Leaderboard

You know, every radio is illegal, if you use it wrong enough...

For our rocket launches I am the LCO (launch control officer) who announces the launch, counts down, and then presses the launch button. The LCO is required to be able to command the attention of the spectators. I’m also the guy who has his mobile GMRS station setup there with a battery so I can talk to the the rocketeers who have walked out on the range to recover their previously launched rockets. It would be great if I could use the GMRS station as a PA.

you should be able to master the Tech in a very short time... I would start looking into get your test scheduled.. Some areas are booking aout as far as 45 days.. You got this.. Get her done

It's multiple choice, you will do fine. Don't sell yourself short.

No, I meant: Who do you talk to?

You do realuze this is a Ham Radio digital mode not allowed on GMRS?

Meanwhile,, i just took a peek in by radio cabnet where dozens of radios sit. Some of us are hyper-focused behind closed doors

I think we can now agree that the dangers of RF exposure are real.

You call Guido and Vinny. They'll have a talk with him.

I cheat on my diet.

More like less than 0.0000000001% chance - and its not a belief, its a fact that anyone can look up on the FCC website, which lists every enforcement the FCC has done for the last ~15 years. NO - It does not appear that the FCC monitors GMRS YES - Disgruntled and very "sad" hams do report violators to the FCC, but the FCC does not appear to care based on the record of enforcements PROBABLY a lot of clubs monitoring, but see the points above because it doesn't matter

are you making a statement, or asking for help?

I'm only just now dipping my toe in anything past FRS radios. I've watched a few HRCC videos and HAM seems super intimidating....although the allure of being able to talk to the ISS from my backyard is incredibly tempting!

That’s a great way to get past the initial reticence. Good job. Try the free flash cards at HamStudy.org. For me they were an excellent way to learn the material, not just memorize the answers.

Just for the heck of it, and not knowing much at all, I just took the Technician's level test on the freeham website. Failed it. 45%, but that's with ZERO studying or prep. I'm sure that with some effort and prep, OP could do it. Go for it!

..this section of the forum is so dead, I didnt even know it was here.. Anyway.. I just setup my Spec5 Trekker Bravo, so, i'm IN !

I just watched both of your videos and I absolutely can not believe that my first post here on mygmrs forums is going to be regarding meshtastic. Bleh... I've enjoyed your approach. As a "normal person," I've never really even understood what meshtastic was. Even their one line description didn't mean much to me. I have to say, though, as someone who is only wading into the GMRS pool (CB radio user for many decades) and by extension, long range-ish communication, it seems like the meshtastic thing is definitely a niche market. In a catastrophic, grid down situation, it's going to require power for two devices and with that many links in the chain necessary for it to propagate, I just don't see the value in it. But then again, I confess to knowing very little about a lot of things.

I'm old. I had a SSN SN but also wore OD green fatigues. But for a while I wore tiger stripes. Looked cool, but I think they stood out more than blended in.

It can get rather technical but 50 watts of non-ionizing radiation is 50 watts. Don't touch a 100 watt light bulb and don't hold on to a 50 watt bulb for too long.

Dont close the door on a Tech license and DMR. It opens up the world to you as well as point to point communications without regard to the inconsistencies of propogation. Keep an open mind. Many do not like to see GMRS as Ham-lite! But I understand your personal use of GMRS

Perhaps, perhaps not, but definitley a couple step above it in cost.

and we shiould all be in prison

Agree, but a paper trail is better than no trail

The attached papers give a bit more info on RF power exposure limits. This can get rather technical. Limits for Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE).pdf CNIRP GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (100 KHZ TO 300 GHZ).pdf

I don’t know for certain if it would help, but I would recommend compiling a list of the various complaints that you and others have had including the police report and submitting it to the FCC.

What OS are you using? Because, yeah, what @SteveShannon said. Pretty much any OS has an on-board program to deal with zip files natively.

Okay, good point. My DB25-G has a jack for a headset. Perhaps some bubble gum and bailing wire could somehow make that work.

What would you need a Jeep for? In most communities it is illegal to drive off the pavement. See how that reads?

gotta love the guys dedication.

They nearly all do for reception, but they don’t allow you to send your own amplified voice to the speaker.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the dedication to insanity and unfettered IDGAF displayed in this photo? And now that we've gotten a moment of awe out of the way, what are those antennas, even? Edit: FOUND HIM! https://youtu.be/SKI1W01OelU?si=i9Z5MfgNuvs-4Yib

I wore greens as well but in the Navy as a Bos'n Mate / Salvage Diver. We used nicknames instead UNLESS you were in trouble!

This^

At least the battery is included.

Anyone can report interference or non-compliance. The FCC seldom (never?) does anything about GMRS. I have no idea if many reports are made about GMRS. I know virtually no actions have been taken against GMRS users. I have no idea why a ham would be disgruntled about GMRS. I participate in amateur radio and we simply don’t often discuss GMRS often. Probably about 20% of us hold both licenses. There certainly are “sad hams” but most hams are not them. In fact many of the people who complain most vehemently about GMRS users breaking the rules aren’t even hams. I’ve seen many more radio professionals complain about noncompliance in GMRS than I have hams.

this should this should fix any antenna woes

how many stop-signs have you rolled through in the last month how how many times have you exceeded the speed limited by more than 1/2 mph?

Mine was all numbers - 793-8--------

Tell us you're old as dirt without saying you're old as dirt. (All in good fun, brother. I didn't have a non-SSN service number, but I did wear OD fatigues.)

Nope. A lot of them do because it *can* decrease confusion in new users. What's required is that the radio enforce the rules. The rules don't say anything about what memory slot a frequency sits in. My "nice" GMRS radios (nice for me...), KG-905Gs, will force the radio to low power if you put, say, GMRS Channel 8 in memory slot 20, or allow high power and frequency offset for repeaters channels if you put them in, say, memory slot 8, where a low power interstitial channel would normally go. Lazily programmed (from the factory, I mean) radios force things rigidly in place because it's easier than enforcing the rules more broadly.

You can buy really nice used scopes at Ham swaps for good prices. I've seen plenty of dual channel 100MHz Techtronic scopes for sale for $100 to $200. In fact good used test gear is one of the things I always look out for. For a hobbyist it a great way to build up a test bench for a few $100's to a $1000 depending on what you want. You can easily end up with gear that would have cost several $10K's if purchased new at the time. At a minimum I would recommend a couple of variable DC power supplies (0 to 30 VDC at 1 to 2 amps), function generator (good to 5MHz), dual channel scope (50 MHz to 100 MHz) and a good bench top 4.5 digit multi-meter. After that you can look for more specialized gear like RF power meters, frequency counters, LCR meters, electronic loads, service monitors etc. depending on one's area of interest. Most of my more specialized stuff is stored away unless I'm using it. I have a dual channel HP frequency counter I have to do some work on (replace a noisy fan and install the optional 4GHz prescaler.) GPS disciplined 10MHz frequency standard, a used Rubidium atomic frequency standard, 200 MHz quad channel scope, 6.5 digit bench multi-meter, 20 MHz dual channel arbitrary digital waveform generator, 200 watt electronic load ...

With me, and I'm not sure how guilty I may be, but if I do it's habit. A habit, because it's required on my work radio. It's only natural that some of those habits follow me. In my case, I'm usually checking for warrants. CCSD -Britt

I sign on and off with my callsign and use it frequently throughout the conversation. I don't know why people refuse to believe my callsign is BR549.

@OffRoaderX went far beyond sharing an opinion. I genuinely cannot imagine why anyone would be annoyed by use of the phonetic alphabet unless it's because "some people" think it's a symptom of trying to be a ham in a GMRS community. I think part of the reason hams use the phonetic alphabet so much is that amateur radio is international. It can be pretty hard to understand someone whose first language is not the same as your own, especially the pronunciation of some letters. Just think of how much "B" and "V" sound alike in Spanish. GMRS users almost never talk to someone in another country, so being understood is not as much of a challenge (unless you're in California). Furthermore, shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies, which typically improves clarity in voice signals. Even the difference between 70cm and 2m can sometimes be discernible. If you're playing around on 80 meters, you're going to repeat yourself quite a bit. GMRS, being at the higher end of the spectrum, rarely suffers from poor quality of voice signals. For the most part, if you can punch the signal through, you'll be understood. Simply put, GMRS users don't use the phonetic alphabet because we don't need to. It's easier for me to say "WRTC" than "Whiskey Romeo Tango Charlie", but sometimes I'm going to use the phonetic anyway. I have 33 years of using the phonetic alphabet in uniformed service and I also participate in amateur radio. It happens. I just don't understand why anyone gets their undies in a wad over it.

WOW!!! Looks like some people could use a Snickers Bar about now. We can't blame it on people being cooped up in the house due to cold weather either. We aren't sticklers on the use of call signs on our repeater. You can either give your call sign at the beginning of your first transmission or at the end of your first transmission. I know the rules only state every 15 minutes and at the end of the conversation. But it's a curtesy to give it in the first transmission since we have a lot of people with the same names or they sound similar on the radio. It makes it easier to know who we are talking to. The only time we say anything about someone NOT using a call sign is if they are kerchunking the repeater. It' not hard to just say "your call sign testing". And if they want to give their call sign at the end of every transmission, we won't say much about that either. This is especially true if there are a few of us on the repeater talking as a group.. To each their own.

Sir, I am a serious Youtuber.. I don't "do" comical videos as they are beneath me and my audience.

I don't know about "those guys", but I know that after 33 years in uniform, it feels a lot more natural to use it than not. On GMRS, I try not to use it for the sake of the butthurt crybabies who'll take offense, but sometimes it slips out anyway.

Someone should make a video on Youtube explaining how simple it is to do...

It kind of seems to me like so many GMRS users are eager to police what other people do on the air. Why?