Lscott

The section of the rules quoted refers to over the air communications. It's very common to have multiple sets of radios grouped together which operate on different radios services. It makes no difference on the location or proximity of the equipment. It's not uncommon to find Ham, GMRS, FRS, CB, police, fire etc. radios all in one location. The communications are maned by people with the appropriate licenses and or agency authorizations for transmitting. You don't need a license to just monitor, a very important point. To further clarify what's going on is the following. When a GMRS user communicates to another station he does so under GMRS rules. If the other station replies they also must operate under GMRS rules. For example if a GMRS user contacts myself on the air, using GMRS certified equipment and legal frequencies, and I respond I must also be using the same. I'm in fact dual licensed for both Ham Radio and GMRS. That doesn't preclude me from turning around and now using my Ham Radio to forward the message on legal Ham frequencies. When I do so I'm now operation under my Ham license and rules.

They are a business and their main, only, interest is Profits.

I address the specific question that was quoted. Rule exceptions under emergency conditions are another whole topic. Mingling the exceptions with standard operating conditions does nothing but confuse people. People can decide themselves what to do with their equipment. What’s needed is clarity. You can have a radio that operates on both Ham and GMRS. So is it really a Ham radio modified to operate on GMRS frequencies, or is it a GMRS radio that can be programmed to operate on Ham frequencies? If it’s as you believe then why aren’t all GMRS radios out of the box designed to work on the Ham bands WITHOUT mucking with it first such as using manufactures undocumented software mod’s and “mode” changes. The same question can be asked about Ham equipment. After all what are the “MARS/CAP” mod’s? Reading the rules for GMRS one requirement is the frequency determining controls are not accessible outside of the transmitter. This is necessary for Part 95 certification. The channel selector doesn’t count because all legal frequencies are preset and can’t be changed by the user. Enabling a VCO type operation violates that requirement and by definition no longer meets type certification. While you may not care there are others who do and shouldn’t be misled.

Ah, a slight of hand bringing up emergency communications. That wasn’t part of the original question I quoted from your post. Under emergency conditions the rules have a few exceptions. However as a general point, as one is lead to believe by your original question, it’s prohibited. That hasn’t changed.

No. This I had thought about this exact scenario a long time ago and rejected it for the following reasons. The rules state, last I read them, that stations in the Amateur service may only communicate with other stations in the Amateur service. The second I-got-you is doing what you propose is effectively making a one way transmission, see point above, which is only allowed for testing and in very few other limited conditions on an occasional basis, again for the Amateur service. While the method would allow one to cross communicate between services without using modified radios the rules effectively shut the door on it.

If there is no requirement for a BCL, busy channel lockout, that would be worse, automatic interference. I also think you wouldn't want this on a repeater channel. That has the potential to block a frequency out over a very wide area if the repeater was activated. If were are going to tolerate GPS updates why not have it restricted to one channel only leaving everything else open for normal traffic? In the Ham world there are several frequencies in the band plans set aside specifically for packet and APRS. Keep it on one of the 8 low power, 1/2 watt, FRS channels. They are sort of useless for GMRS as it is.

Ok. Just wanted to be sure.

Oh, I hope you tried changing the timing parameters on the other radio(s) not on the 905G.

It was worth a shot if it fixed it. Perhaps a firmware update at some point might do the trick.

I have one of the 2x4SR antennas, and a buddy here at work put one on his pickup truck using a lip mount on the front hood near the roof pillar. They work OK, but being a 5/8 wave design you need a REALLY good ground plane. I did an SWR scan using a RigExpert AA-1000 and downloaded the data to a CAD package for plotting. As promised the SWR was under 2:1 around the GMRS frequencies and very surprisingly very low on the MURS frequencies. https://rigexpert.com/products/antenna-analyzers/aa-1000/ The antenna is somewhat sensitive to mounting location even with a good ground plane. If you want one antenna to cover Ham and GMRS its a good option.

Do the TX'ing radios allow changing the timing parameters for encoding the DTMF tones? I know on the commercial Kenwoods I have there are timing parameters I can tweak. Maybe your radio needs longer duration tones and slower sending rate to give it more time to decode.

On the Ham side DTMF tones have been used to access other linked analog repeaters using for example Echolink. I'm not sure if any linked GMRS repeaters use a similar system to access a specific linked repeater.

If it’s working for you cool. Sounds like you’re one of the few people that utilizes the radio’s full set of features, most don’t. Myself I would like to see Kenwood come out with a version of the TH-D74A but use DMR in place of D-Star. That would be a killer radio. I’ve scanned 220 around here by me and it seems basically dead. I have a cheap TYT TH-350 triband I use as a scanner at home. Mostly used to monitor the local mall security frequency, house keeping along with the neighborhood FRS stuff and the local GMRS repeater. For a CCR it’s an OK radio.

Most Linux distro's have a VM function. If it isn't installed then you can add it. If you don't want to go that route then you can get the VirtualBox add-in for Linux here. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads Your next stop is to pick up a copy of Windows. An older version will likely work just fine for your needs. Look here. https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-nt-2000/final CHIRP will run on Linux. Some instructions are found here. https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Running_Under_Linux Good luck.

I have an FT-817 and the included 6M antenna sucks. You realize for a 1/4 wave 6M antenna the required ground plane radials need to be about 60 inches long. The body of the radio is nowhere even close to that. Now holding the radio, well now your whole body might function as a sort of ground plane but the vertical element is still a crappy very short loaded helical design with high losses. Does the antenna radiate, yeah, but poorly. There is a reason why you don't see a bunch of HT's with the 6M band included. Most 6M activity is during band openings and then it's typically on sideband anyway, not FM. I just check "repeaterbook.com" and there are a total of just 15 6M repeaters listed for the entire state of Michigan for example, it's not that popular for FM, at least around here.

Those radios use an RJ-45 style plug I believe. I would check the connector that plugs into the radio. All the contact fingers should be clean. You can try to wipe the contacts down with alcohol, the programming cable, and use a Q-tip to do the socket in the radio. Sometimes gently bending the contact fingers out a tiny bit helps if you can get to them.

The antenna efficiency of an rubber duck 6M antenna on an HT is going to be really poor. Unless you plan on using an external 1/4 wave antenna with a ground plane it’s more of a marketing gimmick. The 2M VHF rubber duck antennas I’ve seen where it was stated as a negative 5 db gain in some cases too. A 1/4 wave UHF antenna for Ham 70cm and GMRS is about 6 inches long. That’s small enough to fit on an HT where the body of the radio is just about big enough to make a reasonable ground plane. Even better when holding it. I made a 1/4 ground plane antenna, with radials, using some heavy buss wire and a PCB BNC socket. The measured 2:1 bandwidth covered almost the 430 to 470 MHz range with a nearly perfect match around 448MHz. Good enough for Ham and GMRS. I used the antenna zip-tied to a baseball cap while walking around the Dayton Hamvention a couple of years. That let me hang the radio on the belt using a short jumper cable and speaker mic. I only needed about 1 watt for good communications with the antenna up in the clear. I might have looked like a nerd but I wanted something that worked, cheap and simple to build.

IF range was only determined by power then your range varies by the square root of the two powers. For example comparing 45 watts to 15 watts you get: sqrt(45/15) = 1.73 In other words your range should increase by a factor of 1.73 going to 45 watts verses 15 watts. There are other factors that will conspire to reduce this. You need to pay attention to the cable between the radio and the antenna mount. The RG-58 cable that’s typical used is fairly lossy at UHF. The loss can be compensated for by using a gain antenna. High gain antennas have their issues so they might not be a good fit for your application. If you mainly operate in very hilly or mountainous terrain a simple 1/4 wave antenna likely will work better. For flat open terrain a high gain antenna performs well. There are a few antennas that require no ground plane allowing more options on mounting locations. Some of the other forum members likely have some good recommendations for this type of antenna. A few people even keep more that one type in the vehicle and swap them out depending on operating requirements. Maybe a high gain one for use in a convoy while travailing on a highway then a short 1/4 wave for off road use.

Yup. The D74A is a nice radio. I also got mine from HRO and had them do the MARS/CAP mod for the same reason. The only negative is the battery pack capacity, it doesn’t last that long.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheterodyne_receiver

Yeah, check it out for the specific radio you're looking at buying. With all the features radios have now it's easy to overlook a detail like this and end up with something you can't use and paid a premium to get it. Some of the Ham radios include a feature called "APRS". You can get the details of what that might do for you here: http://www.aprs.org/

The rules are written the way they are because the underlying assumption is the user is a non technical person who has no idea what the difference is between Hertz and Hurts. The rules are designed to prevent interference to other services regardless of how a user manipulates the radio’s controls, either deliberately or by accident. Hams are held to a higher technical standard, and assumed to know where the bands are located frequency wise. There are few out there that would be challenged using two soup cans connected by a string, it’s not a guarantee somebody is competent just because they have a Ham license. It’s not a perfect world.

A number of people recommend the FT-60R. About the only thing it doesn't have is GPS. A number of radios that have GPS it ONLY works in the digital modes. So if the others in your party don't have similar radios it's sort of useless. Plus the GPS function simply TX's position messages that are displayed on a compatible radio. Again if the others don't have such a radio, that can display the text messages, the feature isn't going to be useful. Before spending the money you need to check into this very carefully or you'll end up with a nice radio with GPS nobody else can take advantage of on the air. https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&encProdID=6EC43B29CEF0EC2B4E19BB7371688B7F Brochure. https://www.radiotrans.com/archivos/catalogo/FT-60_EN.pdf On line sellers. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-007323 https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=115&products_id=432 For the RX/TX frequency expansion. If done by HRO they will warranty the radio. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=71-002354 https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=417

I think gman1971 can answer that. He's pretty much the Motorola expert on the forum. He's help me out with some issues with a few XPR6550's I recently got.

Per the FCC rules they state the following: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95 "§ 95.1761 GMRS transmitter certification. ..... No GMRS transmitter will be certified for use in the GMRS if it is equipped with the capabilities to operate in services that do not require equipment certification, such as the Amateur Radio Service. All frequency determining circuitry (including crystals) and programming controls in each GMRS transmitter must be internal to the transmitter and must not be accessible from the exterior of the transmitter operating panel or from the exterior of the transmitter enclosure. " Yes there are radios that "allow" FPP, front panel programming, but with conditions. Many require a deliberate hardware modification, typical diode, resistor or solder shunt removable, and enabling in the radio's programming software. Others require entering a "secret code" to switch operating modes, typical of the Chinese radios. So, as long as the radio is configured to comply with 95.1761 it is operating under GMRS rules it's legal. The moment this is violated you're not compliant so the transmitter is now operating with illegal functionality and loses it's certification, even if it isn't being used. Of course it can be switched back, in which case the radio again would be in compliance, and the certification once again applies if it had it to begin with. My Kenwood commercial radios can be modified for FPP, needs the hardware mod and the feature enabled in the software. There is a warning that radios MUST NOT be returned to the end user(s) with FPP feature enabled, so it's disabled in the software with the modified code plug written to the radio. Of course if the radio is ONLY going to be used on the Ham bands it's not a problem. The problem revolves around the last sentence quoted above. Some feel just because the feature is there then there is no issue with enabling it. The FCC is clear that's not the case. There is no mention that one must be using the feature, the mere fact it's "possible" to access through some action(s) performed by the user is enough to void the certification. This includes changing the "mode" though any means accessible by the user external to the radio, such as pressing a sequence of buttons etc. during power up or any other time. There is a VERY fine line with switching modes through a sequence of button presses. There is a reason why it's NOT documented, at least for anything an end user gets to read. The user isn't supposed to even know about it. This could be considered a violation of the above section of the FCC rules. If there is any debate it would be over this point alone. Everything else is fairly clear cut IMHO.