homebuild a frs/gmrs base antenna

[FoeHammer]

Hey just for info this site has instructions for a very simple gmrs groundplane nothing fancy but if you have a frs/gmrs unit with the ability to use an external antenna it will sure beat the rubber duck connect to it especially if you can get it up high & its cheap & easy... the link is to the pdf instruction page
Lakes Area GMRS Repeater Group

 

[N_Jay]

f it has a removable antenna it is NOT an FRS/GMRS radio. IT is a GMRS only radio.

 

[FoeHammer]

ya generally i would agree but at a surplus store I picked up this interesting little radio which seems to have both frs & gmrs frequencies it has different power settings for each & a removeable antenna , so was something I was just tinkering around with , its kind of an oddity i think....
experiments with the homebrew base antenna defiantly show improved range over the included duck attached with the bnc connector ...

Amazon.com: Audiovox GMRS2000 GMRS/FRS Base Station: Electronics

 

[N_Jay]

It is a GMRS and not a GMRS/FRS radio.

It does not have the FRS only frequencies and requires a license to use on any GMRS frequency (even those shared with FRS)

 

[gewecke]

Njay,He's right it is an oddity because if you look at the enlarged photo of that thing it does show frs as being a feature on the front panel and on the display.
It must have slipped by!
N9ZAS

 

[FoeHammer]

well its older & I think it came out & slipped onto the market in kind of a grey area I really havent seen anything like it around , its like they combined it just to get the ext antenna feature out that everyone wanted on frs at the time I could be wrong but I dont remember it saying licence needed , was quite a while back
but yes I suppose if it meets the requirements techically it would require a license , I still think this ones kind of grey area & a strange little radio I did find the manual online & dont see mention of license which is one place I would expect it to be at least mentioned
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[N_Jay]

well its older & I think it came out & slipped onto the market in kind of a grey area I really havent seen anything like it around , its like they combined it just to get the ext antenna feature out that everyone wanted on frs at the time I could be wrong but I dont remember it saying licence needed , was quite a while back
but yes I suppose if it meets the requirements techically it would require a license , I still think this ones kind of grey area & a strange little radio I did find the manual online & dont see mention of license which is one place I would expect it to be at least mentioned
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Page 2:
General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) License:Use of THIS RADIO within the United States requires an FCC GMRS license. An individual 18 years of age or older, who is not a representative of a foreign government, is eligible to apply for a GMRS system license. You will need two formsfrom the FCC; FCC Form 159 and FCC Form 605 Main Form and Schedule F. You Can find the forms online at: Federal Communications Commission Forms Available via Internet, or call 1-800-418-3676.

No "slip through", it is SPECIFICALLY a GMRS unit, not an FRS unit.

 

[iMONITOR]

Yea be careful, you might get waterborded!

 

[N_Jay]

Yea be careful, you might get waterborded!

Just clearing up misunderstandings so we can all be more informed.:roll:

Thanks for your insightful addition.

 

[Michael-SATX]

Hey, back around 2003-2004, I was in Circuit City and bought this same Audiovox Base Unit.
The logo on the top says "Multi Radio Station" "FRS/GMRS/Weather" and "GMRS-2000.
It is an unusual unit that can be even hung verticaly on a kitchen phone wall mount - cool.
It lQQks like a cross between a cordless phone base and an intercom and even has an
external 2-plug Speaker/Mic jack just like the RS Handheld CB Radio and yes a BNC connector.
The display goes from Ch 1 thru 15, but when I TX I see that it's CH 1-7 are the shared FRS/GMRS
CH 1-7 and so I naturally figured that " It's " CH 8-15 would actually be the dedicated GMRS only
CH 15-22. Well heck, for grins I TX'd up on each CH from 15-22 and was suprised to see this:
Ch 8=16, 9=18, 10=20, 11=15, 12=17, 13=19, 14=21 and 15=22 ( strange order if you ask me
It's Quiet Codes can be set from 00 to 38. It has an alert standby feature on it's Weather Radio setting.
It came with 5 rechargeable NiMH AA batteries and they get internally recharged in the unit on AC.
I does not use/have the dedicated low power FRS only channels from 8-14. It was just an impulse buy.
Funny I powered it after many years as I read this thread today only to discover no audio output
from the speaker, the mic works and the ext speaker output. and half the keypad does not respond
proabably due to age and temperature exposure. I guess I shall take it apart and see inspect the
keypad and see it a cleaning will help it any. It's long out of warranty and it sure shows it
What a Relic that was made in Korea ... I paid like only $44.00 on clearance for this little odditiy !

 

[iMONITOR]

Just clearing up misunderstandings so we can all be more informed.:roll:

Thanks for your insightful addition.

My implication was that it's not that big of a deal, get over yourself! You're first and second post made that perfectly clear. How many times are you going to say it. Or is it you that is being insightful?

Everyone on RR knows you're the expert on all things, and you are the radio police, and the self appointed RR moderator. Please, tell us something new and different. It's really getting old N_Jay!

 

[FoeHammer]

OMG am I ever blind , license on page 2 in the manual ,....Only mentions USA though
I think mine was around 35 bucks at the surplus store , several years ago , it seems to still work perfectly
waay back when i first got it I had extended the the duck antenna out from it with a few feet of coax to get it behind a shelf in a second story room , gave my gf a handheld & used to be able to talk to her when she went shopping or ran errands , then when I moved I put in in a closet & just dug it back up , so thats why I was curious about what I could do with it ...