GMRS CS800D

[hagensieker]

I want to use my CS800D for GMRS which I'm pretty sure is okay. One thing I'm confused about is the tones. When making a cqodeplug what if any tones do I use or do I just go straight analog channels? I've seen several charts of tones with some differences.

 

[cobraultra]

Tones depend on who and what you are talking to.
If you are hitting a repeater you need to know the tone it is listening for on the receive side and the tone going out on the transmit side.
If you are talking to someone you and that other person need to be using the same tone.
You can also not have a tone but setup but the other person needs to not have a tone either.
Tones keep it so multiple people can be talking on the same Freq but you only hear people using the same tone as you.

 

[hagensieker]

I understand what the tones are. I'm just trying to program the CS800D for max coverage and listening kind of like what most GMRS radios would come out of the box programmed as. I'm licensed GMRS and use a couple hand helds on Channel 3 with 67.0 CTCSS tones now.

I just dug my CS800 out of the closet and hooked it to my dipole and seeing if there was any traffic around here.

 

[hagensieker]

I ended up programming it with Channel 1 at 67.0 and every channel up to 22 using the next tone. That seems to be the Motorola "standard" or so I've seen it called. After 22 the tones skip every other one or roughly something like that.

The entire goal of programming this was to listen and talk to other GMRS folks around here. I wanted max reception of any potential users around here.

I'm a ham as well and getting bored with DMR

 

[cobraultra]

Well for listening... Best to not have a tone at all. You would pick up everything going on on the freq.
I have a 4550 setup with no tone on the main 8 GMRS freqs generally just to listen to see if anyone is even out there.
Then some of the out of the box freq with tones as shown in this chart.

FRS/GMRS combined channel chart - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Depending on the types of HT you have... you can match up the programing to be the same.

 

[hagensieker]

Well for listening... Best to not have a tone at all. You would pick up everything going on on the freq.
I have a 4550 setup with no tone on the main 8 GMRS freqs generally just to listen to see if anyone is even out there.
Then some of the out of the box freq with tones as shown in this chart.

FRS/GMRS combined channel chart - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Depending on the types of HT you have... you can match up the programing to be the same.

Thanks for that. I had seen that as well just to leave the tones out, then I saw a chart as I described in my post #4 and then I've seen charts with a bunch of 67.0's running down the channels.

And the fact that I had to hand code the code plug for the CS800D made me want to do it quickly and just once

 

[jaspence]

GMRS requires a separate license from ham use, and the CS800D is not GMRS certified to my knowledge, although it can be programed for those frequencies. You need to do some homework on understanding PL and digital tones. A wrong setup can prevent communications with other radios or repeaters. Many GMRS repeaters are privately owned and not open for general use like a ham repeater.

 

[hagensieker]

GMRS requires a separate license from ham use, and the CS800D is not GMRS certified to my knowledge, although it can be programed for those frequencies. You need to do some homework on understanding PL and digital tones. A wrong setup can prevent communications with other radios or repeaters. Many GMRS repeaters are privately owned and not open for general use like a ham repeater.

Understood. I'm a ham and have a GMRS license. I would say as long as I stay in power and bandwidth regs I'll be okay.

 

[cobraultra]

Ohhhh I think I see what you found...

FRS/GMRS Privacy Codes Demystified

This chart is the CTCSS tone list and the DCS tone list...
There is no real quick way of changing the tones on the radio itself. Either a bunch of menus to go into or only via the CPS.
To find the tones its almost better to have a scanner that can decode them live and then enter them in. Field programming is tricky.

The CS800D is not part 95 but as long as it is kept to the 8 main GMRS freqs it would be fine as you have 50watt max and licensed user.

 

[jaspence]

67 is the first tone in the list, and many times it is used because it doesn't require any extra keystrokes or thoughts to set it up.

 

[bharvey2]

Tones are repeater specific for the most part. Some use an input tone only while others use both an input and output tone. You'll need to contact the repeater owner to find out. Tones between simplex communications must be agreed upon between the two or more parties who will be talking. There is really no standard for the most part. There is however a bit of an exception. Many repeaters use a "travel tone" whose purpose is to allow traveling GMRS operations to use the repeater. The common travel tone is 141.3. However, not all repeaters use this and even if they do, you may not be able to communicate with others on the same repeater if other tones are used as well. Often times, input tones are assigned to various user groups to keep the undesired chatter to a minimum.

 

[Skypilot007]

Leave all RX tones to CSQ or none. Do what ever you want with the TX tones, I would leave them CSQ also until you find someone to talk too or a repeater to use that requires tones then add as needed.

I use the CS800D nearly everyday on GMRS, no troubles. It's a pretty good radio for what it is (Chinese). It's not part 95 certified, same for just about every other radio on the repeaters around here. Used or new part 90 rigs dominate the land usually then modified hammy rigs are a close second. I don't think I know anyone with a part 95 certified radio on the repeaters around here, mainly because they are all junk.

 

[bill4long]

I want to use my CS800D for GMRS which I'm pretty sure is okay.

That radio is not certified for GMRS use. However, it is certified for Part 90 use and Part 90 radios such as Motorolas are in widespread use on GMRS (even though not legal.) So are ham radios. Apparently the FCC has turned a blind eye to this. Nobody has even been fined or even warned for doing this. Make up your own mind. If you do decide to do it, I recommend putting the radio on a band scope and making sure that spurious TX products are negligible when transmitting on GMRS frequencies.

 

[hagensieker]

Leave all RX tones to CSQ or none. Do what ever you want with the TX tones, I would leave them CSQ also until you find someone to talk too or a repeater to use that requires tones then add as needed.

I use the CS800D nearly everyday on GMRS, no troubles. It's a pretty good radio for what it is (Chinese). It's not part 95 certified, same for just about every other radio on the repeaters around here. Used or new part 90 rigs dominate the land usually then modified hammy rigs are a close second. I don't think I know anyone with a part 95 certified radio on the repeaters around here, mainly because they are all junk.

Thanks and I agree with all you say.

One question. The CPS for the 800D only has 12.5 or 25 kHz steps. The higher power channels allow for 20 kHz. Do you set to 12.5 or 25? I know what the "proper" answer is. I'm set at all things on 12.5. Also the CPS doesn't really define, nor does the manual what low, medium, and high power is. The 800D is a 45 or 50 watt so I know high is under the legal limit. Medium and low settings concern me as what I have read about them are a tad high.

In the interim I'm limiting myself to the channels where I know I'm "compliant".

 

[bharvey2]

Thanks and I agree with all you say.

One question. The CPS for the 800D only has 12.5 or 25 kHz steps. The higher power channels allow for 20 kHz. Do you set to 12.5 or 25? I know what the "proper" answer is. I'm set at all things on 12.5. Also the CPS doesn't really define, nor does the manual what low, medium, and high power is. The 800D is a 45 or 50 watt so I know high is under the legal limit. Medium and low settings concern me as what I have read about them are a tad high.

In the interim I'm limiting myself to the channels where I know I'm "compliant".

The main GMRS channels (eg. .600, .625, .650) will all be wide band or 25khz. Which version of CPS do you use? I have a CS800D and I only have options for 12.5 or 25khz in analog.

 

[hagensieker]

The main GMRS channels (eg. .600, .625, .650) will all be wide band or 25khz. Which version of CPS do you use? I have a CS800D and I only have options for 12.5 or 25khz in analog.

Latest version. Correct. Those are the only options available. I just set all to 12.5 to be safe. 25 is technically over the limit.

 

[bill4long]

Latest version. Correct. Those are the only options available. I just set all to 12.5 to be safe. 25 is technically over the limit.

Use 25khz setting. That is channel spacing, not what the transmitter is actually deviating at that setting, which is only 16khz. If you use 12.5 (nearly) everyone will hear you at 50% modulation.

 

[bharvey2]

Latest version. Correct. Those are the only options available. I just set all to 12.5 to be safe. 25 is technically over the limit.

Set them to 25khz, not 12.5khz. GMRS uses 25khz. FRS uses 12.5khz. No interpretation of FCC rules permits you to use the CS800D on FRS. An argument has been made for using it on GMRS as it is a Part 90 radio. It is a topic of "spirited" debate. While some radios have both Part 90 and Part 95 listings withe the FCC, the CS800D is Part 90 only.

 

[Skypilot007]

Use 25KHz like the other have said on GMRS repeater channels. Personally I wouldn't even program the FRS channels into the radio at all.