nokones

I believe the original poster was referring to setting up a GMRS base station that will allow 50 watts on the main channels but, you're right he can only use 5 watts on the 462 MHz interstitial channels.

And, that would be naughty naughty and may interfere with other channels and make the FCC Lords very unhappy.

I hear some of those cheap amps may not be FCC type-accepted and put out dirty emissions that may not be within the rules.

Some law enforcement agencies will use a mixture of 9 and 10 codes, 10 and 11 codes, or just 9 codes only. Some agencies such as Los Angeles PD use plain language with the exception of a few "Code" codes i.e. Code 4, Code 5, etc. along with numerous Penal Code statute section numbers such as 211 for Robbery which is Penal Code Section "211". I wonder if LAPD still use "See the Man/Woman" phrase when they dispatch a call to a Radio Car Then, there is the so called unofficial "800" Code which is not for appropriate use in front of kids such as "832". Radio codes are not used to coverup the meaning or keep confidential from the public. They are mainly used for clarity and brevity. Some codes have a standard meaning like 10-4 (OK, message received.) 10-1 means poor reception, 10-2 good reception, 10-3 change channels. Also, a lot of the 10 codes beyond the basic 10-1 to 10-10 codes will have different meaning for numerous agencies and that goes for the "9" codes too.

You might want to try a Midland NMO mag-mount. The cable they use is pretty flexible and forgiving. Just whack off their PL259 connector and crimp on an Amphenol connector. The PL259 connector they use is junk.

So, you're saying that the FCC is assured that a GMRS licensee will know and not program a FRS Channel 8-14 at a higher power output level than .5 watt with a Part 90 radio but, the FCC may be concerned that an Amateur Radio license applicant may not know and so they need to test accordingly to make sure that they don't violate a rule?

Oops, in my posting I meant to convey channel spacing not channel bandwidth.

"Oh and a question....what the heck is a interstitial?" It means in between two main allocated GMRS channel a.k.a. splitter channel. The two main GMRS channels 462.550 and 462.575 MHzs would have a splitter channel 12.5 KHz off the two aforementioned main channels thus, 462.5625 MHz. That is why the FRS channels are only 12.5 KHz wide.

Posted from other discussion. If the Hams are willing to help others to become Hams, then why don't they help in doing away with the Test that is required to get a license? I can see the purpose in the test for the advance license levels but, for the entry level license, I can see that will keep people in the future from being a HAM and the hobby will eventually be nearly non-existent, maybe not tomorrow, but I feel the future will be on the horizon very soon. That is probably why GMRS is becoming so popular with the younger generations. I know the older Hams won't agree in doing away with the entry level license test because they had to take the test but they better think about the future of the hobby before their frequencies become less crowded with Ham hobbyists as time marches on. It will be interesting to know the stats on the number of people becoming Hams today as opposed yesteryear.

If the Hams are willing to help others to become Hams, then why don't they help in doing away with the Test that is required to get a license? I can see the purpose in the test for the advance license levels but, for the entry level license, I can see that will keep people in the future from being a HAM and the hobby will eventually be nearly non-existent, maybe not tomorrow, but I feel the future will be on the horizon very soon. That is probably why GMRS is becoming so popular with the younger generations. I know the older Hams won't agree in doing away with the entry level license test because they had to take the test but they better think about the future of the hobby before their frequencies become less crowded with Ham hobbyists as time marches on. It will be interesting to know the stats on the number of people becoming Hams today as opposed yesteryear.

Probably, Towers 575 and 600. I believe both are about 7600' in elevation near Crown King. I can hit both of them with a portable from inside my house.

The Southwest Community Radio System (SWCRS) has linked repeaters in their network in both Arizona and New Mexico.

You'll need the EVX-R70 5.5 Build 34 US Version Narrowband CPS, not the International version. Also, you need the appropriate driver. I'll have to check my other computer for thd correct driver. Also, the computer needs to be the 64 bit Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 operating system for the CPS to work with the Codeplug. I doubt that Windows 10 will work but, I know that Windows 11 won't work.

Or three, they try to put a repeater package together on the Cheap with a couple of CCRs and learned that they won't work and won't go to the next level and do it right by investing in a real repeater package. I learned that lesson and did it right? I should've not watched that video from buy2wayeadios.com. That was a good move on their part to help sell lots of radios.

I believe the 54 inchers were for 42 Meg freqs.

Back in the very first back in the day of CB Radios, Channel 11 was the designated CB channel for commercial businesses to use. At least, it was in Southern California in the 60s. Remember the 102" or was it a 108" (can't remember now) steel whip, with the ball and spring mount? Try and find one of those today.

The Cobra FRS radios have factory default tones which is a mixture of both CTCSS PL tones and DPL codes

"73's" was also a CB thing back in the day. As for a "Road Channel", I would like to see a designated channel for the highway. In my opinion, Ch. 19 is just as good as any of the other seven channels. The CB Channel 19 got picked out of the blue by someone for the Truckers back in the CB days so the same thing can happen for GMRS Back in the early days of GMRS, the 462.675 MHz channel pair was a designated channel for only emergencies and that seem to go by the wayside over the years.

I have the FRS freqs programmed in my portables because they are used by a couple of my car clubs at the racing events for operations and I use my portables instead of the Club's little itty bitty CCR FRS radios. For my in-car radio communications while I am on the track, I use Part 90 business radio service freqs, and some of my channels are used in the Astro Digital mode. My mobiles are not programmed with FRS freqs. My portables and mobiles are programmed with the eight GMRS freqs. I do encode 141.3 Hz just in case because that tone being the travel tone but, I run the receiver on carrier squelch. When I travel I do scan the eight GMRS freqs.

Great, a step in the right direction and a plan in place for people to use in case of an emergency while enjoying the backcountry in that area. They should have designated a CTCSS but, since the FRS radios can't split the use of CTCSS or DPL its best just leave it carrier squelch. My thought was at least the portables should encode 141.3 and leave the decoder carrier squelch.

A new Mesa repeater popped up today and is called "East Mesa 700". Did you see that on the weekly update?

Cottonwood probably won't reach you. Give Towers 600 a try. The Shaw Butte repeater shares the same channel pair with the Mesa Repeater. The Mesa 725 repeater is not online at the moment but, will be shortly. The Mesa Repeater is part of the AZ GMRS linked repeater system.

The DPL code is for Directed Net Operations a couple times a week. I never tried the Travel Tone. I always used the 100.0 CTCSS tones for local operations. During Net Operations, the Towers 600 repeater will also provide identical coverage to the Shaw Butte repeater and then some. Both repeaters are part of the Southwest Community Repeater System. Swcrs.org

The antenna is an omni 7 dB gain 460-470 MHz antenna perfect for the GMRS freqs. The antenna will perform very well. I have the FG4605 5 dB antenna.

A good high end radio that will cover all bands is the Motorola APX8000 radio.