WRQC527

Omg you were threatened? Here?

My guess is that the original post was simply to "stir the pot", which it succeeded in doing, but in case it's a serious post, the general public has at its disposal, with some subject to licensing, the following: 40 channels of CB radio frequencies, including AM, FM, USB and LSB. 5 channels of MURS frequencies. 22 channels of FRS / GMRS frequencies. An additional 8 GMRS channels, which also allow for repeater use. A wide spectrum of UHF, VHF, and HF frequencies allotted to amateur radio. With that much of the RF spectrum, and that many options, Is there any reason to "violate Rules & Regulations" by transmitting where you ought not to, other than the notion of getting away with something?

Here's an interesting tidbit from the California Highway Patrol that "exempts", if you will, radios such as commercial and CB, from hands-free laws. I suspect it applies to ham radio and GMRS as well. You be the judge, I'm just sharing it. AB-1785-CVC-23123-CHP-Memo-Leg-Intent.pdf

I commute 26 miles each way for work here in SoCal. My friends and I talk on ham radio the entire time. We see law enforcement all the time, they see us. I see drivers every day pulled over, but never us. My guess is it's cell phones and car pool lane violations. That's where the money is.

I would get a decent SWR meter. I have an antenna analyzer, which is great for tuning antennas, and in my humble opinion, is more for hobbyists and antenna builders. But my good old fashioned SWR meters reliably (and without batteries) give me the information I need to install radios and antennas, including reasonably-accurate power readings. I had a NanoVNA also. It lasted a few months before the readings went completely wonky, and while my SWR meters generally match my antenna analyzer, the NanoVNA never read the same even on a good day. I cannot recommend them.

Also, when yelling important stuff on your HT, hold it sideways. It looks much cooler that way.

Dangit. There's always a catch.The government will always get their moolah.

So if Adam and Eve or Noah and Mrs. Noah had a GMRS license, we all would be covered. I think I'll re-up my Ancestry dot com membership and search for a GMRS licensee. It's worth a try. Save some moolah down the line. Every dollar helps, what with this inflation thing going on.

I don't know about the rest of you, but here in SoCal, we have a repeater at almost 6,000 feet that sits unused the vast majority of the time, in addition to others that are not used a lot. The traffic I hear even on simplex as I drive 50 miles a day commuting is pretty sparse, mostly preschools, restaurants, Covid shot clinics, that kind of thing, on FRS. I'm not sure why we would want to introduce digital to GMRS. All it would do is run up the price of radios and overcomplicate things. In my humble opinion, people get into GMRS because it's cheap, reliable, and doesn't require a test.

W6XRL4 is Herman Munster's call sign. It's listed in QRZ.com. That's why I said "a "legitimate" call sign... Not really".

Fun fact. W6XRL4 is also a "legitimate" call sign... Not really, but it is listed in the QRZ.com database.

Depending on how you filter the Find Repeaters page, in California, there are at least 140 active repeaters, and another 130-some "stale" repeaters that haven't been updated in a while and may or may not exist. There are definitely not as many GMRS repeaters as there are amateur radio repeaters.

"This is K9DOG. Can I get a signal report?"

Like I tell my wife, user manuals are just how one guy did it.

Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw yesterday. "Duct tape, zip ties, who cares, fixed is fixed."

We do 73 all the time on my repeater. 85 too, which is supposed to indicate a bro hug. However, there are a lot of, shall we say, "veteran" hams who will blow a gasket if someone says "73s" instead of "73". But truth be told, my life has no room for nitpicking other radio operators for how they talk. Deep down though I think q codes need to be reserved for CW and ten codes for CB. But I would never actually come out and say that publicly.

Hear from who? Folks with test equipment, or folks who hate anything that starts with B and ends with TECH or aofeng?

Welcome in! Ask us anything. If we don't know we'll make something up. Just kidding. There's a substantial knowledge base here.

10-4.

Lol 2 meters actually, which means the antenna was a little short. I could have got at least 50 yards further on GMRS. Maybe even to the end of the street. Line of sight of course.

True story. I have the "square fin" version of this antenna. I connected it to my Quantar repeater over the weekend and on 20 watts (the lowest setting) I was able to get a truly impressive100 yards.

Is this making anyone else hungry?

Yep, in all seriousness, there is much more to amateur radio than is contained on the three tests. Probably the best description of an amateur radio license I ever heard is that its a "license to learn". And for those wondering which radio service is best for you, there is no rule that says you can pick just one. I use all of them.

Same as getting your D.R.I.V.E.R.S. license. Memorize the answers for just long enough to pass. Then forget it all and learn how to really do it.