UncleYoda

I know it's Part 95. The point of looking at other services in both cases was just to possibly understand it better. But that can also cause misinterpretations too due to service differences. In my case, a local HAM suggested looking at the HAM rules for comparison but he was wrong because it isn't mentioned. And I don't do Part 90, so I don't want to dig into that while not being familiar with all the intricacies of it. I hope you're right about using base stations. I just hate to put my money into a higher priced unit and then find out I'm not allowed to use it without getting in the car and maybe driving somewhere (not sure moving the car is necessary, but it isn't parked in the best spot for TX). Most of the conversations I hear on the club repeaters are at night when I'm usually not out driving. And sometimes the weather is not good and it's nice to stay inside.

I don't know of anywhere the GMRS rules say base stations are allowed only simplex. Although uncommon, it is possible to have separate TX and RX frequencies even when not using a repeater. The issue with base stations is they aren't listed as one of the types that are allowed to use the 467 MHz main channels. It comes down to whether that omission is a prohibition. I would expect a clear statement like, "Base stations are not permitted to transmit on these frequencies." But you never know how things can be interpreted. And what makes a station a control station is it is controlling something, typically a repeater's functions. Since I don't have a repeater, control stations are not an issue for me. And that lame circular definition that says fixed stations talk to other fixed stations does not tell us what makes one a fixed station. But I've mostly come to the conclusion, even though I don't know what it is exactly, that it won't apply to my use.

KAF6045, I'm used to control stations and repeaters being treated separately from base stations (like in HAM). The rules are different in some cases too. Radioguy7268, thanks but unless Part 95 refers to those Part 90 definitions it would not be good to assume they are used the same. I did check Part 97 because that is what I'm most familiar with, but fixed station and base station were not even mentioned (assuming my search function worked). It looks like fixed station is probably not much of a concern from what I can discern (all mine will be mobile, portable or base). But not using a base station for repeaters kills my main interest and makes my club membership worthless. I'll have a good pair of walkie-talkies but that's about all.

That is correct as I believe I've read it stated that way in the regs and I think that was covered in the ham test questions I studied years ago. Just using the repeater for transmitting doesn't make you a control station. EDIT: Control station is a different issue (not a concern to me currently) and I'd like to keep this focused on what a fixed station is.

But that's just it. It should not be left for us "to picture" or figure out or guess at their meaning. It's their responsibility to make it clear so everyone knows.

That was the other big issue I had. I was going to leave it for another thread but it is related. I've been back and forth on these two issues. I wouldn't like it but I could live with the 15W limit if my base was considered a fixed station. But then I figured out that fixed was something different, so that was not an issue (unless or until I figure out what a fixed station means so I know if it applies). But that leaves me with the even bigger limitation of not being able to use a base station for transmitting through repeaters. I don't want to get a mobile rig just for the car because I'm not driving much anymore. So both of these are concerns I'd like to resolve. Does just the fact that base station isn't specified as allowed mean that it's not? Seems odd to me that people writing regulations would rely on the omission of a use as the criteria for preventing its use. They could and should say explicitly what is not allowed.

I've read the wording including the meaningless circular definition in Part 95. There is a lot that seems confusing, maybe even contradictory, about what the regulation writers mean. I can at least tell that a fixed station is something different from a base station. But can't grasp what they are referring to. They should give practical examples but they don't. This affects any purchase I may decide to make for a mobile with more power and/or an antenna with higher gain so I don't want to buy more than I can use as a dual-use mobile and base station.

Uh, you didn't answer my question (if I had one) because I'll already knew other radios would work if you want to do that. I don't mod anything or break the rules for now. If the whole system collapses then that is the time.

I guess just so I could talk to wonderful people like you. /sarcasm

My HAM HTs have 1W on low (officially) and would do those frequencies but I have not tested TX. I think the GMRS variation I have ordered are the same. Only thing I have rated at 2W is some old GMRS radios that only do the 462 frequencies. $25 would be OK but I won't buy anything from BTech or similar vendors I don't recall any reputable dealers selling anything near that price even 10 years ago but I probably did not look at multi-radio package deals either. I think a good antenna is what would make the difference, so if MURS doesn't suffer from the FRS fixed antenna limitation I might add it to the wish list.

did you mean "without" the drama BS, because we certainly don't need that on HAM

I'm new to GMRS so I may see it differently than y'all because of that. It was the linked repeaters that piqued my interest (and the club is going to add more). I was discouraged from joining in before because the repeater closest to me is closed (paid members only, not accepting more). Coming from the HAM world the idea of having to be in multiple clubs just to use 2 repeaters close to me did not sit well. Without repeaters I would have almost no use for GMRS because family members aren't interested. The comment above about using MURS if you want VHF seems odd to me. Wouldn't we need yet another radio for that? I've just about hit my limit on buying more radios just because of complicated regulations, especially when one radio is technically capable of doing them all. But if it didn't take buying dedicated equipment first just to experiment, I would have been interested in experimenting with what MURS could offer. I like the 150MHz VHF (or lower) range better than 400+.

Thanks. Mine looks different (on laptop not phone). But it is there now anyway!

Is My Requests supposed to track requests I sent or just requests sent to me? (I don't have any of my own repeaters.) I sent one but it isn't showing there.