Legacy MURS Transmitter Power?

[KK6HRW]

The MURS signal from local hotels is VERY “Loud & Clear”. Were the previous commercial license holders allowed more than two (2) watts transmitter power?

 

[mmckenna]

As far as I recall, those were always low power frequencies. I did a quick search on existing licenses that still have those frequencies ("grandfathered" users), and they were all 2 watts or less. Finding an old version of the FCC rules should tell you.

But, keep in mind, there are more than a few sneaky radio shops and "radio teknishuns" that will ignore the FCC rules and do whatever they want. Some radio shops will use radio services like MURS, GMRS, etc. as dumping grounds for users. They'll sell them some expensive radios, charge them for "FCC License" and then just pocket the money. Then there's the guys who buy radios online without understanding the rules and program them up themselves. Lots of cases of that going on. Cheap Chinese mobile radios with 50 watts, MURS frequencies, etc.

 

[Reconrider]

Cheap Chinese mobile radios with 50 watts, MURS frequencies, etc.

Where can I find these at so I can make sure I 100% stay away. Lol

 

[mass-man]

Where can I find these at so I can make sure I 100% stay away. Lol

If it seems to be the answer to your MURS dreams, run away!!!

 

[K7MFC]

Where can I find these at so I can make sure I 100% stay away. Lol

Rugged Radios, of course!

 

[jhooten]

But, keep in mind, there are more than a few sneaky radio shops and "radio teknishuns" that will ignore the FCC rules and do whatever they want. Some radio shops will use radio services like MURS, GMRS, etc. as dumping grounds for users. They'll sell them some expensive radios, charge them for "FCC License" and then just pocket the money.

I had one of my handhelds with me in the work truck one day when there was a chance of severe weather. As I pulled in the parking lot of one of the middle schools I got a strong hit on 444.2, hearing voices I recognized as school staff. Yep, the shyster radio shop had sold our school district radios programmed to Amateur Radio Service frequencies.

 

[MY_USER_NAME]

Oh yes lol, I've seen this before. There was am Embassy Suites along I-75 I could hear for miles out. They must have had 50 watts and an antenna on top of their 10 story building, because the food service and housekeeping was loud and clear on a couple MURS channels.

 

[prcguy]

In the early 80s I tuned up a lot of 5w handhelds and 30w mobiles at the radio company I worked for, so the older licenses were allowed more power. In So Cal there are still some high power commercial users that blank out most of the MURS frequencies over a very wide area. I think there is one MURS freq where I live that is somewhat useable.

 

[iMONITOR]

As I recall two or three of the MURS frequencies were previously assigned to a VHF businesses and still are, but shared with MURS. Similar to GMRS.

 

[nd5y]

No MURS frequencies are shared with anything. The frequencies were taken away from the Industrial/Business Pool when MURS was created.
Licensees of the 5 frequencies before MURS were grandfathered. They are allowed to keep renewing their licenses but are not allowed to modify the licenses. If they need to make major changes then they have to apply for new licenses on Industrial/Business frequencies.

 

[iMONITOR]

No MURS frequencies are shared with anything. The frequencies were taken away from the Industrial/Business Pool when MURS was created.
Licensees of the 5 frequencies before MURS were grandfathered. They are allowed to keep renewing their licenses

I think that's pretty much what I said.

 

[wtp]

just a thought...are you hearing them better from the higher floors ?
there a hotel 1/2 mile away and that happens to me.
it is nice to know that room 412 is ready. and i do not get updates about any ground floor rooms.

 

[BBI]

MURS 5 is Green Dot.

 

[jhooten]

MURS 5 is Green Dot.

And MURS 4 is Blue dot.

The old Radio Shack two channel business band radios 19-1210 came pre-programmed with Blue and Green dot. They are legal/grandfathered MURS radios which show up NIB on the evil auction site from time to time.

 

[Thorndike113]

I've used MURS since the day the FCC announced MURS.

YES - You must use 2 watts or less
YES - It is supposed to be an approved FCC radio for MURS

THE REALITY - From observation, I don't think the FCC cares much about what happens on MURS or any of the other low power business frequencies provided that no one causes interference to a licensed user. With the cheap Chinese radios flooding the market, Its an anything goes situation out there. Those 5 frequencies don't ever get used in some areas like where I live (minus Walmart and some schools) and some areas, guys are cranking 50 watts. Way back in the day, a bunch of guys I knew all used MURS at higher than the recommended power. We all stayed very professional using number identifiers between us, keeping the language clean, using channels that were not in use by other local entities, and always giving priority to those who needed the frequency. The FCC never said a thing. Many years later, someone had used MURS to call in a gun threat to a local Walmart and it caused a multi-agency response. The charge on the person was criminal mischief and breach of peace and again, NO FCC involvement. I've heard many other horrific stories over the years. It seems, MURS is the CB radio of the VHF band. Think about CB. Its supposed to be *cough* 4 watts AM. I'm pretty sure, besides myself, no one *cough* uses 4 watts.

In my opinion, MURS should just be used responsibly. I mean, Ham radio is dead in most areas when it comes to Emergency communications, so why not get a bunch of citizens together and make use of it. No license required. Just sayin.

 

[mmckenna]

I've used MURS since the day the FCC announced MURS.
…….
In my opinion, MURS should just be used responsibly. I mean, Ham radio is dead in most areas when it comes to Emergency communications, so why not get a bunch of citizens together and make use of it. No license required. Just sayin.

Yeah, one of the reasons the FCC let these previously licensed frequencies go to a license by rule services is because they'd essentially lost all control over it.
Like CB, Marine VHF and other services, the radio manufacturers started mass producing radios, marketing them to end users who didn't understand the reason for or need for licenses, and basically flooded the market. The FCC, as it likes to do, just gives up and switches to a "license by rule" approach. I'm honestly surprised that the FCC hasn't "MURS-ified" the UHF itinerant channels in the same way. Frequencies like 464.500 and 464.550 are essentially a free for all in most urban areas.

FCC made it's choice, and I think it has ultimately been a good move. As long as users are -responsible- then it'll work for all those involved. As soon as end users start getting stupid, running really high power, repeaters, store/forward, lots of data, then it will become a useless wasteland in those areas.
Responsible use with a few watts and a good antenna shouldn't cause any headaches to anyone. Cheap Chinese Radios with poor signal quality, uneducated users setting them up wrong, and some arse-hat running a "Lin-e-ear amplifier" so they have "more swing" and "more modulation" will quickly screw it up.

Still waiting for FCC to give up on UHF itinerants and do the MURS thing to them…..

 

[alcahuete]

Still waiting for FCC to give up on UHF itinerants and do the MURS thing to them…..

Not going to happen...yet The FCC is still making money off of those licenses. The old MURS frequencies were given up because nobody was filling out the license application that came with the radio in the box. If people stopped filing licenses for the UHF itineraries, I could definitely see that happening.

 

[mmckenna]

Not going to happen...yet The FCC is still making money off of those licenses. The old MURS frequencies were given up because nobody was filling out the license application that came with the radio in the box. If people stopped filing licenses for the UHF itineraries, I could definitely see that happening.

In my experience, most people have. There's a ton of users on 464.500 and 464.550 around me (not a big urban area) and I know for sure most of them are not licensed.

I suspect eventually the FCC will catch on...

 

[alcahuete]

In my experience, most people have. There's a ton of users on 464.500 and 464.550 around me (not a big urban area) and I know for sure most of them are not licensed.

I suspect eventually the FCC will catch on...

There were 1314 licenses granted in the last year for those two frequencies. Comes out to about 6% of all grants in the 450-470 region. Makes the Commission around $350k per year. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it helps keep the lights on in the IG Dept. 6 licenses on those frequencies granted yesterday. LOL!

 

[tweiss3]

In my experience, most people have. There's a ton of users on 464.500 and 464.550 around me (not a big urban area) and I know for sure most of them are not licensed.

I suspect eventually the FCC will catch on...

Similar to the ignored ID requirements for simplex operations?