jerrytheyounger

I too have noticed an uptick of business use over the past couple of years since the rewrite of the Part 95 rules in 2017.  I'm not complaining since business use of FRS is 100% legal.  We have to coexist as best we can.  Going with the flow of Part 90 by narrowbanding my commercial gear on GMRS solved all of my adjacent channel splatter problems.

There is a good chance that GMRS may not work for this application, regradless of how much power unless both are on the highest rooftops without taller buildings in between. 

Rooftop to rooftop would work like a dream, ground to ground with tall buildings between reduces the chances of success.

2 miles do not sound like too damn far. My next steps would be:
1. put one operator at home and another operator in car or on foot, and start walking away, find places when 100% availability becomes 75%, 50% and none;
2. borrow HT with better selectivity from your ham friends and see if reception improves at places you identified in step 1.
 
Wide open front end on Baofengs cause de-sense in places with a lot of RF, like downtowns, offices, next to computers, etc. Squelch control on my Baofeng UV-B5 is a joke, program one of the buttons to disable squelch and use it during your experiments. You should use it anyway - to monitor the frequency before transmitting.

I have SureCom SW-33 and I have Diamond SX600. While they mostly in agreement when measuring power and SWR on 2m, they wildly disagree on 70cm and GMRS. I decided to trust Diamond. Surecom measurements are inconsistent even with dummy load. Another thing to consider is that measuring SWR with HT and HT antenna is a tough proposition. HT antennas are designed to work when you hold HT in hand and your body is capacitively coupled with it. Surecom "stick" is comparable to 1/8 wavelength on GMRS and it will change antenna characteristics when inserted between HT and antenna. Same with using pigtails. I do not bother measuring SWR on HT antennas because of that. Measurement equipment introduces a systematic error that is big enough that you can't trust the measurement, Surecom or not.
 
Measuring SWR of Fong antenna or mag mount antenna is a different exercise. In case you're measuring at antenna base, you will get correct SWR of the antenna. In case you're measuring at transmitter, the loss in the cable will lower SWR, the bigger the loss the closer your SWR to 1:1. Do not obsess with SWR, better measure the power at antenna base. SWR does not directly affect efficiency of the antenna, it is indirect metric of the loss in your transmission line and (very) indirect hint at if transmitter will reduce power or burn out.

Don't get too upset.  A friend just picked up an MXT275 and we were driving around seeing what kind of distance we could get with clear communication.  I was in my Jeep with the 40w MXT400.  Several times, I could hear him clearly when he couldn't hear me at all.  His antenna placement was high in the center of his SUV with a Midland magnetic antenna mount and 6db antenna.  Mine was on a fender mount, a bit lower than his, also with a Midland 6db antenna.  I really don't feel like I had any advantage in trasmission range under the given conditions.   So I'm not sure how much more the 40w really gives you in the real world.  Also, of all the Midland GMRS radios, including the 90 series, MXT115, 275, and 400, the 275 easily has the most consistency in high quality transmission.  I can tell when any of my friends are on a 275 as opposed to any of the others with the exception of the Midland handhelds.  
 
I think the 275 may still be the cream of the Midland crop.  If I continue to feel that way, I'll yank the 400 and put a 275 in that Jeep.  I have a 275 in my other Jeep and others tell me the transmissions are crystal clear, too.  Maybe it is the mic? I don't know, but it is a great radio.  

I've read in various places that Midland is working on a 40w version of the MXT275.  I'm hoping this is true.  I've written them an email to ask about it but haven't received a response.  What I read was that it would come out 4th quarter 2020, but I think we can rule that out now.
 
Does anyone have any information?  I've got an MXT400 in my older Jeep and it is great but very bulky, but it works with the old squarish instrument panel. It sits right on top.  My 2018 Jeep has the MXT275 due to its small size and all in the mic setup.  I'd love to have the same thing but with the 40w of power, so I'm hoping that what I've read is true and that they introduce it soon.
 
Any info would be appreciated.  Heck, I'd even take some wild speculation! Lol!
 

That would be awesome.

Concur!  The key is the comma in : New licenses, modifications
That should be read as New licenses and/or modifications.
And, there is the new license $35 fee!

The GMRS fee is still $70, but only because the new fee structure has not gone into effect.  
 
GMRS, amateur, and a lot of others are classified as "personal licenses" and they will all be $35 (page 85 of the PDF in the first post).  Thankfully, change-of-address will not have the fee.  
 
EDIT:  I see the what n4gix means.  Seems the FCC document is a bit contradictory.  

So if I read Michael attachment correctly, save on the fee.  So if you are thinking about getting or renewing your GMRS call sign, wait 30 days... per the attached will be $35. (see paragraph 40 or so).  You will save half off the current $70 fee.  I got my GMRS call sign in November so I made a $35 donation, that is life, have been enjoying the process to this point.  
 

Our local ham club is trying really hard to grow our membership, and are especially encouraging younger people to become licensed and "radio active." I'm currently on my fourth year as Vice-President. We are also working hard to get our district (six counties) ARES up and running again.
 
As for GMRS goes, I also belong to a quite active group from the northside of Chicago, even though I live in NW Indiana. There are three very active repeaters in my area that are all very welcoming. One repeater is fully open for everyone and the other two do require permission, but it is always given. The owners simply want to have a record of the call sign and names of the ones using the system.

You said it's not a hobby, then listed a whole bunch of hobbies that it's used for, and then said those hobbies don't sound like hobbies. That's not an opinion... that is silliness.

LOL  Nice try... but no.  SMH

Yea.... just not seeing it.
 
For at least the last decade, an overwhelming number of people I know, for them, GMRS is a toy. I dont know anyone personally who uses it as anything more than a toy or a second layer of mobile comms, with less traffic, compared to Ham radio.
 
And while there are some businesses around here that use FRS (which seems counterintuitive given the name) there are none using GMRS.
 
Also, in the FCC rules, it even defines GMRS as a mobile two-way voice communication service to support the individual licensees and the families in there activities, with things like emergency services being secondary and business use is a grandfathered tertiary purpose.
 
So, it would seem our interpretations and experiences are vastly different. But... that's okay. :-)

Man... it kills me to see people keep saying that GMRS is not a hobby but Amateur Radio is.  It's like people forget the meaning of words and how subjective they can be.
 
First, I have to say, GMRS and FRS use can be a hobby. That includes rag-chew and anything else you can legally do on GMRS.  GMRS can also be utilitarian.  What makes it a hobby or utility is how YOU use it.  That's it.  Nothing else.
 
I would wager to state the opinion that Amateur Radio is far more utilitarian than GMRS would ever be.  Just because you can legally conduct business on GMRS and FRS doesn't take away that fact that for many private owners, it's purely an entertainment device.  It also doesn't take away the utility value of Amateur Radio.
 
Amateur radio is called such because of non-commercial exchanges, and no other reason.  The organization and practice of amateur radio has led the world for more than a century with new inventions of methods for moving data, messaging and voice comms.  There is wireless experimentation, self-training in electronics engineering, private recreational use, and emergency communications.  If that isn't less a hobby and more utilitarian, I don't know what is.  Radiosport, contesting and rag-chewing is just a small part of Amateur Radio culture.  And again, what makes it a hobby or a service is how YOU use it.

Marc,
I dont know what a Red Rock is. The Miami 725 is up and running. Just got on from Homestead and machine is downtown. A preamp will be added in near future to improve receive sensitivity. I have to edit listing as it ended up on backup site for .325 ham repeater which is at 750'.
 
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The responses I've seen here are interesting and I guess I can attribute it to location. Most ham repeaters here are personally funded. The clubs are broke lol. Those putting up the machines do it for all to use. The few closed ham repeaters are looked down upon and heckled. You want a closed repeater? Get a cellphone. This mentality carried over to GMRS repeaters put up by hams.To each their own.
 
You guys are all welcome to use the Miami 725 when in town. No permission needed.

Hi  WRJH488,
 
Just want to say thanks for repeater in Miami. I'm absolutely brand new to the radio hobby.  Live in Davie, but work off the Causeway.  Your repeater is the first one I'm trying to get programmed into my radio.  Haven't got it all figured out yet, but appreciate you making the huge tower available!  

I've mentioned it before, but in some areas, gmrs is a very closed group, utility only mindset, more like "frs-plus", instead of the "ham-lite" hobbyist mindset you might expect looking at the web (and I had hoped for).
 
It's kind of a false image, though, because it's mainly the hobbyists that are the ones likely to be visiting forums like this to expand the interest.

I have several acquaintances who own GMRS repeaters. They are personal property, not owned by a club or group, installed at their homes and were put in place for use by them and their family.
 
I have never seen/heard of anyone licensed being turned down. However, as a property owner, it seems reasonable to have someone ask for permission to use my stuff and to want to know who is using my stuff.
 
I had a 2m repeater at my house for years and never stopped anyone from legally using it. Eventually I got tired of maintaining it and took it down. Now I only use it for emergency work in the field. Sometimes literally in a field. LoL

Go for your ham license lol. A tech level license can use that radio and is extremely easy to get.

Would those of you that are moderators or admins of this site please private message me so I know who you are?
 
When you message me, could you also please let me know your role, how long you have been doing it, and how much time you generally have to spend per week doing it?
 
If I don’t hear directly from the forum administrator, and you moderators know who it is, could you please let me know who it is ask them to PM me as well?
 
This request is made in connection with the thread concerning getting a master list of part 95 products documented on the site. Looking to start the discussion.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM
 
 
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Maybe some folks donated to a fund for the repeater and think of themselves as "part owner" of sorts.  No excuse for being rude...I'm just puzzling out loud the reason.  Unless the repeater owner says get lost, I would ignore them.  

I was quite thrilled yesterday.  I replaced the rubber duck antenna with a whip for my 4-watt HT and heard someone on a repeater I can receive.  That repeater is a little over 22 miles away according to google maps.  On a whim I went outside and gave it a shot.  The fellow on the other end (the repeater owner) heard me! We had a quick conversation (I had family duties with dinner), but long enough to know it works, he heard me "well" and gave me a tip to talk with the mic close to my mouth since the distance/signal was weak enough there wouldn't be any over-deviation.  HIs repeater has a preamp which helped I'm sure.  
 
 
I'm one happy camper.  

Understood
My mistake assuming any courtesy would exist. Guess its very different from ham/ amateur radio. one of the things some new users may experience.
Thank-You for weighing in

I think it would be an excellent sticky to have at the top of the equipment review section