WRQC527

A recent thread made me think... Has anyone here used GMRS or amateur radio for actual emergency situations? I've listened in while someone tried to locate and help someone who was lost at night on a dark mountain road out of cell range, but I'm curious how many others have done anything similar. How did it go?

Well then in the words of my favorite hit man, Jules Winnfield, "Oh well allow me to retort". In grossly-oversimplified terms, the frequencies nested between GMRS frequencies are allocated to commercial and other uses, not Personal Radio Services. So transmitting on them would disrupt those users. The FCC is tasked with allocating the entire spectrum so we can all play together nicely.

That's true. I'm mostly aiming at the newbie audience that just got a license and a basic GMRS radio off Scamazon or Fleabay. There are some here who go straight for the commercial gear and bypass off-the-shelf dedicated GMRS radios altogether, or go the outlaw route and use unlocked Baofengs and other CCRs. (wink wink)

Two thumbs way, way up.

Som amateur radio clubs require you to be a licensed amateur to join, but should be more than happy to help you get your license. Many of them host study and test sessions for just that reason. Yes, check them out. The ARRL website should have listings of clubs in your area.

Receive.

Antenna theory is very complex. Instead of getting a bunch of confusing answers here, I suggest researching antennas, gain, antenna types, ground planes, and other antenna-related subjects separately. This is not to put you off, but lots of folks here will inundate you with information.

He's messing with you. Unfortunately.

This is a tough question because there is no one antenna that's "best". It depends on your circumstances. For me, a little 1/2-wave works best because I use one or two local repeaters. For some, an even shorter 1/4-wave would work, but some people use much longer antennas with higher gain because it suits their situation. Lots of people will make recommendations based on what works for them. Personally, for my use, my Rugged Radios 1/2-wave Point5 does the job.

Mine did too until recently. I still use a phone line to control my 1200Mhz repeater. I also still have my father-n-law's 1980s-vintage Yaesu FT-207R 2-meter HT that he used to call his mother through a phone patch from his plane when he flew into South Dakota so she would know to meet him at the airport.

Generally speaking, one of the bigger mistakes made here on the MyGMRS forums is roasting newbies. It's demeaning and it discourages them from further participation. Also, in order to be certified for use on GMRS frequencies, GMRS radios cannot have the ability to transmit on any frequencies other than the frequencies and power levels that are designated by the FCC. So if you are using a radio that is specifically an FCC certified GMRS radio, there would be no way you could transmit on any other frequencies.

Not necessarily. As long as you use direct-bury coax, it's not an issue. But make sure that's what you use. Not all coax can withstand being buried because of moisture, temperature changes, that kind of thing.

Here's the website for the Santiago Peak repeater. It's a private repeater and I'm sure they would frown on me posting the tones here. https://www.crestcommunications.org/

So I listened for about an hour between 4 and 5 PM and I did hear some chatter on 462.675. No call signs were heard, and the conversations were not really family-friendly. I also heard roger beeps, but because I could sometimes only hear one side of the conversation, it wasn't a repeater. To be fair, 462.675 is shared with FRS so it's not unusual to hear simplex activity with no call signs. I hear the Covid shot clinic a half mile away from my house, and I'm forever hearing preschools and restaurants on FRS as I drive down the freeway.

It's hard to be sure based on your post if your radios have CTCSS, but from the Amazon product description for at least one listing: "2. Privacy- Our walkie talkies for kids are equipped with 22 channels, reinforced by 99 CTCSS sub-codes so that you can minimize the likelihood of other people being able to communicate with your children by using the same frequency."

Are sure it's a repeater and not some fools doing simplex on 462.675? Also there's a couple of other repeaters in Orange County and one in Chino on that frequency pair. I'll listen to it on my way home today and see if I hear anything. I work in Lake Forest, but I live in Fullerton. Also, I think if it's the repeater I'm assuming it is, Santiago Peak has a tone on the output so you could set it on your radio as well.

Both FCC Regulation 95.1749 and a paragraph in the Operations section of the GMRS service description were written and published several years ago. They're not coming out now and saying you can't link GMRS repeaters, that is something they implied years ago and have done nothing to enforce, address, or even clarify. A number of folks here are referencing a video of a meeting of "some people" in a Chinese restaurant in Pennsylvania as The Word Of God. The way 95.1749 and the paragraph in a separate section of the FCC's website explaining it are written are at the very least unclear and at worst, muddy as all getout. The fact that no one here or any other forum, after years of debate, can point to a consensus on whether GMRS repeaters can be linked or not, and the fact that linked GMRS repeaters go unnoticed and/or unpunished speaks volumes about the ineptitude of the people who wrote the Part 95 regulations.

Was it this video with a bunch of people in a Chinese restaurant talking about poorly-worded GMRS rule 95.1749 that (sort of) prohibits linking of repeaters if you refer to a completely different FCC website with a paragraph that is several years old that (sort of) expands on poorly-worded rule 95.1749? If so, it's this thread. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/6908-updated-fcc-rule-951749-now-includes-“or-other-networks”-jan-2024

Like we have with amateur radio repeaters. Here in southern California, my 2-meter repeaters are coordinated through TASMA, my 1200 Mhz repeater is coordinated through SCRRBA.

Indeed it is. My issue is that it isn't part of 95.1749. If the FCC is serious about prohibiting the linking of repeaters to telephone systems or any other networks to carry communication, they need to specifically say it in 95.1749, and not in a paragraph found in some other section of the FCC website(s). Some radio people look at the FCC regulations like Smokey Yunick looked at the NASCAR rulebook. Bend every rule because of what it doesn't say.

This paragraph has been there for several years. It is part of the Operations description of GMRS, and appears to be an addendum, if you will, to the Part 95 rules, specifically 95.1749 that regulates connecting GMRS repeaters to networks. If it's true that the FCC prohibits network linking of GMRS repeaters for anything other than remotely controlling them, there appears to be zero enforcement of it by the FCC. I inquired specifically about this issue yesterday with the FCC and I'm anxiously awaiting a reply.

I just spoke to a very nice lady at the FCC who sent me the same information that's on the Operations tab. Not real helpful, so I sent a request to the FCC to clarify and explain a few things about linking repeaters, and if in fact it is against the rules, why they don't do anything about it. If and when they respond, mayhaps I'll post their response here.

If you have the capability, listen to the various amateur radio repeaters in the Scottsdale area. You may find that there's more activity on amateur radio than on GMRS, due to the "purpose", if you will, of GMRS, which tends to be short-range communications within groups of like-minded folks like hikers, off-road groups, that kind of thing, while they're out doing their thing. It's more of a communications tool than a socializing tool.

This is the same link I showed you last week. The issue I have is that the wording under the Operations tab is different from the wording in 95.1749. OP said 95.1749 was updated to include "other networks". I'm not seeing that.

Please. Share with us a link to an FCC document that contains this exact wording. I'm not saying there isn't one, but for the edification of all of us here, we'd enjoy seeing it.