GMRS Expanded Personal Business Use

[WRUQ758]

A few thoughts.... With the damper put on Internet connected networks GMRS as a "hobby" seems to be waning, at least in my area. Repeaters dead and mostly unused. Repeater owners should look into bringing in family farms, small family businesses etc to use their repeaters for "personal business". You can easily have a club "membership fee" or "repeater maint fee" (not charging for business use which is illegal) and show users the value of GMRS and ease of licensing. Many farms use it in the Midwest. Back in the day my radio tech had a "community" GMRS multi-use repeater. Taxi, Cement trucks, family's staying in touch each with their own tone board. You could only license 2 pairs and "675" was thrown in for travelers' emergency. I know that has all changed but you can be creative while staying within today's rules. Just some thoughts. 

[Socalgmrs]

Every farm/ranch I know has a repeater and they use it daily.  I use a few repeaters each and every day for all types of reasons.  But why would a general person or ranch want strangers or other business on their repeater?  To what end?  Gmrs is for using while doing something.  If a group of people need a repeater they should put one up.  I know a few white water rafting company’s that have repeaters on the river since it’s a deep canyon and simplex doesn’t work so well.  Many of the skii places have gmrs repeaters on the top for winter skiing and summer biking and hikers. Same with many of our local neighborhoods, hunting clubs, off road parks and even some race tracks But I would not really want randos chit chatting on any of them.  Especially dudes that call them selves queens. 
 

with the price of professional used repeaters being less then $400 it’s not a huge expense for a group to put together. 

[WRUQ758]

If you look at the map on MyGMRS there are lots of shared repeaters. In Indiana they are busy but everywhere else I have travelled silent since the FCC ruling. I'm not talking about your "farm repeater" with an antenna on a silo, I referring to the ones on 300' towers being used for more than just radio checks. 

[amaff]

1 hour ago, WRUQ758 said:

Repeater owners should look into bringing in family farms, small family businesses etc to use their repeaters for "personal business".

Why?

[WRUQ758]

2 minutes ago, amaff said:

Why?

Because repeaters are not getting use after the FCC debacle with linked network. Users are allowed to use for "personal business", why not get more users on. The amateurs have a saying - use it or lose it.  They lost the 220 band due to lack of use. 

[TDM827]

Much of this would come down to comfortability with control of the repeater. If you don't own a repeater you don't control it. You don't control up-time, down time,  power considerations, back-up power plans, emergency power plans, maintenance, how to deal with interference, when an owner has to pull the plug or the drama that surrounds some repeater users, especially on the big repeaters. 

Despite some repeater "clubs" and "groups" having rules and expectations, it's the repeater owner who really has the final say on things. As it should be.

Bottom line: If you don't own a repeater you don't control it. If you don't have control of your communications you don't have control of your family business. If a family business is fine with taking that risk, and dealing with potential issues on an existing repeater,  there are no rules or regulations preventing them from utilizing existing repeaters.

The best repeater in our area has a fair amount of traffic. Adding family businesses to the mix would, in my opinion, decrease the whole user experience. But that's just my favorite repeater. And, current traffic on each existing repeater would determine that. 

[WRUQ758]

TDM827, fair enough. In the 70's there were community repeaters. Everyone got along and no nonsense. With the way people act today your point is valid. 

[TDM827]

1 minute ago, WRUQ758 said:

TDM827, fair enough. In the 70's there were community repeaters. Everyone got along and no nonsense. With the way people act today your point is valid. 

Yeah, I can't believe, but have gotten used to, some of the things I hear on GMRS. 

[WRYZ926]

Here is what we have experienced with commercial farms in the mid Missouri area and it isn't good.

The area commercial farms will only have a single license in the owner's name while letting every non related employee use their call sign. That's if they even use call signs at all.  We have also had commercial farms not even bother with having any license.

Then they will try to use repeaters owned by others without bothering to get permission.  Plus there is no etiquette and lot's of cussing by the farm employees. 

Most of the local GMRS repeater owners have banned any type of business/commercial farm use on their repeaters because of this.

You don't dare run a repeater without tones on both receive and transmit. Otherwise you hear all of the local farm workers on the corresponding simplex channels cussing. And again most never use call signs and probably don't even have licenses. Yes I know they could easily find the repeaters' tones, but most are too lazy to do that.

If farms want to invest their own time and money putting up their own repeaters then that is fine as long as they aren't interfering with the existing repeaters all ready in place.

[gortex2]

22 hours ago, WRUQ758 said:

Because repeaters are not getting use after the FCC debacle with linked network. Users are allowed to use for "personal business", why not get more users on. 

Why does it matter. Are you paying electric bil, tower fees and such for them ? You ever think the owners just dont care about users or nets on them ? I have multiple repeaters in multiple states. Some are those "300'" tower you speak of. They are my repeaters and I pay for maintenance and upkeep. they are there for me, my family and a few freinds. I can say 100% if you drive by some of them they are dead all week long as no one is there. Weeks are different. No way I'd want to put farmers or any of that on my stuff. Thats what LMR Part 90 is for. Additionally there is absolutely no requirement to have a repeater on the air. 95% of my traffic is simplex. repeater is there when needed. So its used.