Ham Radio 2.0 Coverage of Low-band Channels for GMRS

[marcspaz]

 

As some of you know, my friend Mike submitted a petition for rule making to the FCC to expand GMRS into some low-band frequencies. Ham Radio 2.0 covered an article about it and does a good job explaining the basics...

 

 

 

 

[BoxCar]

Not needed for a personal radio service intended for local ccommunications

[WRYZ926]

Plus the fact that 46 or 49 MHz won't do any better than the 6m band currently does. I know because I have used 30-70 MHz all over the world while in the military. Most of the time we had to have some sort of relay station setup to get any kind of useful range.

[marcspaz]

The point is to expand  beyond short-range local comms, particularly for emergencies.  300w repeater systems would definitely help a lot in areas like what we are in here in the DC Metro area, the northern Mid-Atlantic and northeastern US. There was one 10m repeater that was at 100w that covered a huge amount of the area, but it's been off the air for years and GMRS isn't getting the job done for many families and EMCOMM volunteers. 

 

I support it and comfortably put it in the category of you don't have to use it if you don't want to. It certainly doesn't hurt anyone or the service to provide extra frequencies. Shoot... the biggest complaint I see/hear is that there are so few channels and the space is crowded in metro areas. Why not support it if it will reallocate unused frequencies and give users more options? (That was rhetorical, of course)

[OffRoaderX]

Never gunna happen... Bookmark this comment and let's follow up in 5 years so I can say "told 'ya so!" ...

[marcspaz]

@OffRoaderX I doubt it's going to happen, too. But, I do still support it.

[WRYZ926]

There is a 16 page thread on this subject over on the Radio Reference forum that got shut down today when someone involved with the proposal got snotty with everyone that pointed out the negatives about the proposal.

I'm not saying that unused portions of the VHF low band do not have their uses. But it is not the beat all fix all solution to add it to GMRS as some think.

All of us that have our amateur licenses know how fickle the 6m band can be even for local communications let alone long distance coms. 

I've used military FM radios on the 30-70 MHz all over the world. The VHF low band works in wide open areas with no local noise floor. But get into heavy forested areas and/or mountainous terrain and you will need some type of relay station to get out very far. And just like the 6m band, you would need a high power amplifier to get out over long distances. That isn't going to happen with hand held or mobile radios.

Another issue is that law enforcement in some states still use that portion of the VHF low band as a backup system. I know Missouri still does.

Again, I'm not against opening up a portion of the VHF low band outside of 6m. But we have to be realistic on how it will work and the downfalls of VHF low band.