antennas more than 100 yards apart, just to use 5w without horrible desense issues. The 300's have no desense issues at 20w and only 100 feet between the antennas. Granted, this use case is an outlier, but it's a good reflection of the overall receiver quality differences.

My preferred vendor is The Antenna Farm (theantennafarm.com). They will sell you standard lengths or you can custom-order the exact length you need.

1)What constitutes hiding? Really? This is a question? The act of concealing; concealment. If you’re doing it to hide what you are saying it isn’t legal. Not difficult at all to understand. 2)What is a ten code https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-code 3)At what point am I not hiding my code? When other people understand it, you know like the people at the FCC for example. …sigh

I have a friend with a 400 who’s disappointed because it has had some problems. I don’t know exactly what they are. If a person doesn’t need C4FM, the ftm6000 looks like a decent radio.

A friend of mine who has several 400s bought a 300 and as far as he's concerned it's a disappointment in comparison. I think he was spoiled by the touch screen. I'm cheap, I went with a pair of 7250s before they got the axe.

And because those “CCRs” work well enough for most people at a much lower price. Perfect? Not even close. Best in class? Absolutely not. Good enough. For most purposes, yes.

Way more than once and as a PE I was responsible for regulatory compliance matters (interpretation and implementation) for over twenty years, working very closely with lawyers and our compliance department, so I would like to think I’m pretty good at reading and interpreting regulations. But the regulations I worked with were strictly enforced with huge fines and very costly periodic (every three years) audits. The FCC doesn’t act that way. That’s a good thing.

Thank you, this ^^^ you say you’re not a lawyer but didn’t you stay a Holiday Inn once ?

I would add you have a cell phone. It’s okay to use your cell phone. I mean seriously if you want a private conversation radio isn’t it. Sure there’s encrypted radios but that’s not GMRS. Op is looking for a solution where there is no problem. I’m 10-98 ?

First, I don’t know, but here are the regulatory concerns I would have: This places GMRS communications onto the cellular data network. I suspect this is the item the FCC would be most concerned about, if they care at all. If nobody complains then you can probably get away with it. It’s entirely possible that some of the nodes on the MyGMRS network leverage a cellular data hotspot already. Hotspot radio (meaning the transceiver chip built into the hotspot) is not type certified. But really, what’s the point? If you have two people using gmrs radios to talk to cellular hotspots in order to talk to each other, why not just talk on the phone? Is the allure of talking on a handheld radio so great that you intentionally convert to half duplex and push to talk in a larger box? I have a similar lack of understanding for people in the ham world who record QSOs between their handheld radios using hotspots on both ends. Where’s the challenge?

The problem is not the price of ham gear, it is the horrible user experience. Why pay $600 for a radio that has 0 product management? Terrible software, silly menu structures, cheap materials. You don't get much for your dollar. Yaesu's rugged radio design (VX-6R) is almost 20 years old now with what, like six characters to name your channel? Come on man! Because the big three quit caring & trying.

In my opinion, yes. Establishing a shorthand to keep communications shorter does not intentionally hide the meaning, even though a portion of the population doesn’t understand the meaning. You probably wouldn’t even have to place a 10 in front of it. Of course I am not a lawyer.

I can assure you a 50 watt mobile vs a 35 watt wont gain you much if any. Antenna systems are the important part. The longer the antenna cable the more loss. As reference a 100' of LMR 400 will be 3db. That means at your antenna its 25 watts on a 50 watt mobile (in a perfect scenario). Receive signal is the same. 3db isn't a lot but it can be the difference between hearing a user and not. I'd focus on a decent antenna and figure out how you can eliminate as much feedline as possible. You didn't say what antenna your using now so its hard to tell if one antenna is better than the other. The Tram/Browning seems to be a good base antenna from what I have seen. Personally I go for the Laird FG series for my stuff. Most dont want to spend the extra cash but I like purpose built quality antenna's so i do stuff once and not many times. I run the FG4500 on my portable repeater for camping. I use the FG4603 on my parents house and others who want a basic control station and I use the FG4607 on one of my repeaters. All other repeaters have the DB404 as they are on commercial LMR towers. Most of my hobby stuff comes from Antenna Farm as they are simple to work with and decent priced. Here is a list of GMRS base antennas they offer. https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/shop-all/base-antennas/gmrs-base-antennas/gmrs-omni-directional-base-antennas For work stuff I use Talley and Tessco.

Yup. My last new rig was the FTM400 at $500. Sadly nothing really new at a price point I will grab another. Would love to replace my TMD700 in my JK with a new FTM but can't justify the cost for not as good of a radio.

I would agree with this take, honestly. Midland is solid for being about as plug and play as it gets; they're sometimes feature limited, but they're making progress there. Wouxun is the killer for features. "Best" is really subjective, a lot is what's best for your use and expectations. In both the kg1000g (and plus variant) and the mxt575, the remote heads are killer for squeezing a radio (or another radio) into limited space. I'd be hesitant toward the btech gmrs50x1 and 50v2. My 50x1 didn't hold up well, another member went through a few of the 50x1 and the ham version with poor results. They say the 50v2 has been redesigned. The 50x1 was no additional tx channels, though it appears they've opened that up some for the 50v2. For small size, mid power, and 12v plug compatibility, the anytone at779uv/radioddity db20g/retevis ra25 triplets are a solid value. Sensitive receiver, 20 watts, and small size (similar to the mxt115/mxt275 body). Often available not much over $100, with programming cable, perfect for the price conscious. (I have 2; 1 in my truck for gmrs, and a 2nd opened up for ham in the beater car). With some radio background, some of the dual certified commercial gear is hard to beat, very flexible in programming, but more limited in others (not much for front panel programmability, if any, like changing tones on the fly). Programming can be kind of a steep learning curve if you're new to radio. On the other hand, they can shine on durability and dependability.

I bought two last week. A pi 3 a+ for $25 from Adafruit and a Pi Zero W in a starter kit from PiShop.us. I posted about the availability.

I think yo will see HAM gear with less and less product. Sadly the CCR world is where 90% of the ham community has moved to. There are still guys spending $2000-3000 on a HF rig but to spend $600 on a dual band mobile makes their head hurt. I love my older HAM rigs but very few "new" hams would spend what I paid on any of them. If they can't sell gear and make money they wont.

That's correct, the RT97S is also a metal case. It looks like the Midland MXR10 is just a custom-molded case with their logo on it, but it's otherwise the same thing more or less.

Thanks for posting the pic. That actually looks like a solid attempt at making a useful antenna (not that I am any kind of expert), and not just a placeholder. Your UV5R came with a Tidradio 771. My UV5R came with an Abbree AR 771. The only difference I can see between the two is the text and color of the print near the base. I am guessing both are knockoffs of the Nagoya 771. Perhaps they are built by the same manufacturer, and then private labeled. This actually is a question: What's in a name? Is the 771 designation just a model number that is being copied so that buyers associate the antenna with a model perceived as being good, or does a 771 have specific qualities related to the number 771 (the way a 427 engine has a bore and stroke that nominally totals 427 cubic inches)?

I do like this kind of stuff. I guess that’s why I took things apart as a kid. Thanks for sharing @Sshannon . I’m guessing the radio is okay as you didn’t show the insides of it, so that’s good news ?

They're inexpensive, but they seem to work to introduce folks to radio use. I would expect all of the negative characteristics you listed, but sometimes they work surprisingly well. I have no problem with folks who buy and use them and I have a couple UV5Rs myself that I bought to see what all the ruckus was. I also have some Yaesu handheld amateur radios and a Garmin GMRS radio that are better radios, but for the price difference they should be. The Baofengs desense when placed next to a transmitting radio. The Yaesus do not. I haven't tested power output on any of them.

They are nothing but cheap Chinese junk! Anyone that uses one is not as smart as I am! ...just wanted to get that out of the way right up front.. I own several different model BoofWhangs and most of them offer great bang for the buck. Anyone that compares a $20-$50 Baofeng to a radio that costs much more (as done in this forum all the time) AND expects it to perform just as well is a fool and should be ignored.

Welcome to MyGMRS! Unfortunately I don’t know the answer to your question. Have you looked at the repeater directory here: https://www.mygmrs.com/repeaters

If it's the metal box that's the decider, the mygmrs shop has the rt97s in the metal case, rather than the 97 in plastic. https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/repeaters-and-accessories/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater

Our little mountain town just got over 5 feet of snow in 3 days and most people in my small area are snowed in. We lost power for three days, got it back for 7 hours, and then lost it again for another 26 hours. During that time cell service was working. I spent one day with other neighbors trying to open up driveways and move some downed trees. Everyday I would leave the house to do get a vehicle unstuck or try to clear a path to the wood shed or start and stop the generator, etc. Instead of using cell phones to keep in touch with my wife we used our GMRS handhelds. I also used them to stay in contact with other family near by. I found it much easier to use the radio than a cell phone with gloves on and in heavy snow. My wife even said she was glad we have them. One neighbor was inquiring about the radios. We share a well so it would be nice for him to have one as today I needed him at his house while I got the well pump and system thawed and restarted after getting power back. Our radios may be a fun to have tool/gadget , but, they are a great tool to have when you need them.

10-codes (both CB and Law Enforcement variations) are commonly available in printed form, everyone can access the list(s); they are not considered a means of "obscuring" communications but are a means of /shortening/ the time spent in communications and providing a concise /clear/ meaning (especially when one has an atrocious accent and spoken English may be misunderstood). Not that English is mandated either -- I believe only the call sign ID needs to be in English or recognized phonetic alphabet (so keep your "zed" down under ).