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Usually, the licenses appear 24 hours after the Grant Date on the license. However, since the FCC ULS website had been down for the last 2 weeks, I expect many people's licenses won't start to appear until Sunday or Monday when they publish the entire database each week. The daily updates they publish only show the new and updated licenses for the last day, and with such a large gap in coverage, we may not get them all in one update.

That's a good suggestion. Also want to mention the loss through the duplexer could be made up with a higher gain antenna too. Some repeater owners have complained about desense on the RX section of their setup. It seems counter intuitive but DROPPING the transmit power level improved things. Think about what exactly is going on. The antenna is being used for both TX and RX simultaneously. The higher TX power also will be coupled back into the RX section. To maintain the same isolation margin would require more isolation in the duplexer. Since the duplexer hasn't changed you effectively REDUCED the gain margin as seen by the RX section..

Apparently the batch submittal process is still in a flaky state -- ARRL sent a notice that VECs will be asked to submit small batches on some schedule to avoid overloading the system.

If a nearby C4FM radio also has Group Monitor turned on with the same group ID, it’s possible to have a simplex conversation directly between the two radios. If you connect through a repeater you do tie up repeater resources.

Big news in the myGMRS world: we have beta versions of a brand-new iOS and Android app ready for users to test! Android Users On your Android device, go to the Google Play Store and search for myGMRS or click here. Install the current app version (1.3.0), which is the older version. Once you've installed the app, you will see a Join the Beta section on the Google Play Store listing for myGMRS. Join the beta test by tapping Join and wait a few minutes. You will then see a new app update available that will install the 2.0.0 Beta version to your device. iOS Users Use the following link to join the public TestFlight beta for myGMRS: https://testflight.apple.com/join/ZrWc4Dkm We're eager for feedback on these apps, as we've been working diligently on creating a unified modern app experience that will allow us to add features more easily in the future. You can share your feedback in this thread.

Icom fr-3000 and 4000 is bulletproof at 50watts. Later icom repeaters are not.

Historically, GMRS is the descendant of the old Class A Citizen's Radio Service. CB is the descendant of the Class D Citizen's Radio Service. This is reflected in the pre-2017 rewrite of the regulations: GMRS was Part 95 Subpart A (subpart A is now an overall set of regulations for all Part 95 and GMRS is subpart E), CB was (and still is) Part 95 Subpart D. Back in ancient days, even CB was focused on /family/ use under a family license -- some channels could only be used for intra-license communications, a limited number were available for inter-license communications (9/emergency, 11, for example). At least CB had 23 channels (at that time) -- and regulations permitted traffic up to 150 miles (NVIS propagation, short skip). GMRS only had 8 main frequencies -- but a licensee had to pick two of them when applying for a license and could not use the other six.

IMHO that's driven by money. The cost of P25 radios is crazy. Looking at the used market I can buy a used digital commercial radio for just about any voice mode, except for P25, for less. Example, Kenwood's new HT's, the NX-5000 series, comes with NXDN as standard. It can be configured to do DMR and P25 by simply writing a license key to the radio to enable the feature. The attached image is from their 2022 catalog. The cost for just P25 Phase 1 conventional is staggering compared to DMR. Then if you want to add trunking for P25 you'll need some deep pockets and a fat checkbook. Because of the costs if P25 is not mandated by the state, or some other agency, people are opting for either DMR or NXDN. They are the lower cost options. To gauge who uses what mode a search of the following database returns some interesting results. The primary users of P25 seems to be various Federal, state, county and city governments. https://digitalfrequencysearch.com/index.php

Digital modes on amateur radio are something that feels unsettled. I know of mutually-incompatible D-STAR, Fusion, and DMR, and I think there are others that I'm just not acquainted with. Last weekend I bought a Radio Shack HTX-242, a 2m 45W mobile, for short-term use in my truck. I went with it because I wanted to see what having a mobile would be like versus just using HTs. I went with with a radio that's a quarter-century old because technology-wise it's a lot like my Alinco DJ-195 that I bought as a brand new ham, and because it was cheap. I paid $60 for that working radio. I'll end up spending far more on just an antenna. I want the digital scene to settle out before I invest serious money in radios that do it. I definitely understand the advantages in eliminating any sort of background static so long as the receiving station picks up enough packets to reassemble the voice, and that the amount of bandwidth needed is much smaller than analog for the same sort, and that there are ancillary life-safety benefits like the ability to send GPS and to maintain some kind of carrier even when not talking, but until there's a dominant player it's difficult to justify spending upwards of four figures on radios when one's chosen system might go the way of CED, Betamax, or HD-DVD. It looks like there's no intention to allow digital modes on GMRS, which given the small number of channels and shared spectrum with FRS makes sense. If there is a desire for digital modes on this sort of license it would probably make sense for the FCC to carve out a new bit of spectrum to use for it that isn't shared with another service, and given that GMRS is not really intended for the sort of experimentation that amateur is, declare a codec for mandatory use so that radio manufacturers are all interoperable. In the meantime still looking at GMRS mobiles. I'm thinking remote-head, high power, closer to the 50W max than the 15W of some of the mobile Midlands. Anyone know of a good diplexer that can separate-out the GMRS band or even the entire 60-70cm band from the rest, or that would separate-out commercial FM 88MHz to 108MHz? I am looking at replacing the factory car radio mast with a communications antenna and using a diplexer to split off commercial broadcast radio from communications so that one antenna can do both. Even if the antenna is a poor match for commercial broadcast it would likely still be good enough.

In my case it wasn't so much a lot of redundancy as upgrading equipment (baofeng to ft4x to ft5d), and chasing bands and modes, and some of it that single band LMR gear...DMR/MotoTrbo and P25 in both VHF and UHF, C4FM, wanting in-built APRS, plus 1.25, 6m, and 33cm. With antennas, it's been more chasing functionality, or adapting to limitations. i am finding myself wanting to pare down a little, though...start shifting some of the stuff for projects that never got off the ground. when i really dove into the hobby, everything was shut down, so antenna heights weren't an issue, as office days started up again, i had to either get used to folding the antenna every time, or swapping out (and finding one short enough to work), and later relocating with new limitations. It has kind of come in handy as i shuffle equipment between vehicles, though....the antenna that was slightly too long on the truck will be a good fit on the better half's car, and can be joined by the compact radio that was in the now-departed beater, without needing to purchase new gear.

I have some hobbies where I have an extreme excess of materiel or supplies. When I got into amateur radio 20+ years ago I decided that this was not going to be such a hobby. Don't get me wrong, I have more stuff than I routinely use, including commercial-grade test equipment like a Bird wattmeter and a Bird dummy load, but I haven't acquired radios in excess. If anything I have too few supplies, as I've had to order NMO/UHF/N/BNC/SMA adapters, mounts, cables, and some antenna parts. It helps that I can now afford this stuff much more than I could as a twenty-something. I guess I'm treating this hobby like I treat some of the more expensive or larger tools. I have just one each of tools like the table saw, the miter saw, the bandsaw, the MIG welder, the 2-post lift, that sort. Likewise I have one 2m HT, one 2m mobile, one 10m mobile, and the pair of these GMRS radios. I don't feel compelled to have many redundant radios in the same form factor and band as each other, and for what redundancies I would have, they're based on practical use like handing to family members that are entitled through my license to use them. I don't feel compelled to have them just to have them, they need to serve a purpose.

I thought that was a good idea but I never cleared my cache. I was gone all day but checked when I came home and everything was normal again. This is one of those times I just say it was low on PFM… Pure f*#@ing magic

I plead the 5th on that answer

Exactly! I use a Mac but have an old laptop with windows and I like to know ahead of time that I can use the software before buying the radio. OP’s dilemma is I think the reason why one starts collecting radios. With the first one you find out what it does and doesn’t do and get to know about what more you would like, then you want something that does something else or something more, then you realize that one over there does something you didn’t even know you were interested in. The next thing you know your looking for a support group for compulsive radio purchases

I buy mainly commercial Kenwood HT’s. If I find a radio model I don’t currently own but thinking about buying I’ll research it first. Get the brochure, which is good for a summary of features for the specific sub-model types. The second is getting the programming software. If I can’t get it then I just don’t bother with getting the radio. Usually without the manufacturer’s software to program it then it’s just an expensive brick. Also want to make sure that items like battery packs and chargers are easily available too. Some people have purchased nice radios but the battery packs are almost nonexistent.

My guess is they’re receiving transmissions…

Hi GMRS users! Say hello to John aka "Rabbit" who is now our new SGA-575 repeater ambassador! John is monitoring the repeater most of the time to welcome or assist GMRS users to the area. Please feed free to call him! John aka "Rabbit" is also monitoring the local ham radio 2 meter repeater on 147.135+ CTCSS 141.3 for those who are licensed amateur radio operators. Please check in with him as your traveling through! John aka "Rabbit" call signs are KE4CQX (amateur radio) WRTG280 (GMRS) Thanks, Scott Haner WRFS362 and KBØY