Scrambled frs radios?

[n1das]

Is that legal?

Scrambling is legal, encryption is not.

 

[SCPD]

Yep. And just wait until some of these hillbillies figure out how to setup a repeater!

In the rural area I live in, which also has a major ski area, people haven't discovered MURS yet. FRS use on the mountain, Mammoth Mountain that is, is very high. It is a real mess with people covering each other, given the use of "privacy codes." I have some old programmable Yaesu VHF handhelds. I've put in the five MURS frequencies as well as some public safety frequencies I'm authorized to use as a result of being a volunteer for the town PD. I used MURS as an upstairs/downstairs and in the garage intercom. If we get out of town guests we use these radios for knocking around town, hikes, etc. Its nice to have some radios that don't require a license.

I had a Yaesu business 450-470 MHz handheld that had been modified for the ham 70cm band. According to my wattmeter this 5 watt radio put out 9 watts in the 462 MHz area. I had to watch myself when I took it along when guests brought up their FRS radios and used the 7 FRS only channels. I needed to remember to choose the 300 milliwatt setting (it didn't have a 500 milliwatt setting) 9 watts is pretty powerful on FRS.

 

[gewecke]

I doubt that it puts out anywhere close to 9 watts,as your batteries would be gone in about 9 seconds! You might want to have your watt meter calibrated/and is it designed for uhf frequencies?
Just sayin...
N9ZAS.

 

[SCPD]

If needed, where can I get a wattmeter calibrated? I live in a rural area about 150 miles from Carson City, NV and 300 miles north of L.A.

 

[UPMan]

Scrambling is legal, encryption is not.

The FCC disagrees.

Section 95.183(a)(4), Voice Scrambling GMRS Radio

 

[n1das]

The FCC disagrees.

Section 95.183(a)(4), Voice Scrambling GMRS Radio

I stand corrected. Thanks.

Midland recently got nailed:
http://forums.radioreference.com/gmrs/149409-midland-nailed-fcc-inversion-scrambling-illegal.html

I'm curious to see what happens to the bubble packs currently on the market that have audio inversion scrambling. Midland claims they added the feature to "remain competitive" in the market given the competition already has it and they are type accepted for GMRS.

 

[gewecke]

Yeah,this is interesting since motorola has been marketing gmrs/frs talkies for quite some time now...and those are quoted on the package as being type accepted!
Hmmm....makes one think that the fcc really doesn't know what the hell is going on,huh?
I even own a few.

 

[N_Jay]

Yeah,this is interesting since motorola has been marketing gmrs/frs talkies for quite some time now...and those are quoted on the package as being type accepted!
Hmmm....makes one think that the fcc really doesn't know what the hell is going on,huh?
I even own a few.

You missed the point.

They are illegal IF they do encryption (of any kind) on the GMRS channels.

 

[gewecke]

No I didn't. My point being,that the fact these motorola bubble packs were sold nationwide with APPROVED fcc type acceptance. NOW the commission want's to renig on their decision and say that they are NOT type accepted,due to the fact that they include the speech inversion feature? The commission knew this to begin with...NOW they want to say that a product THEY approved is not type accepted???
THAT is my point.
I didn't realize a crayon was needed to make this clear?
In my opinion,the frs radios should NOT have been marketed with the gmrs repeater output freqs.OR the funky call tones,but that's an alltogether different rant! But,I DO agree with the speech inversion feature,and I may buy a couple more before those idiots in washington (fcc) have them yanked off the shelves!!!
N9ZAS.

 

[N_Jay]

Which Motorola FRS/GMRS radios have scrambling?

I think it is allowed on FRS, but not GMRS. Anyone know for sure?

 

[gewecke]

well let's see. My T7200 is a 2watt 22ch./38 tone,which is cool because it'll use the nicad stick it came with or alkaline's . There's some moto 9500 talkabouts, some 14ch. kenwoods.
They were all sold with type acceptance info,but maybe that's no longer in effect?
But they all have speech inversion,usable on all channels.
N9ZAS.

 

[N_Jay]

Are any current?

Looks like T7200 is not, and T9500 does not have scrambling, but I could be wrong.

 

[gewecke]

Not sure what you mean by current,but yeah the T7200 and talkabout have speech inversion. There are some different makes and models still at wal mart and radio shack have this feature.

 

[N_Jay]

Not sure what you mean by current,.

Currently available from the manufacturer.

 

[RayAir]

The Motorola T6200 FRS/GMARS radios have 3 modes of speech inversion scrambling.

The inversion codes are all close. If you had a radio with inversion code 1 talking to a radio with inversion code 3 on it you can still understand what is being said, but you lose speaker recognition. I used to have a pair of these.

 

[gewecke]

Yeah,my T7200's have the same 3 inversion positions too. I think all that happens is there are 3 separate null tones. Aka; 3 different ducks!lol
N9ZAS.

 

[p38fln]

I have a set of T-9500s I got about a month ago - I dont think they have inversion/scrambling. Its not mentioned in the manual, just "120 privacy codes."

 

[SCPD]

let thiss thread die?????