hfd376

That is the nicest compliment I have gotten in months! 

I was thinking about a good response to the original post, but I don't know that there is one. Radio is so diverse in it's use that I think any answer would be anecdotal at best. For example, it seems very much like a hobby where I live, but in other areas I travel to, it is very much utilitarian in nature. Which one represents the majority trend? No idea.
 
When I look at the purpose of the service, at its core, it is "for facilitating activities of individual licensees and their family", whatever that may be. If it seems to trend in one direction or another, I don't know that it really matters. That fact that it is a somewhat basic service that doesn't require a vast knowledge of radio is really not a factor. There are plenty of other services that have been established for us to use that don't require any more skill than what is required of GMRS. So I don't believe that is relevant. 
 
Bottom line, if some people make a hobby of it, then it's fulfilling the need of the licensee. If it's a utility for others, same thing, it's fulfilling the need of the licensee.  As the service grows, use patterns will change, but ultimately it doesn't matter what is happening around the country. The only thing that matters is if it does what you need it to do.

Just drill a hole. My F150 has 6 NMO mounts and 2 GPS. It had 12 miles on it when I tore the truck apart. 

I disagree.  "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" was pretty precise... nay concise,  but citizens and the government continue to F that one up pretty regularly.

Im a constitutional scholar with a gifted IQ, but my wife said I can't comment on this because it's mean to make strangers on the internet cry.

Just another Tuesday at the MyGMRS forums..

There are some problems with your logic.  First.. Amateur radio rules have exactly zero to do with GMRS rules.  Don't waste time comparing them. 
 
Second, we (members of this forum and the GMRS community) have been debating on the rules and requested verification from the FCC if linking repeaters over public internet for the use of simulcast is within the scope of rules or a violation.  There are several contradictions and vagueness in the rules about network connections that the user community just can't say for sure and the FCC is refusing to comment. (plenty of posts here about that)
 
Last... this wasn't an FCC action.  It was reportedly two people (FCC employee and a GMRS repeater owner) who are either friends, acquaintances or have some type of professional association, and the FCC employee started some unofficial communications with the GMRS repeater owner.  It's unclear if it was a warning or a courtesy from an acquaintances/friend, or if an agent was subverting processes due to some pre-existing work relationship.  In either case, there will not be any official documentation in the FCC database.
 
Also, I personally am aware of several people in the professional comms world who are aware of this situation and asked their FCC POCs about this specific situation, as well as GMRS simulcast over public internet, in general terms.  Those FCC POCs are refusing to comment on anything.  Until formal action is taken and it ends up in court, everyone is just guessing at the regulation.

@wqnd300 and @WRXP381
You both are being obnoxious jerks. @Lscott has just as much right to be here and talking about what digital might bring to GMRS as either of you. He brings much more intelligent discussions and less judgmental rhetoric than you also. If you don’t agree with him, that’s no problem. He and I have disagreed about digital modes also, but it’s easy enough to disagree without becoming disagreeable. 

Don't know that I would agree with a single transmitter and voted receivers could or should be considered 'simulcast'.  And with GMRS being limited to 50 watts of TX power, unless you had a really crappy transmit site that has a bunch of noise, additional receive sites wouldn't do much for coverage.  Now I know of a couple ham repeaters that are running 300 or better watt's and are over 500 feet up.  Those do benefit greatly from voted receivers.  But when you are on ham running that power level, you aren't gonna be using a duplexer anyhow because your never going to get enough isolation and maintain that level of power through it. 
But if you were in say, New York City, or some other densely populated urban area, and had a high transmit antenna, I could see it helping a UHF 50 watt repeater some.  Still gonna hear better than it talks though. 
The linked repeaters we have through the mygmrs system is what I would refer to as 'multicast'.  And with GMRS of course, we are stuck to the 8 pairs we have, but I have seen multicast systems that covered multiple bands both commercially and with ham.  It's more prevalent, or at least it was, with ham.  Guys would link VHF / UHF and 6 meters, or 900 all together and offer access to all radios that way.  I don't know if that's still a thing or not.  I considered a V / U / 900 system at the tower on ham,,, even thought about it being P25.  But there is so little traffic on ham any more, I don't know that I will bother. 
Your SAR system sounds like two Simulcast systems that are linked... that's different. But whatever works.
 

While I tend to agree, it will still take a lawsuit, deep pockets and the courage to both pursue it and apply those resources to the suit.

I know a few members do emergency volunteer work. Anyone have a legit portable repeater setup?
It's been about a year since I setup my portable "shack". Since the weather was nice today and I have a new repeater to field test, I figured I would do a dry-run at home before I setup in an actual emergency.
It takes about 3 hours to deploy the portable setup with HF, VHF, and UHF amateur radio and GMRS. So, needless to say, unless it's a multi-day drill or real emergency, I'm not going all out, but it was time for that dry-run.
I have a dedicated mast for the homemade 80m/40m/20m/10m OCF dipole, and then an additional mast for the VHF/UHF antenna(s).  In these pictures, there is a Yaesu DR-1X and a Icom IC-7300.
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

Yah.. Sorry.. I'm just learning all this socially ree-tarhd-ed stuff.

Shrug.

I know om my gmrs v1 from baofeng. The firmware allowed me to change the frs memory slots. But I couldn't change the power on those memory slots (stuck in low).

Personally, I would say box the radios up and return them. Get something else that might be inline more with your customization wants.

Maybe a motorola xts?

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I has one.. But I can't talk about it because that might be comparing apples to oranges and apparently that makes "some people" very sad.

I finally watched the entire Salton Sea Walk video yesterday for the first time.  Truly incredible story, gave me a whole new respect for him and his work.  It's too bad that the ending isn't a happy one (yet?).

From the perspective of an amateur radio operator... operator... I love Randy's videos.  I even have a paid subscription with him to help contribute in some small way to the equipment testing and content creation.
Truth is, his content is funny as hell and very helpful to many, including me.  I love that he doesn't take crap from anyone and his socio-political humor is great. 
I have had the pleasure of having some private chat messages / emails between him and I also... and learned pretty quickly that he is a great guy.  People seem to lose track of the point that there is an entertainment persona and then how he is in his day-to-day life. 
Like my wife reminds me when I start griping about inaccuracies in movies and TV shows... 'It's for entertainment. Just let it go.'  LOL

Today, I lost a friend; NOVA GMRS lost a beloved member. 
Roland Jackson (WRPJ758) died today.  For those in the DC Metro area, he had a positive impact on the community.  Roland was a staple in the GMRS realm, willing to help anyone, chat with everyone.
You will be missed my friend.
 
Pictures care of @kidphc 

 
 

 
 

Roland will be greatly missed.

He was a big signature in the D.C. metro area as well as up and down the mid-atlantic, PA, NJ/NY and WVa.

His base setup (completely legal) had some reach and if the conditions were right with some ducting. His voice could be heard on a repeater by you or even on simplex.

For 2 years straight, when I commuted to and from work. He would often chat with me, purposely pausing his day to catch me on various repeaters. I have caught him doing this with multiple people including Marc. He was outstanding steward for the radio community and was upstanding.

In person, his Veteran Vietnam Naval side came out with the swear words. What a character that "old fart" was.

Rest in peace WRPJ758, 42 (former Capital City React) Roland you deserve it of any person I have ever met.

The D.C. area GMRS community lost a great one. Now who will answer the 5x radio checks a day on all the repeaters.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

@WRKC935 understood and all good information. I have a UHF duplexer, so no issues on that end. I am trying to solve for an amateur VHF EmComm issue if we need to use a frequency other than what any duplexer may be tuned for, without having to re-tune the duplexer on the spot in the field.  
 
In the past, horizontal separation has worked extremely well for us with my original repeaters, as the up-link and down-link are to separate radios a significant distance apart and RF linked.  I was hoping to accomplish the same results, but with a single repeater... though, it's not promising. There is a good possibility that I will tune a duplexer for the single repeater solution and tote my original split system in case it's needed.
 
The main reason I shared what I did is because several people over the years have askes about if a duplexer is needed for a repeater or not.  This was a real-world result rather than a theoretical bench test. The bench test is great, but for me, actually hearing and experiencing the results translates to something more meaningful and easier to digest. Plus, it helps me explain in some odd way that no duplexer is needed in limited circumstances... but it's far from perfect. 
 
Something I did find interesting is, while there is noticeable desense in the test I did, with a 35 foot portable mast, I actually ran out of LOS before the desense led to loss of comms. 

There is nothing to establish.. Talk to whoever you need to talk to, however you want.  The FCCs says to announce your callsign every 15 minutes and refrain from profanity but since they dont bother to enforce the rules, it doesn't really matter.

As long as you identify with callsign every 15 minutes, you're legal.

"Hey Fred this is dad" is perfectly legal so long as you throw your callsign out there every 15 minutes.

WRTS881/1 this is WRTS881/2 is too anal.  Talk to your family like you normally would, just include a callsign every 15 minutes.

Honestly, if the software transforms the radio into the radio you want it to be, I wouldn't worry about the power. I would program everything for medium power and not look back. I doubt you'll notice a difference in range.

I'm heartbroken. We're losing some affordable, quality products soon.
 
https://youtu.be/1r-RxIvw5zY?si=6sdAppWmYd1rrqP7

I don’t know if the chipsets used in those hotspots support analog and I don’t know if the RF stage can be adapted to GMRS frequencies.  If they do, then possibly it could be done. 

I might be wrong, but I think the cable grip's purpose in life is to hoist the coax up to you. You would use a different device to attach and support the coax on the mast.