Lscott

That's a bit fuzzy. The rules state if the radio is equipped with frequencies not listed in the table, approved for GMRS, then it doesn't meet certification. I guess that depends on how one defines "equipped", is the radio designed that way or just programmed with frequencies in both services? I have my radios setup for both since I'm licensed for both services.

This page has a nice listing of the various FCC designators. https://digitalfrequencysearch.com/Search/Codes.php

You really have that all screwed up. I would HIGHLY suggest you go and read in detail Part 97 for the Armature Radio Service and Part 95E for GMRS. If it doesn't make sense the first time through then read it again, and again ... Most, if not all, of the answers are there. It might take awhile for it to sink in. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/part-97 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/part-95/subpart-E If you have specific questions about any of the rules parts members here are glad to help in that area.

Seeing how Baofengs are disparaged here I wonder just how well they hold up in the field. I guess any radio is better than none. As cheap as they are a truck load isn't that expensive. As a point of comparison the old WWII man-pack radios only did 0.3 watts on low band VHF. The range was about 3 miles with the long antenna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCR-300 https://olive-drab.com/od_electronics_scr300.php

Ah, one of the golf cart drivers! I'll have to keep my eye out for you then.

I was surprised that commercial grade radios were being used. If CCR's are being used I guess it could be worse.

How many are planing on going to the Dayton Hamvention this year? Could setup a frequency and location where people on the forums here could arrange to met up for a quick chat in person.

Wrong. As others have pointed out it’s allowed in the rules. You should really go and read them. If you didn’t understand them the first time through go and read them again. The confusing part is communications between FRS and GMRS radios. Each operates under their respective rules parts. If you’re using a GMRS compliant radio, talking to an FRS radio, then you must follow ALL the GMRS rules including ID’ing yourself. The FRS radio user does not. FRS radios by design, FCC requirements for certification, can’t access the repeater input channel frequencies so the issue there is moot. The FCC created this mess by allowing the sale of combination FRS/GMRS radios in the first place. The box contained information stating the channels above 14 can’t be used unless one had a valid GMRS license. Almost nobody read that, or if they did just ignored it. Finally the FCC changed the rules which became effective in 2018 making the wide spread practice legal so they didn’t have to deal with the enforcement issue. So we have the weird situation where two radio services share the exact same frequencies AND are allowed to cross communicate. Sooner or later newbies start asking about cross communications between Ham 70cm and GMRS. Technically it’s possible with certain radios using no modifications for out of band operations. Forget it. It’s not legal due to some rules mainly on the Ham side. That’s the conclusions I reached after looking at it myself years back. This topic has been covered on these forums before as well.

I look at what I've paid at Ham swaps verses what people charge on eBay, which IMHO is way TOO much. Every once in a while somebody sells a radio at a supper good deal. I'm still kicking myself for missing a new NX-200 for $135. It was up for maybe 15 to 30 minutes and was gone before I could hit the buy it now button. I just recently snagged a Kenwood TK-2180 with battery pack, charger base, antenna and speaker microphone for $40 at a local Ham swap a few weeks ago. And yes it works. On eBay you're looking at $100 to $200 for just the radio! At another swap I found a Kenwood TH-79A with accessories in good condition for $35. You get the idea.

That might be a good illustration of free space “path loss”, due to the capture area of the antenna at 900 being less that at 460. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-space_path_loss

I’m planing going to the Dayton Hamvention this year with a couple of buddies. I thought about looking for a good deal on a 7550e. I’m not fond of the funky antenna connector but I’ll consider getting it just to try out. At $500 plus, that’s way too much for something I’ll just be experimenting with. The 6550’s I got for less than a $100 each. The 6580 I got was in like new condition with battery pack, charger and programmed for a number of Ham 33cm repeaters for $85 at a Ham swap.

What kind of range were you getting with the TK-3170 at 4 watts?

I'm mainly a big Kenwood guy but I do own several Motorola XPR-6550's, VHF and low split UHF, models. They were fairly cheap compared to the XPR7550e's I've seen. I have the cables and software to program them. I've even got a XPR-6580 800/900 MHz radio. Then with a little bit of in memory hex editing on the CPS you can get those on the Ham 33cm band easy.

Yeah!!! I don't want this thread to be about any politics. I'm just interested in the radio technology being used. Sort of surprising that regular commercial radios are being used. I would have thought highly encrypted digital radios designed specifically for military use would be the norm.

MURS is limited to 2 watts max. You can use a portable with a speaker mic with an external antenna. There are some commercial radios that likely can be programed to use MURS as long as the channel bandwidth and power limitations are observed. Those radios aren't that expensive used if you shop around. See an old thread on the topic. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1239-old-part-90-radios-predating-murs-service-legal-use/

I wonder if anybody in the US has heard the short wave communications? At least any that are identifiable as such.

I was doing some searching for some digital radio info and stumbled across this. Perhaps this is why the Russians are having trouble, using crappy CCR radios? https://defence-blog.com/russian-soldiers-uses-chinese-portable-radios-during-kremlins-invasion-of-ukraine/ I guess the Ukrainian military are using Motorola radios. https://k0lwc.com/what-radios-are-ukrainian-military-using/