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I remember reading about that shortly after it happened. Some articles include the fact that he’s a ham in the headline, but that had nothing to do with the fact that he was disrupting their communications on 151 MHz and attempting to redirect firefighting resources. I would have loved to see the interaction when the official drove over to his location and clarified things. I have absolutely no sympathy for this jerk. He’s the kind of guy that reflects poorly on all hams.

I just had one of my towers inspected today and I'm happy to say it passed.

The higher up you can get the antenna the better, even on a hand held radio. Just have to get a bit creative about how to do it. It’s a 1/4 wave ground plane zip tied to a baseball type hat. The antenna is only a touch more than 6 inches tall for the top element. It’s made using nothing more than a cheap female PCB type BNC connector and 1/16 inch diameter buss wire. Then I used about a 3 foot adapter cable, BNC male to SMA male, with real skinny coax for flexibility and a 90 degree BNC male to female adapter.

I see he left his calling card

Here is a full list of all the FRS/GMRS channels. https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2022/11/list-of-gmrs-frequencies-and-channels.html?srsltid=AfmBOopMy04seYsWSiiA4DFSusU7BoworzqVnVNJg83cZ5PuwO9Wl5V7

Hi John, For GMRS and FRS, the FCC has designated 22 specific frequencies for our simplex use and 8 more for transmitting to the repeater. The channels are interlaced. So tuning to an “in-between” frequency might be interfering with other services or other channels. You’ll definitely want to read the regulations to see what frequencies we are allowed and the power and bandwidth: § 95.1763 GMRS channels. The GMRS is allotted 30 channels—16 main channels and 14 interstitial channels. GMRS stations may transmit on any of the channels as indicated below. (a) 462 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, repeater, base and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 462.5500, 462.5750, 462.6000, 462.6250, 462.6500, 462.6750, 462.7000, and 462.7250 MHz. (b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable and base stations may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 462.5625, 462.5875, 462.6125, 462.6375, 462.6625, 462.6875, and 462.7125 MHz. (c) 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c). The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz. (d) 467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz.

Yeah I ran into that too, as you know their site is not well laid out. Go to the License Manager page, log in and once you do that at near the top of the page you'll see this (if I rememer correctly the referance copy link is at the bottom of the page, don't click that one) click on "here" in the green box and it will take you to a page where you can choose which license you want to print and the print button will be in the lower right hand side.

You’re joking, right?

My old one had it, same as @SteveShannon I downloaded it again and it’s gone. Nice to see some repeater options open up for those areas and simplex as well.

Repeater is open to use. https://www.howardcountyreact.org/gmrs PL tone looks good on the screenshot.

Thank you for putting together. Great Job!

Another company that sells FRS baby monitors: https://roaroutside.com/pages/faqs?srsltid=AfmBOoqPv7k7oop_6MIL4grQqkl1l5HDLiGFFCud_MW_eNhDSoMX_R-8 The point is that if you have 300 people who rely on GMRS, you’re already vulnerable to a communication failure of your very important something. At the very least you need to develop contingency plans that include meeting up on other channels in case the channel you rely on is busy and training so they know more than turning them on and pushing the PTT.

It's there... but imaginary, just like the lines.

Inspections are important. It would seem your inspector is a good boy.

Thanks for the explanation! I wasn't sure if you could just use in between frequencies. Now I understand that it could disrupt others services that share the frequencies. Don't want to do that on any frequency! You know, I did read § 95.1763 GMRS channels and it just went right over my head since the radio already had them programmed in there. I'll admit, I was in a hurry and not paying attention. But again, I appreciate the responses!

On GMRS certified radios the channels [1-30] are already programmed. Channels 1-14 should have 4 digits after the decimal like 462.5625. These all end in 5 - they're 12.5KHz above and below the frequencies for channels 15-30. If you do a search you should be able to find a chart to help you visualize the relationship.

GMRS-16- 462.575 sits there already.

Thanks for the reminder of how to print the official copy. I always have to fumble around a little bit too.

Nothing about the general personal radio services regulations nor those of part B (FRS) or part E (GMRS) support the position that a licensed user has a greater right to the 22 shared channels.

The license gets you more allowable TX power, being able to improve antennas and use repeaters. It is ironic that people that come to GMRS/FRS are surprised to find it used by families. The "F" in FRS actually means "FAMILY" and FCC rules for GMRS/FRS encourages family use. It even makes YOUR license cover almost all of YOUR family.

The only one I can download now is the "Reference" copy. Can't get the "Official" copy. Not sure what the difference is but yeah, when I download the reference copy it does not have the Line A/Line C restriction.

95.531(b) One-way communications. FRS units may be used for one-way communications that are emergency messages, traveler assistance communications, voice pages or brief equipment tests. § 95.533 Prohibited FRS uses. FRS units must not be used for one-way communications other than those listed in § 95.531(b). Initial transmissions to establish two-way communications and data transmissions listed in § 95.531(a) are not considered to be one-way communications for the purposes of this section.

Haha! That's funny.

Thank GOD for that. The gym is way too crowded right now. It should thin out in a month or two.

Similar here. I assumed my 25W mobile and 3dbi mag mount would work great with a pizza pan in the closet. I was very wrong. Time to get a base antenna, some LMR400 and drill a hole.

Calling it a “GMRS repeater frequency” implies more than actually exists. 22 isn’t dedicated to repeaters. It’s available for FRS simplex, GMRS simplex, and as the output of a GMRS repeater. It might suck, but legal FRS users have as much right to use it as GMRS users. But the actions you describe are excellent reasons why people shouldn’t use wireless intercoms or baby monitors, regardless of the frequency.

I think that was his seal of approval. He did note that I had a good grounding system, but need some soil conditioning to improve the grounding characteristics.

If you are really intent on tracking it down, look into the KrakenSDR - it will cost you, but it will take you to their front door in a matter of minutes - literally. SOURCE: I had one and used it to track down several repeater-jammers, one of them whilst he was driving in his car

Someone has their radio turned on with VOX turned on.

My old one had it, but when I downloaded a new copy it wasn’t there.

Happy New Year, Adam! Don’t worry about it. You’re a decent man. I have no resolutions. Not that I do things right already, just that I’m not going to change.

Hey folks, a few months back, I discussed providing a presentation on the introduction to GMRS, to just cover the basics. We held the presentation a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share the video with everyone. Fair warning, I'm not a pro YouTuber and my collar mic dropped with a few minutes left... please be gentle. LoL This is geared towards people with little to no experience. Hopefully it helps some people. The PowerPoint presentation is available for download, here... https://marcspaz.com/gmrs/GMRS101.ppsx Thank you to those who helped with content ideas.

Here is a good video about FCC enforcement. Granted the idiot deserves what he gets for interfering with firefighters trying to put out a forest fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJZroDsXBrA

Marc, Thank you for your work in putting together this excellent video! Ed

The FCC can just dispense with the license like they did years ago for CB 11M and just let people do whatever they want. The FCC screwed up when they allowed the sale of combo FRS/GMRS radios while requiring people to get a license to use the then at the time GMRS only channels. Almost everyone ignored that requirement so the FCC just changed the rules and gave FRS access to the GMRS channels with out the license requirement. As a reference point Australia has a UHF 80 channel license free CB radio service WITH repeater access. So it can be done. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHF_CB

It wasn't in the order(s). And he's still listed in the FCC database with an active HV (Ham vanity) license. He didn't violate any HAM rules technically so that makes some sense I guess.

Nope. Otherwise why bother with getting a license, much less having to pay a fee for it too.

Welcome! You're in the right place. There are some very smart and helpful members here, many amateur + GMRS combos like yourself. And a few lightweights like me.

Agree. Another question: As GMRS licnesees, are we obligated to accept interference by the rules, regardless of the shared channel environment? I believe that FRS users are obligated to not cause IX, and must accept IX.

very easy to locate,,, If it were me and it was impacting my repeater, i would talk with the homeowner and explain what is going on and offer to help them locate the interfering signal, which is more than likely a walkie talkie in VOX as Steve mentioned.. Be nice, have a civil conversation, don't storm in, parents have no clue what is happening. Good Luck..

Well, if i could get to the door, i would 'knock knock' and have a civil conversation with the parents.... Most of the time that would work, but no guarantee.. You'll never know unless you try..

This has been continuously transmitting for weeks…

Take that frequency out of your scan list.

Are those two radios close to each other when you transmit? If so, the transmitting radio may be overloading the receiving radio, causing a condition called “desense.”

Only the H model is capable of cross band repeat. It receives on 70cm and transmits on 2m. And yes it works well. But I do not use the cross band on the Q10H much since all of my 50 watt mobiles are capable of cross band repeat which works a whole lot better.

You’re Welcome! These inexpensive units have consistently passed the test of time. I picked up the Radioddity DB25-D mini-mobile to add DMR versatility to it and now if they would only add SSB; we could have the full package for 2 meters and 440 MHz.

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad it helped. Im considering doing two dedicated videos for repeaters and tones. For the time being, feel free to search the existing threads and ask questions. There are many knowledgeable people who loved to help.

Hello Marc! I just got my GMRS license and really didn't know too much. Your video has helped me tremendously in understanding concept. I'm still not totally understanding about repeaters but in time and research, I feel that I will be able to communicate using a repeater. I'm still confused on tones, but again, time and research will provide answers. Thank You for the information!

It was definitely a joke people.