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You should care. It has nothing to do with Ham radio. The main reason type accepting is even a thing is because there are emergency frequencies adjacent to GMRS, and at harmonic frequencies. Type approved radios have been tested and confirmed to not cause harmful interference on those emergency frequencies. Others have not. I know I wouldn't want to be responsible for loss of life or property because I didn't buy an appropriate radio. Also, you don't have a GMRS Operator License. You have a GMRS Station License that is only valid while operating a type-approved station. If you are not using a GMRS radio certified for use by the FCC, you are in violation of rules and the license is not valid for those communications. This opens you up to criminal liability if harmful interference does occur.

You're entitled to your opinion, but public disregard for the FCC rules is discouraged on this forum.

You can explain it to him, but you can't understand it for him.

@WSAA635 Everyone here cares about freedom just as much as you. With freedom comes responsibility.

I don’t think you have turned on us, but you have gotten to the point where you have expressed a disregard for the regulations and it’s clear you don’t understand (or even want to understand) why they exist. There are four sets of frequencies in GMRS. The requirements for bandwidth and RF power (and how measured) vary considerably with some of the frequencies (interstitial) wedged tightly in between others from other sets. You claim the right to transmit on these frequencies with whatever radio you want to use, but you don’t know what you don’t know. So, that’s kind of off-putting to people who are trying to help you learn.

I've had it. WSAA635 is on my ignore list lol

Then you should stick to FRS or MURS. I doubt that the FCC would consider self-consciousness as an excuse for violating their rules. If anything they would think your rationale sounded stupid.

@Lscott Interesting how the schematic for the UV-5R is a single page. The schematic for that old Kenwood I have is several pages like that. Thanks for sharing.

Honestly... I (mostly) agree with you. 100+ years ago, we didn't need permission from the government to grow food, fish, use a radio, etc. What was once considered our Rights have somehow evolved into us having permission to do things on a free-range human tax farm. The ATF/BATFE is a great example. Machine guns, short barrel rifles and suppressors are "dangerous and unusual"... but if you pay your tax, all of a sudden everything is fine. The whole concept is ridiculous. I feel like much of our government suffers from the same hypocrisy, with agencies like the FCC being almost as bad as the ATF, when it comes to rule making. The problem is, as part of living in a polite, civilized society, we have all agreed to live by these rules. If there are rules missing or rules we don't like, the people (at least in theory these days) have the ability to change those rules by petitioning the government. However, with very limited exception, if there are rules we don't like, we have agreed to live by them until the rule changes or is repealed. So, with that said, I provided you with fact about why things are the way they are. I don't necessarily agree with all of it due to a common moral compass that many of us share. However, that same moral compass guides me toward typically following the rules we all agreed to follow and not publicly condoning ignoring those rules. I share this at the risk of sounding too political, because I hope this helps you understand where I am coming from. And while I obviously can't speak for others, I have a funny feeling that many people who are protesting using non-compliant radios or FCC rule violations, likely feel darn close to what I do, if not the same.

Try taking the PL tone off. If you have it set on your receiver and they're not transmitting using it, you won't hear anything. Also, they use that frequency as the primary on P25 digital, and secondary on analog, so mayhaps they are not even transmitting on analog. If so, you would only hear noise if you hear anything at all. You haven't told us what radio you're using.

It is asymmetric. Read the regulations. Although the regulations prohibit certifying a radio for GMRS that can be easily converted to a ham radio, they do not prohibit a ham from building or converting an existing radio to be used for amateur radio activities They do however explicitly prohibit using non-certified radios for 95E. Many ham radios are not certified and certainly not for 95e. There is an argument to make for using part 90 certified radios for GMRS. TL; DR: You can use a certified radio on a service that doesn’t require type certification, but the rules prohibit using a non-certified radio on a service which requires type certification.

Honestly dude, you don't need to explain yourself. We've all given you literally assloads of help over the last many days on what radio(s) to buy, and all manner of answers to your GMRS questions. We're not here to tell you what to do. Follow your conscience. I'm serious.

No. FRS is a license-free service and FRS radios are limited to narrow band and either 2 watts or 1/2 watt depending on what frequency.

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/7327 It looks like it has potential for good coverage.

In my experience, Repeaterbook is worthless for GMRS but great for amateur radio. The best source of GMRS repeaters, in my opinion, is right here on MyGMRS.

There aren’t FRS only channels. GMRS and FRS share channels. Who are we kidding though? You don’t really care what rules apply.

The Radioddity UV-5G is supported by CHIRP and is what one uses when programming the Baofeng UV-5R GMRS too. I haven't bricked either of my UV-5R GRMS radios when choosing the Radioddity UV-5G when using CHIRP.

Your radio encodes its transmissions which then go to the input to the repeater. Your radio decodes the signals it receives from the output of the repeater.

Phonetics are not "a ham thing" they are used in the military, public safety and yes, ham radio. They're used on the telephone for Christ sake. So here's the "rules" for using them, if your trying to convey a string of letters and numbers to another human, and the recipient keeps getting it wrong, use phonetics. Or don't, no one gives a shit.

From the regulations: (b) Revoked or withdrawn certification. In the event that the FCC revokes or withdraws a grant of equipment certification for a type of Personal Radio Service transmitter, existing transmitters already in service may continue to be operated unless and until the FCC determines otherwise and gives Public Notice of that decision.

@WSAA635 My comment was not intended to prolong the debate. No-one with any sense is going to tell you it's ok to break the rules. There was a guy in here once that suggested petitioning the FCC for a rule change. He never started a petition. If it's that big of a deal to you, just start a petition. Just be prepared to be OK with whatever the FCC decides. It's not like they are enforcing a one-child-only policy.

I get it... if all radios were equally well built and met the greatest of standards, I would tend to agree. However, they are not, hence the rules.

I was at the Ham swap a while back in Fort Wayne Indiana. Part of the free test bench, used for checking used radios people buy before leaving, had a Rigol spectrum analyzer setup. The link below is the model I believe they were using at the time, DSA-815. https://www.rigolna.com/products/spectrum-analyzers/dsa800/ Some people were solicited specifically so they could test their radios as an informal survey. The results were socking for some people when they saw the results. The original classic UV-5R was well known for poor filtering of harmonics on the output. I found the attached VHF spectrum tests for one on-line and a copy of the schematic, likely the first generation design, for the radio. UV-5R VHF Harmonics Test.pdf SCHEMATIC Baofeng UV-5R.pdf

Thanks for explaining it like that. The "must use" vs "may use" is what was confusing me before. You're explanation made it very clear. I appreciate the explanation!

You must use the repeater input tone as your TX tone. Otherwise the repeater will disregard your transmission. You may use the output tone as your RX tone. If you do, your radio will disregard (refuse to reproduce) any transmissions that do not include the same tone. But you don’t have to. If you leave the RX tone out your radio will reproduce all of the signals it hears on 462.675 MHz. The same frequencies are used to receive both simplex and repeater signals.

I am acquainted. I am one of the people that Randy consulted with on a video about Spurs, where he actually tested radios with an analyzer.

Yes, that is the point behind the certification process. Not that the transmitter is perfect, but any imperfections will not cause harm due to meeting level/performance requirements. No. Amateur Radio equipment does not require type acceptance. It is an experimental classification and people build/create their own technologies, as well as some commercial OTC options. The requirement of type acceptance would contradict the nature of the service. Also, amateur radio licensees are tested and expected to know the rules, limits and guidelines to prevent interference with other services. In fact, there are several parts of the spectrum that Hams use, where they are not even the primary users. We share space with DOD and Emergency Services (as well as other commercial and gov space) and are expected to not only not cause interference, but yield to the primary when they are present. After decades or running tests on radios for CB, GMRS and Amateur Radio, I can 100% say that amateur equipment is not as clean as many think. Most of the GMRS equipment I have tested is far cleaner than most Amaeur equipment I have tested on the same frequencies. And, while I am a huge fan of Yaesu, owning an FT65 as well as a FT3D and several mobiles, Yaesu is actually one of the worst offenders of dirty transmitters that I have seen. Much worse than even the most inexpensive BTech type approved GMRS radios.

My DB20-G and AT-779UV get very warm during transmission cycles. This DB25-D has a large heat sink on the back (and maybe even an internal fan). I will pay more attention on transmissions next time and let you know. That being said, someone once told me that DB20-Gs were being used for Go-Boxes for citizens of Malibu for communications during emergencies, so there must be some way to dissipate the heat properly in such a small setting. I am really enjoying the DB25-D and am trying to figure out a way to add TalkGroups on the fly (without having to reprogram the codeplug), which seems to me to be very important in a mobile/portable setting (without having to resort to a laptop).

@Jack442 and @WSAT790 welcome to GMRS. @WSAT790 I like your ham callsign. It looks like the text version of .

Strictly speaking, the MARS/CAP modification for amateur radios is supposed to be for the use of the Military Auxiliary Radio System or Civil Air Patrol frequencies specifically by those authorized to use those specific frequencies, not for every outlaw like me and half the other people with unlocked Baofengs to transmit all over the RF spectrum.

Well, technically those are limited to people who participate in MARS or members of the Civil Air Patrol, not so we can use an uncertified ham radio on GMRS , which requires 95E certified radios.

Personal feelings are not rules. You'll likely never be prosecuted for failing to ID with your call sign on GMRS whether you're using a repeater or not. But that doesn't change the rule.

No problems whatsoever, but knowing the TYT 9800's reputation, I waited until they were on sale and bought an extended warranty. If you noticed the mic has more buttons than the normal TYT DTMF mic you are correct. I did a lot of research before I bought the 9800 and the mic upgrade was one of the things I read about multiple places, so I went ahead and did it. The mic was very inexpensive and required a minor rewire, I think it was around $20. In freezing weather the chip in the mic won't engage the transmitter until it has warmed up. If I am anxious to talk right away I have to hold it on the heat outlet for a couple of minutes the first time I transmit. After that it stays warmed up.

The Comet 712efc's are a great antenna for the price. I actually replaced my Commscope DB404 with one, and right now it's up over 50' on 4 of those fence top rails (of course with guy wires) Sounds like you'll have a nice setup

I am not familiar with Bolton cable. Some Amazon products have questionable heritage, so I would prefer actual Times LMR-400, (not an "equivalent") but otherwise it all sounds good. A miinor point: just remember to leave a drip loop at the cable's entrance to the vent, so any rain water will stay out of the house! Good luck with the new station.

You should be fine with that setup. The 1 3/8" top rails should be fine as long as they are properly supported. I went with 1 5/8" fence post since that is what was used for the original TV antenna and that size pipe is the same as most J mounts ( sat. dish mounts). The ground wire doesn't have to go to the top of the mast. The main thing is the mast is grounded and the ground wire doesn't have any sharp bends. Also make sure that there are not any sharp bends in the coax either. another thing is to make sure to use a good quality N to PL259 adaptor.

You are correct that the standard UV-5R is a ham radio. Most people will unlock them to use on GMRS. Now there is a GMRS only version of the UV-5R called the UV-5R GMRS which is Part 95 certified for GMRS. To answer your question, there is no difference between the UV-5r, UV-5G or other radios based on the original UV-5r like the GT-5R other than what frequencies/bands they can operate on. If you want to stay with a Part 95 certified radio then sticks with the UV-5G or the UV-5R GMRS versions. Here is a link to the UV-5R GMRS radios for those interested https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B18CPDKG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1

We all had high hopes for you. From what I could tell, you seemed genuinely interested in GMRS and radio in general. But now, after holding your hand for all this time, giving you advice that you asked for, answering all your questions, and generally welcoming you into the realm, you seem to have turned on us. Good luck with your journey.

I posted this before as a warning about using non-FCC-type-accepted radios on GMRS, but it seems like it's worth a re-post. This screen grab from an FCC training film illustrates just how serious the FCC is about enforcing type-acceptance regulations. I know. Scary.