WRQC527

One thing is for sure, having my ham call on my license plate makes me think twice about taking part in road rage. It helps me drive more courteously than I already do.

Same here in California. Ham plates cost $20 at the time of application, and you send a copy of your license. Unlike normal vanity plates, there is no additional yearly fee. The way California is set up now, the way to get your GMRS call sign on your plates is through the normal vanity call system, and pay an additional amount yearly when you renew your tags. I don't see California adding GMRS plates to the list of special plates like ham plates are.

It's also interesting to note that some plates that fall into the California "Special License Plate" category take an inordinate amount of time to process. Mine took 9 months, as well as several phone calls. If you're going to order them, do it right after you renew your tags so you have a full year to wait. If anyone really wants their GMRS license on their plates, maybe try getting it as a normal vanity plate.

Absolutely. The good thing is that from what I can see, it rarely happens. I hear more of my ham friends worrying about "what if the cops don't recognize my plates as ham radio plates and pull me over" than I do actual stories of people getting pulled over for it. Of the dozen or so friends of mine with actual ham plates, (not vanity plates with their call sign, there is a difference), only one had an issue.

I have four 12v 7 Ah PowerSonic AGM batteries in an ammo can, with a cheap solar charge controller. I keep it on a float charger, but I also have a 7 watt solar panel that will keep it charged. It'll run my ham and GMRS base radios for many hours. I had the chance a couple weeks ago to run my ATT home wifi gateway off this setup for about 24 hours through a cheap inverter during a power outage. 28 Ah isn't much, but I can use it to trigger the electronic start on the gas water heater, run the gateway and radios, and charge the phones. The batteries were sourced locally from Batteries Plus Bulbs, the rest of the stuff (ammo boxes, charge controller, float charger, solar panel, inverter) are from Hazard Fraught.

Mayyyyybe a little. I hesitate to say "in agreement", but to put it in terms of Venn diagrams, the MichaelLAX circle and the WRQC527 circle are perhaps touching. Exaggerated doesn't mean they didn't happen, just not to the extent that people claim they did. I only know of one case that actually happened. I've heard of many dubious cases, because they're "documented" on the internet by "reliable" sources. I actually think it would be pretty comical to get pulled over for that reason.

You're probably right, hence the "some,(if not all)" qualifier, bot since I heven't seen every repeater, I can't say for sure if there's not someone out there with some goofy homemade repeater made from a couple of Baofengs with a non-standard offset. I meant 5000 khz, or 5 mhz, thanks for noticing. I'll take the correction on that.

I only live in California, so I can only speak for California. Ask MichaelLAX. He assumes to know everything.

"Was your friend pulled over in California; I doubt it." Yes, he was. "Note the bolded statements in your quote..." I know what I wrote. It was well-thought-out, well-written, and to the point, and I meant every word.

Maybe some are, but my good (sheriff) friend isn't one of them.

I'll be sure to explain to my friend that it was only pure urban myth when he got pulled over because his ham radio license plate returned nothing until he explained to the cop that he needed to change the vehicle type code to "H". Vanity plates have a vehicle type code "A" like every other standard-issue passenger car plate, which is generally the default. California ham radio plates are not vanity plates, they're ham radio plates. Thanks for the heads-up though. Good information.

In order to program a memory, (if that's what you're trying to do), the A/B selection needs to be set on A. Also, since the UV-82HP has a goofy dual PTT, you need to be sure you're on the right one when you transmit. Menu items 29, 30 and 31 are used to set the display color for standby, receive and transmit. If they are all the same, the display will not change color on transmit or receive. Make sure you have menu item 25 (SFT D) set to OFF when using simplex. Make sure it is set to + or - when using a repeater. Most (if not all) GMRS repeaters have a + offset. Make sure menu item 26 is set for the correct offset. Most (if not all) GMRS repeaters have a 500 khz offset. Make sure menu item 13 (T-CTCS) is set to the CTCSS tone for the repeater you are accessing. For simplex, select OFF. For menu item 11 (R-CTCS), select OFF for simplex and repeaters unless you have some need for it. Most people don't. The chances of you receiving multiple defective radios is low. It is also possible that newer UV82HP radios are restricted to amateur radio bands. I can't say for sure, because mine are older and unrestricted. Good luck.

Here in California, amateur radio plates (at least the ones I've seen and had over the years) don't have any identifying markings that indicate amateur radio, other than the distinctive call sign. They look like any other vanity plate. In fact, there are tales (probably exaggerated) of some law enforcement officers who don't know the designation amateur radio plates are under running them as normal plates and coming up with no results, resulting in traffic stops. It hasn't happened to me.

It's like my favorite movie... The Blues Brothers... I know how it ends but it's still fun to watch.

All phone contacts for me, on my FT891.

20 meters. The antenna length is short enough so a shortened antenna like an MFJ Hamtenna or coil-loaded whip is still reasonably efficient and covers the band without a tuner or adjustment. The only issue is that it's primarily a daytime band. 40 meters is my second choice since it tends to work better at night, but the antenna length can be a problem.

Such as me. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you can transmit on it, I'm all for it.

"Amateur Radio and GMRS can coexist"

Same here. If I figure out they have no license, whether it's GMRS or ham, I ignore them. And like you, I got the GMRS license so my wife and I can keep in contact on repeaters when I'm off exploring outside of cell coverage, since she's not really interested in the ham license.

OK, but a closed-fist bro hug. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. This would be sort of unprecedented, too. A Ham/GMRS hug. Like a Begin/Arafat handshake. As you probably guessed, I have zero tolerance for anyone who interacts with or discusses jammers on the air. If scaring them with toothless FCC threats gets their attention, it's worth the ridicule I get here. I didn't pay my $35 plus a $12 annual repeater access fee to listen to a bunch of morons argue with a bunch of dickheads, jammers, and malicious operators.

OK Randy, just for you, I'll say this. I agree that the FCC probably has never revoked specifically a GMRS license in the history of GMRS licenses, (which I never said they did, and I you know that because you just re-read my post to try and nail me) and by the FCC even hinting at it, it's largely an empty threat. But the FCC can and does levy penalties, including monetary penalties and revoking of licenses across the spectrum, for misuse of the airwaves. You know this. I know this. We all know this. I have no idea if the FCC has ever revoked a GMRS license like they occasionally do with ham licenses, but I do know that they can, and folks have been fined for misuse of all manner of radio services, including GMRS radios. My point, and I know you get it, because from what I've seen, you're a smart man, is that by having a license, whether it's GMRS or any other, you become accountable for your behavior, and if a bunch of licensed idiots is running around on any radio service feeding the monkeys, it makes a mess of the airwaves for the rest of us.

I've been a ham for 10 years and a GMRS licensee for about a month. One of the rules in the ham community is not to interact with jammers or other malicious operators. Even discussing jammers or malicious operators on the air is frowned on. There are at least a couple of reasons for this. One, interacting or discussing them encourages them to continue. Two, more importantly, it is generally illegal for a licensed operator to knowingly carry on a conversation with an unlicensed operator. For some reason, the GMRS licensee community, and to some degree the ham community, has not embraced this. One of the most prominent GMRS repeaters in southern California very clearly states this in their rules of operation that all their members and users sign as a condition of using the repeater. Yet their own net control operators argue with jammers and malicious operators during their regularly-scheduled nets. GMRS can be as valuable as any other licensed radio service if its users can bring themselves to absolutely ignore jammers and malicious operators, and absolutely do not discuss them on the air. Unfortunately, as in the ham community, there are licensees who honestly believe that scolding or reasoning with jammers and malicious operators will make them stop. It won't. It will make the problem worse. If you want your nets to be jammed by folks with nothing better to, by all means interact with them. And if you want to lose your license by talking with unlicensed operators, go right ahead. If you want to improve the situation and keep your license, read and live by the FCC rules and your repeater use agreement.