WSDE760

I did, thanks. Also, your link to: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-99-139A1.pdf was very interesting.

I thought that a licensee's responsibility under this section was ensuring that no one operating their station violates § 95.1733 Prohibited GMRS uses or § 95.333 Prohibited uses. Neither of these sections say one is prohibited from using a repeater without explicit permission. I assumed as long as one complied with 95.1733 and 95.333 there was no necessity to be limited or disallowed. I was mistaken.

OK, so I must be wrong. I cannot find where it says "you may not use a repeater without permission" so apparently that must be inferred. It is like how most hunting regulations are written, you may only take game species specifically allowed in the manner and time specifically allowed, all else is prohibited. § 95.1705 (d) (2) May allow any person to use (i.e., benefit from the operation of) its GMRS repeater, or alternatively, may limit the use of its GMRS repeater to specific persons; (3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section. But what does "...as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section" mean?

Very interesting discussion, for the most part, from which one must conclude that a GMRS licensee using a GMRS repeater without, or even against, permission is not violating either law or regulation. While I am not condoning doing so, and I am not a lawyer, consensus seems at worst it would be deemed inconsiderate. Repeater access tones can be detected and used even if unpublished. Unpublished repeater tones simply cannot confer exclusivity to GMRS repeater access unless regulations are revised to make that so. GMRS regulations simply do not confer such exclusivity. Transmitting an order for someone to stay off your GMRS repeater may not constitute interference as defined under FCC regulations but such a presumption is likewise inconsiderate at best. It is like the mean old man in the neighborhood where I grew up who would yell at us kids to stay off his sidewalk when we rode our bikes in front of his house. Just my opinion, but if you desire exclusive radio repeater operations you should apply for an exclusive use business frequency and invest in some encryption capability.

Truly

There are certainly formal FCC regulations against interference. I can't quote them but doubtless someone here can. So, in the case of some alimentary outlet maliciously jamming a repeater or broadcasting music or some such, the FCC could actually take action in the unlikely event they were so inclined. A repeater owner may change or not publish tones or simply turn off the repeater as many have stated. That said, why wouldn't the very act of transmitting on a public frequency "Get off my repeater" not constitute interference?

Yes indeed helpful in explaining HAM radio voting systems in hardware linked repeaters. I am trying to better understand this "poor mans" voting system, which I assume cannot rely on linked repeaters for GMRS applications.

It was a rhetorical question, if everyone can hear all the outputs then it shouldn't matter which repeater you key up. Unless everyone cannot hear all the outputs, in which case you must open the repeater your intended recipient will hear.

I was just rereading what Gortex2 was saying about SAR use and the last sentence is apparently the point. So if, one had a centrally located base station with a nice high antenna that could both hear and Tx to the surrounding cluster of repeaters all sharing the same frequency pair, then you could coordinate communications. The voting system is the base coordinator's ears. The OP said their repeaters were only linked "except in analog mode", whatever that means.

That is not the same as what is being described as "poor man voting" is it? If the "poor man" repeaters are not somehow networked (not permitted for GMRS) then how would everyone in the different areas be able to hear the more distant repeaters?

I apparently haven't.... So if everyone can hear all the outputs why do you need to change to a specific input tone?

Certainly, my point is simply that one might might get confused if the radio is programmed to display a repeater icon when it receives a transmission on a repeater output frequency, such as 462.625, and also is programmed to display a name such as "R-4".

The only way a GMRS radio could know if transmission is coming from a repeater, rather than simplex, would be if the radio is programmed to identify that frequency as a repeater. Some radios might label the channels 23-30 as "repeater 1" through "repeater 8" See: https://youtu.be/qRs0VExw0Wg?si=BjmVcjBLkTwpx-BQ at approximately mile marker 6.

Sorry, I misread your comment. for Channel 8-14, not ERP of 8-14....

Where did you get that?

Interesting, perhaps this is a point that one might petition the FCC to relax this a bit by simply striking ERP. There are probably a bizillion CCHTs with removable antennas already in the wild that can Tx on interstitial channels 8-14. Even HTs capable of 0.5W output may, as you say, exceed 0.5W ERP with an aftermarket antenna. Are they causing any problems? Are repeaters being interfered with? I honestly don't know, please enlighten me if this is a known problem. I never use 8-14 anyway so could I CHIRP my HTs to Rx only on 8-14 so as not to step on anyone.

I recently ran across this video and thought the guy made a really good points. It isn't a new posting, Jun 28, 2025, and I have no affiliation. You can fast forward to the answer at 4:15 and 15:30. BOTH, because not everyone in my family/group will ever get an amateur license. It really makes sense that you really need both and has finally convinced me I must take the test for a HAM license.

I see your point. My thinking was cross-banding was prohibited for GMRS and since the RSM was not operating on GMRS frequencies it might not be allowed. That said, I have seen Bluetooth RSMs and they are not operating on GMRS frequencies either.

"So, 900Mhz to GMRS and back is probably prohibited cross banding also......" Edited while you were responding, sorry.

Thar RSM I used as an example is not a GMRS accessory. So, 900Mhz to GMRS and back is probably prohibited cross banding also......

Thought so.

So, if you did this using MURS HTs (to avoid de-sensing) as the simplex radios plugged into the speaker mic jack of the GMRS mobile/base would that be considered prohibited cross band repeater?

like I said, seems like a strong reason to go take a test......., just to have a long range remote speaker microphone (RSM) in effect. This RSM claims a 100 meter range, what frequency does it Tx/Rx?

Excellent, thank you sir! So the 5th bullet point is the answer to the OP's question. Just to bad one cannot legally do it with MURS/GMRS.

This is a noob question but, does HAM a cross band repeater incorporate a duplexer? I ask because I recall seeing an add for a HAM mobile that stated it had cross band capability. Something like this: TYT TH-9800 PLUS QUAD BAND 50W MOBILE CAR RADIO I understand that our Overlords at the FCCs have decreed us unfit to make use of this cross band capability in MURS/GMRS. Notwithstanding this prohibition, could such a setup, VHF HT -to- Cross Band VHF/UHF Mobile -to- UHF Repeater then work? This seem like a strong reason to go take a test.......