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I have to disagree with using a mobile radio being dangerous when driving. I am unaware of a single study that supports the claim. There are plenty of studies that show drivers adjusting their AM/FM/Sat radios are in the top 3 causes of distracted driving, but nothing about 2-way radio. I would think it's no different then talking to a passenger. The next step from laws like this is no entertainment radio, no navigation, no talking to passengers. It's stupid and tyrannical. Just hold people accountable for distracted driving instead of naming and outlaw every possible distraction.

This article explores your question. The difference is very slight: https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/when-antenna-tilt-matters.html

The same people tend to like ridiculous gun laws that don’t actually reduce crime. Those people likely don’t own radios or guns, so they don’t care. They want government to make it all better. Safer. They also lack enough intelligence to understand they are willfully and incrementally giving up their freedom.

Those that push using channel 19 haven't looked at their license I guess. The frequencies for channel 19, simplex and repeater, are prohibited north of "Line A" and East of "Line C". That cuts out a LOT of population centers. That's why it's a dumb idea.

@Hoppyjr sadly, you are right.

No, people want to be able to talk into a mic, and no, we don't want it to pass.

There is also the option of a Software Defined Radio dongle. Personally, I did go all out and spend close to $500 building a whole box with several SDR's (to monitor everything from 100KHz-6GHz), outlets, and a Raspberry Pi to run it on, but you can just buy the dongle and a converter to drop the SDR Dongle down into the SW bands. The Software Defined Radio world is pretty big when it comes to the different dongles you can buy. The software to run it on is free online and they have quite a few programs out there that will monitor, decode, etc. This is another route you could go. The drawback to it is that, it requires you have a computer with the dongle whereas the radio could be much smaller and portable if that matters to you. For me, I dont do anything HF outside of the house aside from CB in my vehicle so all of my operating HF/SW listening it done at home, so the SDR was a good choice for me. That's not saying that you can take an SDR portable and they do sell actual SDR radios. I figured I add my two cents on this option if it is something that might work for you. The dongles, last I checked, are around $35 or so and the converter is around $70. The prices vary depending on what you want. And to the guy who said to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW, there is a cheaper option if someone wanted to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW. I own the Yaesu ft 891 which I got from HRO for $675. While buying a Ham Radio to listen to SW is pretty dumb, there is the chance that you may want to talk on it, especially if you are listening to Ham frequencies. Some people do. But if you are just strictly an SW Listener, take the cheaper route and just purchase a SW radio, or SDR. I of all people realize that radio is a HUGE world and what you like and get into is many times going to be the total opposite of what most others get into. Just because you like SWL doesn't mean you love HF Ham Radio. My first love in radio was AM broadcast at age 10. That led to SWL and then CB Radio. That was over 30 years ago and up until now, I have never had an interest in operating HF. I've actually hated it. However, now I actually enjoy operating HF. But that is how different some people can be when it comes to radio. So, take in all the information on here and do what works for you and enjoy. It's a big world out there. 73 N1YFA Hamilton

A standard for a "Travel Channel" and its history is well documented and established probably way before many people on this forum were born or took up this hobby and that may be the reason why there is this confusion between Channels 19 and 20. My position the standard hasn't gone away its still there I just wish that people would honor it.

Typical government overreach from people who desire complete control of the population. It would be nice if the citizens would wake up and stop electing actual tyrants. Actions > Words

@WRXP381 I agree with most of what you are saying and it can be frustrating sometimes to explain the same thing over and over again but we need to remember that there are still many people who don't have much experience with technology or with research. There are both young and old getting into the hobby. Some can figure it out for themselves and some need some help. Let's be patient and welcome them in.

Remember the days when your name, your wife's name, address and phone number were published for all to see in a book then promptly mailed free of charge without anyone asking, to everyones house! I was just searching my name today for fun, it's pretty funny, it says I'm single, I'm not, it says I went to a high school I never went to or even lived anywhere close to it. It says my net worth is pennies while my yearly income is some giant number. And says my family members include people who's names I've never heard of. It says my past address while correct, was from 2000 when I havn't lived there since college in 1989. The interweb gets ALOT wrong. But i'm sure the media would be happy to publish it as fact.

Good points! I forgot about the SDRs. I have one here on the bench, an SDRplay RSPdx, I bought used over a year ago and really don't use it much. When I do, it works really well, all depends on the software and computer. You just have to add the antenna and computer. And believe it or not, there are actually people that don't own a computer, but have a smartphone. That's even better, no extra hardware needed as there are on-line SDR services for free that work really well. See what happens when you kick the hornet's nest and people come out and put multitude of options on the table. http://www.websdr.org/

Textbook Sad-H.A.M. "spending other people's money" response. The only thing you forgot was your callsign and telling us how many years you've been licensed, so 8/10

There are only two GMRS channels that may not be used above Line A: channels 19 and 21. I understand the desire to pay homage to “Channel 19”, but having a “Road Channel” that people within 100 miles of the Canadian border could use, such as the citizens of “Motor City” or Seattle, might be important. The channel 19 touch was a cool idea, though. It’s just better to have a single road channel that anyone can use.

This just arrived in my mailbox - video to follow in the next few days... Please post your questions below and I will address them in the video (if they're not stupid)..

I'm heartbroken. We're losing some affordable, quality products soon. https://youtu.be/1r-RxIvw5zY?si=6sdAppWmYd1rrqP7

I need to put a cactus on my land but they don't grow in Florida.

I’ve made this heavy oak base for mine with some silicone grippy tape in the inset. The radio sits still on my desk with the antenna coax connected and while tuning.

Visit https://belrig.by/ There are weird obstacles with making payment because some banks wont remit into Belarus because of the Russia stuff, and Belarus is a chrony state of the RF. Chase will. I've bought two and "middled" for a couple of other people who wanted one. Do a google and youtube deep dive on the Belka DX or "Belka Radio".. It's the thing.. With today's exchange rate they're only $144

No there's no internet involved. it does all of it's own radio-ing lol. It can just also be connected to a PC and be controlled that way,.. even one not connected to the internet. But you definitely don't even need to work out using it that way. Turn it on and use it. It tunes SSB as good as a $1,000 communications receiver.

So I play with shortwaves, even more-so than I play with GMRS stuff. If I would recommend 1 thing, it would be to get a Belka. It’s that tiny black radio on the upper right of my photo. I know that it seems impossibly small to be anything good. It’s the best radio pictured there.. It can do it because it’s a self contained SDR radio. You can spin the dial right on the unit itself and tune things, or it plugs into a PC with IQ output and can be used with software. It’s the modern best of all things. The maker of these is in Belarus and you have to have it ordered from there. They’re a bit rare to get in the United States, but it’s very doable. I have 2. The one you see and one boxed and put away to be sure I’m never without one. They’re less than $200.

I'm convinced that the reason some people want this kind of thing to pass is that they refuse to differentiate between a radio that doesn't take your eyes off the road and a smart phone that requires you to often look away and type. Therefore, their logic is "If I can't use my device, no one can." Followed immediately by "nerny nerny nerny".

That has to be a power thing. Even on regular CAT5, I don't think you are supposed to have any data loss until you go over 100 meters. (Way longer than the supplied cable). If it's a voltage drop thing, maybe CAT 6 or CAT 7 would help? That's why for POE, to maintain 12vdc at 100 meters, you inject 48vdc and let the device regulate whatever is left at the end of the run down to the needed 12vdc. Given that, if you could identify the power pins, you could (in theory) cut those pins at the head, then inject that voltage on those pins closer to the face to get up to 100 meters. FYI, I'm not a professional IT guy, so this may work, or you try this and your face plate explodes.

I read through all 3 pages of this thread. If i understand it all correctly, Ch 19 is the "Road channel" and Ch 16 is the "off-Road" channel. Do i have it correct? In the twin cities area of Minnesota, not finding much of anything whilst scanning. Still have a huge lot to learn about these Radios, I just got my license and went with a Randy recommendation for a beginner radio, Baofeng UV-5G Plus. (Randy is worth listening to, correct?). Being so new I'm still trying to sort the wheat from the chaff. Jimmy

Gilles is always going to give you the straight dope on shortwave radios.

What is wrong with you? People should be able to ask questions without you being a jerk.

There are several GMRS repeaters in your area. What part of San Diego do you live in?

Haha, funny you mention the online SDR's. There have been some times when I have checked into a net in the morning and I have to run out of the room and just flip the net on on my phone until I can get back in the room... SHhh.... dont say nothing ha ha. The software and the computer do have make a difference. I tried using SDR++ on my windows laptop with the SDR and the frequency was off and it was receiving all whacked out. When I built the SDR project box that used a Raspberry Pi, SDR++ actually worked very well with no issues. There is a lot of different software and most all of it is free and sometimes has more features built into it than a radio. It is something I would have loved to have had as a kid. Back when I was a kid, direct entry SW radios were the thing and many tube style ones were still many peoples hands. I owned a few tube style SW radios myself.

New stock Midland MXT275 does have wideband set for the repeater channels.

Take the $500 you're going to flush on that crap and add $400 and get a real radio such as the Yaesu FT-710 and have a transmitter just in case you get your ham license. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-018470

That is mighty nice of you. I mean it's not like the cost to get a pair is super expensive. But most administrators off the bat would of not offered or put secondary user stipulations even the if pair wasn't used. You know "in case". Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I totally agree. That way the system users can operate under the system license authority and don't have to worry about getting an individual license. I have several Part 90 Business Radio Service frequency pairs licensed statewide in California and if I need to I will give permission and/or give up a pair for his system.

The funny thing is that if you enter this young man's name into the Google search engine, you can come up with a lot more information than just his address. Where he went to school, who his fellow students were, when he graduated, where he works, when he started, what his job title is, his baseball stats, his college activities, other business he's involved with, I mean this guy's life is an open book. And that was with about two minutes of searching. I'm not saying it's cool to put every GMRS license on a publicly accessible map without at least asking them, but let's be real... all someone needs is your name.

I noticed that a not all MN licenses show on the map. Mine did not show up and my call is about 5 years old. Also a friends didn’t show. Very cool what you did though.

Have you tried the Roadkill network?

I tell people the test is actually trying to navigate the FCC website and application process.

I think that some GMRS users might be happier with a cell phone service instead of a radio service. With a cell phone you can talk to exactly who you want, when you want, and you don’t have to listen to anyone else. With a radio service it is a shared space where others may talk about things that you aren’t interested in.

Seems to me “some people” have very strong opinions about how and what people can and can’t talk about on repeaters they don’t even own. This us vs them rhetoric is ridiculous. It’s just fn radios people, not the Middle East. You can turn the knob or oh wait if only there was a way to have private conversations with people we know without all the RF turf war tensions. Google it on your iPhone. Go sports team go . If I may interject some sarcasm of my own… Sad hams? Sad GMRSer or is it antihamite? Oh life is so horrible, why can’t I control how hams (AKA other licensed GMRS users) talk on repeaters that aren’t mine? Damn those sad hams! Damn appliance operators! Geezus! Funniest thread ever.

IMHO a repeater should be used however the owner (the one that used private resources to set it up) allows it to be used. A GMRS repeater is not a public utility, even "open" repeaters. If the repeater owner does not like how it is being used then there are ways of limiting access. If you want a channel where you can contact family (or who ever) then you may want to set up your own channel. There are no private or secure frequencies on GMRS but cleaver use of channel selection and CTCSS/DCS filters can give you a discrete channel to use as you want.

Wow is short for, “Thank you for explaining the issue with hams on GMRS.” The issue is not the hams.

1. The discussion is about at what point does shorthand talk become "hidden messages". If I tell someone to grab a squeemy jeemy, and that means to go get me a 10mm wrench with an extension, is that not a hidden meaning? 2. Ten codes are not standardized according to the FCC. Police codes and EMS codes may be different. East coast 10 codes may be different than west coast codes. So who's 10 code do we follow? What makes some 10 codes okay and others not? 3. The point if this discussion is about what constitutes hiding if it is publicized. If I publish the codes online, make it avaliable to Public, able to provide links, printed papers, and give any and all information to the FCC at their demand, how would it be hiding? It was (1) publicly posted. (2) avaliable upon demand. (3) Written out for others to see

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 ?

Again we are beating a dead horse. If you want to use some 10 code use it. I can say in Public Safety world very little of the 10 code system is still in play. Other than 10-4 you wont hear it much in public safety. In SAR we have a few "CODES" for critical information but to be honest just go to encryption if we need to discuss that.

If you mean the Motorola DTR2450 handhelds, I have not used these, but have supported many 900 MHz versions in this series of Motorola portables. The DTR410/550/650's in 900 MHz are great. 2.4 GHz may benefit some users, but I tend to stay away from 2.4 GHz myself as I do not wish to raise the WiFi noise floor in my area, and the 900 MHz radios work. Perhaps as they break, they will get replaced with DTR2450's in time? Here is a video I found online; I do not take credit for any of this video.

My great uncle passed away and his family has a Radio Shack 19-1210 MURS Business Band radio pretty much new in box with all the accessories $65.

Well, where I'm going with this is that the travel and calling frequency has already been established. Why is it necessary to come up with another one. Just support the existing standard.

I don’t mind OffroaderX proposing this (In fact I enjoy his videos), and I don’t mind having it discussed again for people who have recently joined the forum. I just happen to disagree with it because of Line A. However, it really won’t ever affect me to be honest, because I live near Line A and because I don’t expect to drive around with my GMRS radio on anyway. If I ever do it will be with a group of people and we’ll select something else so we don’t interfere with the Road Channel.

And what about the emergency channel? As I recall channel 9 used to be actively monitored for emergencies.

I would support the idea if it weren’t for the fact that 10 - 12 million people live far enough north that they are not allowed to use channel 19 because of an agreement with Canada.