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A little bit of FCC GMRS action

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MTS2000des

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How are ANY of your arguments applicable to an analog, 25 khz bandwidth frequency modulated wide area repeater system with only 8 frequencies? What does Tetra, WiFi, LTE or NR for that matter have anything to do with GMRS? A better comparison would have been IMTS, which had the same challenges GMRS is facing, except not anyone could just throw up a system that hogged all of the available pairs for an entire city the size of Houston.

You clearly do not understand the differences in RF between multichannel wideband microwave based systems and narrowband FM 8 channel ones.

Also at the end of the day, it does not matter what fancy digital schema you use, ALL RF is analog in nature. Physics is physics.
They aren't. He/she just wants to sound like they are an SME and they know what they are talking about. I was waiting for a real vet to come in and mop the floor. Thank you for stepping up.
 

kinglou0

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Enjoy the wild west of no rules brought to you by Ebay, Amazon, and this very website.

For every legitimate thread here, I see 10 asking for help getting someone’s new electronic kazoo on the air. How do I bypass a password, how do I setup NAS, etc.

Want to play cops & robbers with the 1000s of retired 700/800mhz XTS’s? Go ahead. I’ve run into several groups of professional agitators that routinely use encrypted radios.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join them. Screw it. Don’t go stomping in the backyards of public safety, cellular, or broadcast allocations and the FCC isn’t going to do jack squat. Even if you do, no one is going to do anything if you keep it low power and limited use. Tell me I’m wrong.
 

KV4BL

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With no enforcement, rules are merely suggestions. Consequence free USA is in, accountability and responsibility are out.
No one likes being told "no". Just scan these very forums for people's snarky posts being told there are rules and they get butthurt and lash out.
It's the world we live in these days.

Whether it's a hog tying up all 8 available pairs of GMRS repeaters. the Bowelturd dude being told his radio is dog crap and so-called FCC cert is bogus, the guy with the 110 watt Astro spectra running P25 on FRS/GMRS, the 10,000 watt CB operator, the rogue BDA jamming a local part 90 or cellular system, part 15 Chinapride noisemakers- the "RF cops" are nowhere in sight and the wild, wild west of RF is what we are migrating to.

Everyone will be shouting at each other and no one will hear a word.

I am stunned they actually did a bit of enforcement on CB 2.0

Any bets until how long they just say screw it and remove the licensing requirement and it all becomes a free for all? I mean we already have 8 channels taken up with repeaters all linked to each other and nationwide nets. Sure makes skipland easier! No more moonrakers and leeneears.

At least he was using a Part 95 approved radio.
Is there a way, without the backing of corporate lawyers or other expensive and complicated measures, to petition the FCC to do something about the plague of linked repeater systems that is destroying the originally intended family/friends communications on GMRS? Elsewhere on RR a while back, I was reading about a guy in Georgia who had rented a primo site @ $150 or so per month to have communications with his family. Due to a large, mega-linked repeater system tying up all eight pairs in his area, he is unable to use his system because of the constant keydown thanks to the linking. The FCC forbids auto-patches on GMRS. Most such calls usually last a minute or few, yet a few guys yakking on one repeater can tie multiple, or all eight, pairs up, indefinitely. Sunday evenings are the worst in many areas, and you all know why. If they cannot abolish linking altogether, they should have it so no more than two repeaters can be linked at one time. If someone just has to talk on multiple linked repeaters at once, let them get their Technician license. There is plenty of that on 2m/440 to go around. The attempt to make GMRS into ham-lite is ruining GMRS.
 

mmckenna

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Is there a way, without the backing of corporate lawyers or other expensive and complicated measures, to petition the FCC to do something about the plague of linked repeater systems that is destroying the originally intended family/friends communications on GMRS?

This is from the ARRL, but the process is the same:

 

MTS2000des

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The solution is to put up your own repeater and when the mega link pig hog blasts you off the air, record/document it, and make an EB complaint and see where it goes. As everyone must share, everyone has to yield to other stations traffic/repeaters. How can one articulate they are ensuring all 8 pairs in 8 disparate areas are free of use? They practically can't.
 

prcguy

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So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
The solution is to put up your own repeater and when the mega link pig hog blasts you off the air, record/document it, and make an EB complaint and see where it goes. As everyone must share, everyone has to yield to other stations traffic/repeaters. How can one articulate they are ensuring all 8 pairs in 8 disparate areas are free of use? They practically can't.
I would rather schedule a meeting with the mega hog system owners and hopefully with a number of other users who are on your side. Then tell the hog system what the problem is and if it continues, the outcome will be worthy of a Breaking Bad episode. Then toss it in their lap. Play nice and nice will be abundant. Continue with the same BS and their system will suffer unmentionable pain and certain demise. I personally think its nice and neighborly to offer them choices.
 

kc5hwb

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We have several GMRS repeaters in my area. One or 2 of them are linked. The rest are stand-alone. All of them get used to some degree, and many of them are used by folks who also have Ham licenses. In my area, repeater transmissions are much more normal than other GMRS traffic I hear. Turn your GMRS radio on scan, next time you are on a road trip. You will learn quickly why it is starting to sound more and more like CB
 

kinglou0

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Messages
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Turn your GMRS radio on scan, next time you are on a road trip. You will learn quickly why it is starting to sound more and more like CB
More like CB?

Not in my neck of the woods.

GMRS might as well be another amateur radio allocation. Phonetically Id’ing after every transmission. Low level aka low knowledge technical advice. People droning on about old guy crap like RVs or how smart their grandchildren are. Endless radio checks with your choice of chicom radios or APX8000s.

And of more recent development…Nets. Really. The most annoying aspect of amateur radio these days.

This is Bill, Wxxx001, Weather here is 62° and my gout is not so bad today. Took the “rig” out today for a quick run to KFC.
I’m on my baoturd with the 10’ Nagoya that came in the mail today. Shoulder strap was a nice bonus. I’ll be standing by on the side just looking at the best radio store in the world, Amazon. Back to net control. Whiskey…Xray…Xerox…Xenu…Double Zero…Wun.”


I missed out on the old days of CB and wouldn’t mind having a VHF/UHF service where people could cut loose and get into all kinds of crazy stuff. Not a place where we get to pay to play amateur radio lite. Whatever. I’ll get my info on lot lizards from the Interwebz like everyone else these days.
 

kc5hwb

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More like CB?

Not in my neck of the woods.

GMRS might as well be another amateur radio allocation. Phonetically Id’ing after every transmission. Low level aka low knowledge technical advice. People droning on about old guy crap like RVs or how smart their grandchildren are. Endless radio checks with your choice of chicom radios or APX8000s.

And of more recent development…Nets. Really. The most annoying aspect of amateur radio these days.

This is Bill, Wxxx001, Weather here is 62° and my gout is not so bad today. Took the “rig” out today for a quick run to KFC.
I’m on my baoturd with the 10’ Nagoya that came in the mail today. Shoulder strap was a nice bonus. I’ll be standing by on the side just looking at the best radio store in the world, Amazon. Back to net control. Whiskey…Xray…Xerox…Xenu…Double Zero…Wun.”


I missed out on the old days of CB and wouldn’t mind having a VHF/UHF service where people could cut loose and get into all kinds of crazy stuff. Not a place where we get to pay to play amateur radio lite. Whatever. I’ll get my info on lot lizards from the Interwebz like everyone else these days.
I'm sorry that you live in an area with so many uneducated folks. My experience has been the opposite - Hams are some of the most knowledgeable people I know, and the ones that aren't, are welcome to ask questions and learn along the way. None of us...not even you...were born with the knowledge you have today. I don't mind helping people along the way.

As my original post stated, I found the CB-style activity on GMRS while on road trips not in my own area. We do have some repeaters in my area that are used with IDing (as required by your license agreement, FYI) I would rather people over-ID than ignore it, as most do. Lots of GMRS users don't even know that is a requirement.
 

nd5y

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Messages
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Location
Wichita Falls, TX
More like CB?

Not in my neck of the woods.

GMRS might as well be another amateur radio allocation. Phonetically Id’ing after every transmission. Low level aka low knowledge technical advice. People droning on about old guy crap like RVs or how smart their grandchildren are. Endless radio checks with your choice of chicom radios or APX8000s.

And of more recent development…Nets. Really. The most annoying aspect of amateur radio these days.
It's not like that here. There are no repeaters. I never hear any hobbyists or tech-talk. All I ever hear on GMRS/FRS is:
Hand helds from a few nearby businesses
Utility/road maintenance/construction (in Spanish)
Neighborhood kids
Occasional travelers passing through town (sometimes using digital modes)
A couple times during severe weather season I heard what sounded like non-local non-Skywarn whacker/stringer storm chasers passing through town.
 
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