Lscott

What kind of antenna do you use on the truck?

I don't think the FCC would agree. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/95.303 The definition of "Base station" makes NO assumptions about the manufacture's classification of the radio. It would seem the definition is not the label slapped on it by the manufacture but the actual usage of the station independent of the manufactures targeted usage. The prime example is a radio with a nominal 13.8VDC power supply input but connected to a wall powered converter and never leaves the house.

You can put these on the Ham 33cm band with a software hack for the radio programming CPS. See attached file MOTOTRBO too 927MHz Code Plug Mod.pdf

If you have a digital multi-meter you can check the contact on the back side of the battery pack for voltage. A freshly charged battery pack should read about 7.5VDC. I wouldn't be surprised if the battery pack is toast. Not uncommon for used radios. XPR6380_6580 Service Manual.pdf

Like 11m CB radio, FRS and MURS. Big difference is none of the later requires an FCC license, limited to 4 watts or less, unlike GMRS.

You only have 22 channels. Using CTCSS/DCS you just have more choices on blocking what you don't want to hear on those 22 channels.

I learn many years ago one thing. If something isn't broke, and you start screwing with it, it soon will be, BROKEN.

Oops, I guess they didn't learn. They added FM to the service now. So how many people would trash their old obsolete 40 channel AM only CB to get one with AM/FM?

1. The majority of digital voice modes are on Ham UHF. 2. Ham UHF has a satellite sub band for FM operation, and some birds have linear translators for SSB, which can accommodate multiples stations at a time. 3. Fast scan TV. 4. Some have high power EME, moon bounce, stations using digital or analog modes. 5. World wide linked repeaters, using different types of digital voice modes. There’s more but the above is what comes to mind.

Thanks. That has to be the first one I’ve ever seen.

Sad but true. I've heard recommendations to just put up the tower/antenna and not even connect it to radio. Then wait a few weeks to see who complains about malfunctioning appliances, radios, TV, stereos, automatic garage doors openers etc. Then you show them there is NO RADIO.

No, I think you get it. Maybe some just don't get your brand of humor.

The group that's setup several linked GMRS repeaters lately in my area said they wanted to give people a feel for what is possible on Ham radio. However if you give away too much some will wonder why bother with Ham. The FCC might take a dislike to the direction GMRS is head towards and tweak the rules to discourage the increasing Ham like activity. Might be one of the reasons for the FCC getting their fingers into things and the current topic of repeater linking on this forum.

Digital Coded Squelch is a whole different animal. The attached file goes into some detail on how that all works. DPL _ DCS Squelch System.pdf

This is a rather long article but covers the topic of tone squelch systems rather well. https://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/ctcss/ctcss-overview.html And this thread on another forum has a brief discussion of why the tones are such odd values. https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/1913/why-are-pl-tones-strange-numbers

Well the frequency limitation is one. Second there are no real mobile radios available, and at a two watt limit on power there isn't much incentive to design and market one either. Finally even on VHF repeater access is almost a requirement for decent range extension. MURS doesn't allow it. Being near the Canadian border I check from time to time to see what the status of a MURS-Like service is there. It almost happened back in 2014 but Industry Canada, equivalent to our FCC, decided there wasn't enough interest in it so it never happened. If it did that might have generated enough of a demand to spark increase use of it on both sides of the border. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/spectrum-management-telecommunications/en/official-publications/policies/spectrum-advisory-bulletins-sab/sab-002-14-multi-use-radio-services-150-mhz-vhf-band What does seem to be catching on there are the VHF frequencies used for their "radio controlled roads" notably out west. https://radiofreeq.wordpress.com/2018/08/30/canada-vhf-ladd-channel-list/ I'll bet a lot of Ham 2M gear gets the MARS/CAP mod's for this use.

I think this is a big one. I have a buddy at work who has been talking about getting his Ham Tech license for the past few years and so far hasn't. He claims he's too busy to study the question pool. Some people hate the idea of being required to pass a test so dropping $35 on the debit card and a bit of time filling out the FCC forms for GMRS isn't an issue. The drop in cost and the license term increase to 10 years helped I'm sure. I think GMRS is taking the place of CB 11M as an introduction to radio. With cheap radios coming to market in the last several years, access to repeaters and now groups like the overlanders, Jeep, switching to GMRS helped spread the word. With GMRS radios they are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket using a small 6 inch antenna and take with you as opposed to the old CB radio HT's with the 3 to 5 foot long antenna.

Same here.

It's nice to know you have the ability if necessary.

Cool! Good way to keep annoying people from disrupting your communications. Even if scanning showed the custom tone if the user can't enter it in their radio they're hosed.

A few of my commercial radios allow the entry of custom tones. That would really bugger somebody up. Might be a way to keep unauthorized people from using a repeater, provided you can enter non-standard tones into it.

Trying to coordinate a group using different radios with different numbering schemes for the tones you learn real quick why it matters. I frequently read posts on the forum where this is a consistent complaint.

Hummm… This could be the topic for another thread. GMRS seems to be mutating into a hobbyist type service. It seems the original primary intent by the FCC was a radio service simple enough to be used by ordinary people with basically no background in radio communication technology for their personal use, and immediate family members.

What about dPMR or NXDN?

At the hips?