DDinMCMI

If that is indeed the case, I stand corrected. It just seems to me like the FCC rules are a little vague on the issue, but I suppose that's nothing new. My rule of thumb has traditionally been to err on the side of caution.

According to FCC Rule Part 95.1705: (b) Individual licensee responsibility. The holder of an individual license to operate GMRS stations is responsible at all times for the proper operation of the stations in compliance with all applicable rules in this part. (d) Individual licensee duties. The holder of an individual license: (1) Shall determine specifically which individuals, including family members, are allowed to operate (i.e., exercise operational control over) its GMRS station(s) (see paragraph (c) of this section); (2) May allow any person to use (i.e., benefit from the operation of) its GMRS repeater, or alternatively, may limit the use of its GMRS repeater to specific persons; (3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E/section-95.1705 That would suggest to me that a repeater operator is in at least part responsible for maintaining legal use of the repeater. While it say the operator "may" disallow use of the repeater by specific persons, it references that this may be necessary in order to carry out the responsibilities of the repeater licensee, which would be the same responsibilities applied to any individual operator. Operators do have control over traffic on their repeaters via DCS and CTCSS access. Granted it's not foolproof, and there's always a possibility of something slipping through the cracks. I'm guessing the FCC would take that into account provided the repeater operator shows due diligence to the best of their ability.

Think of it this way. Would you allow someone to pick up your radio and use it without your permission? GMRS repeaters are personally-owned radios. When you access a repeater you a in effect using equipment that belongs to someone else. They have the right to determine who can use their radio. The airwaves are public. The equipment is not. Related to that is the issue of liability. As repeater owners are themselves licensed GMRS operators, they are legally responsible for any transmissions utilizing their license. That includes any traffic retransmitted through their repeater equipment. Should an outside operator violate FCC rules or operate unlicensed through a repeater, the FCC can hold the repeater operator liable and subject to penalty. Basically you are using someone else's license when you access their repeater. They have the right and responsibility to protect their license and insure that everything that comes out of their radio is legal and above-board. As far as the use of GMRS, I agree that it is for the most part not a hobby-based medium in the vein of Ham radio, although that may change somewhat as GMRS gains more popularity. The evolution of GMRS clubs, repeater nets and repeaters in largely-populated areas has lent itself to more general social traffic among radio enthusiasts. I doubt GMRS will ever reach the hobby aspect of Ham just because of the technical limitations, but I could see more hobbyist use as interest and network infrastructure grows.

That's what I figure. I suppose I could have just loosened the screw and left it in. I just don't want it to accidentally loosen enough to fall out of the antenna. This way I know where the screw is as I put the Ziploc bag in the radio box. Even if I lose it at some point, it doesn't matter as the rubber duck secures nicely without it. I use the longer whip or mobile magnet-mount most of the time anyway. Now if I can just find the belt clip. As the saying goes, "it didn't walk out of the house....."

I just set the screw aside in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping. Makes it easier to change out antennas on the fly, as the screw really isn't necessary to hold the antenna in-place.

It's my understanding (any I may be wrong) that you don't need a CTCSS tone just to monitor a repeater. As long as you have CTCSS RX disabled on the radio, you should be able to hear traffic regardless of the repeater's CTCSS TX tone. The radio should de-squelch the transmissions because it's not listening for any particular tone. I discovered this playing around with a pair of our FRS handhelds. I picked a mutual channel and set a CTCSS TX/RX code on one radio while leaving CTCSS disabled on the other. The CTCSS-disabled radio de-squelched the transmission from the CTCSS-enabled radio when I keyed up. I then keyed up the CTCSS-disabled radio and that transmission was squelched on the radio with the tone enabled. CTCSS squelches when the transmit tone doesn't match the tone the receiver is listening for. A radio with CTCSS RX disabled doesn't care if there's a tone or not. It lets everything through. On the flip side, any radio set to receive a CTCSS tone (like a repeater) has to hear that particular tone before it will de-squelch. If your radio isn't set to transmit the CTCSS tone the repeater is programmed to receive, it will ignore you.

The fee for a CB license was lowered to $4 in the mid 70's, and it was still a fairly viable medium until the FCC abandoned licenses altogether in the early 80's. I don't think the fee amount matters as long as there is some form of consideration involved in getting licensed, whether it's time or money. Even with the $4 fee, most CB operators back then were responsible just because the license was an investment they wanted to maintain. The call signs made it more accountable, as it was easier to identify those who were perhaps not playing by the rules. These days of course, there pretty much are no rules with CB. I hear people from all over talking skip over each other and bragging about their 200W amps....far cry from the 4W maximum the FCC allowed back in the day.

I'm new to GMRS as well (got my license on 8/24). I looked into linking to the Midwest GMRS Net through Zello as well. As I understand they only grant Zello access to operators who can connect to a linked repeater site via RF. The reason given is that they don't want to tie up the repeaters with traffic from ops who can outside the repeater footprints and can only connect via Zello. I can understand their logic given it would increase traffic and leave less room for folks using their radios. There are some sites like the Notarubicon GMRS 700 Repeater in San Jose, CA that do allow repeater access via their Zello channel for licensed GMRS ops regardless of location, provided you're mindful of local radio traffic (I try not to transmit when there are a lot of local ops making use of the repeater). I suspect the reason none of the Michigan repeaters are on the Midwest Net is because there aren't enough yet to facilitate the necessary hops to connect. I did notice, however, that MyGMRS listed several new repeaters online across the state just this week, and hopefully that number will continue to increase as interest grows over time.

Just got my license and Radioddity GM-30 last week. There are two open GMRS repeaters in my area. I've tested both successfully from about five miles out. Haven't heard any traffic on either as yet, but then again I'm not sure how many folks actively use them. GMRS, while it's gaining popularity, is still relatively new compared to Ham in terms of general public awareness. I don't believe there are any clubs associated with the repeaters I've connected to, unlike the local 2M Ham repeaters I monitor with clubs that meet over the air weekly or monthly. Amateur radio has more of a hobby aspect to it, as where GMRS/FRS, to my experience, is more geared toward personal two-way communication. Granted, that may evolve as more people become interested in GMRS. It would be cool to see a club form in my area just so folks could meet up and share the interest, but that may take some time if the interest develops at all. For now I just like to listen in on the GMRS club feeds from other areas, be it through this site or my Zello app.