PACNWComms

I know of a couple of cases where this was definitely used as an argument. Had the person tested for an amateur or commercial license, or paid for a GMRS license, they would have had the radio issue enforced as an enhancement to the crime they were being prosecuted for. This is also why many police squad cars still have a version of (mostly Uniden models in my area) scanner mounted in their console or dash alongside their public safety radio. I also once had a detective ask me if he should carry his own FRS/GMRS (pre-2017) radio as many perps he dealt with were found with them. This led to the purchase of near field receivers, Optoelectronics and others that have been used for decades to detect strong RF signals during law enforcement investigations.

Before the 2017 FRS/GMRS radio changes, there was a push to use FRS Channel 1 as a calling/emergency channel by many, old RadioReference forum threads mention this, and along the Washington northwest coastline, there was some traction on this. Especially when my situation took place. Another aspect in my case was the merchant marine community, and the use of radio silence clocks. This helped preserve the battery in my Garmin Rino, and a remote listening station with direction finding capability provided a vector. The helo flew that vector and when my Rino was in range of their Rino radio (Search and Rescue had a lot of them), my location began to show up on their map display. Attached is a screen shot f a radio silence clock, and description.....many of these of different look and manufacture are on board vessels used in commercial shipping and Coast Guard vessels.

I had to prove to some people about a few years ago that a Trbo based radio in digital mode was selective enough to not desense when a similar Trbo radio was transmitting in analog mode right next to it and their antennas being colocated (within maybe a foot apart). This test was with 25 watt radios, but was later repeated with 40 watt UHF versions (XPR4550's), both with SW102 Surecom wattmeters installed in line to see that they were putting out the wattage they were spec'ed for. Some people were amazed at the selectivity of each. Now Trbo XPR4550's are the bare minimum for mobiles, with XPR5550e's being the more expensive option. Bang for the buck, the best money you can spend on a mobile.

I'm still using my CDM1550LS+, and need to get a good antenna connected to my XPR5550e. Assembled it with a power supply, but still only using a cheap Lair magnet mount 1/4 wave antenna. Does receive well though, it is considered the best for receive (XPR5550e), and they work well alongside other radios in their selectivity. +1 on encouraging people to get a XPR5550e if they can afford it, and CPS, programming cable, etc.

I know of several instances where FRS/GMRS radios helped find lost hikers/campers in the Olympic National Forest in Washington State. This is a large rural area, but there are also Coast Guard stations in Port Angeles and Neah Bay, with listening stations that monitor for radio traffic. Other government entities and oil response requirements meant that remote monitoring gear be placed around the coastline. Response to hikers calling on FRS channel 1 became so common that the helo pilots and search and rescue began to carry Garmin Rino GPS/radios. There are lots of calls for people running out of fuel or getting lost in the forest that gets called in via FRS channel 1, as cell phone coverage is spotty. My own case was a little different. While working for the oil industry, I needed to place a portable repeater at the lighthouse at Dungeness Spit, which is only accessible at low tide with an off road or at least larger truck/SUV or from the water for a future on-water drill. I left the Port Angeles pier on a 9 meter RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat), which eventually got swamped near the spit. All of our corporate radios, Motorola PR1500's got wet, or went overboard. As did the handheld GPS. These RHIB's had very old Furuno VHF Marine radios and when attempts were made to contact the Coast Guard, the battery went dead. Then the engine died. The tide started to take us away from shore. The only thing that worked was using FRS channel 1 on a Garmin Rino 120 (this was about 2005 time frame). Coast Guard coordinated a tow, and had my location via the Rino GPS sending my updated location. It only made the local news, as a line item for assistance for the Coast Guard station, but made changes to the RHIB maintenance schedule. Newer radios, a mounted GPS, more batteries and water resistance connections were made to the RHIB. More people were given chest holsters for the PR1500 radios. Some additional Rino radios were bought as a backup for each RHIB, each crew had at least one. As of 2018 the Coast Guard and local Search and Rescue still carried a versions of Garmin Rino, monitoring channel 1. I know many people do indeed think that they just need to buy something and then never use it. They may even get it out and turn it on, but then do not use it, or take it with them. However, I also know many other cases where it is recommended that people have at least an FRS radio (post 2017 and the whole FRS/GMRS changes being made). Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in my area recommends the purchase of a compatible radio and then trains with it. As for use in an emergency, in the United States, I have experienced many more incidents on the inland waterways and open ocean where radios have been used, but this is marine VHF and GMDSS systems. Satellite phones and tethered satellite beacons/trackers seem to be more common now, in my rural part of the Pacific Northwest. But, i still see lots of Motorola TalkAbout radios and various models of Baofeng's with who knows what in them.

When I was stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord, we were issued Pionjar (gas and electric versions), Rock Breaker Hammers for pounding four foot copper ground rods (two connected to make one eight foot rod) into the ground. These devices were part of the loadout for Raytheon satellite communications terminals and troposcatter terminals. We had to put four ground rod sets in the ground, two for the terminal and two more for the antenna system. After decades of training in the same areas, we got off easy, as many units had left their rods in the ground, and we would just clip into the existing grounding rods, moving our comms terminals a few feet to get in the right position between them. These can be rented from many construction and home improvement centers.....unless you want to buy your own. https://www.amazon.com/YN27-Pionjar-Breaker-Hammer-Gasoline/dp/B01I3TKIZ6 This part of the country is in the terminal moraine of glaciers, where all the rocks and debris form at the leading edge. The glacier melts and miles of rock are strewn everywhere, making farming and pounding ground rods a huge chore. Obviously,be sure you are clear of underground cables, gas lines, and sewer pipes first. Then, use a method that works for your type of soil. Good luck, my days of pounding ground rods with hammers is gone. If it takes more than a few hits with a 15 pound sledgehammer or fence post hammer, I'll go with electric/gas tools.

Nice setup there. I may have to do something like that as well. Thank you for posting the picture of the end result.

I recall seeing this a few times, and it seems to come out en masse before a scheduled political speech, demonstration, or public protest. Some agencies spam this via email as well to their departments, trickling down to as many end users as possible. The Beofeng crowd as it is called in my part of the country, as they tend to use them as pointing devices when talking to the media. Local police do often confiscate FRS and FRS/GMRS radios as well as scanners from perps committing crimes though, so it is a valid warning. Sometimes batches are sold off cheap at auction.

So true, this made me laugh....because it is an endless cycle. I am now the old engineer that used to be military comms, being invited back to teach the "next generation" how to interop with local elements (shilling the NIFOG), while other former members of my crew work for FEMA and other fedgov agencies also in the mix, and currently running fire radios for many stations across the country (private fire stations-they do exist). Hang in there and stay the course.

I still have an old Cobra 2000 GTL base station, but sadly, there are very few users using AM CB in 2021-2022. My employer still has to put AM CB in tractor's for their licensed transportation drivers, part of their union contract, to have something besides corporate FM (Trunked P25) Motorola radios and cell phones. That is all I tend to hear when monitoring. GMRS has become so popular and the price of admission has come down for hardware. With repeaters, many can get out much further than they could with handhelds, so more to listen to and more to chat with if you are up for it. Good luck on GMRS, there is a lot of good information here, and some that like to "stir the pot" a bit. welcome to the site.

Same here. For hobby use and SDR# software, I once tried Linux for programming, but that did not work as well as an older Windows 7 PC. For Motorola CPS, BCTools for Uniden scanners, and programming many types of dispatch consoles (Avtec, Gai-Tronics, Telex/Bosch Communications C-Soft), PC computers are required. Even my old Pro-2006 scanner needed Windows. I wonder if OP ended up buying a scanner for their specific use case?

I agree with this part, as I was having to do the same thing. Working in commercial/military radio for thirty years and doing amateur/GMRS for much of that, I needed something better than a cell phone when in the wilderness. Having a background in satcom, i also carried a satellite phone and later a satellite beacon that can sync to my cell phone to send messages. However, it is the GMRS radio that is cheap and common enough that I almost always make contact with someone when out and about. Like others have mentioned though, I have also experienced the end of many auxiliary communications services and emcomm entities in Oregon, as they only bring radio experience to the table much of the time. While they help with parades, and disaster comms, in my area of the country, they often lack the Incident Command Structure (ICS) training, and miss many of the collaborative training opportunities with city, county, and tribal elements. My advice to emcomm people still doing that work, stay engaged or you may be replaced with technology, and foster the relationships with Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), local fire and law enforcement and emergency medical professionals......take that first aid class or learn to teach CPS with AED. Take the ICS certification classes and show up, and you may keep that "seat at the table" when the decision is made on interoperability and inclusion. Washington State in contrast, does appear to keep emcomm volunteers, and engage CERT, ARES, RACES, and AFMARS, combining the efforts of the state military department, and civilian emergency management along with some coordination with FEMA Region Ten headquarters....while keeping the line between state/county/city/tribal and federal apart. Representing the corporate side of the house, I also partake in a weekly check-in via HF and UHF nets, which is in use as both commercial and hobby radio comms....but with some emergency management aspects added in for those that wish to participate. The cool thing with radio and the many aspects of it, is that you can participate at whichever level you want to, be it commercial, military (even for civilians - Military Affiliate Radio is not just for the military), public safety, hobby use, and emergency use. All are useful.

I started reading this thread and went right to Motorola R56, then saw you had posted a link already. Attaching it in case that is unreachable. Chapter's 4 and 5 go into a great deal of detail on what needs to be done. Thank you for posting this. Many could take head in this before having their home catch fire or lose equipment/property/and life to a lightening strike. In previous work in the oil industry, ship antennas would often get hit by lightening strikes. Polyphaser's and actually grounding them in the most direct route saved all but one radio over the course of ten years. With the price of copper, it is understandable why people skimp on this part, but it could save life and property. It is an area that even the professionals try to save money. A couple of years ago, I had to have a 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point under construction, re-pour the concrete base of their antenna tower, as they did not place grounding mesh underneath. The building also needed some walls torn apart to retrofit grounding for the many radio racks, antenna coax penetrations, and backroom equipment. Grounding also improves signal to noise by having gear at the same effective ground, to include the call taking (telephone) systems in use at the sites. Follow R56 and do at least the minimum, adding lightening protection, copper rods and bonding pieces to each antenna/radio system. Motorola-Standards-and-Guidelines-for-Communication-Sites-R56-Manual.pdf

For mobile use and handheld radios, this is where having a quality antenna can be very helpful. In my part of the country, I see even first response vehicles that have several fender and trunk mounted antennas that are not cut to frequency, are too short to be useful (going for looks instead of function), and installs that look like old shop stock was used to clear inventory. As others have mentioned, cars are an RF cage and cuts signal a great deal. On another note, there is an old saying with radio, that the more you are scanning the less you are hearing. I know some that try to scan an entire band (VHF or UHF, and UHF has different meanings to different people/type of training). Limiting your scanning to less channels/frequencies, and parts of band may help. Some radios scan faster than others, and it is still recommended that dedicated scanners be used over radios set to scan. You will still see many Uniden scanners in law enforcement vehicles for example, as they scan faster than the radio on their hip, or the mobile installed next to it in the console. Like you, I recently went on an extended road trip. I only heard a few construction teams, some calls for price checks near shopping malls, and what may have been some hospice/nursing home activity. During an extended traffic stop, there was some chatter on old school CB, but even that was limited talking. People said what they needed to and got off. The few amateur conversations (on 2m) was about antennas and how to tweak them for better function. I only hear extended radio communications on HF bands, and then during scheduled net check-ins. Keep trying and stay the course, you may hear something interesting, and more conversations in time. There is activity in Phoenix and Mesa, there is a joke at my current work, that those two areas have sucked up all the VHF/UHF spectrum. I can't even request any more UHF frequency pairs, and 800 MHz is limited as the cell phone companies own much of that, with the remaining being used by public safety. I administer a combined ASTRO/Trbo network there that covers VHF/UHF/and 7/800MHz, but that would require a trunk tracking scanner or a radio set to non-affiliate scan. Very different than GMRS and CB or amateur use to hear. Good luck on your return trip.

Looks like some trees and possibly hills. Do you have a clear line of sight from the antenna to the repeater? The antenna in the garage may be lined up just right, while the roof mounted one may not be. Or possibly something is wrong with the antenna. Do you have a wattmeter to make sure power is getting out the roof mounted antenna? Another issue could be line loss, and the more coax you use, the more potential loss you may have. Which type of coax is being used with each antenna, length of coax, and type of connector, and adapters if used.

That is funny. And great to hear there was no profanity on the air. On the 900 MHz frequency hoppers, in use by tugboats and their crews, that is almost the entire conversation. Good thing they are not on UHF radios, as everyone in the area would hear them. I do not even think that the state and fedgov listening posts are equipped to monitor ISM band radios.

In watching videos about the little Magnatrac dozer, I did find this, which may make me buy a Harbor Freight Trencher. I'll still stay away from the little Magnatrack though. Just not a good fit for my needs (always fighting back the forest, blackberry bushes and underbrush in a pine forest).

For me, UHF spectrum is either saturated with users, or almost non existent where I tend to go. When I travel to Seattle for work, UHF is cluttered with many users on almost every FRS/GMRS channel. then I break out a 900 MHz ISM band Motorola DTR410 frequency hopping radio, and find at least one of the default channels in use, most often by tugs and other vessels along the Duwamish River. Over the holidays I spent some time at Quinault Lodge, and it was FRS/GMRS all over. I actually had to use tones on several Garmin Rino 530's my family used to keep in touch. Closer to home, several school districts migrated to DTR series Motorola radios, as they had some problems with UHF. One district had Motorola CP200 UHF radios that were falling apart, and their UHF license had expired. When they came to me for advice, they mentioned how they had some issues with people listening in to conversations. As a stop gap, they had purchased many blister pack FRS/GMRS radios (this was pre-2017 rule changes). Incidents included people talking into school related conversations, sending people to the wrong part of campus, and one incident where a child had wandered off campus, and this interfering person delayed the search. Something besides "UHF" as they described it was needed. Not having a valid UHF commercial license, and not being legal for GMRS at that time, I put them on DTR series radios (550/650). It worked for them, and I used a custom hopset setting so they did not fall victim to the other DTR users that bought radios and left them at default values. I hear many of them around urban areas of Washington and Oregon. It does seem that many work crews are using various FRS and/or GMRS radios, as the price comes down and they become easier to use. While driving in the city, I do hear the occasional hotel staff and sometimes a "price check" type of conversation when near a shopping mall. One larger mall must use GMRS for their security, as there is often chatter about specific customers and positioning personnel in case they become a problem. The funniest radios calls at that mall seemed to be during the summer when many parents were teaching teenagers how to drive. Shopping mall parking lots are great for this, but security did not like any of that. Seemed like several incidents a day during the summer related to drivers training in the parking lot. Is has been pretty steady radio wise since Christmas here in the Pacific Northwest. What is the funniest thing you have heard on the radio?

I do the same thing for my GMRS and some amateur repeaters. My only wish is that my older Garmin Rino FRS/GMRS radios allowed for additional channels to be added, some with tones and some without. Since its programming is hard coded, there is no way to add additional channels. One of the few reasons I bought a Radioddity DB20-G. It was a good middle ground between some of my most often used handhelds Garmin Rino 530's and Motorola Part 90 handhelds and my Motorola mobiles. Great advice given here.

My license was granted 11-02-2021, and lists the three you have above, and also 467.650 MHz.

Updating, as I noticed I attached NIFOG version 1.6.1A in my previous post. Attaching NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) version 2.0 from August 2021. The first portion still describes when interop frequencies can be used by different types of users. Page 5 shows that Title 47 applies to Part: 80,87,90,95, and 97. 1937188711_NIFOGVer2.0_508version_FINAL_9_23_2021_(signed).pdf

The first section of the NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) Version 1.6.1A describes a lot of the legal aspects, as BoxCar above mentioned, in detail in section 1 (up to page 23). Many state level FOG's re-iterate this. However, many will tell you to never ever do this. If your life or that of someone else is on the line, make that radio call, it may be the only thing that gets through. And yes, some of my personal incidents involved lost hikers in the Olympic National Forest, and all they had was a Baofeng with "prepper" frequencies loaded into it.....it still worked as it was being monitored by the closest Coast guard station's listening station. Raytheon ACU-1000 and some other gear that "listens" for exactly this type of thing in remote areas. 705610239_NIFOGVer1.6.1A.pdf

+1 on this. I bought a Radioddity DB20-G because it was only about $100 and could be opened up to 2 meters and 70 cm.......yet I know many people that seem to like the Midlands. Even radio savvy people, until the coiled cord breaks (Previous Midland series).

Plain simple English. This is "name" at "location" and I have an emergency. The person on the distant end of that radio should know how to handle this type of situation. Unfortunately, between the military, public safety, and emergency response.....I have been the person making these types of radio "calls" as well as taking a few. Often they involved a maritime environment where the US Coast Guard was needed as well. Plain and simple English works the best. Do not use jargon, 10 codes, or military style radio procedures, it only confuses dispatchers. Of course, if there are specific procedures in place, being a pre-arranged interoperability channel, use those procedures if they are known.