dosw

This band plan? 1270.000-1276.000 FM, digital Repeater inputs, 25 kHz channel spacing, paired with 1282.000-1288.000 1270.000-1274.000 FM, digital Repeater inputs, 25 kHz channel spacing, paired with 1290.000-1294.000 (Regional option) Yeah, doesn't seem to correspond with FM; you would see a carrier down the middle. Digital is possible but what digital modes grow in bandwidth and then shrink; they're usually as fat as they can be within a set deviation.

Part of the success of inexpensive overseas brands is a lack of embarrassment that would otherwise hinder them from bringing products to market. And sometimes it works out fairly well for them; they sell a ton of radios, the radios are reasonably acceptable to use, and cheap enough for everyman.

Interesting, so the signal starts narrow and then spreads out, and reaches about +/-2.3kHz deviation from center, with no hotspot down the middle. If you speed up the waterfall (is that an option for you), does it start to show any more detail?

I'd prefer an alternative that doesn't require I log into facebook for the first time in a few years. Even a screenshot of the waterfall ought to help.

On the far left half we have International. On the right half, we have US. Within the US half, we have 460-470: Meterological-satellite space-to-Earth, and we have 462.5375-462.7375 LAND MOBILE - Personal Radio (95). They do overlap. But I don't see how "Meterological space-to-Earth" can justify someone setting up a digital land based repeater. But the international Fixed Mobile, on the left... that could interfere if you're in Key West and picking up Cuba, I suppose. But there's more overlap in the 467 range: Maritime (80) and Personal Radio (95). Perhaps that's one more reason why channels 8-14 are limited to a half watt? Also notice that 462.5375. Strange number, right? The lowest GMRS channel is centered on 462.5500 (15). So why doesn't the chart show 462.5500? Because channel widths are 25kHz, which means -12.5kHz and +12.5kHz. So 462.5500-0.0125=462.5375. Or to put it a little clearer, 462.550MHz minus 12.5kHz (half the 25kHz channel width) is 462.5375MHz. You'll find the same math problem at 462.7375, 467.5375, and 467.7375.

There is nothing illegal or immoral about listening to anything people transmit over GMRS or FRS. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy for unencrypted radio transmissions. What is creepy is hearing some random road crew using FRS and you choosing to key up to say hi. Or a father and his kindergarten/preschool kids playing walkie talkie, then you pushing that talk button and chiming in with "Hey friendo, this is Anton." People generally keep to themselves on GMRS / FRS *except* for people who use open repeaters. If your equipment is capable of working repeaters, and if it is set up to work with an open repeater, you're welcome to key up and say "ABCD123 monitoring" (which usually means you're bored and looking to talk to random people over the radio) or "ABCD123, radio check; I'm looking for a signal report." If there's someone else listening in on that repeater who is also willing to participate in this exchange, they'll key up and respond. And it's considered perfectly normal within "radio people" circles to do this. I don't know of any GMRS books that really lay it all out. You kind of have to start by listening, and by asking questions here.

Anyone asking thinks they can tell a difference. And if you compare two radios side by side maybe you can tell a difference. But the person 27 miles away hearing you through a repeater is mostly hearing their own confirmation bias. When I hear someone coming through all scratchy and thin sounding, I don't think "CCR", I think that person hasn't gotten their antenna up high, doesn't have good feedline, that sort of thing.

I'd start with a 2m/70cm handheld, an SDR, and a discone with mount and cables to be swapped over to the SDR or the HT as needed at home. ...and a few adapters to fit it all together. For an SDR, you can spend a lot to get one with wide bandwidth and wide frequency range reception, or you can go inexpensive with an RTL-SDRv4. With an SDR you'll hear so much more, and see so much more than what you would be aware of with just the handheld alone. You can learn a lot by watching the waterfall, tuning to the signal you see, setting the right mode, and listening. With my SDR I've listened to not just UHF and VHF, but also HF signals from all over the world. The antenna makes a lot of difference, of course. I find I use the SDR more than my HTs and mobile units. Hearing the ISS pass by is pretty cool. One time I picked up a Q&A session between Sunita Williams and amateur operators from hundreds of miles around. And it's really cool seeing the waterfall shift due to the doppler effect as the thing approaches and recedes. Also watching for SSB signals in the Tech portion of the 10m band is fun. I don't have HF equipment yet but it's nice to see that there is some activity there. Everyone's reason for getting into amateur radio may be different, so what I find enjoyable may not be what you do. I'm bored with the concept of 2m/70cm nets but others may really like the social aspect of amateur radio. I guess I'm drawn into the mechanics of it all.

It hasn't happened to me. You're using the "5RM" profile, and have a code plug from the same model of radio? Last time I heard a report of this happening I hooked mine up to a power meter to confirm that things were as they should be, and they were.

Birdies are usually focused on a narrow frequency, not across 1MHz of spectrum, aren't they?

What would be putting out a signal spanning so much bandwidth? Is this some device causing interference, or is it some form of spread spectrum transmission?

Consider the following graphic: In this graphic you'll see a thin red line. That's just where my SDR is tuned to listen. And then a wider red vertical band. That's how wide in terms of frequency bandwidth I have my SDR software set to listen. Within that faint red band is a jiggly band that grows wider and narrower. The bottom is the beginning of a transmission, and the top is the end of the transmission, in time. If I have my listening radio set to narrowband, that's similar to the faint red band being narrower. If that were the case, you would see some of the transmitted signal falling outside of the band in which I'm listening. So we're losing information. However, that also means that more of the faint red band is filled by radio waves (the jiggly band), so it will sound louder, though more distorted.

A couple years ago I was in a parking lot where there were parked a few plumbing vans. My 15w GMRS radio set off two of their car alarms when I pushed to talk. Strange how sensitive some things are. I never heard of GFCI plugs tripping though. That's wild.

Woah, hold your horses there pardner, you posted the same exact question three times within ten minutes. I'm sure it's a technical glitch, but whatever it is you're doing, less of that would be great. Can't answer the question, but I'm sure someone will answer one of the three instances of it.