berkinet

I don’t think Motorola radios are any harder to program than any other radios with similar feature sets. What IS harder with Motorola radios is getting your hands on the software, Legitimate software is expensive and requires you to establish a Motorola account, Shared software is increasingly difficult to find as Motorola has been cracking down on sharing sites.

Maybe I am the only one, but I am confused about the purpose of this ongoing rant. Complaints on an online forum are not going to change anything. If you want change, file a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC. Then get people to support your petition. But, to the points you raise. First, about GMRS radios themselves: Some of your facts are wrong or off target, there is no need for a -5 MHz (not KHz) offset on a GMRS radio. There are only 8 repeater input frequencies defined and those are all 5MHz higher than the 8 defined repeater input frequencies. And, the number of internal memory locations (aka "channels) that a given user needs is very difficult to determine. Probably more than 22, but 180? Zello? Zello works just fine without a GMRS radio at all. But, Zello is an Internet (IP) based app, which means anything that connects to Zello needs an Internet connection. But, you also suggest GMRS should work when away from any cellular infrastructure. So, how is your Zello equipped GMRS radio supposed to connect to Zello when you are in the middle of nowhere? And you complaint about morse code, I really don't know what that is about? We live in a free market economic system. Manufacturers are free to offer products they feel will meet customer and investor needs. You have a choice. And, if you don't like the certified GMRS products you can choose from, there are plenty of other options, from super-cheap CCRs to super-high end Part-90 commercial equipment. Technical questions aside, your major complaint seems to be about licensing fees. Here again I think you are off base. Many services, especially commercial, marine, aviation, LMR, broadcast, common carrier, cellular, etc. have licensing fees and they are often quite expensive. At $7 a year, GMRS is cheap by comparison. Yes, it is more than Amateur. But, Amateur radio is also considered a public service, with a long history and International agreements. And, what difference does it make who you pay a licensing fee to the FCC, the ARRL, a local radio club or whatever? But, even here you are not current. There is now a proposal in the FCC to lower GMRS licensing fees to $50 and add a fee for Amateur radio. The reason? It appears federal law requires fees be set to recover costs. The GMRS fee was bringing in too much money, ham radio was bringing in nothing. You also object to being taxed on your GMRS radio, but have no issue with the FCC requiring a cell phone company to offer a GMRS repeater service on every tower for free. When you consider the equipment and installation costs, plus administration and maintenance costs, are you willing to pay for that every month when Verizon and AT&T raise your bill to cover their costs? There is no free lunch. Ok, you obviously feel strongly about something, otherwise you wouldn't have started this topic and posted 7 follow-up comments. But, it is really hard to understand just what it is you are complaining about and what you think should be done about it. Can you succinctly state the top 5 high level problems you see with GMRS today, the reasons you think those are problems, and 5 proposed solutions.

Do you want a GMRS certified radio? Or, would you accept something without certification?

Well, at least to me, “I looked thru it and its like saying you will find the answer in the newspaper.” sounds like sarcasm, especially when there isn’t some recognition of someone’s effort associated with the comment. But, I am glad you found the post and hope it helps you, and, thanks for the thanks.

Sorry to disagree Marc. But your own words defeat you. Yes, while GMRS, FRS, MURS, even LMR can be hobbies, that is not the basic nature or history of those services. Just read the descriptions in the respective parts of the FCC regulations. Similarly banking and money management are not hobbies, but there are people who collect coins. Chefs cook for a living, and for others cooking is a hobby. So, I think Jwilkers (nice to see him on here again) pretty much made the case for what GMRS is. However, for Amateur (ham) radio, it is quite different. It is by definition not professional. That does not mean it can’t be useful, and, indeed, some people actually make money from ham radio. Emergency services organizations are not hobbies either. But, at it’s heart, it is a hobby for people interested in all aspects of radio. People forget that radio amateurs not only operate radios, they design and build them, they build antennas, keys, software tools, and all sorts of related paraphernalia. On GMRS, as you point out, we can’t even modify any element of a radio for which it has been certified. On the other hand, there is no such thing as a certified ham radio. You can tinker with them as much, or as little, as you wish. Just to make the point clearer, has anyone been to a GMRSvention? So, maybe it is a small point, but it is also an important one, while some people, including me, may make a hobby of GMRS, that does not mean that GMRS as a radio service is essentially a hobby.

Well, it would appear you didn’t scroll down as far as 15-May and 20-May of this year? May I suggest that next time you ask for help, you trying being a bit more polite and avoid sarcasm and snarky comments. Nobody is paid to participate here, we do it freely because we want to be helpful and enjoy the community.

True. One way to remember this is the transmit frequency will always start with 467. and the receive frequency will always start with 462.. And, the last 3 digits will always be the same. Eg. Transmit 467.550, receive 462.550.

Maybe a thank you? I was shopping with my wife and didn’t have time to search. But, I figured you’d like to get some help so I responded with what I could do in the moment, thinking you’d do what I did when I first found that link, keep scrolling until I found something useful.

I believe the answer to that question is in this Facebook group thread. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1729729127079590/

There are, unfortunately, several listings in the repeater guide that for various reasons are not operating. But, is it possible the problem is with the way you have your radio(s) configured? In a previous post, you wrote The Cobra is not repeater capable. However, both the Zastone and Icom radios should work just fine. The issue is those are not specifically GMRS radios. They are general purpose UHF radios that must be properly configured to operate with a GMRS repeater. The Zastone can be configured with CHIRP. The Icom requires custom software. I believe the version you want is ICOM CSF3001 PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE. A Google search will turn up a few purchase options. Then, for both radios you will need the correct programming cable. Once you have everything together, you should be able to program the radios and access a repeater. Just remember, the Transmit frequency is always 5mHz higher than the receive frequency. For example: Transmit on 467.5500 mHz and receive on 462.5500 mHz. If the repeater requires a tone (digital or analog) to operate, you need to set that under your transmit settings. To get started, you do not need to enter a receive tone, you can set that later after you have everything else working. If you need help with a specific repeater you can post to the Private Discussion forum and include the frequency and tone information.

Did you miss my post from 24-August? There is software that will do what you want and someone on MyGMRS (I can't find the post at the moment) has reported that it worked. However, as @marcspaz has pointed out in another thread, changing the radio from narrowband to wideband would void the GMRS certification. (Changing the PL settings would apparently be ok). So, if you were going to do that you might as well just buy the exact same radio without GMRS certification, as sold by vendors mentioned in the thread I linked to previously.

I'd add, since the radios being used are not certified for either GMRS or FRS, they do not automatically set or limit bandwidth and power in accordance with the channel requirements. This means it is quite possible someone is transmitting wideband at 5 watts on a channel designated for narrowband at 0.5 watts. Note also, a certified radio blocks the possibility of operating simplex on the GMRS repeater input frequencies (not allowed by the rules). But, this is possible with the radios you are using. While operating a non-certified radio is a technical violation of the law, it generally will not cause harm to other people's communications. However, running too much power in wideband mode on the wrong channel could easily interfere with other users, both simplex and through a repeater. Personally, I don't care what kind of equipment people run on GMRS, as long as the equipment has a clean transmitter, they otherwise conform to the rules, and don't advertise the fact they are running non-certified equipment. However, flagrant violation of the FCC regulations can become especially notable when there are 175 cars in a long queue on the highway. So, you might want to make sure your group at least adheres to the operating rules.

I would agree ham radio can probably be safely classified as a hobby. But, I would not make the same statement about GMRS. Yes, for some GMRS is a hobby. But, as @wayoverthere notes, probably a greater percentage of MyGMRS members than of the general GMRS population fit that description. Look at the history and licensing to get a feel for what GMRS is. It's roots were as a business service, and those early licenses are still grand-fathered in, and business use is still perfectly legal on GMRS. Licensing is by family unit, not individuals. This encourages use of GMRS as a practical communications tool, rather than as a hobby. Another point of comparison is repeaters. GMRS repeaters are limited to 8 frequency pairs, have no coordinating body, and commonly share frequencies using PL, etc. to control access. GMRS repeaters tend to be used for short, task oriented communications and less for rag chewing. So, sharing channels works well. Ham radio, with frequency coordinators, etc. seeks to limit the number of repeaters in an area to avoid interference. There are many other differences, but I think I have covered the main points. But, I would add one more thing. Where is it written that either as a hobby, or a personal communications tool, that getting people interested in two-way radio is, or even should be, a commonly agreed upon or shared objective? I think that is an admirable goal. But, I would also not fault someone who did not share that goal.

A little more correctly stated, the repeater uses a PL tone (CTCSS) of 141.3 (also known as “travel tone”).

Like this... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X3D7C2

That is a bit snarky isn’t it? Read both responses carefully. They are both completely true as written and are complementary, not contradictory.

Nice idea, never gonna happen. Proprietary terms like PL have been around as long as VHF and UHF FM radios and are in common use in commercial radio and ham radio. Besides, and speaking just for myself... I am a lousy typist, especially on a phone, and PL is just a whole lot easier to type than CTCSS. End of my 2¢

The rule applies to the user. Though, the manufacturer cannot claim certification they do not have.

There was a post here recently from someone who had changed the settings on his radio. The second point was really only for someone who already owned the MXT400 and wanted to address the limitations (and didn't care about certification). BTW, one of the limitations is PL tones, and changing that wouldn't affect certification. But, you are 100% correct, If someone is thinking about buying the radio and then changing the bandwidth, they might as well buy that exact same radio from Luiton (LT-590), Retevis (RT-900D), TYT (TH900d), or some other vendor at 1/2 the price, and no limitations.

DPL is Motorola's name for DCS. Check out the Wikipedia page for CTCSS.

Most of the issues people have with the MXT 400 can be resolved by use of the programming software. Here is a link to one discussion on that topic. There are others.

Simple question, complex answer. From a radio perspective, it is completely compatible. That means you could transmit on that radio, and be heard on a GMRS radio, and vice versa. However, that radio is not specifically approved for use on GMRS. How you feel about using a non-approved radio is up to you. I will not go into that discussion here because it has been covered many times on this forum.

The protocol list you are looking at is for higher level, application, protocols. You want to look below that, at the transport protocol. That will either be TCP, UDP, or both. You will not see that choice until you select the higher level protocol. If you do not see a higher level protocol for your particular application, you can usually just enter the IP port number .

For others who may not be familiar with fire blocking in a frame wall... The intent is to prevent a fire from moving vertically between two studs.

As long as you avoid sharp bends, you can route the coax any way you choose. If you decide to route the coax inside the wall, you will have to drill the top plate and probably 1 or 2 horizontal fire blocks. There are long drill bits available for this. Going straight through the wall is easier, but can cause spousal issues. if you do go that route, be sure to make a drip loop if the coax will be exposed to moisture. BTW, if it is a relatively short run, say under 20 feet or so, you may wish to use a thinner coax. That would be much easier on the drilling bending etc.