why did i license

[WSEG508]

ok my rant of the day. If every lawn mowing, tow truck driving, restaurant wait staff, and a car dealer can use gmrs channels, then why did i bother getting a license? i drive from central jersey to south jersey (just across river from philly) and that what i get on my driver. So why be scared of using a gmrs radio or ham radio, fcc dont care. Oh and if u look at the map theres three repeaters if u follow 195 to turnpike south, tow company using those all day.

[LeoG]

Most repeater owners won't let you on them if you aren't licensed.  It goes against them too.  And why not?  It's $35 for 10 years.  It about the best license bargain the govt has.  Lots of people running no license might actually be legally using FRS and since you are nearby you can hear them.  But they have no real distance capabilities.

Other than that, no real reason if you are operating an HT because it would be nearly impossible to track you down unless you never shut up.

[WRQC527]

3 minutes ago, WSEG508 said:

ok my rant of the day. If every lawn mowing, tow truck driving, restaurant wait staff, and a car dealer can use gmrs channels, then why did i bother getting a license? i drive from central jersey to south jersey (just across river from philly) and that what i get on my driver. So why be scared of using a gmrs radio or ham radio, fcc dont care. Oh and if u look at the map theres three repeaters if u follow 195 to turnpike south, tow company using those all day.

I'm pretty sure you know that FRS and GMRS share the same frequencies, which makes me pretty sure that you know that at least some of the people you mention, such as lawn mowing, restaurant and car dealer staff may very well be using FRS radios, which I'm fairly certain you know don't require a license. So that may explain some of what you hear. As for tow companies using GMRS repeaters without a GMRS license, you would need to ask them. They appear to be the kind of folks who break the rules for as long as they can get away with it. The woods are full of them. As for why you bothered getting a license, it's because you are a law-abiding citizen with respect for the rules and regulations that govern a civilized society. You have chosen to take the high road. That is to be commended.

[LeoG]

Or maybe the tow truck company owns the repeater.

[WSEG508]

nope not frs, gmrs channel 20 mount laurel nj resturant, gmrs channel 21 (repeater) tow company, gmrs channel 17 lawn company and warehouse, gmrs 18 car dealer mechanical shop by the truck stop of exit 7 turnpike. channel 17 gmrs in freehold nj tow company. But maybe i have figured out something, the gmrs/frs channel list on chirp is wrong so i have redone my channels and will see. file>open stock config>us frs and gmrs channels.csv

[WRUE951]

Living in Southern Calif and around a ton of repeaters, i can tell you that a very low percentage use their dam call sign.  Nada..  In fact the ones that do are the funny ones...  They are the ones for the most part asking for radio checks or 'reporting in'.  All the others are 'where the fuk are we gonna eat, i need fuking gas, the deserts sucks, that jerk that just passed me is gonna get a fuking ticking and so on..    And every once in a while you'll hear some chick say her hubby passed out and she is coming over   

[Socalgmrs]

12 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Or maybe the tow truck company owns the repeater.

Each driver would still need to be licensed and fallow id requirements. 
 

It sounds to me like gmrs really isn’t for you.  What you didn’t mention, and what gmrs was created for, is the friends and family that you talk to while doing an activity.    Do you have friends or family that you talk to while hiking, biking, going to the park, playing golf, off roading, going to the mall, harvesting grain and hay in a farm, running cattle off horse back or quads on a 1000 acre ranch, road tripping? ….. the list goes on and on.  Maybe you spend 1000s of hours a year out side cell service where you only link to neighbors and the out side world is gmrs?    Some of these activities may be able to be covered with a 2w FRS radio but not all the time.  Higher powered gmrs with big gain antennas are vital to some people.     Maybe the better question is why did you get into gmrs in the first place?  Maybe you had the wrong expectations of the service.    
I set a tone on simplex and run several radios all day with friends and family  from hts to mobile to base and use the service for work and play and emergency use every day and because of the tones I don’t have to listen to any of the FRS junk.  Some days we cover has much as 100 miles in all types of different areas.  We Also utilize several repeaters throughout the day and again tones mean I dont have to listen to the low powered FRS radios that can’t access the repeaters anyway. 
 

frs/gmrs is not ment for trying to listen/talk to strangers while driving to work.  If this is what you’re using it for then you are getting exactly what you are putting into it.  Every stranger within a few miles and in this case you probably didn’t need to pay the $3.50 a year for the license. You could have had 1 more Starbucks every year for 10 years. 

[Socalgmrs]

3 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

Living in Southern Calif and around a ton of repeaters, i can tell you that a very low percentage use their dam call sign.  Nada..  In fact the ones that do are the funny ones...  They are the ones for the most part asking for radio checks or 'reporting in'.  All the others are 'where the fuk are we gonna eat, i need fuking gas, the deserts sucks, that jerk that just passed me is gonna get a fuking ticking and so on..    And every once in a while you'll hear some chick say her hubby passed out and she is coming over   

Hey if you’re in so cal you should check out the mesa crest repeater club.  Every one uses call signs. No one uses bad language. No one argues about politics and we do many activities through the year both official club stuff and non official get togethers. The club already as 2 repeaters that cover from Barstow to the high desert to north San Diego to Huntington Beach and all of the OC, LA and the San Fernando valley.  With plans for more in the near future.  We already have almost 200 members plus family that are all respectful and ready to support all members in any way possible,!from daily chit chat to emergency’s, to radios to home projects. It’s like a huge extended family.  

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WSEG508 said:

ok my rant of the day. If every lawn mowing, tow truck driving, restaurant wait staff, and a car dealer can use gmrs channels, then why did i bother getting a license? i drive from central jersey to south jersey (just across river from philly) and that what i get on my driver. So why be scared of using a gmrs radio or ham radio, fcc dont care. Oh and if u look at the map theres three repeaters if u follow 195 to turnpike south, tow company using those all day.

Maybe you thought it would be like ham radio but without the tests?

[Socalgmrs]

3 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Maybe you thought it would be like ham radio but without the tests?

Yup. 

[WRUE951]

11 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

Hey if you’re in so cal you should check out the mesa crest repeater club.  Every one uses call signs. No one uses bad language. No one argues about politics and we do many activities through the year both official club stuff and non official get togethers. The club already as 2 repeaters that cover from Barstow to the high desert to north San Diego to Huntington Beach and all of the OC, LA and the San Fernando valley.  With plans for more in the near future.  We already have almost 200 members plus family that are all respectful and ready to support all members in any way possible,!from daily chit chat to emergency’s, to radios to home projects. It’s like a huge extended family.  

Na,,  Not into the 'fratty' stuff.. Arguments and Politics is what makes life spin.. If i can't enjoy what i want to talk about,,  screw em'.   Have fun.  Even most HAM clubs are learning not to fuk with our freedom of speech... It is what it is..........................

[Socalgmrs]

11 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

Na,,  Not into the 'fratty' stuff.. Arguments and Politics is what makes life spin.. If i can't enjoy what i want to talk about,,  screw em'.   Have fun.  Even most HAM clubs are learning not to fuk with our freedom of speech... It is what it is..........................

Haha ok what you just said you didn’t like about local gmrs is what you want to do.  to each their own.  Never saw it as fratty more like when your wife or child’s car breaks down and you’re at work or they are 100miles from home some one can be there in minutes.  Or you have a fire and need help evacuating you have help immediately, or the only family car breaks down and they don’t have the money for a rip off mechanic some one can help in install the parts and keep the family moving.  
 

But in any event Have a good one.  

[LeoG]

Sounds like a rough morning after a long weekend...

[LeeBo]

1 hour ago, WSEG508 said:

ok my rant of the day. If every lawn mowing, tow truck driving, restaurant wait staff, and a car dealer can use gmrs channels, then why did i bother getting a license? i drive from central jersey to south jersey (just across river from philly) and that what i get on my driver. So why be scared of using a gmrs radio or ham radio, fcc dont care. Oh and if u look at the map theres three repeaters if u follow 195 to turnpike south, tow company using those all day.

Shot in the dark, but what you're probably hearing are those using Midland-type family radios that don't require a license.

To answer the "why did you get a license" question, because once you are granted access to a repeater with the access tones, all those "chats" go away.  On one of my GMRS radios with the "standard" channels programmed, I hear all the 'lil chillins chatting. Program in the repeaters with access tones and they all go away.

[amaff]

3 hours ago, WSEG508 said:

nope not frs, gmrs channel 20 mount laurel nj resturant, gmrs channel 21 (repeater) tow company, gmrs channel 17 lawn company and warehouse, gmrs 18 car dealer mechanical shop by the truck stop of exit 7 turnpike. channel 17 gmrs in freehold nj tow company. But maybe i have figured out something, the gmrs/frs channel list on chirp is wrong so i have redone my channels and will see. file>open stock config>us frs and gmrs channels.csv

How can you tell that they're GMRS? There's no difference between listening to the repeater output for GMRS 21, and listening to FRS 21 (...or GMRS 21. They're the same frequency). GMRS 17 == FRS 17. GMRS 18 == FRS 18... FRS just doesn't allow for offset transmission on a repeater input (and have lower power limits, and non removable antennas. And no mobile units)

 

[WRYZ926]

14 minutes ago, amaff said:

How can you tell that they're GMRS? There's no difference between listening to the repeater output for GMRS 21, and listening to FRS 21 (...or GMRS 21. They're the same frequency). GMRS 17 == FRS 17. GMRS 18 == FRS 18... FRS just doesn't allow for offset transmission on a repeater input.

 

This is spot on!

I would hear all kinds of FRS traffic on channel 17 if I did not have tones set for our repeater.

It gets a lot worse during deer season around here. I live in a very rural area with lots of farm ground and two conservation areas. A lot of deer hunters use FRS which again shares all the same simplex channels as GMRS. Harvest and planting times aren't much better with all of the farmers that use FRS. setting tones on RX helps block out most of that.

[WSEG508]

22 minutes ago, amaff said:

How can you tell that they're GMRS? There's no difference between listening to the repeater output for GMRS 21, and listening to FRS 21 (...or GMRS 21. They're the same frequency). GMRS 17 == FRS 17. GMRS 18 == FRS 18... FRS just doesn't allow for offset transmission on a repeater input.

 

ok ur right i guess i learned today. and that answers my ?. So i feel like it was a waste of $35 dollars, and shoulda did more research before getting the license. 

[WRYZ926]

A GMRS license is not a waste of money if you want the ability to use a hand held radio with external antenna to get out farther while in a vehicle. A GMRS license also allows you to have mobile radios that put out more than 2 watts. FRS is limited to a maximum of 2 watts which will affect how far you can talk to people.

Go with what service suits your needs the best. For most people, the $35 dollars for a GMRS license that covers their family for 10 years is worth it.

[SteveShannon]

32 minutes ago, WSEG508 said:

ok ur right i guess i learned today. and that answers my ?. So i feel like it was a waste of $35 dollars, and shoulda did more research before getting the license. 

You’re exactly right. 

[WRXB215]

@WSEG508 If the repeater uses an output tone, use that to squelch out all the simplex traffic.

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, WSEG508 said:

So why be scared of using a gmrs radio or ham radio, fcc dont care.

That's the kind of attitude that gets people in trouble. Particularly on Ham frequencies. Running unlicensed is a sure way to attract the wrong kind of attention. Hams are very protective of their bands and make a sport of tracking down unlicensed operators, and usually very successfully.

I've seen a number of these Doppler DF systems on Ham's vehicles.

http://www.kn2c.us/

You see the same sort of setup on police cars. Those are easy to spot. They are the ones with the strange 4 vertical antennas mount in a square pattern on the trunk or roof.

You might get away with no license on GMRS due to all of the FRS traffic. However operating through a repeater requires a GMRS certified radio and the license to use it. That will, again, also attract the wrong kind of attention. Please keep in mind a significant number of GMRS users in the last few years are licensed Hams who may make a sport of tracking down unlicensed GMRS users on repeaters at the owners request. 

Some ding-dong was jamming a local GMRS repeater in my area the other day, and that was on a linked system. Bad idea. That didn't last long.

[amaff]

2 hours ago, WSEG508 said:

ok ur right i guess i learned today. and that answers my ?. So i feel like it was a waste of $35 dollars, and shoulda did more research before getting the license. 

It fills a communications need better than FRS in a lot of instances. I like being able to have a mobile radio in my vehicle when we're on a road trip. I like the generally better (and often cheaper) radios than FRS. I run one in my race car as well for pit to car / spotter comms to a headset in my helmet, with an external antenna outside of the roll structure. Really nice having a 2nd set of eyes. All of that's not gonna work well w/ FRS.

Maybe none of that meets your needs. It works a lot better than FRS for a lot of us tho.

[WRQI663]

Breaking the rules?

I guess it's "OK to jaywalk" - until you get hit by the bus.

The FCC isn't going to offer you a refund either so get rid of your radios or learn how to use them.

Oh, WHY did you get a license anyway?

[WRQI663]

Waiting for your answer!

[WRYS709]

On 9/4/2024 at 5:50 AM, WRQI663 said:

Breaking the rules?

I guess it's "OK to jaywalk" - until you get hit by the bus.

Another analogy to traffic laws...

Last time I checked, no one was injured when they transmitted on GMRS without a license or in contravention of Part 95 rules! Find a more relevant analogy...