Lscott

The FCC just recently made it officially legal on 11M. I guess it's popularity all depends on equipment availability and any real world advantage it might have over AM/SSB. Some people have no interest in digital on GMRS. That's OK. However there are apparently enough who do that a few threads have commented about the proliferation of digital voice signals in some areas, and it's not even legal! Oh well. The point of digital voice is the ability to have reasonably clear communications out to nearly the limit of the traditional FM UHF signal range. FM can get really ratty and noise polluted at extended ranges. One other reason to use it the digital signals, using the right mode, can fit between the main FM repeater channels with the likely hood of not interfering at higher power levels, unlike the narrow band FM currently allowed at 0.5 watts. In areas with substantial GMRS usage this opens up the service for much better coverage without begging the FCC for more spectrum we're very unlikely to get. GMRS Digital Voice - 20250723.pdf

Using anything other than FM on VHF/UHF is sort of a specialty, including digital voice. Most of your digital voice operations you'll typically find on UHF, normally the 70cm band. There is some on the 33cm band but it's done almost exclusively with new/used commercial radios. There is some activity on VHF. Other modes, like SSB can be found on VHF and UHF by a small number of stations. Where it really explodes is on the 6M band during an opening. The SSB section of the band goes from nearly DEAD to wall-to-wall signals at that time. You also might find the occasional AM station on 6M too. The 1.25M band is a bit spotty. It can see significant use in some areas and almost nothing in others. There aren't too many radios with 1.25M TX/RX. Before investing in expensive equipment for that band do some monitoring and see what the local activity level is like. If 2M and 70cm is crowded in your area then the 1.25M band might be attractive if you prefer talking to a group of friends and don't want to hunt around for an open frequency/repeater to use all the time. Some also claim 1.25M has the propagation characteristics of 2M and 70cm making it a good choice when indoors or outside.

I have a buddy at work here that keeps saying he wants to get his Ham license but claims he doesn't have time to study. This has been going on for several years now. I don't bother to ask him anymore. If he wanted his license that bad he would have put in the effort. As you discovered it doesn't take that much. Congratulations on getting your Tech Class license. Now you get to spend even more money and buy more radios.

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

Not yet anyway. That could change at some point. People are doing it now regardless of the rules. If the practice continues, expands and no FCC enforcement action then we could see the FCC just throw in the towel again, like they did in 2017 rule changes with FRS/GMRS combo radio, and make it legal. Then the question will be what mode(s), power and where. Some have pushed the idea to add more channels to GMRS. Very likely won't happen. As it is the service has 7 nearly useless interstitial channels, 8 to 14, limited to narrow band, 0.5 watts and handheld units only with fixed antennas. Finding a better use for those, at higher power and use on mobile radios, would be equivalent to adding 7 additional channels, no extra spectrum required. I posted an opinion paper, based on a suggestion made in an old thread on this forum, these nearly useless channels could be the location for a dedicated home for a digital voice mode. Some won't like the idea of digital voice on GMRS, but hey for example, the FCC finally got around to adding FM to 11M CB radio. Took them long enough.

I once told a group of buddies that Moses was a conservative. One asked how would I know that. I replied if he was a liberal he would have called them “The 10 Suggestions.”

All the digital voice modes have their pro’s and con’s. To start off research what seems to be popular in your area. That way when you buy equipment you’ll have someone to talk with on the air. Also look for sound samples of real digital voice communications using the mode you’re interested in. Some people have a hard time adjusting to the sound quality. Yes, you read that right, digital voice communication doesn’t sound exactly what you hear with just FM. Some people say certain digital voice modes sound better to their ears than others. That ultimately might really be due to the quality of the pre and post audio processing in a given radio. When it comes time to buy a radio the choices are reasonably good for some. Others you’re stuck buying new or used commercial radios since those are not manufactured in Ham specific gear. A lot of us here have various radios doing about every digital voice mode out there. We would be happy to make some equipment recommendations.

The attached papers give a bit more info on RF power exposure limits. This can get rather technical. Limits for Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE).pdf CNIRP GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (100 KHZ TO 300 GHZ).pdf

That's about it.

At least the battery is included.

People would be stupid to admit to anything in a public forum.

Real certified MURS radios are a bit hard to find. However there are plenty of old Part 90 radios that can be made to "work", depending on one's definition, with the right programming. The main issue is the power level. For HT's it's usually 1 watt on low and 5 watts on high. MURS allows only 2 watts ERP. I started this thread some years back asking the question. Interesting answers I got were old Part 90 radios programmed to meet frequency, bandwidth and power spec's were OK if the radios were certified BEFORE MURS was created. I'll bet a fair number of people are using old Part 90 radios, same with MARS/CAP mod'ed Ham gear, at 5 watts. Might find the occasional "mobile" at 50 watts. Oops, people don't really do that do they?

It's just another open source firmware project. The OpenGD77 firmware is not officially supported on the DM-32 per this link. https://www.opengd77.com/archive/viewforum976e.html?f=27& https://www.opengd77.com/archive/viewtopic08de.html?f=27&t=4841& https://www.facebook.com/groups/808920029174333/posts/9172085989524320/?_rdr

Check out: https://openrtx.org/#/

Remember you asked. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/4835-fixed-station-what-does-that-mean-to-fcc/

You can buy really nice used scopes at Ham swaps for good prices. I've seen plenty of dual channel 100MHz Techtronic scopes for sale for $100 to $200. In fact good used test gear is one of the things I always look out for. For a hobbyist it a great way to build up a test bench for a few $100's to a $1000 depending on what you want. You can easily end up with gear that would have cost several $10K's if purchased new at the time. At a minimum I would recommend a couple of variable DC power supplies (0 to 30 VDC at 1 to 2 amps), function generator (good to 5MHz), dual channel scope (50 MHz to 100 MHz) and a good bench top 4.5 digit multi-meter. After that you can look for more specialized gear like RF power meters, frequency counters, LCR meters, electronic loads, service monitors etc. depending on one's area of interest. Most of my more specialized stuff is stored away unless I'm using it. I have a dual channel HP frequency counter I have to do some work on (replace a noisy fan and install the optional 4GHz prescaler.) GPS disciplined 10MHz frequency standard, a used Rubidium atomic frequency standard, 200 MHz quad channel scope, 6.5 digit bench multi-meter, 20 MHz dual channel arbitrary digital waveform generator, 200 watt electronic load ...

Gee, I wonder just how much deeper this rabbit hole is going to get?

Which reminds me of the people who want those "High Power" HT's claiming 10 watts plus output. I don't have a link to it but there are some FCC specifications for specific absorption limits based on frequency. Hams are "supposed" to do basic RF exposure calculations above certain power levels at various frequencies per the FCC for RF safety.

Sounds funny, but it's a real thing. Some Ham 70cm repeaters had to be dialed down in power level to stop interference to Pave-Paw radars. https://www.arrl.org/news/new-70-cm-coordination-agreement-reached-for-new-england https://sites.google.com/site/arrlsacvalley/pave-paws

You think that's bad? Try reading technical patents! What would take a few simple sentences in engineering speak to describe takes a couple of paragraphs once all the legal mambo-jumbo is added.

This could be the subject of a whole other thread since this seems to be an area of some dispute. The disagreement is how and why attorneys exist and make their money, arguing over the law. I once read the following that was told to recently licensed attorneys. "If the evidence is against you, bang on the evidence." "If the law is against you, bang on the law." "If both are against you, bang on the table."

YES. Unfortunately the FCC allows a bunch of other crap to operate there as well. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-15/subpart-C/subject-group-ECFR2f2e5828339709e/section-15.240 Some examples: https://hackaday.com/tag/433-mhz/

I think this is what saves us here that use LMR radios on GMRS. Plus also why the FCC hasn't made a fuss over people using such radios on GMRS. I would say the majority of repeaters used on GMRS are repurposed Part 90 equipment. FCC isn't making a fuss over those either. This is likely, my guess, why the FCC hasn't specifically authorized Part 90 radios on GMRS, it is basically implied in Part 95.335(a). Before the 2017 rule changes it was legal, and possible, for a business to get a GMRS license and operate. So, it made sense for manufactures at the time to get certification for both Parts 90 and 95. It was a sizable market. Now, post 2017 rule changes, only grandfathered business, no new applications, can operate on GMRS. The manufactures just don't bother anymore getting dual certification, just Part 90, since that's where the business market is at. I have some radios that in fact are dual certified for Parts 90 and 95. However I have a bunch that are Part 90 only. This is reassuring it's they're very likely legal to use. Given the above I wouldn't hesitate recommending a Part 90 radio in place of the specifically manufactured GMRS radios to new GMRS users. While most LMR, Part 90, radios can't be front panel programmed like the specifically manufactured GMRS radios, some can. This is one such example. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/?context=new NX-1300 FPP.pdf