WRQI583

I keep 2m/70cm, CB, MURS, and GMRS in my vehicle. I have it mainly to have the ability to communicate with almost anyone, but in the case of emergency, I am pretty well covered.

Oh, thats easy. Round table. You create an order and one person passes it to the next person. I used to participate in that many years ago back when Ham was more active and we could have up to 8 or 9 people all talking on the repeater late into the night. Good times.

Height is might. The higher up you go, the farther you will get out. What you are looking to do is a stretch. If you have a repeater that the both of you can get into it can be done but it will be limited to base to repeater to base. You wont be able to do mobile. Where I live, I can hit the Mt Washington 440 Ham repeater from my house. The distance is around 102 miles away from my place to the tower. The distance you get out of a repeater is going to depend on height of the tower where the repeater is and the terrain around it. Usually 30-50 miles is typical but sometimes much less. If you have more than one repeater and the two are linked, then you can get more distance.

Ha Ha sounds like the way some Ham repeaters can get, although much less child-like. GMRS is a means of communications for people who just need to talk without studying for a test and learning all about the electronics of radio. Its not that serious. 10 codes are permitted on GMRS and as long as you are not swearing, you are not going against the rules. Some people take it overboard on rules and what they think are the rules. Not every area is like what you mentioned here. Where I live, there is a large group of people (probably 99% of the state) who all get along with each other and are professional and helpful. Unfortunately, with radio, you will almost always find at least a few clowns in the bunch.

I will never understand why there are so many forums where the number one thing above all things talked about when it comes to operating a radio is type accepted radios. It isn't using a radio without a license, or talking on or jamming public safety frequencies, or swearing over the radio, it is operating a type accepted radio. This is the least of your issues. If you took type accepted radios and lined them up next to non type accepted radios and talked over them, you would never know the difference. It just seems funny how some people will even go to the length of never getting licensed and never touching a radio because they are that scared of possibly using a radio that is not type accepted and getting caught by the FCC and thrown in jail for 20 years and then getting out and having to pay a $10,000 fine. Many Hams and GMRS radio operators all use NON type accepted radios, either because they modified the radio themselves or they purchased the radio from the manufacturer NON type accepted. How many cases are being brought into court over non type accepted radios just because the FCC happened to be strolling past someone's house and caught them in the act of operating a non type accepted radio? You have Hams that swear right over Ham radio frequencies on multiple different bands and NEVER get in trouble. I have heard conversations come over GMRS that was so offensive I wouldn't let a child listen to it even after they just got done with a day of school full of kids swearing at each other, and I can assure you that no one got in trouble. Bad language over the radio will get you in trouble with the FCC much quicker than a non type accepted radio. I am by no means encouraging breaking the rules at all, however, to focus on non type accepted radios while others are clearly violating the rules in much worse ways is futile. Like it has been said in here already, it is an add on charge and the chance of getting caught is slim to none. You literally have to be maliciously interfering with other agencies to get caught and even then, it takes a long time if at all for the FCC to respond. So when it comes to a radio going from type accepted to non type accepted, the FCC would never come after anyone. Think about Baofeng. None of those radios are type accepted and you have everyone from children to security agencies operating them radios. The United States is probably flooded with more Baofeng radios than plastic shopping bags. Think about how many people would end up in prison for 20 years and have to pay a $10,000 fine. It just doesn't make sense to go after non-type accepted radios.

Although it does happen where random people chat with each other such as on CB radio or Ham Radio, GMRS generally doesn't have that type of thing. I am not saying it cant. I mean, what is wrong with a community keeping in touch with each other on a regular basis? or what is wrong with a neighborhood watch group or emergency comm group keeping in regular contact? I think GMRS should incorporate more of this seeing as how in many areas it no longer is found on Ham Radio. In general, most people keep in contact over Facebook groups and texting on their cell phones unfortunately. That activity you are looking for is mainly on Ham Radio and even then, like I said, in many places that local radio chatter is almost totally dead. I would still monitor though. I have two local GMRS repeaters near me and they are completely dead. Since they have been put up, I have heard several conversations in the beginning as they were testing it and then on the other repeater a couple of conversations including the few times my wife and I have used it and other than that, both repeaters are so dead you probably wouldn't notice if they went off the air. I still keep both in scan on my radio 24/7

I just use the fire dispatch way of doing it. They put out the call saying their name and the name of the entity they are dispatching and then put out the details of the call and then end with their callsign (in most cases). My wife and I use numbers and call each other ("113 to 696. WRQI583") and then she comes back and answers ("696, go ahead 113. WRQI583"). Then its every 15 minutes or when we end our last transmission. Generally you wont be using it for more than 15 minutes at a time so you probably will use your callsign once in the beginning and once in the end. The only time I have had to keep re-identifying is when I was doing range testing with my wife after I got my base set up because I was driving all over the place for a long time. It's really nothing too stressing to worry about. I have heard names used, unit numbers, and some other whacky names. As long as callsigns are used and things are kept civil. It always helps immensely to listen to people talk on GMRS first so you get a feel for how things go. I did the same before I got on Ham Radio. Then when you get on, you can fall right into the groove with everyone else. GMRS is a lot more laid back than Ham.

There are areas where VHF and UHF are very active but it's in pockets. From what I gather, it seems as though the areas where it is pretty dead are larger than the areas where it is active. 2 meters is pretty much the more active band no matter where you go, however, the rest of it is usually pretty dead. Where I live, we have a statewide DMR system and I hardly see any activity on it. I know of another state where they have a statewide DMR system and Hams actually frown upon others using it unless it is for emergencies. My issue with Ham is that I dont do HF. For the bands that I do like to run, there just isn't enough activity. Ham Radio isn't what it used to be. So, I ended up going with GMRS but decided to keep Ham running also until it just got plain old stupid. One repeater had some redneck flying off the handle swearing up a storm talking like some drunk guy on CB and then came the bad attitudes from Hams who think having a GMRS and Ham license is not being loyal to Ham. They cant understand why you would bother with GMRS because it doesn't travel far and no one is on it. In the middle of all of this I needed more antennas for my SDR project and police scanner. Sadly, I dont have room for anymore antennas. So, I disconnected my Ham Radios and packed them away and plugged my SDR's and new digital scanner into the existing antennas and things have been good ever since. I have GMRS if I need to communicate with Hams and also family and friends, and I get to monitor what I want making better use of my electricity and space.

You are very correct aside from Trunked radio and FHHS. It isn't so much what you cannot do in Ham Radio, it is a lot more finding others to do it with you. I have always felt this way, and I always will - Ham Radio has a lot to offer. It is a huge world. It is what I loved about the hobby from the start. However, it takes two to communicate and therefore it is pretty difficult if you dont find the people out there that are into what you are into, especially people who live close to you. Everyone knows, although Ham Radio has a many different aspects to it when it comes to all the different sorts of modes and frequencies that you can operate, Ham Radio started off with certain frequencies and certain modes and a certain way of operating and it will always be that (at least until the "old guard" dies off). Even though more frequencies and modes come along, they will never be viewed as "true Ham Radio" and therefore will never be fully accepted by the majority. Because of this, many modes of operation and frequencies dont get used the way they could or should and in some cases, when people try to make full use of them, they are met with opposition or just "that look" that screams, "You are not a true Ham". I've gotten it and many others have including those who dont even have a license yet, and it's what drives people away. No one wants to get into something if they are going to meet opposition doing it. I understand Ham Radio started off with wires and tubes transmitting on a crackly signal in the HF bands, but radio has come a long way since then and if people dont just get with the times, what they have is going to dry up and die with them.

The current radios would get interfered with by the other radios. We are talking about adjusting all the bandwidths of the radios. No one is realizing that. Even some of the GMRS radios currently in use will interfere with digital. RF is RF no matter what you run. If you guys all want to experiment with encryption and all this other fancy means of transmitting, please, petition the FCC to use the VHF and UHF bands on Ham Radio to do this. There are areas where these bands dont get used. I have encountered so many Hams that have nothing good to say about these bands. I can find hundreds of Hams that refuse to use them. They sit here with DMR hotspots, APRS and repeaters doing nothing useful. I say, revamp the Ham bands from 50MHz on up and make it worth something to even people like you who are interested in this sort of thing. Even I would get back into Ham Radio if that was the case. I got out of it because I am tired of getting talked down to for liking these bands and then getting my GMRS license and the fact that Ham Radio is stagnant on these bands. I would sign my name to a petition if someone wanted to incorporate this stuff into the Hams Bands. Ham Radio should be the service that is forward thinking, instead it Leave GMRS simple for those who cant tell the difference between simplex and a repeater because they just simply want to use a radio to communicate without all the strings attached.

yep, good point from the both of you, I didn't think about that.

I have heard people mix this one up.............. Only repeaters are allowed 50 watt max. The way the rules read from what I found is the following: Mobile - 50 watt max Repeater - 50 watt max Base to Mobile - 50 watt max Base to Base (fixed station) - 15 watt max And as for portables, I dont know too many that actually exceed 5 watts on UHF, even if they claim they do. My Ailunce radios claim 8 watts on high on UHF and they actually only do 4 watts. Besides, no matter what portable you are using, unless you are a Ham operator doing OTA activations, do you really want more than 5 watts blowing off in your face through a rubber duck antenna that is almost never tuned correctly? I have seen some of these cheap FRS walkie talkies get some really good distance just on their small amount of power they run. I dont understand why you cant use an amplifier? As long as it does not exceed the above power limits. Am I correct? If I ran a 5 watt radio and wanted to get another 20-40 watts out, there shouldnt be an issue. Take into account the loss in the coax , loss in your connectors, and your antenna gain maybe not being what it says, you probably might not be emitting more than 40 watts if you started out with 45 or 50. At the end of the day, if you think blowing out more than 50 watts is going to help you, you might just be a CB'er or a Ham Operator who lives in HF. Once you hit the UHF bands, it is not about power output anymore but all about your coax, antenna, and height of your antenna. 5 watts at the right height with the right antenna can go a long way. Ask anyone who runs a repeater on less than 10 watts that has a 50 mile coverage.

With Ham Radio, I think it is more that someone creates a digital mode and then someone else comes along and says, "I want my own digital mode" and then runs off and creates one and doesn't make sure it is compatible. For how technologically savy Hams are with radio, they sure do not do a very good job when it comes to linking things. When it comes to Dstar into DMR ...............If you want to smoke the speaker up on your radio, try crossing those two together on a hotspot. I tried it one time and the speaker on my radio hasn't been the same. The worse part is that the guys on Dstar had audio so hot that even turning my radio down to where I could barely hear them did no good. It still sounded like they were screaming.

Hams are a great asset to GMRS/FRS just as long as they and the GMRS/FRS are kept in their respective places. When a Ham is on GMRS, they are now a GMRS operator. Its similar to a NASCAR driver also having a job driving taxi. When in the taxi, they are only a taxi driver transporting people, not a NASCAR driver racing a car around the track. Currently, many Hams in my area who got their GMRS license are more than wonderful to those who need help getting on the air whether or not its over the air or on the Facebook page. We currently have a large linked system on analog and aside from a little VOX issue with someone's radio, it works wonderful and everyone is more than happy with what they have.

It is simply because GMRS is a simple radio service for people who just need a simple means of communication. It is geared towards business, family, friends, where getting a business radio license is either not worth it or impossible to get. From observing people either online or locally getting into GMRS, many are not radio smart. They are utterly confused the second you say "repeater". Could you imagine if you added DMR or some other sort of whacky form of communicating? I know Extra class Hams who's brains explode if you even plant a DMR radio in their hands, never mind trying to get them to upload an already programmed codeplug. Adding other modes into GMRS would only confuse and degrade the service. GMRS is meant to be simple for simple radio communications. Analog with simplex and repeater capability is more than enough. I suggest if Hams want to experiment with frequency hopping, encryption and who knows what new secret service mode of communicating is out there, how about petitioning the FCC to take the Ham bands from 6 meters on up and either allow experimentation of any sort of mode of operation or petition the FCC to take the bands from 6 meters on up and split them off from Ham Radio and make a new service similar to Ham radio but that allows the commercial world to enter in with its radio technology therefore allowing more experimentation of radio and making it more friendly towards those like myself who's interests border more on the commercial end of radio rather than the traditional Ham contesting end of radio? I guarantee you, you would attract a lot more people to the group of radio operators. This way, people could leave GMRS alone and stop trying to turn it into something it is not meant to be. Ham Radio on the bands from 6 meters and above are actually very restrictive when it comes to what you can experiment with and what modes you can use. In general, either the rules restrict you from experimenting or the Ham community themselves restrict you (depending on your location). If you want to experiment - use Ham Radio If you want secure communications - use a cell phone.

I totally agree. It is one of the reasons I invest in GMRS instead of Ham. My issue is Hams coming down onto GMRS to change it into Ham Radio. GMRS is analog with a certain bandwidth. If Hams dont like that, then they can go back to Ham Radio. GMRS needs to remain simple due to the fact that it is meant for people who are not radio geeks and who just need a simple means of communications, not a Ham Radio atmosphere. Many of the people I have met on GMRS and even FRS get utterly confused when you say repeater. Given that fact, they dont need anything more complicated. Just keep it simple. Overall, it is a very good tool to be used for non-hams and Hams to communicate.

The difference between license classes? Technician - privileges mainly from 50 MHz and above with a few tiny spots on HF. General - 50 MHz on up, plus, added privileges on most of the HF bands Extra - all privileges on all ham bands What you don't gain is the smarts to operate on said bands. The only way you obtain the smarts is by studying the material and learning. Sadly, the studying and learning part is not required to pass the test. Just a real good memory.

Nope, I'm good. I got out of Ham Radio and will learn things on my own, experiment with things on my own, and just plain old keep to what I do...............on my own. I cant be associated with that.

That was the thought I had also the first time I saw this proposal. My area is dead. The only activity is a couple stray 440 repeaters and maybe people with DMR hotspots. I say, take half of the the 440 Ham band and turn it into GMRS+. I understand that there are areas of this country where 440 is alive but for the rest of the country it is dead. Overall, from 50MHz on up, there is a TON of dead air on the Hams bands across the country.

He has CB in the blood. Why you would want more power on UHF is beyond me. I should know because I have experimented with UHF and found that in many cases, more power is not going to do squat for your signal. A better or different antenna, and above all, height is what will make the difference. The guy who proposed this is probably the typical Ham who memorized the right answers, passed the test and thinks because of a slip of paper, he is an expert in radio. Sadly, Ham Radio is filled with these kind. None of them are smart, they just have a good memory. If I had a good memory, I would have an extra class license............just because I can have one.

I totally agree on everything you say. I know many will say its not but its one of the many reasons I got out of Ham Radio and into GMRS. I want what GMRS is and what Ham Radio used to be - a means of communication. GMRS affords me that and it makes it so I am not stuck talking to just Hams who are definitely not my family, friends, or household. Ham Radio is almost pure contesting/making contacts. In order to do this, you need to reach around the world where you can maximize the amount of people you can contact. This is why there is no real communication on Ham. This is why there is little to no activity on 50 MHz on up. This is why there is little to no technical talk and Hams getting together doing projects. I just hope Hams dont make a mess of GMRS. Its the last band that I have to use that isn't marred with politics and arrogant rednecks. When it comes to the rule stuff. I will be very open about this. In the bands from 50 MHz on up, most Hams that sit on these bands are strict rule cops. Go down below 30 MHz and its a private club. An anything goes party, where, if it was up on 2 meters, you would be hearing a bunch of Hams having an aneurism over the language and the identifying 2 times, once when you get on and once when you get off. Believe me, I dont make this up. It annoys me because I recently got into HF monitoring with my SDR's and I try to get callsigns so I can look them up and see what range I have. I have sat here almost 45 minutes to an hour waiting for a group of guys to use their callsigns and I finally heard a few as they were getting off the radio but nothing in between. So, when Hams sit on 2 meters dropping the hammer on someone for being 1 microsecond late on identifying, that Ham is probably a hypocrite, if not himself, but for the community as a whole. 7.2 MHz is a good frequency to monitor at times.

Ham operators have from 420MHz to 450MHz to experiment and do what they want with it (with some exceptions due to shared agreements and line A and C restrictions) and now they want to take over something else? On top of this, let me make clear, that in many parts of the country, Hams not only do not use the 70cm band as it is, they flat out refuse to use it and will actually verbally spit on it. In many areas of the country, Hams barely use anything above 2 meters (144-148MHz) because they claim "it doesn't get out far therefore you cannot do anything with it". Hams do not need anymore frequencies. 420-450 is in the same band that behaves the same way as 462 and 467MHz. There is absolutely no difference between the two except for the numeric frequencies. If Hams want more to experiment with, go petition to allow more capability within their own 70cm band. Stop trying to ruin other services. DO NOT BE FOOLED! Ham Radio operators are not lacking in bandwidth to experiment and talk on surrounding the GMRS band. Something many people, Hams included, do not realize is that Ham Radio operators have the following bands outside of the contesting bands to fully operate in, experiment in and do what they want in with, in most places, a 1500 watt power limit - 50-54MHz (little activity except for band openings once or twice a year) 144-148MHz (Utilized the most for short range communications across the country) 220-225MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned in many parts of the country) 420-450MHz (small amounts of activity depending on the part of the country) The same band that GMRS (462 and 467 MHZ) sits in. 902-928MHz (little to no activity) 1240-1300MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 2300-2310MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 2390-2450MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 3400-3450MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 5650-5925MHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 10-10.5GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 24-24.25GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 47-47.2GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 76-81GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 122.25-123GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 134-141GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) 241-250GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) and all above 275GHz (little to no activity if not totally dead and abandoned) I have personally heard Hams come out on the air and identify 50-54, 144-148, and 420-450 as being the only bands Hams have to operate on above 10 meters and how Hams dont have any room to play. GMRS operators have 8 repeater pairs and 14 simplex channels to use. Not chunks of bandwidth like Hams, only channels! So, no, Hams do not need "...allowing Ham Radio users more flexibility when operating on GMRS Channels." You want more flexibility, go back down on your own 70cm band and start utilizing it!!! GMRS is for people who need a means of communication and dont want to be hassled with becoming a licensed radio hobbyist. I personally hope the FCC laughs at this and throws it out. Hams do not use the bands they currently have and it is the reason the FCC is taking portions of their bands away. If Hams would get off of the HF bands and stop doing contesting and start utilizing the bands above 50MHz, they wouldn't have a reason to steal from GMRS, but that will never happen.

This radio is no good for traditional Ham operators. The traditional Ham operator needs beyond full keypad configuration capability in all radios they operate or they are no good to them. This radio is good for Hams who dont mind the commercial side of radio and just need some cheap comms for something, for businesses that just need communications, for schools, and for the general old person who just needs to communicate and are not needing the radio to be versatile to be able to communicate upside down and inside out transmitting inverted on a flux capacitor in an emergency situation. It's cheap, it communicates short range, and if it breaks..... oh well.... buy another one. These actually remind me of the BF888 radios if you added digital to them, and for just some cheap short range comms, the bf888 radios work fine. I know businesses that use them and I own a couple myself. So, for some cheap short range comms, these would do the trick. I know it comes up with just about every radio out there: the haters who are dead set against it bashing the product and the lovers praising the product. While there are some radios that I think both sides will admit are total garbage, Most radios are good for what you need them for. You have two groups out there and they are the Ham operators and the general public. Ham operators need to be able to just about reprogram every single electronic component inside the radio from the key pad while the general public just needs to talk and doesn't care what the radio looks like or how it works, as long as it sends their voice out and allows them to hear the voice they need to hear. So when it comes to what radio is good and what one is bad? Pay attention to when both sides say a radio is awesome or if it is garbage. Just a thought to keep in mind when it comes to reviews on products.

That's probably why it works for me.