Which would you prefer?

[Lscott]

45 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

The majority of people do not want to see any changes to GMRS to include adding digital modes.

I'm not so sure this is true. The reason is the right questions are not being asked and debated fairly. See attached file.

I think what should be asked with digital voice should it be allowed on all channels or restricted to particular ones? I think it should be restricted to a few selected channels.

Next what digital voice mode should be used? Note I used the singular "mode" as opposed to allowing multiple modes. Standardizing on one would make the radios cheaper, more competition, and the radios from different manufactures would interoperate. People point out DMR should be used, however it might not be the best choice!

I really dislike comments to the effect that anyone who proposes digital voice on GMRS is trying to turn it in to a "Ham Lite" service. No. It's about improving the quality of the communications. I was monitoring a local repeater here at work. The one station had low modulation and a weak signal. The audio was hard to understand and the beacon frying noise just made it worse. If the signal was digital very likely neither of the above would have degraded the communication experience. The typical GMRS user wants clear communications. When given the choice I doubt they would care if the signal was digital if they had good solid copy.

 

GMRS Digital Voice - 20231127.pdf

[WRYZ926]

16 minutes ago, Lscott said:

I'm not so sure this is true. The reason is the right questions are not being asked and debated fairly. See attached file.

Well this question has been asked in different ways on multiple forums and the majority do not want digital modes on GMRS.

[SteveShannon]

36 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Well this question has been asked in different ways on multiple forums and the majority do not want digital modes on GMRS.

I agree.  For a lot of its base, GMRS is a service that works great for people who just want to buy a radio, rent a license for their entire family for ten years, and get on the air with the people who can use that license while engaging in either a recreational activity or a family business..  

Next largest group is the people who share in the enjoyment of a recreational activity, off-roaming, hunting, fishing, hiking, Rocketry, etc.  Honestly, I’m not sure this isn’t the biggest group.  It very well could be.

Next is the group of people who have a greater knowledge of radios and their capabilities.  They see GMRS as something like an unfinished project that they would like to influence into something with greater utility.  Unfortunately, this will leave the previous two groups, who truly form the base of GMRS use, behind.

Finally, there are those who just think that GMRS should be just another area for hams to play in.  They’re just wrong.

[ULTRA2]

18 hours ago, Sshannon said:

He’s a ham, but he doesn’t represent anyone other than himself. 

Thanks for the clarification

[WRQI583]

On 1/16/2024 at 4:15 PM, DominoDog said:

Look at Amateur radio, they can't even figure out their digital modes. There's Fusion, DStar, DMR, several others and apparently none of them play together well. Interoperability is not something humans do well.

With Ham Radio, I think it is more that someone creates a digital mode and then someone else comes along and says, "I want my own digital mode" and then runs off and creates one and doesn't make sure it is compatible. For how technologically savy Hams are with radio, they sure do not do a very good job when it comes to linking things.

When it comes to Dstar into DMR ...............If you want to smoke the speaker up on your radio, try crossing those two together on a hotspot. I tried it one time and the speaker on my radio hasn't been the same. The worse part is that the guys on Dstar had audio so hot that even turning my radio down to where I could barely hear them did no good. It still sounded like they were screaming.
 

[ULTRA2]

On 1/25/2024 at 4:20 PM, WRQI583 said:

The worse part is that the guys on Dstar had audio so hot that even turning my radio down to where I could barely hear them did no good. It still sounded like they were screaming

Can you imagine that happening on the GMRS band you most likely fry the repeaters while you're at it.

[WSAG543]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:42 AM, WRYZ926 said:

Well this question has been asked in different ways on multiple forums and the majority do not want digital modes on GMRS.

So unfortunate