Non-Handheld GMRS/Multi band?

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

Hey guys. I've been an avid listener on my Uniden BCD996T and other various RS PRO-XX scanners over the past few years. I also have owned a Uniden PC78XL (i think) CB radio and have enjoyed toying with it. Recently i've been getting more and more interested in 2-way communications. Specifically GMRS and CB radio. I'm not 100% fimilar with how everything is set up, but I have a basic idea. I'll cut right to the chase...

I want to somehow find a mobile all-in-one radio (for mounted in-vehicle use) that can receive and transmit on the GMRS and CB band (possibly others later on.) I've done some mild research and read that the best way to do this is do buy and program a HAM radio for the appropriate frequencies. I know there's a 50 watt limit for non-handheld GMRS radios. I'm not sure about other resrictions on this band or CB band restrictions. Can anyone guide me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

[N_Jay]

The right direction is to buy equipment that is designed and legal for the bands you are interested in using.
Ham equipment is not designed or legal on CB or GMRS frequencies.

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

^ Of course I want to be legal about how I go about doing this. That's why I'm asking. Any ideas how to go about this?

 

[N_Jay]

Hmmm, I'm not sure.

Maybe

. . . buy equipment that is designed and legal for the bands you are interested in using. . . . ..

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

Basically your saying theres no legal way to use one radio for the CB and GMRS bands, correct? Sorry... trying to make sure I understand!

 

[N_Jay]

Only if you can find a manufacturer who builds one, but I have never seen one.

Sorry for the earlier comments but many here like to say things like "I don't want to do anything illegal" (Wink Wink) when they are asking specifically about how to do exactly that.

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

Don't sweat it man. I've been around a forum or two. New guys always get the crap before theyre respected. Lol.

Anyways, I ran across this thread on another forum. [edit: http://www.f150online.com/forums/other-audio-system/306785-gmrs-mobile-radio.html] Thoughts? Also, if we exclude a GMRS/CB hybrid radio... any good mobile GMRS options out there as far as cost/quality goes? Thanks!

 

[N_Jay]

Lots of good commercial radios for GMRS.
Everyone has their favorite.

 

[davidbond21]

Simply put, to be legal with CB, you're likely going to be purchasing a type accepted CB radio, and these don't get FCC certification if they do anything other than operate in a channelized fashion on the 40 frequencies allocated to the CB service. That's alright because you can get these radios both for pretty cheap and also in a small sized package(to save space).

GMRS you have a few more options open to you. Either you can buy dedicated GMRS radios, or, like a lot of people seem to do, you can obtain commercial radios(within the correct frequency range) and reprogram them to work on the GMRS channels. Like N_Jay said, you can't get a ham radio and use it for GMRS(even if it will transmit there), but you can use a commercial radio for both GMRS and the ham band if the radio frequency range goes far enough down to allow it.

Check out CFR 47 Part 95 for rules and regulations regarding both GMRS and CB.

 

[elk2370bruce]

The right direction is to buy equipment that is designed and legal for the bands you are interested in using.
Ham equipment is not designed or legal on CB or GMRS frequencies.

I'd love to see the design of such a rig. With a design like that, they might take away Obama's Nobel Prize and create a new category. We can name it after that little ole machine gun maker - Hiram Percy Maxim.

 

[mrweather]

Not aware of such a beast the OP is asking about. At a minimum you'll need one radio for CB and another for GMRS.

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

We all can dream right?

Let's focus in on the mobile GMRS radio. Any suggestions?

 

[lrh270]

I'm finding Motorola M1225s hard to beat. 40 watts, compact, rugged enough for dune buggies and quads, intuitive operation, fairly cheap on e-bay, scan is user-programmable.

We run 6 GMRS channels and use the other 14 for an Arizona Highway Patrol super-scanner. All with a 6" window-mount stealth antenna.

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

Looks like a nice little basic radio but it seems limited in features...IE- tones for the "privacy channels" on GMRS radios. Any other favorites out there?

 

[Skypilot007]

If you want to spend some bucks it can be done. You could invest in an HF rig that also covers the 2 meter and 440 ham band. Most of these rigs can be modified for MARS operation. This would open up the transmit on 27MHz for CB band, VHF high band and the GMRS/Commercial band in UHF in most cases for RX/TX. Though this solution would be illegal it is an option for you.

 

[lrh270]

RE: limited in features...IE- tones for the "privacy channels

All a GMRS/FRS bubble pack "privacy tone" is is a CTCSS tone. The tones for your bubble-pack radios are in the literature that came with them probably, if not they are easy enough to find and program in. Google "CTCSS". The only downfall is that you can't program in 20 freqs with any combination of 30 something CTCSS "privacy tones", but how many channels can you talk on anyway?

For example, we program in 462.6875 simplex with a tone of 100.0 and SHAZAM! we're interoperable on GMRS channel 6,"privacy tone" 12, pushing 40 watts through a 3db gain antenna. We try to be courteous, but when the wipers at the car wash tell us to get off "their" channel we pretty much ignore them.

Pick any channel/tone you want; I use 6/12 because it's my birthday and I need all the memory clues I can get....... by the way, one of the ABC buttons on the M1225 can be set to monitor/pl disable so if you've screwed up the tone on the bubble pack you can still hear it.

 

[ECGBaritoneMastr]

I know what CTCSS tones are, but thanks! I must have missed the CTCSS tone feature on the M1225. Oops.

 

[Dirge]

Why can't they build an all-in-one radio?

For instance, an Icom IC-706MKIIG can output 100W on 6 m, 50W on 2 m, and 35W on 70 cm.

Why would it be so hard to make a rig that outputs 50W on GMRS only frequencies, 5W on the interstitial GMRS frequencies, 0.5W on FRS, 2W on MURS, 12W on SSB, and 4W on CB? Is it a physical impossibility?

An all-in-one radio sure would save me a lot of space in my truck.

 

[Dirge]

I found my answer. Apparently it has more to do with FCC certification than the ability to build it. Oh well. Would be nice though.

 

[prcguy]

I think the main reason you don't see your perfect multiband radio is because the market probably will not support the design and manufacture of such an item in large enough quantity to be profitable.

I don't want to recommend the use of non type accepted radios for GMRS or CB but sometimes you gotta decide what's best for you and the Icom 706MKIIG will do what you want, and so will several other multiband amateur radios.

The issue of using a non type accepted radio is a legal one and you have to decide if its worth the risk. You will not be tracked down by the FCC for using the Icom on GMRS or CB and the risk would be someone knowing what you are using and turning you in because they don't like it.
prcguy

Why can't they build an all-in-one radio?

For instance, an Icom IC-706MKIIG can output 100W on 6 m, 50W on 2 m, and 35W on 70 cm.

Why would it be so hard to make a rig that outputs 50W on GMRS only frequencies, 5W on the interstitial GMRS frequencies, 0.5W on FRS, 2W on MURS, 12W on SSB, and 4W on CB? Is it a physical impossibility?

An all-in-one radio sure would save me a lot of space in my truck.