SteveC7010

A brief update on FPP PL on the Motorola PR-400 and CP-200XLS: This feature works for either DPL or TPL but not both. It’s one or the other.

The Motorola CP-200XLS and the PR-400 handhelds will do exactly that, and are not restricted to any limited number of PLs. They will do the full set of CTCSS tones. They are both Commercial Series radios. I believe that mobiles, CM-300 and PM-400 in the the same series can also do this. I have both portables here and have configured both of them this way. I don’t have either mobile so I haven’t had the opportunity to try this.

I would also bet that many of these new repeaters in PR are based on standard Part 90 mobile radios powered by high capacity deep cycle marine/RV batteries with both 110 vac charging and solar backup. That’s what I’d do if I was building a system to function for long periods when the power grid fails.

It is highly likely that those radios are actually 20KHz bandwidth, not 25. You'd have to be looking at radios well over 30 years old to see 25 KHz bandwidth. If the FCC Type Acceptance shows an emission code that is 16Kxxxxxx, it is 20KHz. Given the fuzzy response from the FCC, you may consider legacy 20KHz radios to be very usable in GMRS. I do. The narrowbanding effort that culminated on the the deadline of 1/1/13 brought most of Part 90 down to 12.5KHz, forcing a lot of agencies to remove their older 20KHz only radios from service which is why you see so many of them for sale on auction sites.

Well, I’ll be sure not to offer any more accurate and factual answers to any of your questions. And just so you don’t forget, this is open forum, so the answers to questions you ask are not always going to conform to what you think they should be. Sometimes you are just plain wrong and other times they are not what you want to hear. Either way, live with it. I might get a time out from mods, but they’ll also note that I have never steered anyone wrong here, and I’ve never been rude or demeaning in any discussion. If you are this easily offended, we’ve all been forewarned.

The Radius M1225 is currently selling on Ebay for between $70 and $125, depending on features and included accessories. I have a large stock of mics, mounting brackets, power cables, ignition sense kits and such so I tend to buy radios that don't have these accessories included. However, someone buying any used commercial gear will have to consider these items when purchasing, especially if it's going to be the only radio like that they will have. There are some package deals on Ebay for 4 or more M1225s right now. If I was a little further down the road in setting up our local emergency response team and disaster preparedness program, I'd jump on them. I do, however, agree that Motorola software has limitations that Kenwood and others do not as you mentioned. If I were not so heavily invested in Motorola, especially the CDM (Waris) family, I'd be going down the Kenwood road, too. But our entire county is CDM1250 and HT1250 for all of the fire equipment and much of the EMS gear. But I have legit copies of all Waris software and Motorola brand cables courtesy of the local Town-owned ambulance service. We have a Motorola On Line account in the Town's name.

Please stop mixing up the 1225 family and the CDMs. They are very different radios, but they do have some common features. They both have the 20 pin accessory port in the back and a mic connector on the front panel. On the M1225, the mic connector is an 8 pin RJ45. The CDM mobiles have a 10 pin RJ50. The extra two pins are for a CDM specific DTMF mic. Both families can use the 8 pin RJ45 mics, however, which allows the use of a wide variety of Motorola mics on either radios. Both families of radios program with the same programming cables. I prefer the serial version because it plugs into my Panasonic CF29 Toughbook. I have both aftermarket cables and the Motorola "ribless" serial cable. There is also a USB version of the programming cable, and that will also do both families of radios. And they do plug into the mic connector on both families. The USB cable is not a simple USB to RJ45 cable. There is a USB to TTL serial module in the cable. You are much better off purchasing one that uses the FDTI chip. There are problems with the Prolific chips that can be totally avoided by purchasing FDTI

The entire 1225 family (mobile/base, repeater, and portable) are all Part 95 certified.

The M1225 and the CDM750/1250/1550 are completely different families of radios. The M1225 programs fine on Win 7 32 bit or older platforms provided you are using Version 4.0 which is a Windows program. Version 3.2 and older are true RSS and will not run on anything newer than Win98.

Fully agree. The 1225’s are great. I’ve also used the CDM1250s and 750s with great success.

Most police, fire, EMS, local government agencies record all of their radio traffic. So do many businesses. Absent encryption (not legal on GMRS anyway), there is no expectation of privacy on two-way radio traffic; cell phone frequencies excepted. I'm not sure what value recording silent transmissions might be, but only you can decide that.

+1 for bluemax49ers on EBay. I've got a couple of his cables and they work flawlessly. His prices are very fair, too. On the subject of cables, I purchased a CDM serial cable from RF Guys years ago. It has always worked well but knowing what I know now about the market, IMHO they are a tad overpriced. The one I have from bluemax49ers is of equal quality and performs just as well.

RIBs are old technology. The M1225 and newer radios all have ribless cables available in both USB and serial versions. I hold legit software for the Professional, Commercial, 1225, and GM300 series of radios. They are easy to program, all without RIBs. I also have Icom, Kenwood, and Vertex radios in our inventory. They are no more or less difficult to program the the Motorola's.

The M1225 was EOL over ten years ago. The software has been available for free on MOL since about 2010. Programming cables are readily and inexpensively available. It is the same cable used for Radius, Maxtrac, GM300, Pro Series and more. The M1225 has the 16 pin accessory connector allowing for all kinds of specialty uses. It also can use a variety of Motorola mics, speakers, and other accessories. As pointed out previously, it is fully Part 95 type accepted.

You might want to check the documentation on that meter. I suspect it is a CB (27 MHz) only meter. The giveaway is it a Sears brand meter. I do not recall anything from someplace like Sears being anything other than CB. If it is a CB only meter, it will not give any kind of accurate reading at GMRS frequencies.

It can take a week or so for the FCC database to be published and then downloaded to MyGMRS.com. It's not an instantaneous process. Most forums, etc. only update from the FCC once a week.

Are your Uniden radios combination FRS/GMRS radios? If so, under the new rules effective September 28, 2017 they are now fully FRS on all channels. In which case, no ID is required. There are several previous threads here containing extensive discussion of the rules.

To add to JohnE's comment, any antenna install should sufficient slack at antenna AND radio ends for this. Base antennas typically get a loop as shown. Mobile antennas usually just get some slack. A fixed loop isn't necessary there and at the radio. The same logic applies to any other wiring at the radio

14 posts before yours, many quoting various sections of Part 95, and all point to this being a loophole in the new Part 95 making transmitting simplex on the 467 mains legal under specific conditions at this time. What are you basing your rather broad statement on? Since the many of the participants in this thread have offered verifiable proof to support their position, perhaps you'd like to do the same. I am certain we'd all like to know what special rules have prompted you to issue this sweeping pronouncement.

I would offer that any current and accurate listing is useful, regardless of the type of system. If it's private, then other GMRS users in the area should respect that and not interfere.

I could have phrased my statement a bit better. The OP was asking about DMR which is much different than allowing short data bursts in an otherwise analog environment. So I should have more accurately said that digital transmission modes like DMR and P-25 are a dead issue for the foreseeable future. The FCC is not going to revisit GMRS and FRS anytime soon.

Since the FCC just incorporated new rules for FRS and GMRS (and the other services under Part 95) after several years of comment and review, I would not expect them to revisit that part of the rules for at least 5 to 10 years or more. There are a number of previous threads here discussing the process and the final R&O published by the FCC that explained everything that they considered after receiving comments for a long period of time. I would encourage you to find those threads and familiarize yourself with the R&O and all the attendant issues that were considered. The basic summary is that digital of any kind is not allowed on GMRS. It's a dead issue.

There's an extensive thread over on radioreference.com in the FRS/GMRS section that contains information on lots of radios that are Part 95 type accepted. Check out this section of their forum: https://forums.radioreference.com/gmrs-frs/ And, some of the previous threads here have some of the same information.

This isn't ham radio so some of the firm and fast ham rules are not necessarily required. Some times it seems that hams tend to self impose a few too many strict operating rules when they're not really needed. But remember that amateur radio licenses are issued to individuals and usually cover only that individual with some infrequent exceptions. GMRS licenses are also issued to individuals, but the license covers an entire family as defined in 95E.So there's no rule about individual call signs. You all have to use the same FCC issued call sign and ID every so often, but it's up to you what you call each other on the radio. First names are ok, and so are unit numbers or car/truck numbers. Typically, a base station would be called "Base", and if you have more than one, "Base 1" or "Base 2" or "Smallville Base to Bigtown Base." It's just me and the wife on a channel when we convoy with two vehicles and I always pick a quiet channel. We just use first names to initially call each other. After that, we just talk and ID when required.

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.