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You can always change it later. Once you drill a hole, well that's not going away if you change your mind. I had a buddy who messed up his measurement when he drilled a hole for his NMO mount in the roof of his old van. It got into one of the support beams on the underside. He ended up putting a plug in the hole he couldn't use and drilled a new hole over a bit. We kidded him for a while asking to see the Band-Aid on his Boo-Boo. Oh, if you do end up at some point drilling a hole. Be absolutely sure you use the right hole saw. The wrong one will really mess up the roof.

Not really. CB licenses were $20 each 50 years ago when $20 was a lot of money. Then they lowered it to $4, perhaps hoping to entice more people to get legal.

Yup. The price is very reasonable too.

I think the biggest difference between CB licensing and GMRS licensing is that CB Licenses were on paper and the reply was on paper and had to be stored in filing cabinet$ and someone had to be paid to handle all that paper and deposit the check and follow-up on bounced checks and returned mail, etc. My GMRS license was filed digitally, paid for digitally, and sent to me digitally. All on a Sunday (i.e. no human beings involved). Bits on a server are so cheap (not zero, but really cheap) that as long as people are willing to pay for a GMRS license, they'll take the money.

Well, to be fair, the Midland GMRS radios that I've used or investigated don't have very much to set up and configure. Each frequency is one channel. You cannot have the same frequency on more than one channel. That means you cannot have two repeaters configured for the same frequency, but with different tones. No channel naming, they're just very simple but reliable. To me the downside is the cost; you pay *more* for the simplicity.

yes, but with a price tag.. Some like RT, i have used both, I don't mind CHIRP, it's free and will get you the same results.

Ignore the crass comments here on the forum. Everyone is a beginner at some point and sometimes if you are not at all familiar with something, the manual is not as intuitive as we would like. Asking question is okay! Like @WRYS709 Said: Welcome to MyGMRS.

this guy fibured it out

Agreed. Some philosophical consistency would boost the FCC's credibility, also. On marine VHF one can TX on channels reserved for port operations, intership safety, intership commercial, international distress, state controlled, U.S. government (non-USCG), USCG, bridge-to-bridge intership in the lower Mississippi river only, U.S. EPA, noncommercial and a dozen other uses with a 25W mobile without having anything -- no testing, no license, no nuthin'. How much damage can one do on GMRS frequencies? A lot less than the above, so why require a license?

We have several projects planned that are in various stages of development, but I'm trying to figure out priorities based upon what the members want (and some things that I haven't thought of yet). I think we can all agree that Problem #1 is outdated listings that never got removed but are no longer on the air for one reason or another. We have plans to address that, but it requires a major redevelopment of the site. In the meantime we have the toggle switches on the map that allow you to hide anything that hasn't been updated in the last year, as it could be stale. So, what do you think myGMRS needs? What do you personally wish we had that we don't? Here's some projects that are being considered or are already in the works: Finish working on the mobile apps. We have a beta version of the iOS app that has some issues before it can be released to everyone. That effort needs to be revived soon. The Android version has been released but there are new features that we want to add (and will also be in iOS). A complete site redevelopment. Much of the code powering myGMRS is over 10 years old. It's the main reason new features aren't being added -- we need a fresh modern platform to work with. Some early experimentation has been done and we think we have the right combination of technology, but need to build it. Then we can begin adding new features once we have covered all the current functionality. Launch of our store and securing reseller arrangements with various suppliers. This has been a small success already that we're hoping will grow with time. Most of my energy has been spent here lately, trying to get products that our members are likely to want to purchase. We're always looking for suggestions on products we should add, so please let us know. Expand our repeater linking project. We have had success with adding systems to our myGMRS Network over the past few years but we haven't pushed to expand very hard. Interested parties have come to us asking to join and we have approved them on a case-by-case basis. It's time, I think, to ramp up the project and try to get more high-quality repeaters on board across the country. There is a lot of work involved in making this something that can scale up without taking huge amounts of my time, however. Upgrade the forums. We're using an older version of the IP.Board software, and I want to migrate to the latest version soon. We'll have to migrate all the accounts and topics over, but hopefully it won't be such a tough process.I also have a really cool project in mind that I'm going to remain tight-lipped about. It would be an app which would be of interest to the entire two-way radio community, not just GMRS and Amateur operators. I'm working on a proof of concept that could expand into a whole side business if successful. So again, what do you think this site is missing? What kinds of features do you think would be worth paying a small subscription for? The core features of the site will remain free. Since incorporating, we have had to look for ways to monetize the site so it pays its own bills and can grow with time. One example might be an ad-free experience for paid subscribers. Another could be advanced tools for helping to compile a list of repeaters along a trip or commute. Dream up some ideas and hopefully we can launch them all!

Hi everyone! As many of you know, we updated our forum software recently and one of the new features we're excited about launching is Clubs! Let me introduce what they are and how they benefit everyone. What are Clubs? "Clubs" are an exciting new way for GMRS groups and clubs to have their own area to post information, events, and photo galleries. This feature is a great way to keep private information like repeater access tones, rosters, and other information hidden from regular myGMRS users, but make it available to the group's members. What information can I post? You can post discussion topics (like a mini-forum) for your group, a photo gallery, and a calendar of events. Use this to share information with your members or allow them to ask questions. You can post your sensitive members-only information such as the repeater access information, Zello information, or anything else that you don't want to make public to all users of myGMRS. Just be sure to set the visibility of the club appropriately so only members can see the posts. What about groups that charge membership fees? This is the best part! If your group charges members a fee to access the group or its repeaters, for example, you can create a paid Club listing! You can set the membership fee and renewal terms, and we'll handle the processing of the payments and renewals for you! Once you approve the member and they have paid, the member will then gain access to the Club and be able to view any private information contained within it. As long as they continue to renew each term, they will remain part of the Club. Once their subscription lapses, they will lose access to the Club and no longer be able to see private information. Every time we collect payment from the members, we deposit the funds into your account on the Forums, less a small fee for using the service. You can then withdraw these funds for free to your PayPal account or request a paper check by mail. Can I approve who joins a club? Great question. Any time a member chooses to join a private club, a request is sent to the club owner. The owner can choose to accept or deny the request. This is great if you have someone who you need to deny access to, such as a banned user. Even if they try to join a paid Club, they will need to be granted access before they can pay. This allows you to fully manage who joins your group, or choose to open it to everyone. What is the cost to use the new Clubs feature? Right now, only Premium Members of myGMRS.com will be able to create a club listing. A Premium subscription is an optional upgrade that allows you to use advanced features such as creating a Club. You can create a Free Club for no additional charge, or you can create a Paid Club where myGMRS will take a small percentage of the membership fees for providing the service (and to offset our own payment processing fees on the credit cards or PayPal transactions). Regular myGMRS members can join any clubs they wish for no charge, except for Paid Clubs that have a membership fee. Joining a club does not require a Premium subscription to myGMRS. How do I create a club listing? Right now, we're still beta testing this feature out. You can join existing clubs, but you won't be able to create your own just yet. We are also still in the process of creating Premium subscriptions. Until we open up Premium subscriptions to everyone, you won't be able to create a club listing. We're busy working on other Premium features so you get more bang for your buck!

@Lscott that looks great especially considering your antenna is mounted to the rack. I have my Comet 2x4SR on a mag mount that is on the expanded metal luggage rack on my SxS. The highest SWR across 2m, 70cm, and GMRS is 1.8 at 467.600 MHz. The 2x4SR is hard to beat.

Well I got around to doing an SWR scan of both the Comet CA-2x4SR and the Diamond NR240CA wide-band antennas the past few days. Both were tested on the UHF type roof rack mount I have on my Mazda. Both antennas are 5/8 wave design, thus they need a decent ground plane to work. I expected crummy results. However I'm absolutely shocked how well they matched up on the VHF and UHF bands!!! I guess there is enough "ground plane" under the mount, plus whatever capacitive coupling between the mounting strap and roof rack rail for a better coupling to the rack rail. The installation looks like this photo, but I have a different antenna on the mount at the time. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/471-mobile-mount-with-antenna-rear-view/?context=new The attached photos show the match on the VHF and UHF bands. The results are very similar. Not uprising since both designs look about the same except the center loading coil. subjectively I think the Diamond antenna match is a bit better.

Except it doesn’t say that. You added it. It says operating under the individual license AND properly identified in accordance with this section. You’ll notice there is a comma after “AND”. It’s not a separate rule the two statements are combined.

I did contact them. they responded that I may need a breakout box and they did provide a pin out for it. I may have to go that route.

There is not a lot of technical information. Like how do you connect the two together, how to add the CW call to the device, how to change it from simplex to duplex. There is more information for the disconnect than station ID

My personal preference is to use the official factory software where possible. That's really important for commercial radios. CHIRP is nice, but for every radio it supports the developers have to reverse engineer the code plug layout and communications protocol with the radio. When it works, great. The one issue with Chirp is it may not always give you access to all of the radio's features. For that the only choice is the factory software.

DMR is defiantly a different game, which I have never used RT or Chirp to do since my Hytera CPM does it well. Right now the only DMR radios i have is Hytera and mostly because i like their overall package and ease of using their CPM. Not to mention some very good deals i've gotten on Ebay....

Chirp does remarkably well for being non-commercial software. If it was available for all of my radios I might never have switched to RT Systems. And I will not say that RT Systems has worked perfectly. I’ve run across a few problems with RT Systems when programming DMR code plugs, which admittedly is an order of magnitude more complicated than typical analog radios. But their DMR calculator makes it much easier and when I have had a problem I have been very impressed by RT Systems willingness to thoroughly discuss and understand every issue that I have reported. Having RT Systems available for my db20g radios really made the difference for me though. I really like this radio and Chirp isn’t available for this radio.

RT is defiantly easer to use but considering the amount of time, at least for me, you spend on programing, i can get things done almost as fast in CHIRP. I'm not a fan of the Wouxun software either but it does do everything needed. I don't use much of either anymore since i use mostly Hytera stuff now. Their CPM is extremely easy to use and learn and very powerful. I have a couiple Motorloa radios, which i like but never could get my hands around their CPM..

I agree with Gil (wruu653). I’m curious what you disagree about. Do you disagree that the conditions of clauses must both be true (the literal and logical meaning word “and” at the end of the first clause), otherwise the repeater must transmit station identification? Do you disagree with our interpretation that the condition of the first clause is satisfied only if the people using the repeater are people using the license of the repeater owner? Literally “stations operating under the authority of the individual license under which it operates”. Do you disagree that the condition of the second clause is satisfied only if all people using the repeater follow the rules regarding identifying when they use the repeater? Or do you disagree on some other basis? Enhanced Content - Paragraph Tools URL https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/part-95#p-95.1751(c) Citation 47 CFR 95.1751(c) : c. Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.

Ahh I guess you’re right there. It’s a 12V accessory port, not a functional cig port.

I’m running the MXTA25 ghost on a hood-hinge mount on the passenger side. Absolutely not the best location for it RF-wise, but it was the best spot for me since I wasn’t prepared to drill the cab roof. I’ve been testing it out the past few days w an AT-778UVII at ~5/15/25W and it’s done remarkably well. Granted, it does better when I’m pointed at what I’m talking to since it has the passenger A-pillar behind it. My radiation pattern is a bit wonky due to where that antenna sits. But I’m happy with this so far. I’ve been able to get into repeaters with low watts at distance so it’s working for me, despite the non-optimal config.

Is it an actual cigarette lighter port or is it a powder accessory port? There is a difference between the two. A cigarette lighter will have prongs inside to hold the lighter in while it heats up while an accessory port does not have the prongs.

yup, its a good idea to auto identify your repeater station, especially if it is an open repeater. At the end of the day, Its operation is the owners responsibility. Also a good idea to set up for remote access to disable if needed.. I have never had to remote shut down mine but a nearby friend has a few times due to jamming. Another thing he does, that i don't, i probly should, if he is away from montering range he shuts his down.. His is set up for continuous 15 minute ID intervals. I dont like that, i think it is silly, so i set mine for ID on Busy only on 15 min intervals. It's a personal preference thing. He does it so people can find and identity that particular repeate which has a very very wide operational range.

Send Repeater ID a email they are very nice & helpful. This is what they made for me for mine. Bushnell_pause_added.mp3

Yes you should not have any issues with RT Systems.

The RT Systems softwares is not the same as the free software that you can download. I find the RT Systems software works better.

Your repeater isn’t required to ID if and only if the only people who use it are people you have authorized to use your call sign and they identify correctly. If anyone with a different call sign uses your repeater, the repeater must be IDed. You can certainly do that manually and it definitely doesn’t have to be Morse code, but the repeater must be identified. Morse just happens to be built in for some controllers. Personally I prefer English language IDs also.

KAUO6363, Sent in a form that was in the Kraco box to Uncle Charlie when I was at Ft. Campbell in '76.

That really depends on the radio, each will be different. Some 50 watt radios will draw up to 13-14 amps while transmitting on high power. The Icom IC-2730A draws 13 amps and the Wouxun KG-1000G draws 12 amps. Each brand/model will vary on how much current they draw. Vehicles have not had actual cigarette lighters in them for quite some time now. Those were normally rated a little higher than the accessory socket found in most vehicles now days. Most manufacturers protect the accessory ports with a 10 amp fuse and the owner's manuals state to never exceed 10 amps. As you said, getting consistent power through a cigarette lighter/accessory port is not the most reliable. Plus you always take a greater chance of getting interference in the radio from the vehicle wiring or rf interference from the radio when using an accessory port.

Yes, but in a lot of vehicles, getting a consistent 10 amps through the cigarette lighter plug can be impossible. Not necessarily, because my Chevrolet Trax will deliver 16 amps all day long, but many vehicles -- especially older vehicles -- won't. That said, depending upon where you live and what you want to do, 50 watts may be overkill. The quad-band radio in my truck will deliver 50 watts, but I usually run it on 12. In my location and for what I do, if 25 watts won't get me there, 50 won't either. My take is that you should get a radio that has the features you want, but don't pay extra to get more than 25 watts unless you know you're going to need the extra power. Virtually all antennas will work better with a good ground plane, but a trunk lip mount or hood lip mount can deliver well enough for a lot of users. There's a plethora of good antennas and you'll get about as many opinions as there are users, but a few tend to stick out. The Comet 2x4SR is a remarkably good all-purpose antenna and it can perform acceptably on a lip mount. The Midland Ghost surprised me with how well it performed, but I didn't try it on a lip mount. For a mag mount, I've gotten good results with a Nagoya UT-72, although others report that they haven't. The advantage to a mag mount is that you can move it around until you find a suitable ground plane. There are a number of good lip mount NMO units, you just need to keep looking.

Yes, it’s possible. They’ve asked us for suggestions for simplifying regulations. Most (by far) of the people who use GMRS now don’t have licenses. One way to simplify this would be to combine FRS and GMRS into a single unlicensed service like FRS is today.

I Might even hang this in my Shack ... except I know others, possibly related to him.

I love this bar.

You shouldn't post his callsign because now people can very easily go to this link: FCC License Lookup and find his full name and address via the publicly available FCC license information. But he probably doesn't mind if everyone looks up his full legal name and address because we know he read all the rules and regulations before he signed up for his license - because that's the number-one stupid thing he obsessively repeats in his posts to other people. So he obviously knows all of his information is free for anyone to look up.

I thought we were friends but now I see that you hate me.

hiding an 80' tower from your wife.. your are good.. you need to sell lessons..

awhile back i saw a video on another forum where a Ham Radio Operator took a moded (GMRS) Yeasu and a GMRS Wouxun KG1000 and benched tested both radios. The Yeasu (as expected) putt out a lot less Harmonics, much cleaner and kept its power specs when keyed for a long period.. I can tell you, every single Ham guy i know has their Kenwood, Icom or Yeasu dialed in to GMRS at a flip of the dial. Honestly, i don't know any Ham operators that aren't set up in this fashion.. A bit funny but i'll bet a lunch many here whom complain as it being illegal has a Baufang stashed somewhere dialed in for GMRS.. I mean really, how many of you went to the prom without sneaking a beer.. If you said 'Not me" you're boring as hell.

See? Even if you ask a stupid question, you can learn something.

There are a few repeaters in my area that I have requested access. One of them I requested access twice in a year and a half (private repeater). The owner states that you have to give him certain information including a valid phone number so he can conduct a phone interview. Of course, I never heard from the owner. I don't care enough to look into it more. The rules for requesting access was a red flag but I tried anyway. On the other hand I have requested access on some other repeaters, not in my area, and received permission in a day or two. If there is an open repeater listed, with tones, that requires you to request access and I don't hear from the owner I will just use the repeater. If questioned by the owner I will then ask permission on the air. That has never happened. I don't understand why there are still owners that have repeaters listed as open, with the tones listed, yet they still want you to request access. I don't tend to play well with others and my use of radio is to make quick contact with people I know for a specific purpose. If repeater owners go the route of drama I don't get mad, I just erase the info from my radio and move on. It is their machine so they can have their rules. On the HAM side, if some moron wants to critique my radio usage I just finish my transmission and ignore them. I don't use radio, Amateur or GMRS, for meeting random basement dwellers in the darkest hours of the night so I don't really run into those type of repeater people very often. Don't take it too seriously.

I've had multiple requests pending for over a year. If the repeater is listed as open, and I've had no response to a request for access, I just use it. If the owner doesn't want me on it they'll let me know. I'd do the same if it were my repeater; i.e. just turn it on and let it go.

I was at my typical Thursday night radio coffee group get together last night. One of the guys had a good setup for a ground plane for a mobile antenna mounted on the rack behind the truck cab. I took a couple of photos to share on the group here. Might give a few people some ideas to try out.

I'm looking to do the same. I've amassed quite a collection of radios that are just collecting dust.

Thanks Rich. I need to get rid of a ton of stuff and rather sell here.

I'd like to be able to see the map with __all__ coverage circles __at the same time.__ Should make it much easier to tell where repeater coverage is required!

How about some how to, or tutorials, on basic topics. GMRS is mainly aimed at non technical people who simply want a good means of communications and don't have much interest in the theory or radio as a hobby. For that there is Ham Radio. For example one wants a mobile installation. Basic info on how a mobile radio should be wired up for electrical safety, battery connections, fuses etc. What type of coax cable to use, cable connectors, antenna location and antenna mounts. Recommended mobile radios, antenna manufactures and models. Some sample photos of other people's installations for ideas to go along with the written material. Another would be for portable radios. Recommended manufactures and models. Issues with using a portable radio in a mobile setting, speaker microphones, heat sets, battery types, battery eliminators, cable adapters from the portable radio to mobile antenna. Again some sample photos. Repeater operation. What are they used for. What specific channels are reserved for them. Explain why there are two frequencies used and in general how this is programed in to the radio. Explain what a "PL" tone is used for and why it's typically required. The how to's should be kept at a low simple technical level. The idea is to help somebody setup a functional radio installation without getting mired in a lot of theory. After the system is up and running there is plenty of time and people who can provide additional info for those that have the interest.

How about a classified section? I second the chat room....

Whats the chance we can get a chat room? Is that even a thing anymore? I like the idea of ad supported, and yes I would pay 5 bucks a month to not see them! 1. Expand our repeater linking project!