davidotoole

This is from https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E/section-95.1731 . Does that mean GMRS is legitimate for commercial use? It used to not be, I think. Seems obvious enough, but I've misunderstood rules before... I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.

Oh, thank you for fixing this error in my brain . I wonder if you could explain why this is?

Thanks for clarifying this @Lscott. My main reason for limiting to 2 watts when communicating with FRS radios is to avoid having FRS radios not be able to respond to GMRS when just out of transmit range, and so that the volume difference is eliminated. So I will keep in mind that higher power can be used on GMRS when communicating.

I checked and my Baofeng GMRS-9R's allow setting narrow band on channels other than 8-14, so I'll program that (and 2.0 watt power level) and we should be good to go for GMRS/FRS! Thanks everyone for your help.

Hi everyone, I want to thank you so much for your help in clarifying this situation. I will continue following the thread and let you know if I have any other questions. We'll be doing our first on-trails test as soon as the snow melts a little more here in New England. I'll be sure to post an update then, and perhaps offer some review thoughts on the waterproof Baofeng GMRS radios we will be using. I still haven't purchased the FRS units I've been wanting to use, I want them to be waterproof and Baofeng doesn't seem to make a waterproof FRS handset, so I'm probably going with Cobra.

Hello and thanks for letting me join. My name is David O'Toole and I have just gotten a new GMRS license and callsign, after having had a license from 2015-2020 using the old style "hybrid" FRS/GMRS radios which are no longer being sold. While I believe I understand the new GMRS rules after reviewing them, I would like to ask if anyone could help clarify the rules regarding interoperability between what are now separate (non-hybrid) FRS and GMRS radios. In particular, Section 95.1731 "Permissible GMRS Uses" mentions that GMRS and FRS radios can talk to one another, but the rules of interoperability are not made explicit (there or elsewhere) in a way that I was able to discover on my own. My use case involves leading a small group of volunteers into local wetland, park, and trail systems in our town in order to clean up trash and monitor adverse conditions such as mud, flooding, dumping, downed or hanging branches, animals, or vandalism. We will have two licensed GMRS users including myself, and we wish to invite guest volunteers who can use unlicensed FRS radios. I spoke with an FCC representative on the phone today, and came to the understanding that we could communicate between GMRS and FRS radios provided that: We must use only channels 8-14 We must limit power to no more than 0.5 watts. GMRS call signs can be given by licensed operators per GMRS rules. The GMRS radio must be "compatible" with FRS. However, as the rules regarding FRS and GMRS radios have changed in recent years, I thought I would reach out to the community and ask for clarification of some points that remain unclear to me: Now that FRS devices are no longer limited to 0.5 watts on some channels, is it still correct that we must limit power to 0.5 watts when a conversation involves both licensed GMRS users and unlicensed FRS users? Now that so-called "hybrid" FRS/GMRS radios are no longer being sold, what does it mean exactly to say that the GMRS radio must be compatible with FRS, as in point 4 above? Does this mean only that the manufacturer has provided compatible channels and frequencies? Given that channels 8-14 are limited to 0.5 watts, does this mean that a GMRS+FRS conversation would need to use a different channel to use the 2 watts now available to FRS? This last point would seem to contradict what the representative said to me on the phone, but as she also mentioned combination FRS/GMRS radios, I wondered if we might have been discussing out of date information. The points in question would be at 47 CFR 95.1761(d) and (e), also at 47 CFR 95.1791(a) where the sale of these radios are prohibited. So there is the additional issue of whether the rules we discussed apply only to existing hybrid radios manufactured before 2019 (which I no longer have) or whether it applies to my new radios which are either GMRS or FRS, but none are hybrid units. I would greatly appreciate any help you could offer in clarifying the new rules for us with regard to the points I have raised above. I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. --David