Non-Profit/ Club

[WRWT612]

Is there ANY wiggle room for a GMRS license to cover a non-profit 501c3 enabling its members access to the 1 call sign? 

[SteveShannon]

19 hours ago, WRWT612 said:

Is there ANY wiggle room for a GMRS license to cover a non-profit 501c3 enabling its members access to the 1 call sign? 

No, none whatsoever, unless you have a grandfathered license.

 

 

[Davichko5650]

35 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

No, none whatsoever, unless you have a grandfathered license.

 

 

Deja Vu ?????   

[SteveShannon]

29 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

Deja Vu ?????   

Same guy but with a forum membership rather than posting as a guest.

[Davichko5650]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

Same guy but with a forum membership rather than posting as a guest.

Solid copy!   Back in the day, I might have been able to do the gmrs thing in our 501 (c) (3) organization as it was me and my father only. But didn't do gmrs back in the early 2000's.

[SteveShannon]

4 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

Solid copy!   Back in the day, I might have been able to do the gmrs thing in our 501 (c) (3) organization as it was me and my father only. But didn't do gmrs back in the early 2000's.

I guess @WRWT612 could legally adopt all the people in his 501(c)3 organization, but it’s probably easier and cheaper to just pay $35/license. That’s only $3.50/year each. 

[OffRoaderX]

21 hours ago, WRWT612 said:

Is there ANY wiggle room for a GMRS license to cover a non-profit 501c3 enabling its members access to the 1 call sign? 

If you consider how many people the FCC has gone after for "illegally" sharing a GMRS callsign, or, how many GMRS users the FCC has gone after for.. anything... You might find a little "wiggle room"  ..

But if you're worried about it after doing your research, you could just have the non-licensed members use FRS radios and the licensed members use GMRS radios.. That is, assuming they don't need to use a repeater.

[WRYZ926]

47 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

But if you're worried about it after doing your research, you could just have the non-licensed members use FRS radios and the licensed members use GMRS radios.. That is, assuming they don't need to use a repeater.

That is always a good option if no repeats are needed.

The whole "immediate family" thing gets thrown out if you are in Arkansas. Everyone there is related to each other. 

Just kidding about that. Individuals still need their own licenses.

[WQAI363]

On 12/4/2024 at 6:45 PM, WRWT612 said:

Is there ANY wiggle room for a GMRS license to cover a non-profit 501c3 enabling its members access to the 1 call sign? 

Like Mr. Shannon said, No! Anyone not directly related to you must have their own license. One way to have members of a non-profit organization operate under one license is to apply for a Business Band License, but that's more headaches than it worth. It's possible, even if you have to use a community repeater, which mean your group would be assigned tone. These days getting a repeater and radios plus the license and repeater pair would run over $5,000.00 easy. Nah, you might as well ask each member to apply their own GMRS license and take it from there. It cheaper and each member can share their license with their families.

[WRKC935]

No, and there is a reason for that.  The GMRS service is not meant to be used for that type of business communications.

If you are a 501c then you are a business.  A non-profit, but a business anyway.  And while it gets used all the time, FRS is the same way.  Not for business use.  It's right there in the name FAMILY radio service.  Not crane operator plumber electrician and church radio service.  No one seems to pay attention to that, they just go buy some WalMart radios and use it for whatever they want.  I would venture to say that there are more illegal FRS radio operations out there than guys with CB amps, even in the hey day of CB.

MURS is what was created for business use with a cheap license.  Of course, no one bothers with that either.  But those radios cost more so they just keep buying FRS radios and using them.

If you are a business, you need a business radio license and the proper equipment for that license.  Not trying to misuse another radio service that is clearly NOT for non-family businesses.  IF you were all family, and have a business, then it's legal, as long as only family members are on the radio.  Outside of that, you need a part 90 license and part 90 radios.

 

[Davichko5650]

On 12/8/2024 at 3:16 AM, WRKC935 said:

 

If you are a 501c then you are a business.  A non-profit, but a business anyway.  And while it gets used all the time, FRS is the same way.  Not for business use. 

 

Actually in 95.303 it is for business usage:

 

Family Radio Service (FRS). A short-distance two-way voice communication service, with limited data applications, between low power hand-held radios, for facilitating individual, family, group, recreational and business activities.

So FRS can be used for business purposes, but the limited range may render it less than usable for all scenarios...

 

MURS is a License by Rule service. No fees, no callsigns

As in 95.2703

MURS. A two-way, short distance voice or data communication service for facilitating personal or business activities of the general public.

 

 

[AdmiralCochrane]

"For business activities" does not mean BY businesses.  The licensees are still required to be individuals.

[Davichko5650]

15 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

"For business activities" does not mean BY businesses.  The licensees are still required to be individuals.

Not for FRS or MURS - no license required. GMRS, yes absolutely must be licensed and they cannot advertise or offer items for sale.

[OffRoaderX]

7 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

GMRS, yes absolutely must be licensed and they cannot advertise or offer items for sale.

That sounds serious!  So.. what happens if someone isn't licensed or they offer items for sale?

[Davichko5650]

Just now, OffRoaderX said:

That sounds serious!  So.. what happens if someone isn't licensed or they offer items for sale?

Well I'm sure those massive fines and years and years in jail, right?   From the traffic I hear on channels 1-7 and 15-22, I don't know of any enforcement going on with the schools, const. workers, bus company or nursing homes I hear using them with nary a callsign spoken.  But I worry about my own operating, I'm not there to worry about what they're doing. On the FRS channels, more of the same with a few scattered kids playing radio thrown in, but they don't need to ID anyway.

[OffRoaderX]

8 minutes ago, Davichko5650 said:

Well I'm sure those massive fines and years and years in jail, right?   From the traffic I hear on channels 1-7 and 15-22, I don't know of any enforcement going on with the schools, const. workers, bus company or nursing homes I hear using them with nary a callsign spoken.  But I worry about my own operating, I'm not there to worry about what they're doing. On the FRS channels, more of the same with a few scattered kids playing radio thrown in, but they don't need to ID anyway.

The answer is: Based on the FCC's enforcement record of the last 12 years, nothing will happen.
Of course, that could change tomorrow, but as of today, thems is the facts.

[Davichko5650]

5 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

The answer is: Based on the FCC's enforcement record of the last 12 years, nothing will happen.
Of course, that could change tomorrow, but as of today, thems is the facts.

Yours is more concise and to the point, as befits the Queen!

[WRUE951]

6 hours ago, Davichko5650 said:

Actually in 95.303 it is for business usage:

 

Family Radio Service (FRS). A short-distance two-way voice communication service, with limited data applications, between low power hand-held radios, for facilitating individual, family, group, recreational and business activities.

So FRS can be used for business purposes, but the limited range may render it less than usable for all scenarios...

 

MURS is a License by Rule service. No fees, no callsigns

As in 95.2703

MURS. A two-way, short distance voice or data communication service for facilitating personal or business activities of the general public.

 

 

the hitch is that all users must be licensed and use their own specific call sign during business use..  

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

That sounds serious!  So.. what happens if someone isn't licensed or they offer items for sale?

someone might harass you  - Randy   

[Davichko5650]

6 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

the hitch is that all users must be licensed and use their own specific call sign during business use..  

Again I was speaking to FRS and MURS, neither service requires a license.  The regs. I cited are for those two services and not GMRS.

[wrci350]

14 hours ago, Davichko5650 said:

From the traffic I hear on channels 1-7 and 15-22, I don't know of any enforcement going on with the schools, const. workers, bus company or nursing homes I hear using them with nary a callsign spoken.  But I worry about my own operating, I'm not there to worry about what they're doing. On the FRS channels, more of the same with a few scattered kids playing radio thrown in, but they don't need to ID anyway.

Chances are pretty good that all those people you hear are using FRS radios, and traffic of that nature is explicitly permitted by Part 95B.  FRS is licensed-by-rule, so no call signs.

As of 2017, there are no "FRS" channels, since GMRS and FRS share the same frequencies with different max power and (in some cases) bandwidth.  The only exception is that FRS radios cannot transmit on the repeater inputs since repeaters are not allowed on FRS.

If the schools, construction workers, bus company and nursing homes are using FRS radios (on any channel 1-22) there is nothing to "enforce".

[WRUE951]

15 hours ago, Davichko5650 said:

Again I was speaking to FRS and MURS, neither service requires a license.  The regs. I cited are for those two services and not GMRS.

Gotcha