coryb27

Not GMRS but still UHF radio related and I know several other members own or service licensed part 90 systems. So I thought I would share a few photos from this weekends tower site repair on my business system. Last year I added this site to my Mototrbo IP site connect system, because of costs I cut a few corners and paid the price with an under preforming site. Today's project included installing the new repeater system, replacing the antenna, upgrading from 1/2 to 7/8 feed line and swapping out the 2' standoff for a 4'. Big thanks to my climber, he braved the 29 degree temps and completed the entire project in 4 hours. Yes that's him sitting out on the end of the 4' side arm installing the new antenna. I guess the side arm is now climber tested and approved! Not even with his 50 lbs of safety gear would you catch me sitting out there at 150'. I did some testing on the 50 mile ride home and the site is no longer under preforming. It has exceeded my predictions with15 miles of portable coverage, up from 2 miles.
 

Not GMRS but still UHF radio related and I know several other members own or service licensed part 90 systems. So I thought I would share a few photos from this weekends tower site repair on my business system. Last year I added this site to my Mototrbo IP site connect system, because of costs I cut a few corners and paid the price with an under preforming site. Today's project included installing the new repeater system, replacing the antenna, upgrading from 1/2 to 7/8 feed line and swapping out the 2' standoff for a 4'. Big thanks to my climber, he braved the 29 degree temps and completed the entire project in 4 hours. Yes that's him sitting out on the end of the 4' side arm installing the new antenna. I guess the side arm is now climber tested and approved! Not even with his 50 lbs of safety gear would you catch me sitting out there at 150'. I did some testing on the 50 mile ride home and the site is no longer under preforming. It has exceeded my predictions with15 miles of portable coverage, up from 2 miles.
 

I had to run out and clean up a few loose ends, I remembered to snap a pic of the the entire tower.
 

Not GMRS but still UHF radio related and I know several other members own or service licensed part 90 systems. So I thought I would share a few photos from this weekends tower site repair on my business system. Last year I added this site to my Mototrbo IP site connect system, because of costs I cut a few corners and paid the price with an under preforming site. Today's project included installing the new repeater system, replacing the antenna, upgrading from 1/2 to 7/8 feed line and swapping out the 2' standoff for a 4'. Big thanks to my climber, he braved the 29 degree temps and completed the entire project in 4 hours. Yes that's him sitting out on the end of the 4' side arm installing the new antenna. I guess the side arm is now climber tested and approved! Not even with his 50 lbs of safety gear would you catch me sitting out there at 150'. I did some testing on the 50 mile ride home and the site is no longer under preforming. It has exceeded my predictions with15 miles of portable coverage, up from 2 miles.
 

Internet and rent cost me 115 a month for 150' feet, I have 2 locations from a locally owned tower company. I hope to work out a similar deal for a 3rd site this year. You have to try and find a smaller tower operator, places like American Tower and Crown Castle want outrages fees. The owner of the company is a great guy and he even climbs still. I was able to find a few other places well I was looking but decided a small company with 20 plus sites was the best option for expansion of the system. 

Not GMRS but still UHF radio related and I know several other members own or service licensed part 90 systems. So I thought I would share a few photos from this weekends tower site repair on my business system. Last year I added this site to my Mototrbo IP site connect system, because of costs I cut a few corners and paid the price with an under preforming site. Today's project included installing the new repeater system, replacing the antenna, upgrading from 1/2 to 7/8 feed line and swapping out the 2' standoff for a 4'. Big thanks to my climber, he braved the 29 degree temps and completed the entire project in 4 hours. Yes that's him sitting out on the end of the 4' side arm installing the new antenna. I guess the side arm is now climber tested and approved! Not even with his 50 lbs of safety gear would you catch me sitting out there at 150'. I did some testing on the 50 mile ride home and the site is no longer under preforming. It has exceeded my predictions with15 miles of portable coverage, up from 2 miles.
 

Used duplexes can be found on eBay, If you want a decent system with good receiver sensitivity stay away from the mobile style flat packs and look for a good pass / reject.  

Private/Restricted listings at the main website require OWNER PERMISSION - usually in writing - to use their system. This procedure allows the OWNER to screen applicants to determine if they have an active GMRS license and what their intentions are. If someone sees a  "Permission Required" entry in the main Repeater Listings at MyGMRS, the frequencies are usually listed, but the access codes are not.  There is a click button below the location map for each entry that says "Request Access".  By clicking on that button, a request form pops up and info in that form is sent to the owner.  It is the responsibility of each repeater owner to UPDATE any changes in their repeater listings at MyGMRS. That's also why there is a "Report Listing" button below the location map that persons may use to report any system data that is no longer applicable.  The owner of MyGMRS (Rich) usually sends an email to OWNERS that have systems reported, to determine current status. If they do not respond in a reasonable amount of time, the listing may be removed from the listing area until some form of verification is received back by reply email OR the owner updates or removes the listing themselves.

1. No. GMRS is a personal radio service now. Business use was discontinued several decades ago however there are still a few legacy licenses for businesses that were granted before the change. They must renew to retain their use of the GMRS frequencies. The personal radio service rules were recently updated to clarify all of this. Check out FCC.gov and search on Part 95.
 
2. No. See #1.
 
3. No longer relevant.
 
Depending on the model of the Baofengs, they are or are not certified for use in various radio bands by the FCC. Most of them really only qualify for licensed amateur radio operator use.
 
You should contact a local two-way radio shop for guidance and equipment. They are familiar with your area and can best advise you on licensing, etc.

This is our coverage so far...  MAP

Its been my experience that everybody wants to own a repeater till they have to maintain it or pay tower rent. Also Lot's of people build small repeaters with low power radios using cheep duplexes with low antenna height. I decided to hunt down some of the machines in our area only to find "GARAGE" repeaters, (3' antenna on a 3' tripod on somebody's house roof) over half with less coverage then what you could work simplex from a base but listed at 35 miles of coverage. I can not understand why people put repeaters into service that don't cover any useful area and then list them on myGMRS. I would bet a lot of the machines listed are no longer on the air or have a tiny foot print. I would also bet when somebody takes a repeater down the listing remains.
 
Here is some other food for thought. Several of us in the WI, IL and IN area have linked a system of repeaters together on the myGMRS network. Our system of 5 machines is open to any licensed user and covers a few 1000 sq miles of area and it yet it has only 18 users. I promise it is not because the machines are junk but rather the limited number of GMRS users. I know Rich is working on something new and he is well aware of the dead listings, we will just have to wait and see.
 
Just my $.02

I don't know how much It'd be used, but, has anyone considered that Chat feature at the top?

Hopefully this straightens this out for you:
 
Fixed station: A fixed station, not open to public correspondence, operated by, and for the sole use of those agencies operating their own radio communication facilities in the Public Safety, Industrial, Land Transportation, Marine, or Aviation Radio Services.
 
Base Station - A station at a specified site authorized to communicate with mobile stations.
 
ENGLISH NOW:
50watts is your max Mobile, Base, or Repeater

Keep it at 25W. GR1225's are notorious for burning up PA's.
 
Out of curiosity, when was the last time the duplexer was checked for desense?
 
 
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http://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor.html

I just submitted my comment to the FCC, just waiting for them to approve it and post it on the site. Then I'll share the link. In the meantime, I'm attaching it here so everyone can read what I submitted.
 
I found some inconsistencies in their Report & Order so I tried to drive the point home on a few issues. Overall I am very happy with the rules they proposed as they're a lot simpler when you consider how bad the current set is. They also were thinking about destroying GMRS as we know it, and they backpedaled on virtually all of those ideas. 
 
I re-read their report and they seemed to use the survey I submitted back in 2010 in their decision to continue allowing the repeaters. I think they weren't aware there we so many still in use, and over the past several years there have been many more added to this site. So thank you to all the repeater owners who posted here, that definitely made a difference!
 
I don't think they will really consider many changes if any this close to the meeting (May 18th), but they did release the draft ahead of time so I wanted to fight as hard as I could to sway them in any way possible. If they were going this far with digital data, there was little reason not to allow digital voice in my opinion. Also, the data emissions were limited to bubblepack radios anyway, which is completely unfair.
 
Hopefully we get some of what I asked for, but either way I'm content that the service hasn't been completely trashed like it almost was.
 
I urge everyone else to post a comment, however short it is. The FCC did listen to your prior comments, and the proceeding is still technically open. Feel free to reference my comment, agree or disagree with what I had to say (but please consider the reasons I gave for my opinions before outright disagreeing with them).
 
I believe we have until May 8th to have our comments read by the FCC for this meeting. There seems to be a 10-day sunshine period where they won't consider any new filings before the meeting. So please post a comment ASAP.
 
Click on "+ New Filing" on the left side of the page. Fill out your contact information, optionally your callsign, type is "Comment" or "Reply To Comments", and attach a document (Word, PDF, etc) with your comments:
 
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?sort=date_disseminated,DESC&proceedings_name=10-119
FCC Report and Order Comment.docx

What is your callsign? I'll check and see what's going on. 

If going out of service range I always carry one of these, Be aware if you need to activate it any costs to rescue you may be billed to you.
 
http://www.cabelas.com/product/SPOT-LLC-SPOT-GEN-ORANGE/1661065.uts?productVariantId=3609002&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03750221&rid=20&gclid=CLnI6Nz-stMCFQodaQoduGEKeg&gclsrc=aw.ds

going to try and monitor this today

Please feel free to pressure the FCC to revise the rules to allow digital voice transmissions on GMRS. Emphasis on voice, not data. The rules are just out of date with the state of technology, so it'd be nice to bring GMRS up to the Ham standard, so to speak.

If both users are licensed, they may use GMRS for business purposes as long as the remaining rules are followed. So yes, you and your coworker, if both have a license, may use GMRS for commercial use but are still subject to, for example, the rules that require identification, cooperative channel use, prohibits explicit language, etc.
 
If a business holds a grandfathered license still (very few left), they may issue radios to their employees for business purposes. The other rules still apply, but the terms of their license may specify some special usage or restrictions (i.e. only authorized for certain frequencies).
 
Since only individuals can get a license today, you're probably asking about the first case.

The Staff has eliminated 8 posts in this thread.  We caution participants to take your argument into Private Messaging if you must argue at all.  Any repeat of what was reported by several members in this thread will not be tolerated.

Linking is the least of this guys issues, he claims to be building a nationwide GMRS network and plans to charge users for access. He also claims to have 150 repeaters in his shop with tower space, internet and linking hardware ready to go. Best part, hes a new license holder, checking his FRN on FCC shows hes not involved in any other type of radio and hes plastering the main site with tons of future repeaters. This is all sham and the FCC is already aware of him and looking into it. If his pay for play network is real hes in big trouble....... Not sure how long Rich is going to let this guy fill his site with fake networks and repeaters. I found the website, poor grammar and the page looks to be made in MS word and Paint.
 
http://www.usgmrsgroup.club/

Linking is the least of this guys issues, he claims to be building a nationwide GMRS network and plans to charge users for access. He also claims to have 150 repeaters in his shop with tower space, internet and linking hardware ready to go. Best part, hes a new license holder, checking his FRN on FCC shows hes not involved in any other type of radio and hes plastering the main site with tons of future repeaters. This is all sham and the FCC is already aware of him and looking into it. If his pay for play network is real hes in big trouble....... Not sure how long Rich is going to let this guy fill his site with fake networks and repeaters. I found the website, poor grammar and the page looks to be made in MS word and Paint.
 
http://www.usgmrsgroup.club/

I have had this radio for about a month and have been able to listen in on some great discussions on my local repeater. Problem is my local repeater requires a DPL 263 but I have not been able to figure out how to set that up. Is it supported on the ht?