willgrah
Member
Roger that! Was kinda for the benefit of the OP. 73's Bill
-
To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:
Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.
If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.
To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.
The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.
For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).
This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.
FRS/GMRS/MURS on VHF/UHF Radio
- Thread starter samdog
- Start date
- Status
Roger that! Was kinda for the benefit of the OP. 73's Bill
I can't understand why people always want FRS to be something other than it was designed for. Same goes with GMRS and MURS.
If you want more range, get a Tech license and use the amateur VHF/UHF frequency's.
This continual whining gets tired.
All of the above services were designed for short range communication and the FRS restrictions are so that one cannot make their radio's or use radio's capable of transmitting on these frequency's more powerful.
Licensed, GMRS does have some decent range for the allowed power, especially if there is a GMRS repeater in your area.
Even in the rural area I live in, I can tune my scanner to FRS and GMRS frequency's and hear singing, cussing, sex talk, you name it.
Most of this is on legal radios not far from where I live.
I sure as heck would not want to hear more of this child's play than have I do.
I monitor GMRS and Amateur radio frequency's because of the nature of the area I live in. There are calls for help every now and then.
Either go back to C.B. or get your Amateur license and use the airwaves correctly if you require more distance.
Regulations are there for a reason.
John
If you want more range, get a Tech license and use the amateur VHF/UHF frequency's.
This continual whining gets tired.
All of the above services were designed for short range communication and the FRS restrictions are so that one cannot make their radio's or use radio's capable of transmitting on these frequency's more powerful.
Licensed, GMRS does have some decent range for the allowed power, especially if there is a GMRS repeater in your area.
Even in the rural area I live in, I can tune my scanner to FRS and GMRS frequency's and hear singing, cussing, sex talk, you name it.
Most of this is on legal radios not far from where I live.
I sure as heck would not want to hear more of this child's play than have I do.
I monitor GMRS and Amateur radio frequency's because of the nature of the area I live in. There are calls for help every now and then.
Either go back to C.B. or get your Amateur license and use the airwaves correctly if you require more distance.
Regulations are there for a reason.
John
KD8DVR
Member
The whining occurs because the moderators permit/promote discussion of illegal activity on all the forums. I complained about an illegal CB once on the CB forum and *I* got a moderator warning! I was in the right, yet I was blamed for disrupting a thread about illegal operation.
Nice.
Nice.
Back to the original question, the basic answer is "Because the radio has not been type accepted by the FCC to operate on those services." With limited exceptions, the FCC will not generally grant equipment authorization for radios to operate in multiple services. The exceptions I am aware of are: FRS/GMRS and FRS/GMRS+VHF Marine (but at one time they stated that they would not grant type acceptance for additional models in that last category).
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
The primary reasons to the why a dual band radio can't be used on FRS/GMRS/MURS is a) licensing, b) type certification (the VFO), c) power.
A) All radio services require a license. FRS/MURS/CB are all license-by-rule. As in you are properly licensed as long as you follow the rules. You paid for you're amateur license (and even took an exam to make sure you understood the rules) and in exchange the FCC privileges you to operate on the bands they designated for you to operate on (according to your license level).
B) Type certification. All transmitters that are manufactured (notice I did not say built as amateur and educational transmitters may be of the home-brew variety given a few stipulations) must be type accepted by the FCC. Look under the battery of that little Yaesu/Kenwood/Alinco/Baofeng/Icom/Motorola/Harris/GE/etc hand held that you have and you will see an FCC ID sticker on it. That is a searchable number that will display the grant showing which services that transmitter is certified for use in. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part the designated Part (and/or sub-Part) are the only operations for which the transmitter may legally operate. A radio that has VFO only meets the technical specs for amateur and commercial HF. The Chinese got around this (Baofeng/Pofeng) by having an option to remove the VFO in the programming software. Real GMRS radios do not meet the technical specs for FRS. Most real GMRS radios also have dual acceptance (90/95A) as do most Ritron and Motorola MURS radios (90/95J).
C)Every radio service has a power limit. GMRS has a 50W power max (no ERP limitations). FRS has a .5W power max (with fixed antenna stipulations and is mandatory narrowband so add -6dBm to that signal). All Part 90 users have a power limit (listed in ERP) that varies with application.
A) All radio services require a license. FRS/MURS/CB are all license-by-rule. As in you are properly licensed as long as you follow the rules. You paid for you're amateur license (and even took an exam to make sure you understood the rules) and in exchange the FCC privileges you to operate on the bands they designated for you to operate on (according to your license level).
B) Type certification. All transmitters that are manufactured (notice I did not say built as amateur and educational transmitters may be of the home-brew variety given a few stipulations) must be type accepted by the FCC. Look under the battery of that little Yaesu/Kenwood/Alinco/Baofeng/Icom/Motorola/Harris/GE/etc hand held that you have and you will see an FCC ID sticker on it. That is a searchable number that will display the grant showing which services that transmitter is certified for use in. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part the designated Part (and/or sub-Part) are the only operations for which the transmitter may legally operate. A radio that has VFO only meets the technical specs for amateur and commercial HF. The Chinese got around this (Baofeng/Pofeng) by having an option to remove the VFO in the programming software. Real GMRS radios do not meet the technical specs for FRS. Most real GMRS radios also have dual acceptance (90/95A) as do most Ritron and Motorola MURS radios (90/95J).
C)Every radio service has a power limit. GMRS has a 50W power max (no ERP limitations). FRS has a .5W power max (with fixed antenna stipulations and is mandatory narrowband so add -6dBm to that signal). All Part 90 users have a power limit (listed in ERP) that varies with application.
D) In addition to the stated power limits, handheld/body worn transceivers are also subject to limitations on power due to SAR (specific absorption rate). For GMRS, this practically limits ERP to no more than about 2.5W for such devices.
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
Where is this SAR for GMRS? The only reference I can find of it is in a submission Motorola made to the FCC concerning GMRS in 2010. They asked that license by rule be invoked at a power limit of 2W with a specific SAR stating that there was not currently one for GMRS.
KB7MIB
Member
For the OP, and anyone else who's interested, follow the links here for some historical perspective on the MURS:
MURS Home Page
There are further pages on the Personal Radio Steering Group's website that cover the FRS and GMRS as well. There is some historical context as to why there are certain restrictions in the MURS and FRS.
John
GMRS WPXJ598 (ex-KAE7927)
MURS Home Page
There are further pages on the Personal Radio Steering Group's website that cover the FRS and GMRS as well. There is some historical context as to why there are certain restrictions in the MURS and FRS.
John
GMRS WPXJ598 (ex-KAE7927)
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
So 2.5W (ERP) for how long? I went through and read Part 1 and 2 (primarily the sub-parts pertaining to SAR) and noticed a stated 6 min time period.
Different purposes
Dang, another MURS thread. hehe
Samdog, do a search for murs and there are a dozen threads that have hashed out *most* your questions. I can't even remember all I looked up and posted in those threads. Legal stuff was hard to search for even on the FCC site. There is a provision that if you can't find a radio out there, like a mobile, that is made for MURS, then you can use one that is made before the date of the creation in 2000. It just has to meet the requirements. Like 2 watts, and cannot be switched to a higher wattage. etc. I have several radios on the bench being de-powered etc to meet the specs required. Most of them Midland bases and mobiles from ebay. There are duel watt radios like 2 to 40 with the flip of a switch. So I just disconnected the 40 switch to meet the "Cannot be made to go over 2 watts". Well any radio can "be made to" but mine will not be able to go 40 by the purchaser. He/She will have a solid, bullet proof radio for their car that meets FCC rules. SO instead of addressing the details of the law, I'm thinking of visiting the area of purpose. Except ro say that the antenna rules for MURS were changed by the FCC from Part 90 to Part 95. 60' tower or 20' above a roof of a structure, which ever is higher.
Merging the three bands into one duel band would be interesting, but I'm not sure practical since the "legislative intent" for each is for different kinds of users. But if you do this, make sure you use a tri-band so you can get 27 Mhz CB in there and you'll have all 4 Citizen Services in there.
FRS: though considered one of the Citizens Services, is for families on outings in sports or out of doors activities. Small groups of brats on Bikes storming the Nat'l forest or your local streets lol. It is not for mobile or base stations, hence not having a BNC to hook up to tall antennas or mag mounts. Radio Shack proposed and started this service to keep the power low and not have your kids subjected to some loudmouth base or mobile with a kicker swearing at the truck that just cut him off. I have monitored a few channels in my travels and the only adults I hear are people who have bought them to talk car to car so they don't have to hear the fowl mouthed CBers. I ended up giving them to my nephew and his friend. I have them punched into my scanner now and the whole spectrum is boring, probably due to the low wattage. I can only hear them for a 1/2 mile or so, so what's the point. I'm sure the FCC is not going to change the rules to allow Radio Rambo's to invade the nice little families out there on their low power cow tipping expeditions
GMRS: is really Citizen Band with a license for higher power and repeaters. It is for private and business conversations. There is some gibberish around about the FCC changing the rules to make it more business and push off personal communication, but they give a license to anyone who wants one. I like it and used it many years ago with friends sick of the CBers in our area. But it's limiting to get friends to come over due to the cost (at the time), so our group died after a couple years.
MURS: I did find on the net a 63 page PDF with the minutes and progressions of the MURS hearings in Congress and the FCC meetings. Very interesting was the fact that Radio Shack was very opposed to this creation because they did not want to make a radio with the two bands they were taking freqs from. The 3 151 freqs are Industrial Band and the 2 154 freqs are Business Band. They were wining that they would have to create a whole new circuit board and all that. Reading between the lines, I think they were just being spoiled brats because they did not think of the service, lol.
Motorola had many questions and concerns that the FCC hashed through and solved.They seemed to embrace the new band with 5 channel radios. But through it all no one has manufactured a mobile or base station. The band seems to have been picked up by the intercom market. The 2 or 3 Base units out there look like desk top intercoms.
The band allows for data transmissions. I have heard machine language on 1 & 2 driving through areas like west Texas. I'm assuming oil companies. There are farmers regulating their sprinklers and such. The band also allows remote Paging, like talking into your radio in one building and a receiver on a P.A. with a bullhorn will sound off in a building as far as a mile away. This allows the business to make announcements to a few buildings at once. Ranchers can use it for an intercom to a remote gate and then open the gate with a data transmission. The Ritron JobCom has programmable button for such things as well as weather band.
I have the Dakota Alert system for alarming my property. A battery operated box with an IR and radio inside sends an alert if the beam is walked through. The alert is heard in the house and also my HT I'm wearing at the Super Market a mile or 2 away. THey offer 4 zone alerts, I'm using 3. I know when someone walks up my driveway or over my back fence. Having things missing lately, this is a great way to monitor your property. I also use one in my 18-wheeler. I sit one on the dash pointed into the sleeper. My HT is sitting on my table in the restaurant... If someone goes in the cab it will shake or they will probably pick it up first to see what the hell it is. Even if they remove the batteries or try to smash it, Too Late! I'm already on the way to the truck.
I now use the JobCom "base" as my trucks MURS "mobile" radio. Having a BNC, I mounted a Tram base loaded 44" whip to the mirror mount. The JobCom is a 2 watt, 10 channel VHF radio (it just looks like a Radio Shack project box) that also Scans! like 10 channels per second. It has pre programmed business channels and PL's but you can get software to load your own VHF favs. I want to put in my local airport control tower and one where I do a lay over in the midwest. Right now I have the 5 MURS only and it scans the 5 channels twice per second. You can also use a headset or shoulder mic. Then you don't have to lean into the little pin hole to speak while driving. I have another one on the desk next to me here at the house going up to a mag mount on the swamp cooler. It has a range of about 7-10 miles. I have heard friends in their RV's get 20 miles out in the desert, like no buildings or trees in the way. I have had an estimated 15 -20, mountain top to mountain top, direct line of site north of L.A.
With the outside mirror mount I hear all kinds of stuff over the rubber ducky on the dash! I can even hear Walmart for a mile instead of a couple hundred yards lol. By the way, channel 154.570 is also used by McDonalds, Arby's and a few other fast foods. Macy's department stores and 6 flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles also use this freq. If you are in the Los Angeles area and are going to Magic Mountain, don't forget to take your MURS! lol You can listen to them arresting all the perves in the bathrooms and the drunks sneaking in booze. And tell all your friends that work Walmart to take their company radios so they can other people using that frequency that they supposedly "own".
So with this all said, I'm not sure why you would want to create one radio for all. It's an interesting thought and an awesome task. I don't think I would want to maintain that many channels and sets of friends. It's like chat rooms, how many can you attend enough to make it friendly and personal. It would be like merging IRC, HTML and UseNet into one client so you can have a hybrid client. Challenging from a engineering standpoint. But after all that, FRS is still going to people moving, or brats terrorizing the hood. LMAO
The other side of the coin is that if I'm on GMRS, I would want another radio monitoring my MURS hang out. I know modern radios scan across the bands, but still. I hate when the police cut off a Fire call on my scanner. I'd rather hear both at once! having 2 radios mounted in the "mobile shack" also looks cool hehe
Okay I'm done. And I'm late for work. This trip? L.A. to Atlanta, GA... See ya on the road.
Dang, another MURS thread. hehe
Samdog, do a search for murs and there are a dozen threads that have hashed out *most* your questions. I can't even remember all I looked up and posted in those threads. Legal stuff was hard to search for even on the FCC site. There is a provision that if you can't find a radio out there, like a mobile, that is made for MURS, then you can use one that is made before the date of the creation in 2000. It just has to meet the requirements. Like 2 watts, and cannot be switched to a higher wattage. etc. I have several radios on the bench being de-powered etc to meet the specs required. Most of them Midland bases and mobiles from ebay. There are duel watt radios like 2 to 40 with the flip of a switch. So I just disconnected the 40 switch to meet the "Cannot be made to go over 2 watts". Well any radio can "be made to" but mine will not be able to go 40 by the purchaser. He/She will have a solid, bullet proof radio for their car that meets FCC rules. SO instead of addressing the details of the law, I'm thinking of visiting the area of purpose. Except ro say that the antenna rules for MURS were changed by the FCC from Part 90 to Part 95. 60' tower or 20' above a roof of a structure, which ever is higher.
Merging the three bands into one duel band would be interesting, but I'm not sure practical since the "legislative intent" for each is for different kinds of users. But if you do this, make sure you use a tri-band so you can get 27 Mhz CB in there and you'll have all 4 Citizen Services in there.
FRS: though considered one of the Citizens Services, is for families on outings in sports or out of doors activities. Small groups of brats on Bikes storming the Nat'l forest or your local streets lol. It is not for mobile or base stations, hence not having a BNC to hook up to tall antennas or mag mounts. Radio Shack proposed and started this service to keep the power low and not have your kids subjected to some loudmouth base or mobile with a kicker swearing at the truck that just cut him off. I have monitored a few channels in my travels and the only adults I hear are people who have bought them to talk car to car so they don't have to hear the fowl mouthed CBers. I ended up giving them to my nephew and his friend. I have them punched into my scanner now and the whole spectrum is boring, probably due to the low wattage. I can only hear them for a 1/2 mile or so, so what's the point. I'm sure the FCC is not going to change the rules to allow Radio Rambo's to invade the nice little families out there on their low power cow tipping expeditions
GMRS: is really Citizen Band with a license for higher power and repeaters. It is for private and business conversations. There is some gibberish around about the FCC changing the rules to make it more business and push off personal communication, but they give a license to anyone who wants one. I like it and used it many years ago with friends sick of the CBers in our area. But it's limiting to get friends to come over due to the cost (at the time), so our group died after a couple years.
MURS: I did find on the net a 63 page PDF with the minutes and progressions of the MURS hearings in Congress and the FCC meetings. Very interesting was the fact that Radio Shack was very opposed to this creation because they did not want to make a radio with the two bands they were taking freqs from. The 3 151 freqs are Industrial Band and the 2 154 freqs are Business Band. They were wining that they would have to create a whole new circuit board and all that. Reading between the lines, I think they were just being spoiled brats because they did not think of the service, lol.
Motorola had many questions and concerns that the FCC hashed through and solved.They seemed to embrace the new band with 5 channel radios. But through it all no one has manufactured a mobile or base station. The band seems to have been picked up by the intercom market. The 2 or 3 Base units out there look like desk top intercoms.
The band allows for data transmissions. I have heard machine language on 1 & 2 driving through areas like west Texas. I'm assuming oil companies. There are farmers regulating their sprinklers and such. The band also allows remote Paging, like talking into your radio in one building and a receiver on a P.A. with a bullhorn will sound off in a building as far as a mile away. This allows the business to make announcements to a few buildings at once. Ranchers can use it for an intercom to a remote gate and then open the gate with a data transmission. The Ritron JobCom has programmable button for such things as well as weather band.
I have the Dakota Alert system for alarming my property. A battery operated box with an IR and radio inside sends an alert if the beam is walked through. The alert is heard in the house and also my HT I'm wearing at the Super Market a mile or 2 away. THey offer 4 zone alerts, I'm using 3. I know when someone walks up my driveway or over my back fence. Having things missing lately, this is a great way to monitor your property. I also use one in my 18-wheeler. I sit one on the dash pointed into the sleeper. My HT is sitting on my table in the restaurant... If someone goes in the cab it will shake or they will probably pick it up first to see what the hell it is. Even if they remove the batteries or try to smash it, Too Late! I'm already on the way to the truck.
I now use the JobCom "base" as my trucks MURS "mobile" radio. Having a BNC, I mounted a Tram base loaded 44" whip to the mirror mount. The JobCom is a 2 watt, 10 channel VHF radio (it just looks like a Radio Shack project box) that also Scans! like 10 channels per second. It has pre programmed business channels and PL's but you can get software to load your own VHF favs. I want to put in my local airport control tower and one where I do a lay over in the midwest. Right now I have the 5 MURS only and it scans the 5 channels twice per second. You can also use a headset or shoulder mic. Then you don't have to lean into the little pin hole to speak while driving. I have another one on the desk next to me here at the house going up to a mag mount on the swamp cooler. It has a range of about 7-10 miles. I have heard friends in their RV's get 20 miles out in the desert, like no buildings or trees in the way. I have had an estimated 15 -20, mountain top to mountain top, direct line of site north of L.A.
With the outside mirror mount I hear all kinds of stuff over the rubber ducky on the dash! I can even hear Walmart for a mile instead of a couple hundred yards lol. By the way, channel 154.570 is also used by McDonalds, Arby's and a few other fast foods. Macy's department stores and 6 flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles also use this freq. If you are in the Los Angeles area and are going to Magic Mountain, don't forget to take your MURS! lol You can listen to them arresting all the perves in the bathrooms and the drunks sneaking in booze. And tell all your friends that work Walmart to take their company radios so they can other people using that frequency that they supposedly "own".
So with this all said, I'm not sure why you would want to create one radio for all. It's an interesting thought and an awesome task. I don't think I would want to maintain that many channels and sets of friends. It's like chat rooms, how many can you attend enough to make it friendly and personal. It would be like merging IRC, HTML and UseNet into one client so you can have a hybrid client. Challenging from a engineering standpoint. But after all that, FRS is still going to people moving, or brats terrorizing the hood. LMAO
The other side of the coin is that if I'm on GMRS, I would want another radio monitoring my MURS hang out. I know modern radios scan across the bands, but still. I hate when the police cut off a Fire call on my scanner. I'd rather hear both at once! having 2 radios mounted in the "mobile shack" also looks cool hehe
Okay I'm done. And I'm late for work. This trip? L.A. to Atlanta, GA... See ya on the road.
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
Pump monitoring…very common in areas without decent internet access (yes, there are quite a few areas in the west Texas area where cell service is a joke).
Some of the old low power, narrowband GM300's come to mind for plausible mobiles…hard to find the VHF ones though.
I'd also suggest the 5W (not very difficult to convert a mid power to low power) GE Custom MPV…but at $50 a crystal pair not very practical.
The Ritron base wouldn't be bad if I could justify the price.
I found 2 on ebay that were $55 & $65. The rest seem to be $200 ish. I hear ya on hte $300 new price, horrifying!.
After buying the cheep JobCom and using it a bit, I do love the scan feature. I leave the PL open on all the channels so I can hear what people are saying.
At the house there are a group of twits that run channel 3 and tone #12. That one I lock down so I can talk to them. It's some ex CBers that went to MURS seemingly to talk constantly about their ex friends they left behind on CB lol.
I suggest the JobCom to anyone that would like to try a compact but still a 10 channel 2 watt VHF radio in their car. I mean this thing would fit in a British Roadster lol. Definitely shop for a cheap used one. You can use the first 5 for MURS, then program anything else VHF to scan. Not to mention Weather Band is pre-programmed. When I get my Midland Base Station going, I'll probably put the house unit in my 1923 T-Bucket. That thing has NO room whatsoever.
No comment on the need for over 2 watts, I don't want to rattle the Legal Beagles. I've already hinted at what my units will do should the need for "squash" arise
K6LED
Member
Not to rehash such an old thread, but it seems like the quest for a legal GMRS/MURS dual-band two-way radio is one that's still desired by many people, including myself. My main interest is in having one for EmComm/SHTF, but it would be nice to have some other gems programmed in the same radio, like a NOAA WX channel, or even your main 2-Meter repeater, etc.
Since this thread became stagnant, of course the Anyone dual-band radios came out (and then went away), but now it looks like they're back again as only Part 90 certified, since they faked the original certification. Slap!
I've been selling the TERA TR-505, which while there's still some controversy about whether it's really legal, it does indeed have both Part 95A and Part 95J for GMRS and/or MURS use. The question is if you can legally use it when programmed for both bands at the same time. I custom program them for both, plus a WX channel, but I lock out the power button so people can't bump up the MURS channels to 5W, so at least they are operationally compliant (although users can reprogram them for whatever settings they want if they buy the cable).
I've written the FCC about the GMRS/MURS combo and providing the radios programmed as such, but of course no response yet. Rumor has it that there were only a couple hundred of them made in this configuration, so perhaps the FCC is content to just let them be until they're all gone. Honestly, I wish they would revise Part 95 and clarify the grey areas but I'm gong to do my best to sell them all in the meantime - They really are quite unique!
If anyone is still following this old thread, have your thoughts changed at all on the legality and desirability to have GMRS and MURS in the same commercial-grade radio? Are there any other options out there (that I haven't found yet) or are people just using Part 90 radios programmed for both anyway?
Cheers!
Last edited:
K2RNI
Member
Not to rehash such an old thread, but it seems like the quest for a legal GMRS/MURS dual-band two-way radio is one that's still desired by many people, including myself. My main interest is in having one for EmComm/SHTF, but it would be nice to have some other gems programmed in the same radio, like a NOAA WX channel, or even your main 2-Meter repeater, etc.
Since this thread became stagnant, of course the Anyone dual-band radios came out (and then went away), but now it looks like they're back again as only Part 90 certified, since they faked the original certification. Slap!
I've been selling the TERA TR-505, which while there's still some controversy about whether it's really legal, it does indeed have both Part 95A and Part 95J for GMRS and/or MURS use. The question is if you can legally use it when programmed for both bands at the same time. I custom program them for both, plus a WX channel, but I lock out the power button so people can't bump up the MURS channels to 5W, so at least they are operationally compliant (although users can reprogram them for whatever settings they want if they buy the cable).
I've written the FCC about the GMRS/MURS combo and providing the radios programmed as such, but of course no response yet. Rumor has it that there were only a couple hundred of them made in this configuration, so perhaps the FCC is content to just let them be until they're all gone. Honestly, I wish they would revise Part 95 and clarify the grey areas but I'm gong to do my best to sell them all in the meantime - They really are quite unique!
If anyone is still following this old thread, have your thoughts changed at all on the legality and desirability to have GMRS and MURS in the same commercial-grade radio? Are there any other options out there (that I haven't found yet) or are people just using Part 90 radios programmed for both anyway?
Cheers!
People are just using Part 90 radios programmed for both anyway. The cheap chinese HT revolution changed everything. The Baofeng exploded in popularity. I see and hear a bunch of people pirating GMRS and MURS sometimes too with the chinese radios. Some even use those higher power chinese mobiles as well like the Wouxun.
K6LED
Member
Yeah, I figured that was the case. I think the regulations mostly make sense, except for the part about having a dual-bander with GMRS and MURS, at least in a higher-end radio (as in more than $50). Then again, I suppose that could eventually (perhaps it already is due to the Chinese radios) harm GMRS (and MURS) if less-professional "non-licensed" users bought hi-power MURS radios that happened to have GMRS also, and decided they wanted to "play" on GMRS also.
In my area, most of the bad operators are actually licensed - a testament to the fact that the FCC just doesn't care much about the PRS bands, if at all.
In any event, I'm pushing my customers to become Hams if they really want to have a potent EmComm capability, and not just for that, but also to be active in the hobby. I can dream, right?
Obtaining a Amateur radio license as well as a Gmrs license definitely opens more doors to become more Emcomm capable. I'm going to bump again my mention again of the Tera tr-590 that there's been little mention of. One portable radio with part 90 certification that's able to cover Murs, Gmrs, and the 2/70 ham bands has been a daydream up til now. . 73, n9zas
. 73, n9zasObtaining a Amateur radio license as well as a Gmrs license definitely opens more doors to become more Emcomm capable. I'm going to bump again my mention again of the Tera tr-590 that there's been little mention of. One portable radio with part 90 certification that's able to cover Murs, Gmrs, and the 2/70 ham bands has been a daydream up til now.
+1. I second those opinions.
K6LED
Member
Obtaining a Amateur radio license as well as a Gmrs license definitely opens more doors to become more Emcomm capable. I'm going to bump again my mention again of the Tera tr-590 that there's been little mention of. One portable radio with part 90 certification that's able to cover Murs, Gmrs, and the 2/70 ham bands has been a daydream up til now.
Roger that! I'm actually getting ready to add the TERA TR-590 to my store (at a discount, of course). It would be better if it were Part 95 certified, but it's no different than the Chinese radios, except that it's commercial-grade (a better build quality, performance and FPUI).
I'm finding that consumer-level users prefer the TR-505 (custom pre-programmed for GMRS/MURS/WX) because they just aren't that savvy with programming (even front-panel), but for more experienced users and certainly Hams, the 590 is pretty great, even if it's technically not "type-accepted."
While we're on the subject of using Part 90 radios for Part 95 use, has anyone considered or played with the new TERA TR-7400 DMR radio? I'm thinking about carrying this radio also. I guess it would be for Amateurs that want to do DMR on the ham bands, but also have analog capability for GMRS and MURS (in emergencies, of course).
- Status
Similar threads
