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New to gmrs

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Just applied this morning for my gmrs license. Paid the 70 dollars. I figure this would be an easier way to learn hands on before I go for my ham. There was a guy that was trying to help me out but I ghosted due to being stressed out between family matters and work ( as a truck driver) if he happens to read this I'm sorry. My interest is still there but for some reason I'm not grasping the technical side of radios at this moment. I figure the gmrs band might help me in my plight. Still waiting on my call sign ( I guess I just check my frn account for it?). Any books on not only frequency but operation of a repeater, antenna set ups. Other than talking on a CB I'm a greenhorn/cherry to radios and how they operate. Had one friend that helped me with CB when I was a kid 30 years ago. All the lingo I've read in other posts thoughout the posts all over this site confuses me. Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. I'm good at reading but I do need hands on in order for my mind to grasp what I'm reading. I figure if I get my call sign and get advice from those that know what they are talking about that maybe I can learn and get the knowledge I am seeking in this dark realm of radio that has always intrigued me. Again thank you in advance. Best wishes and hope to chat on the airwaves sometime in the near future to anyone out there in radio land.

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mmckenna

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Just applied this morning for my gmrs license. Paid the 70 dollars. I figure this would be an easier way to learn hands on before I go for my ham. There was a guy that was trying to help me out but I ghosted due to being stressed out between family matters and work ( as a truck driver) if he happens to read this I'm sorry. My interest is still there but for some reason I'm not grasping the technical side of radios at this moment. I figure the gmrs band might help me in my plight. Still waiting on my call sign ( I guess I just check my frn account for it?).

GMRS is a great way to get your feet wet, plus it has the added benefit of the license covering your family.

I've had my amateur ticket since the late 80's or early 90's. I tried for years to get others to get their license, but no luck. I finally got my GMRS license and put the rest of the family on there. Quality mobile radios, external antennas, a few good hand held radios, all set. The family loved them. Huge improvement over CB. Had access to a high level repeater, the works. We used them quite a bit with camping and ATV'ing. After a while, they started talking about how nice it would be to have more repeater access. That was when I brought up amateur radio again. After a few months, they all had their licenses.

So, good on you. That's a great way to get into radio. And, you might find that it fits your needs well enough.


Any books on not only frequency but operation of a repeater, antenna set ups.

The internet is a good source of info, but you have to have a pretty good BS filter. Some of the info out there is wrong.
ARRL has some good amateur oriented stuff. ARRL radio amateurs handbook is a good resource for some of the basics.

Other than talking on a CB I'm a greenhorn/cherry to radios and how they operate. Had one friend that helped me with CB when I was a kid 30 years ago.

Same way I got started, CB and Scanners, then amateur, then employed in the field.

All the lingo I've read in other posts thoughout the posts all over this site confuses me. Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. I'm good at reading but I do need hands on in order for my mind to grasp what I'm reading. I figure if I get my call sign and get advice from those that know what they are talking about that maybe I can learn and get the knowledge I am seeking in this dark realm of radio that has always intrigued me. Again thank you in advance. Best wishes and hope to chat on the airwaves sometime in the near future to anyone out there in radio land.

So, yeah, it's a pretty deep technical field, and technology marches on, so keeping up with the latest can be a challenge for all of us.
Reading and doing are what works for me. I'm more of a hands on learner, so getting hold of the gear works for me. Trying to do it with just reading alone doesn't really stick well with me. Knowing how you learn is an important step, and it sounds like you are aware of that. A good place to start would be some books from the ARRL, like the handbook I mentioned above. Get a -good- GMRS radio, portable, mobile, base, or all of the above and start using them. You'll pick it up as time goes on.

Most of all, feel free to ask questions. There are no dumb questions (but there's a lot of dumb answers), so don't be afraid to ask. You can always private message me if you have a question that you don't feel comfortable asking in the open. I know there are some others that are happy to help in the same way.

Usually takes a few days for the license to show up. I'd give it until Monday or Tuesday, but it might show up sooner.
 
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I appreciate your response. I'll have to get that book you mentioned. Now to find radios. I have a general idea for mobile just need to search for HT's and base. I've only found one for the ht and that's the b-tech which I think is baofeng but not many other brands out side of blister back combination radios

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lmrtek

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The Midland gmrs mobiles are pretty affordable and are available up to 40 watts.
......
If truckers ever decided to move to GMRS, they would never use a CB again.
.......
No noise, no interference, and plenty of range with a small antenna.
 

mmckenna

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I appreciate your response. I'll have to get that book you mentioned. Now to find radios. I have a general idea for mobile just need to search for HT's and base. I've only found one for the ht and that's the b-tech which I think is baofeng but not many other brands out side of blister back combination radios

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The B-tech, Baofeng, etc. are what we commonly refer to as "CCR's". Cheap Chinese Radios.
While they will do the job, most of the time, you can easily do better. There's a lot of issues with these low tier Chinese radios, mostly quality control, alignment, etc. If you get a bad one, you are more or less out of luck. You toss it and buy a new one.
They are low priced, but you get exactly what you pay for.

Might be an option if your budget is tight, but you will eventually want something better, so keep that in mind for your long term goals.

Kenwood and Icom make radios that meet the FCC Part 95 requirements. They are much better built radios, with an appropriate increase in cost, although you can find them on the used market. They will need to be programmed specifically for your use, but that's not a bad thing.

And, as Motex suggested, the Midland mobiles are a good low buck option.

The other advice I'd offer to you is that it really is all about the antenna. You can spend $5000.00 on a radio, but if you put up a cheap antenna, you are going to have poor performance. I'd much rather have a halfway decent radio with a really good antenna than an expensive radio with a crappy antenna. Don't expect a hand held radio to work inside a truck or house with any sort of performance. Exterior antennas are the key.
 
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The Midland gmrs mobiles are pretty affordable and are available up to 40 watts.
......
If truckers ever decided to move to GMRS, they would never use a CB again.
.......
No noise, no interference, and plenty of range with a small antenna.
I was looking at the Midlands last night. They look good for mobile applications and quite possibly a base station also. Thanks for that idea. As for truckers moving to gmrs I think it could be a good idea and a very bad idea since those blister packs include gmrs frequencys I don't think that would be kosher due to kids being on freq. The stuff I've heard on 19 would make a sailor blush. It's honestly quite a shame CB isn't what it used to be. I still use it for work usually checking in and stuff like that. Also checking traffic issues but it's not always turned up to hear everything because it does get annoying to listen to especially the racist and political stuff

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Edited because my phone decided to add a single word
 
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Joined
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The B-tech, Baofeng, etc. are what we commonly refer to as "CCR's". Cheap Chinese Radios.
While they will do the job, most of the time, you can easily do better. There's a lot of issues with these low tier Chinese radios, mostly quality control, alignment, etc. If you get a bad one, you are more or less out of luck. You toss it and buy a new one.
They are low priced, but you get exactly what you pay for.

Might be an option if your budget is tight, but you will eventually want something better, so keep that in mind for your long term goals.

Kenwood and Icom make radios that meet the FCC Part 95 requirements. They are much better built radios, with an appropriate increase in cost, although you can find them on the used market. They will need to be programmed specifically for your use, but that's not a bad thing.

And, as Motex suggested, the Midland mobiles are a good low buck option.

The other advice I'd offer to you is that it really is all about the antenna. You can spend $5000.00 on a radio, but if you put up a cheap antenna, you are going to have poor performance. I'd much rather have a halfway decent radio with a really good antenna than an expensive radio with a crappy antenna. Don't expect a hand held radio to work inside a truck or house with any sort of performance. Exterior antennas are the key.
Well it's official I got my call sign. Was honestly surprised considering it is a government holiday weekend. Call sign is
WRAS685. Now to find radios other than those blister packs for ht's and to get a midland for the truck at the minimum. I've got a few ideas but I think I'll wait and do a different post on those ideas once I figure out if I'm going to be able to do them financially. Thank you for the advice so far.

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N4GIX

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Nice call sign! Welcome to the GMRS world. If you want or need very low cost HT's (perhaps children?), I highly recommend the KD-C1 portables. I have four of 'em to pass around whenever needed. At ~$15/each that's a no-brainer, especially for clumsy kids.

They have 16 channels, which is really convenient since I have programmed all eight of the available frequencies as simplex, and the other eight channels as duplex (for repeater use).

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...qmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_8u42sxhb9u_p
 

Knoxradio

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The B-tech, Baofeng, etc. are what we commonly refer to as "CCR's". Cheap Chinese Radios.
While they will do the job, most of the time, you can easily do better. There's a lot of issues with these low tier Chinese radios, mostly quality control, alignment, etc. If you get a bad one, you are more or less out of luck. You toss it and buy a new one.
They are low priced, but you get exactly what you pay for.

Might be an option if your budget is tight, but you will eventually want something better, so keep that in mind for your long term goals.

Kenwood and Icom make radios that meet the FCC Part 95 requirements. They are much better built radios, with an appropriate increase in cost, although you can find them on the used market. They will need to be programmed specifically for your use, but that's not a bad thing.

And, as Motex suggested, the Midland mobiles are a good low buck option.

The other advice I'd offer to you is that it really is all about the antenna. You can spend $5000.00 on a radio, but if you put up a cheap antenna, you are going to have poor performance. I'd much rather have a halfway decent radio with a really good antenna than an expensive radio with a crappy antenna. Don't expect a hand held radio to work inside a truck or house with any sort of performance. Exterior antennas are the key.
Just curious on the Icom options that you have found that are part 95. I've found some of the Kenwood mobiles, haven't dug into their HT options yet. I'm also new to GMRS and bought a BTech, just to try to stay cheap and 95 compliant, wish I had done a little more research before pulling that trigger. It will become a repeater capable radio for my wife when the day comes for me to upgrade. Mainly after a mobile at this point. Eyeing the Kenwood TK-8180H, but the used market is slim on them..
 

mmckenna

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I believe some of the older Icom F-4 UHF models were Part 95 compliant. Trick is there are multiple UHF band splits, so it's easy for someone new to get the wrong sub-model and be stuck.

Kenwood is a good choice.
 

Knoxradio

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I believe some of the older Icom F-4 UHF models were Part 95 compliant. Trick is there are multiple UHF band splits, so it's easy for someone new to get the wrong sub-model and be stuck.

Kenwood is a good choice.
Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated!
 
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Nice call sign! Welcome to the GMRS world. If you want or need very low cost HT's (perhaps children?), I highly recommend the KD-C1 portables. I have four of 'em to pass around whenever needed. At ~$15/each that's a no-brainer, especially for clumsy kids.

They have 16 channels, which is really convenient since I have programmed all eight of the available frequencies as simplex, and the other eight channels as duplex (for repeater use).

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...qmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_8u42sxhb9u_p
Thanks for the recommendation on radios. Those would be perfect. Programming would be through the chirps system I assume from the reading I've done throughout the forums?

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alcahuete

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As for truckers moving to gmrs I think it could be a good idea and a very bad idea since those blister packs include gmrs frequencys I don't think that would be kosher due to kids being on freq. The stuff I've heard on 19 would make a sailor blush.


Ohhhhhh....my friend, you clearly haven't monitored GMRS very much. Some of the stuff you hear on repeaters and otherwise would make those truck drivers blush. LOL!
 
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Ohhhhhh....my friend, you clearly haven't monitored GMRS very much. Some of the stuff you hear on repeaters and otherwise would make those truck drivers blush. LOL!
Clearly haven't monitored it much. Lol. Other than the blister backs I didn't know other gmrs channels existed other than the ones on those blister packs. So I didn't even know about the repeater channels till a week ago doing some research. So I figured this would be a way to get me some hands on experience with radios so I can understand things a bit better and kinda use this as a stepping stone per say. Just gotta learn things cause the channels I've been able to monitor on a cheap Chinese radio given to me by a friend all I get is what sounds like possible data links. I'm a bit confused by it but I'm also still learning. Maybe soon I'll hear what you hear. Lol it's good to be the greenhorn sometimes. In this case it's frustrating

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N4GIX

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Thanks for the recommendation on radios. Those would be perfect. Programming would be through the chirps system I assume from the reading I've done throughout the forums?

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The basic programming software for them is more than adequate, although CHIRP also works well.

I have these KD-C1 to hand out to the grand nephews and nieces who come to visit periodically, or to have on hand as "spares" during any of NSEA's (a Chicago based GMRS group) events for licensed members to borrow.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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The Midland gmrs mobiles are pretty affordable and are available up to 40 watts.
......
If truckers ever decided to move to GMRS, they would never use a CB again.
.......
No noise, no interference, and plenty of range with a small antenna.

I was excited about the Midland mobiles until I checked the FCC certification and learned that it is narrow band only. +/- 2.5 KHz and not +/-5 KHz as GMRS permits. So you are not getting the full benefit of GMRS bandwidth and performance.

I think what Midland has done is repackaged an FRS design and added a power amplifier. They could have made the radio capable of proper deviation but figured that could get away with it. Too bad, I would be buying several. There are other low cost options.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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If you want to enjoy the full benefit of GMRS avoid all of the cheap radios being promoted on these pages and search and read carefully the threads warning or discussing "Cheap Chinese Radios" and "CCR". The market is flooded with such products and they are JUNK. Even some of the Motorola GMRS radios are awful as they are just toys.

You will be spending a lot of time listening and talking on your radio and need to enjoy the full benefit of the service.

I would look for a commercial grade radio, even one in good condition that has been pulled out of service as opposed to the Midland GMRS radio. There are dealers on e-bay who will provide such a radio and program it for you. You can spend $100 or $500 and you will be happy if you do your research carefully.

Personally, I think a 45 or 50W mobile (dash mounted) with the FRS main channels programmed in both SIMPLEX and REPEATER mode with the 141.3 Hz CTCSS travel tone would be a good start. This would occupy 16 channels. You can buy radios with 128, 256 and 512 channel capability which means you can load up repeaters from MyGMRS along your routes with specific CTCSS (aka PL) tones. I would also load up a zone (group of channels) with simplex, the travel tone on TX and carrier squelch only and set this up as a scan group so you can listen for activity as you travel. Note you will hear people that may have their radios set to a different CTCSS code, so they may not hear you.

You can program multiple PL select in some radios to enhance the utility. But this gets very fiddly if you are driving.

The interstitial channels, the ones ending in xxx.xx25 can be programmed as well, however read carefully the FCC rules on power level because you will be limited to about 5 watts. If the radio can have power set on a channel by channel basis to low power, you should be OK. Having the interstitial channels will permit you to talk to FRS radios.

The GMRS service will permit up to 50 watts power to the antenna and +/- 5 KHz deviation. If you shop for a radio it will have an FCC ID number which you can search using Google and a widget will find the FCC filing or you can go directly to the FCC OET site and search there, though their site is hard to use.

What you will find is the FCC "Grant". My notes in (brackets)

(EXAMPLE:)

KENWOOD TK-805D K1

https://fccid.io/ALHTK-805D-1

FCC IDENTIFIER: ALHTK-805D-1

Name of Grantee: Kenwood USA Corporation

Equipment Class: Licensed Non-Broadcast Station Transmitter
Notes:
Modular Type: Does not apply


Grant Notes: BF

FCC Rule Parts: 22, 74, 90, 95

(You want a Part 95 radio, but nobody will know the difference if you use a Part 90 radio that otherwise meets the FCC rules.)

Frequency Range (MHZ) 450.0 - 475.0

(This covers GMRS 462/467 MHz nicely)

Output Watts: 25.0

(You can operate up to 50.0 watts at the transmitter antenna terminal)

Frequency Tolerance: 0.0005 %

(This is equivalent to 5 parts per million GMRS requirement)

Emission Designator: 16K0F3E

(GMRS Emissions are 20 KHz Bandwidth on the 8 main channel pairs 25 KHz spacing, 16K0F3E translates to +/- 5 KHz deviation and 3 KHz voice bandwidth or ( (2 x 5Khz) + (2 x 3 KHz) = 16 KHz ), In some cases you will find radios advertised for 20K0F3E and that is fine. What you don't want is a radio that does only 11K3F3E or some lower value like the Midland GMRS radios are locked to.)


BF: The output power is continuously variable from the value listed in this entry to 20%-25% of the value listed.

(This is a typical notation, read these as sometimes there are qualifications that one should be wary of)


I hope this helps you..
 

N4GIX

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Messages
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I was excited about the Midland mobiles until I checked the FCC certification and learned that it is narrow band only. +/- 2.5 KHz and not +/-5 KHz as GMRS permits. So you are not getting the full benefit of GMRS bandwidth and performance.
That they will only do narrow band is stupid. GMRS repeaters are all wide band, so performance will suffer (usually it's mostly low transmit audio). :roll:
 
Joined
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Messages
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Location
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If you want to enjoy the full benefit of GMRS avoid all of the cheap radios being promoted on these pages and search and read carefully the threads warning or discussing "Cheap Chinese Radios" and "CCR". The market is flooded with such products and they are JUNK. Even some of the Motorola GMRS radios are awful as they are just toys.

You will be spending a lot of time listening and talking on your radio and need to enjoy the full benefit of the service.

I would look for a commercial grade radio, even one in good condition that has been pulled out of service as opposed to the Midland GMRS radio. There are dealers on e-bay who will provide such a radio and program it for you. You can spend $100 or $500 and you will be happy if you do your research carefully.

Personally, I think a 45 or 50W mobile (dash mounted) with the FRS main channels programmed in both SIMPLEX and REPEATER mode with the 141.3 Hz CTCSS travel tone would be a good start. This would occupy 16 channels. You can buy radios with 128, 256 and 512 channel capability which means you can load up repeaters from MyGMRS along your routes with specific CTCSS (aka PL) tones. I would also load up a zone (group of channels) with simplex, the travel tone on TX and carrier squelch only and set this up as a scan group so you can listen for activity as you travel. Note you will hear people that may have their radios set to a different CTCSS code, so they may not hear you.

You can program multiple PL select in some radios to enhance the utility. But this gets very fiddly if you are driving.

The interstitial channels, the ones ending in xxx.xx25 can be programmed as well, however read carefully the FCC rules on power level because you will be limited to about 5 watts. If the radio can have power set on a channel by channel basis to low power, you should be OK. Having the interstitial channels will permit you to talk to FRS radios.

The GMRS service will permit up to 50 watts power to the antenna and +/- 5 KHz deviation. If you shop for a radio it will have an FCC ID number which you can search using Google and a widget will find the FCC filing or you can go directly to the FCC OET site and search there, though their site is hard to use.

What you will find is the FCC "Grant". My notes in (brackets)

(EXAMPLE:)

KENWOOD TK-805D K1

https://fccid.io/ALHTK-805D-1

FCC IDENTIFIER: ALHTK-805D-1

Name of Grantee: Kenwood USA Corporation

Equipment Class: Licensed Non-Broadcast Station Transmitter
Notes:
Modular Type: Does not apply


Grant Notes:BF

FCC Rule Parts: 22, 74, 90, 95

(You want a Part 95 radio, but nobody will know the difference if you use a Part 90 radio that otherwise meets the FCC rules.)

Frequency Range (MHZ)450.0 - 475.0

(This covers GMRS 462/467 MHz nicely)

Output Watts:25.0

(You can operate up to 50.0 watts at the transmitter antenna terminal)

Frequency Tolerance:0.0005 %

(This is equivalent to 5 parts per million GMRS requirement)

Emission Designator: 16K0F3E

(GMRS Emissions are 20 KHz Bandwidth on the 8 main channel pairs 25 KHz spacing, 16K0F3E translates to +/- 5 KHz deviation and 3 KHz voice bandwidth or ( (2 x 5Khz) + (2 x 3 KHz) = 16 KHz ), In some cases you will find radios advertised for 20K0F3E and that is fine. What you don't want is a radio that does only 11K3F3E or some lower value like the Midland GMRS radios are locked to.)


BF: The output power is continuously variable from the value listed in this entry to 20%-25% of the value listed.

(This is a typical notation, read these as sometimes there are qualifications that one should be wary of)


I hope this helps you..
That's a lot of information to process. Lol. Thank you for that information. As soon as I can shut down tonight I'll process it and hopefully understand it

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