wrci350

@UncleYoda GMRS is Part 95. Parts 90 and 97 don't come into play, so don't worry about them. If you buy a 20, 25, or 50 watt GMRS radio, set it on a table in your house, hook it to an antenna on the roof, and power it with a power supply, you are free to use it at full power on GMRS repeaters. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

From the manual: [42: SP-MUTE] Speaker Mute Function: Speaker Mute settings Options: QT/QT+DTMF/QT*DTMF Default: QT QT: All signals on the same CTCSS tone/DCS code will activate the speaker QT+DTMF: Only those signals which include both the same CTCSS/DCS and dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal as the radio will activate the speaker. QT*DTMF: Only those signals which have either the same QT or DTMF codes as the radio will activate the speaker. You want "QT". I really don't think you want to mess with DTMF tones, even if the other radios will do them. "What does the DN and the DI mean?" Digital Normal and Digital Inverted. Usually "Normal" is used. Either will work, but has to be the same on all radios. So have you been able to get your radios to talk *at all*? If not, two things to try: 1) Pick a channel and don't set any CTCSS or DCS tones on it at all. Does that work? 2) If not, have one of the kids go to the other end of the house (or even better, other side of the yard) and test. Many less-expensive radios (especially Baofengs) are very susceptible to receiver desense, and if you are trying to test them a few feet (or less) apart you may hear nothing.

It really doesn't matter what "you consider". Part 95 is clear: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95#p-95.303(Control station) Control station. A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations. The distinction between a "base station" and a "control station" (in 95e) is that "base stations" are simplex, and a "control station" uses a repeater to talk to other stations. Note that the definition says MAY also be used. That means, "you are allowed to". It does not mean, "you HAVE to". So using what most people think of as a "GMRS base station" (mobile radio with a power supply and a rooftop antenna) to access repeaters is perfectly legal under Part 95. Oh, and fixed stations talk to other fixed stations: Fixed station. A station at a fixed location that directly communicates with other fixed stations only. Your GMRS "base station" is not a fixed station.

Because the RR database is crowdsourced, and not just pulled from the FCC license DB. Submissions are based on actual monitored traffic. That would suggest that someone heard this railroad using FRS radios with that PL tone. Under the 2017 FRS/GMRS rule changes, that would be a permitted use. With that said, I also searched and was not able to find "Turtle Creek RR" in the database. I Googled that name and found numerous references to a small industrial short line in Pennsylvania, but that ceased service in 2009, and there is no RR listing for it under PA Railraods. Maybe this isn't the right one? Not sure why this year old thread was resurrected for this discussion, but whatever.

Uh, mostly incorrect. You need to look at Part 95A and Part 95E. But here's a chart that summarizes it for you. Look for the "post 2017" table. FRS/GMRS combined channel chart - The RadioReference Wiki

Coordination is irrelevant, as is physical location vs mailing address. If you are comparing GMRS to amateur radio, the most important fact is that nothing in Part 97 applies to Part 95e. The rules for GMRS repeaters are right there in 95e. Oh, and the FCC does not assign call signs to amateur radio repeaters either ... they operate under the call sign of the owner or trustee, either individual or a group. Same applies for a GMRS repeater. If someone stands one up, it operates under *their* call sign. There is no requirement that the repeater be located at the owner's mailng address. (Same is true for ham repeaters, but again, that's not relevant.) The rules are right there in 95e. If you don't like them and choose to ignore them, that's on you. That doesn't make them go away.

You are. You left out: "(1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and," Note that subpart 1 ends with AND (emphasis mine). So (c) is only true if BOTH (1) and (2) are true. In other words, if someone stands up a repeater for the private use of their family ONLY (all operating under one GMRS license) and the users ID, then the repeater doesn't have to ID. Otherwise ... it does. Jinx, @Sshannon ?

I think you may have been looking at the programming cable for Wouxun mobile radios, which is sold out. The one you need is here: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-pco-001.html

The FCC doesn't see it that way. A GMRS license is an individual license. Members of the license-holder's family are allowed to operate under that license, but the license is still issued to an individual, not a group. "John Smith", not "The Smith Family". It's also not a matter of "using ham as a guide". The regulations for station ID are spelled out in 95e. The suggestion is to use call sign + number to identify member of the family. The only exception is for a private repeater only used by individuals operating under one license (i.e. a family). § 95.1751 GMRS station identification. Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification. (a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted: (1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and, (2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes. (b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone. (c) Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.

I have no idea why you felt the need to involve me in this discussion, but since you did, here I am. You are slightly misrepresenting the exchange from the other thread, however. The discussion there was about "re-locking" a radio, not just about programming GMRS frequencies. Honestly I don't even know if that's a thing ... there are lots of magic key sequencies to unlock various radios available on the Internet, but I haven't run across any that will re-lock one so that it is type-accepted again. If a such a sequence (or flag in CPS, etc.) DID exist, then I would argue that it would make the radio type-accepted again. If one unlocks a GMRS radio, then it is no longer type accepted, since 95.1761(c) disallows certification of a radio for GMRS if it has the CAPABILITY (emphasis mine) of transmitting on a non-GMRS frequency. The only exception would be a Part 90 radio that also has Part 95 certification. So the instant a GMRS radio is "unlocked" it is no longer type accepted. Whether or not one actually has MURS (or any other) frequencies programmed in the radio is irrelevant. And BTW ... the whole "in an emergency you can transmit on any frequency" thing is a myth. Nowhere in FCC Part 95, 97 or even 90 will you find that.

I misspoke. I used a galvanized fence post. Definitely not soft material. It's been up for nearly two years and we've had some pretty good wind storms. No issues at all. The wind load on a 5 or 10 foot vertical is pretty low.

Sure. I'm using two of these, which are similar but not as long I don't think. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068YUN4/ Another option is a gable mount, like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UVMDT6E/ Get a piece of fence top rail to use as a mast.

I know that's a rhetorical question, but if they "lock" the radio back to GMRS, then it is type-accepted again. But you knew that already.

The FCC doesn't "certify" *any* radios. It does grant "type acceptance" for Part 90 and various subparts of Part 95. There is no "certification" or "type acceptance" for Part 97 (aka ham radio). Amateur radio is by definition an experimental service, and any radio can be used, even a home-brew one. So if someone buys a DB-20G and "opens" it and uses it on 2m or 70cm, they are not breaking any FCC rules. However, if they turn around and use that radio for GMRS or MURS, they *are* breaking an FCC rule, since the radio is no longer technically type accepted for Part 95e (GMRS) and was never accepted for Part 95j (MURS).

Do you read through old threads looking for places you can "contribute"? Was it really necessary to add this statement to something posted over 4 months ago? The fact that maximum transmission power on the interstitials is expressed in ERP does not in any way prohibit a removable antenna, which is what I was commenting on. It does, however, place the onus on staying under the limit on the user of the radio ... not that most people care, of course.

What kind of radios? Do they actually have their own 'custom version of Chirp', or is it their own programming software? As far as the second question, since FRS and GMRS share the first 22 channels, if you import both "FRS" and "GMRS" you are going to end up with 44 plus the 8 repeater channels, or a total of 52. Pre-programmed FRS radios come with 1-22 (set up narrow and FRS power). Pre-programmed GMRS radios come with 1-22 (set up wide [other than 8-14] and GMRS power) plus the 8 repeater channels.

Search on eBay for "repeater duplexer" and you'll see lots of them.

Yes if you look around you'll find several other radios that look like an 878 and are more than likely made in the same factory. The DJ-MD5 has a different form-factor but on the inside I'm pretty sure it's the same radio as an 878, or very close.

I had to look it up, so you can probably guess the answer. Sounds like an Icom thing, yes? Nothing like that, but one nice thing about the DJ-MD5 (and other DMR radios) is the use of "zones" that you put all your channels in. So you could have a "home" zone and a "beach" zone and easily switch between them.

Alinco DJ-500TB Analog $140 Alinco DJ-MD5XTG DMR/Analog $196 Both are Part 90 radios, so no diode clipping, resister removing, or magic power-on sequence needed. They ship with a 136-174/400-470 antenna, which certainly must be better at *some* of those frequencies, but usable at all of them.

Take a look at LMR400UF (the UF is for UltraFlexible). A bit more loss, but very easy to work with.

Not sure where you got your cables but $96 for a two-foot cable is way out of line IMHO. I just priced a two-foot LMR400UF cable at TheAntennaFarm*. The cable itself is $1.68 a foot, so a whopping $3.36. It's only $10 to have both connectors installed with heat wrap, so it's not the labor. The cost is in the connectors themselves. For an N male you can pay $43.37, or you can pay $5.46. PL-259? $10.48 or $3.14. Even if you opted for the most expensive connectors you'd be looking at $70, not almost $100. *Highly recommended, BTW.

Sounds like you paid whoever you bought the scanner from to program it for you. My suggestion would be to buy software so you can program it yourself and do so; that will give you a better understanding of what's in there. (It is certainly possible to do the programming by hand, but trust me, using software is MUCH easier!) There is also a more scanner-specific forum site (RadioReference) where questions about "how do I program it" and "what should I be able to hear" can be asked. Based on your listed location I looked in the RadioReference DB for the four nearby counties and all emergency services are using conventional analog VHF and UHF, so iyour 325P2 should be hearing a lot of traffic. Nothing is on a trunking system, and there is no encryption in use. State-wide trunking systems are definitely the exception rather than the rule, and while there IS a state-wide system in PA the primary user is the State Police (who are fully encrypted), not county or local agencies. I will echo what others have said about GMRS. While there is a significant faction out there that looks at it as a "chat with random folks on the radio" service, that really isn't the intended purpose (although that's not forbidden either). If that's what you are looking for you are much better off getting your Technician license.

Apparently "the regulation" you don't agree with isn't the one I thought you were talking about. I was specifically addressing FRS/GMRS combo radios. By "only on the FRS frequencies" I'm guessing you mean the simplex FRS/GMRS channels, since there aren't any FRS-only frequencies. I believe that any Part 90 radios that have grandfathered Part 95 certifications are considered "GMRS" radios, so as the rules are currently written, yes, a GMRS license is required, and yes, IDing is required. Do I care? No, I don't. On paper, the FCC does. In reality, they don't either.

Perhaps, but it's also understandable, since the pre-2017 rules allowed for those combination FRS/GMRS radios, and somewhere in the manual that came with them there was a notice that a license was needed if you wanted to use the higher-power "GMRS" channels. I'll bet the percentage of people who purchased those bubble-pack combo radios and got (or had) a GMRS license was in the single digits. FRS radios are also not allowed to use repeaters, so it's not just bandwidth and power levels that differ between FRS and GMRS. As far as the requirement to ID if using a GMRS radio (even on simplex), that certainly seems to be what the FCC regulations say. Will anyone know and/or care if you don't? Probably not.