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I've been listening to the old dudes on the local GMRS repeater talk about french onion soup and basketball (separate conversations) for too long and decided I need different soup conversations*, so I took my technician exam today. Got 33/35. Thanks, hamstudy.org! The proctoring team told me I should study for the general while this test still fresh, so that's the next goal. I have a certification exam I need to study for at work, but... that's not as much fun. *the french onion soup conversation was the first thing I heard on the local repeater but the actual catalyst for getting an amateur radio license was I managed to catch some transmissions from the ISS a couple of nights ago. I was reading about how you could contact the ISS on 2m/70cm bands and then discovered the ISS was directly overhead. Ran outside with a HT and managed to catch what I assume were packet transmissions. Now I want to talk to a space station. 8 year old me would think it's the coolest thing ever. 42 year old me still thinks it's pretty rad. Maybe someone up there prefers broccoli cheddar soup.

*Shakes fist in the air

As if Randy needs an evil alternate account. As much as I love Randy and sometimes making him reply on YT videos by making absolutely ridiculous statements (it's a hobby), he certainly doesn't need an evil alt. Randy is just evil enough to get by.

You definitely got lied to. Every channel is free to use. No one owns a channel or has a channel allocated to them. Law enforcement almost never uses these channels for official business and when they do, you still have as much right to use the frequency as they do. Most of the time, when FRS/GMRS is used by the government, it's not police. Its typically a civilian liaison acting as a go-between for U/SAR volunteers or volunteers working in support of some type of remote response to things like mass casualty incidents. I'm pretty sure you would know if there was a mass casualty incident close enough that you can hear another user directly.

His stupidity and the stupid shit he says far outweighs the tiny nuggets of correctness that he randomly shits out.. and he has never said anything that 100 others here in the forum could not also tell you. ...just sayin...

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

You should make a step-by-step How-To for blocking/ignoring someone.. with screenshots and arrows and everything.. That way we can all link to it whenever necessary. In the screenshots be sure to use an appropriate user as the example.

What I don't get from SoCal is, he either says or has strongly implied that pretty much none of us know what we are talking about, always wrong, and a bunch of NotARubicon nut huggers (sorry, Randy. You know I love you).... and, he seems like he's always mad at us. So why the heck is he wasting his time and talent on this forum? I've asked him... but no response. Maybe it's like watching a car crash. Its so horrific that you can't look away. Anyway Guest PG3, just ignore the stupid stuff he says and try to pull something useful out of it. Honestly, recording the experience if it continues to happen and then filing a police report with local PD isn't a terrible idea. You just need some proof it's happening and you may get some traction.

What you did wrong was believing some clown on a GMRS radio that was claiming to be the local police.. TL;dr .. he lied to you..

Would this work?

Not to mention that a H.A.M.s radios that has been unlocked to transmit on GMRS does not make it a "GMRS radio" .. You will have to do everything - ALL the programming, EVERYTHING manually, yourself.. For many people this is no big deal.. For many others, it is a dealbreaker.. With a real "GMRS Radio", you take it out of the box, turn it on, pick a channel and talk.. not so with a H.A.M.s radios that is made to transmit on GMRS frequencies..

Thanks to @OffRoaderX for the suggestion! Here are the steps necessary to add a user to your “ignored users” list. First, click your screen name in the upper right hand corner. A drop down dialogue appears. Right next to the bottom it says “Ignored Users”. Click on “Ignored Users”. You’ll see a dialogue asking you to enter a member’s name to your ignore list. Start typing the screen name they use. You’ll see a listing of usernames that match what you’ve typed. Select the name from the list for the user you wish to ignore. Select the check boxes that define what you wish to ignore. If you never want to see their posts, check “posts”. If you want to block messages from them check “messages”. If you don’t want to be notified when they mention you, check “mentions”. And finally, if you just don’t want to see their signature at the bottom of every one of their posts, check signature. For example it makes sense to check signature but not posts if their signature bugs you for some reason. It really doesn’t make sense to select signature when you’re going to be blocking their posts, but that’s the default. Then click the blue button that says “Add User”: You’ll get a quick confirmation message saying you added the user to your ignore list: It’s that easy.

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 think the stuff that he gets right is either because he got lucky and said the right thing by mistake, or he researched the hell out of it and somewhat properly regurgitate what he read, but doesn't actually "know" what he is talking about. I think this, because right after he says something correct, he will follow-up with an explanation of why he right, but that explanation defies physics. Imagine if I said that during certain conditions, if we shoot a GMRS single dang near straight up in the air, it comes back to earth and covers hundreds of miles in every direction. But then, instead of saying that it happens because signals can bounce off of planes, meteor showers, the moon or (more often than not) random weather anomalies... I say it's because the radio signal is so heavy, it's like launching a watermelon out of a giant slingshot. Its kind of like that.

Wrong on both counts. GMRS is for whatever you want it to be used for. HAM is for whatever you want it to be used for. There are plenty of HAM's who use HAM while off-roading or hiking.There are plenty of GMRS users "making contacts" especially through repeaters. Who cares what they use it for. It's there to be used, for whatever someone wants to use it for. If someone wants to use a log book regardless of service, why would you even care?!

Done

sounds like somthing that SOCAL guy would do

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.

I can vouch.. 'Tumbleweed' Sucks.

the odds the FCC will go after people specifically for using non-certified radios is very very slim. One would have a better chance of winning 10 Lotteries. For those that program their non-compliant radios to the exact specs for a given frequency per fcc rules, it would be impossible for the FCC to even enforce it. Now to the idiots that prgram their radios to 40 watts in the FRS band. Go get em'

Best wishes as you go through ham licensing. HamStudy.org makes it easy and enjoyable and free if you like online learning. One of the things you might learn within a couple years of becoming a ham is that one radio isn’t enough. You might even find that the radios you have unlocked, thinking they could do it all, really aren’t enjoyable to use on those unlocked frequencies when compared to a radio certified for those frequencies.

I think you mean that you would like to be able to ignore specific “threads”. If you truly meant “threat” I would urge you to report any threats by clicking on the ellipsis in the upper right corner of the post that includes the threat. I would also like the ability to ignore threads.

You can still see what that guys posts? Man, you gotta jump on the "block that moron" train!

He would fit right in with the rest of the losers and whacko's on 7.200 MHz

excellent idea! will do, thank you

Keep this rule in mind: Users who continue to post inflammatory, abusive comments will be banned from the forum after two warnings are issued by moderators. It might make the forum safer if some of us UNblock anyone that might break this rule, and then report them every time they do.

Get a good temperature controlled soldering station. I like Weller, but lots of people use Hako also. Second, get someone who knows what they’re doing to show you the basics (or watch YouTube videos). Third, don’t be stingy on using flux.

SoCalGMRS should become an Amateur Radio Operator so he'll be a genuine "Sad HAM" and change his handle to SoCalHam and hang with his new hammers on the Radio Reference forum.

One of the best purchases I have made in the last few months was getting a digital microscope. Here is what I ordered: TOMLOV DM9 Max Digital Microscope: 20MP 10.1" 1500X HD IPS HDMI. And here is a photo of a digital command control board for n scale steam locomotives. Those are either 28 or 30 gauge wires that have to be soldered to the electric motor and lights. Here is a photo of the Arcom RC-210 board. \ I had to solder everything onto the board. At least there weren't any tiny toroids that I had to wrap like on my QRP EFHW antenna. As you can see, skills learned from other hobbies transfer over to amateur radio. There are many different facets to amateur radio that one can explore. Having your general license opens up so many doors compared to a technician license.

I confirmed, Steve's step-by-step instruction's work. I no longer see SoCal ... Thanks Steve..

Good rule for Poison Oak & Ivy, but not sumac. Poison Sumac is not three-leaved and is entirely different looking. Sumac leaves are "pinnate" (resembles walnut leaves), with 7-13 paired leaves on a stalk. Sumac is also usually found as a small tree with a woody trunk. [url]https://www.healthline.com/health/outdoor-health/poison-sumac#identify[/url]

Every super hero needs a nemesis

Crazy fan fiction theory.....Socal is an evil alternate acount of notarubicon....dr jekkyl/mr hyde kind of stuff..... only joking, as i know "i" and Randy's "best fan"....he told me so in a video.....

Everyone should just block him. He’s getting his jollies by being mentioned by many. Just completely ignore him. Don’t look at those hidden posts he makes. Make him as irrelevant to the forum as he is in life.

Years back I learned Morse Code while debating on getting a H.A.M ticket. I regret it now, as the noise from my ceiling fan at night keeps saying "Im watching you from the AC vent".

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.

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

I love this bar.

You might also consider a GMRS radio with all the controls in the handset like the BTech GMRS-20V2, the Retevis RA86, or the Midland MXT275. A controls-in-the-handset unit is even more space-efficient than a detachable-faceplate radio and it's easy to find a place to hang the mic. The KT-9900 GMRS is the same radio as the BTech GMRS-20V2 and is the GMRS version of the Anysecu WP-9900 and the KT-9900. I have the WP-9900 and it's a decent unit.

Every jerk and a--hole I know defends him/herself by saying, "I'm just honest." So, here's some honesty for you -- If you find yourself saying that...you're an a--hole.

Look for these on Amazon. They really help when you make a boo-boo.

I did not study for or feel comfortable taking the general test when I took the technician test. I did pass the general test about two months later. It was pretty easy. And having your general definitely opens up more for you. I'm still trying to study for the Extra but I keep getting distracted and chasing other squirrels. Right now I am busy with an Arcom RC-210 repeater controller. assembling the board was the easy part, understanding the programming manual and actually getting the controller programmed is another story. Plans are to connect the main 70cm repeater, a 70cm Allstar node, and our GMRS repeater to the RC-210.

It took a while, but after looking at a variety of other options, I finally decided to get that 3rd brake light antenna mount purchased and installed. It was a little expensive, but it is working very well and I'm pretty happy with it so far! The pics below show it with a dual band 2m/70cm antenna. I've also used it simplex on GMRS with a very small Tram antenna with good results. Thanks again to all who provided constructive feedback on the topic!

Congratulations on the new license. Yes, General is a fairly easy upgrade but be careful as the toys are expensive.

I sell punctuation cheap. Contact me for pricing.

Be warned, where to get the best pizza seems to bring out hams on 2m repeaters. Congrats. Got for General ASAP, it is no harder to do than Tech and there is overlap in the question pool, you could already accidentally pass it on a lucky day.

@Socalgmrs to Randy is like Kiteman was to Batman.

I did a server upgrade for a Dentist years ago. After installing the server, software and transferring data everything worked fine EXCEPT the way the teeth are counted/labeled was all wrong. I called customer support and found out that Dentists in England label teeth differently than those in the USA. The fix was to change the default installed language option from "English" to "American".