SteveShannon

Chirp does remarkably well for being non-commercial software. If it was available for all of my radios I might never have switched to RT Systems. And I will not say that RT Systems has worked perfectly. I’ve run across a few problems with RT Systems when programming DMR code plugs, which admittedly is an order of magnitude more complicated than typical analog radios. But their DMR calculator makes it much easier and when I have had a problem I have been very impressed by RT Systems willingness to thoroughly discuss and understand every issue that I have reported. Having RT Systems available for my db20g radios really made the difference for me though. I really like this radio and Chirp isn’t available for this radio.

I agree with Gil (wruu653). I’m curious what you disagree about. Do you disagree that the conditions of clauses must both be true (the literal and logical meaning word “and” at the end of the first clause), otherwise the repeater must transmit station identification? Do you disagree with our interpretation that the condition of the first clause is satisfied only if the people using the repeater are people using the license of the repeater owner? Literally “stations operating under the authority of the individual license under which it operates”. Do you disagree that the condition of the second clause is satisfied only if all people using the repeater follow the rules regarding identifying when they use the repeater? Or do you disagree on some other basis? Enhanced Content - Paragraph Tools URL https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/part-95#p-95.1751(c) Citation 47 CFR 95.1751(c) : 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.

Your repeater isn’t required to ID if and only if the only people who use it are people you have authorized to use your call sign and they identify correctly. If anyone with a different call sign uses your repeater, the repeater must be IDed. You can certainly do that manually and it definitely doesn’t have to be Morse code, but the repeater must be identified. Morse just happens to be built in for some controllers. Personally I prefer English language IDs also.

Welcome to the forum. Does the RICK controller have an ID function? The ID can be your call sign in Morse code if it’s easier. The RepeaterID breakout board can be used with the RepeaterID for use with “surplus repeaters” according to the website.

Okay, 55 years ago it was $20, then it was reduced to $4 (that was when I first considered getting a license because $20 was way too much!) The point is that the government has no problem reducing the cost of the license, even to zero.

Not really. CB licenses were $20 each 50 years ago when $20 was a lot of money. Then they lowered it to $4, perhaps hoping to entice more people to get legal.

Absolutely nothing prevents any person from simply buying a full power GMRS radio and using it unlicensed, thereby avoiding whatever gatekeeper challenge “programming a ham radio” might provide.

Yes, it’s possible. They’ve asked us for suggestions for simplifying regulations. Most (by far) of the people who use GMRS now don’t have licenses. One way to simplify this would be to combine FRS and GMRS into a single unlicensed service like FRS is today.

It’s possible for a person to hold different FRNs. GMRS.app will (I believe) find a person who holds different licenses under different FRNs. It appears to look at the address rather than just the FRN.

You can also use this website to see if a GMRS licensee is also a ham: https://gmrs.app

That’s exactly right. I tried hard to give @Socalgmrs his due. I even upvoted a few of his posts after others piled on just because it was him, wanting him to settle in and realize he didn’t have to act like that, but after the past few years where he has steadily gotten worse rather than better I realized that nothing I did was going to change for the better. It helps to understand that he was a member here under the name wrxp381 (his call sign), then changed his username to SocalGMRS, quit the forums, had all of his identifiable posts changed to come from username “guest”, and then came back as socalgmrs again to act exactly the same way he did before or worse. As Randy said, others will provide whatever good information that he might have injected into a conversation. You’ll literally miss nothing by adding him to your ignore list.

Best wishes as you go through ham licensing. HamStudy.org makes it easy and enjoyable and free if you like online learning. One of the things you might learn within a couple years of becoming a ham is that one radio isn’t enough. You might even find that the radios you have unlocked, thinking they could do it all, really aren’t enjoyable to use on those unlocked frequencies when compared to a radio certified for those frequencies.

That’s exactly how I feel also. A fine for using a radio that hasn’t been certified for a particular service will be a secondary charge and will only accompany much more severe primary charges, such as intentionally interfering with government agency’s communications.

No, unfortunately, when people quote his posts they still appear, unless you ignore the people who quote him.

I think you mean that you would like to be able to ignore specific “threads”. If you truly meant “threat” I would urge you to report any threats by clicking on the ellipsis in the upper right corner of the post that includes the threat. I would also like the ability to ignore threads.