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GMRS Linked Repeaters

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amphibian

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I have started a local/state/nation wide link system for GMRS using VOIP. I have been setting up agreements with those that have their own repeaters and along with mine this linking system will be in operation soon. So far there are an estimated 65 repeaters for linking currently and I am getting ready to plan the next 50 repeater locations. Instead of just expanding along the interstate highways as I've been doing if anyone lives in an area where there are lots of GMRS (25 or more) users but no repeaters if you will let me know I will see if your area is a possibility for one of my repeaters... Or if you have a repeater you would like to add to the network for linking let me know (No current GMRS repeater with EchoLink or Allstar capabilities are allowed on my network so please don't ask)...There is no sense in me installing repeaters in areas where there will be no one using them (like out in the middle of the desert) so it's better to put them where they will be used. The next 50 project is expect to begin installation in August of this year so get your request to me soon as it takes time to get all equipment & locations lined out. Also, if you currently have a group of networked (link) GMRS repeaters operational would you list where at and what format/protocol you are using? Thanks...

William R Howell WQYX489
 

prcguy

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This sounds like a jammers dream, wreaking 65 or more repeaters at the same time. I hope you have a method to quickly disable any repeater in the system 24/7, otherwise you will have a lot of equipment taken over by people you don't want on the system.
prcguy
 

amphibian

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Canton, Texas 75103
This sounds like a jammers dream, wreaking 65 or more repeaters at the same time. I hope you have a method to quickly disable any repeater in the system 24/7, otherwise you will have a lot of equipment taken over by people you don't want on the system.
prcguy

Well, I'm sure that is true with some of the existing networks out there but here.... besides one knowing the DCS codes they also need a personal ID code in order to access the state/nationwide portion. And yes, I can shut down, one - many - all repeaters associated with the entire system if the need arises... That is part of the agreement between private repeater owner and my network....


Good question, Thank you...
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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65 repeaters is a lot to manage. Is the system going to be segmented so that traffic is localized to the extent that repeater owners in west Podunk don't have to continually monitor traffic in east Urbania?

I can appreciate the novelty of a 1000 mile wide system coverage but for folks that want to communicate with family within a 50 mile radius, the continual chatter will be a turn off. Unlike DMR with time slots, analog GMRS does not have the ability to simultaneously accommodate local and wide area traffic. So you need to build in some constraints and controls.

How will the personal ID code work? Is it a DTMF code or do users need to buy fancy radios with MDC or god forbid some propriety signalling?
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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This sounds like a jammers dream, wreaking 65 or more repeaters at the same time. I hope you have a method to quickly disable any repeater in the system 24/7, otherwise you will have a lot of equipment taken over by people you don't want on the system.
prcguy

Or Hammy Radio types that like to burn out the transmitter describing in every detail some disease they have contracted or ham fest find.
 

amphibian

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65 repeaters is a lot to manage. Is the system going to be segmented so that traffic is localized to the extent that repeater owners in west Podunk don't have to continually monitor traffic in east Urbania?

I can appreciate the novelty of a 1000 mile wide system coverage but for folks that want to communicate with family within a 50 mile radius, the continual chatter will be a turn off. Unlike DMR with time slots, analog GMRS does not have the ability to simultaneously accommodate local and wide area traffic. So you need to build in some constraints and controls.

How will the personal ID code work? Is it a DTMF code or do users need to buy fancy radios with MDC or god forbid some propriety signalling?

In other words, you are concerned that if you are in California and someone keys up a system in Florida will you have to listen to it? The answer is no as long as you have your mic on hook and they haven't brought up a repeater in your area.... Local traffic in my town won't be heard by those in South Texas or anywhere else unless I bring up a repeater in that area and user there have their mics off hook. You won't be able to pull up California from Florida unless you have proven you have family or close friends there. It's not a free for all nationwide jaw jacking system like the hams have. Very few people will actually ever have a need to use the nationwide system. In fact, very few will have need to use the statewide system. Mostly people using either will be those traveling or tose few like my self that have family and licensed friends in four different states. There will be (at present and probably never) no ability to sit down behind a computer and just bring up any part of the network just for the fun of it. Again, it's not a ham radio system and it's certainly not 11 meter CB either... Timers are in place to protect long over drawn conversations...it has to be because I'm long winded myself....someone or something has to control me....

As far as the internal workings of the system, like ID codes, protocols, signing onto the network, etc....that is confidential and only available to those within the need to know.... This keeps those that don't have any business on the system from knowing how the system works. Even the controllers are protected where the end user has no access to them for programming or repair. In order for a system like this to work, and work great, certain precautions have to be in place.... That's why I say no EchoLink or Allstar allowed as their system can/is too easy to gain access to.....

Thanks
 

keitheaton

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Joined
Mar 25, 2017
Messages
3
I have started a local/state/nation wide link system for GMRS using VOIP. I have been setting up agreements with those that have their own repeaters and along with mine this linking system will be in operation soon. So far there are an estimated 65 repeaters for linking currently and I am getting ready to plan the next 50 repeater locations. Instead of just expanding along the interstate highways as I've been doing if anyone lives in an area where there are lots of GMRS (25 or more) users but no repeaters if you will let me know I will see if your area is a possibility for one of my repeaters... Or if you have a repeater you would like to add to the network for linking let me know (No current GMRS repeater with EchoLink or Allstar capabilities are allowed on my network so please don't ask)...There is no sense in me installing repeaters in areas where there will be no one using them (like out in the middle of the desert) so it's better to put them where they will be used. The next 50 project is expect to begin installation in August of this year so get your request to me soon as it takes time to get all equipment & locations lined out. Also, if you currently have a group of networked (link) GMRS repeaters operational would you list where at and what format/protocol you are using? Thanks...

William R Howell WQYX489
Please visit our local gmrs page.. I'm sure we would be interested!

Oregongmrs.org
 

prcguy

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If there are other existing repeaters in an area where you install one of yours, and its in a long drawn out conversation, and someone on your system remotely brings up your remote repeater, will it recognize the channel is busy and not transmit, or will it just key up over the existing conversation on the other system? For that to work properly you would have to monitor the repeater output frequency in every area to make sure your not overriding another conversation.

You can't simply monitor the input frequency of your remote repeater because it doesn't have the same coverage as other repeaters on the same frequency in the same area to hear the other users and your system would not know if its interfering.

Edit: Have you run this by the FCC for their blessing? If not you risk having a lot of equipment shut down at considerable expense. Your interpretation of FCC rules may not be the same as the FCC sees it.
prcguy

In other words, you are concerned that if you are in California and someone keys up a system in Florida will you have to listen to it? The answer is no as long as you have your mic on hook and they haven't brought up a repeater in your area.... Local traffic in my town won't be heard by those in South Texas or anywhere else unless I bring up a repeater in that area and user there have their mics off hook. You won't be able to pull up California from Florida unless you have proven you have family or close friends there. It's not a free for all nationwide jaw jacking system like the hams have. Very few people will actually ever have a need to use the nationwide system. In fact, very few will have need to use the statewide system. Mostly people using either will be those traveling or tose few like my self that have family and licensed friends in four different states. There will be (at present and probably never) no ability to sit down behind a computer and just bring up any part of the network just for the fun of it. Again, it's not a ham radio system and it's certainly not 11 meter CB either... Timers are in place to protect long over drawn conversations...it has to be because I'm long winded myself....someone or something has to control me....

As far as the internal workings of the system, like ID codes, protocols, signing onto the network, etc....that is confidential and only available to those within the need to know.... This keeps those that don't have any business on the system from knowing how the system works. Even the controllers are protected where the end user has no access to them for programming or repair. In order for a system like this to work, and work great, certain precautions have to be in place.... That's why I say no EchoLink or Allstar allowed as their system can/is too easy to gain access to.....

Thanks
 
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RFI-EMI-GUY

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Messages
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In other words, you are concerned that if you are in California and someone keys up a system in Florida will you have to listen to it? The answer is no as long as you have your mic on hook and they haven't brought up a repeater in your area.... Local traffic in my town won't be heard by those in South Texas or anywhere else unless I bring up a repeater in that area and user there have their mics off hook. You won't be able to pull up California from Florida unless you have proven you have family or close friends there. It's not a free for all nationwide jaw jacking system like the hams have. Very few people will actually ever have a need to use the nationwide system. In fact, very few will have need to use the statewide system. Mostly people using either will be those traveling or tose few like my self that have family and licensed friends in four different states. There will be (at present and probably never) no ability to sit down behind a computer and just bring up any part of the network just for the fun of it. Again, it's not a ham radio system and it's certainly not 11 meter CB either... Timers are in place to protect long over drawn conversations...it has to be because I'm long winded myself....someone or something has to control me....

As far as the internal workings of the system, like ID codes, protocols, signing onto the network, etc....that is confidential and only available to those within the need to know.... This keeps those that don't have any business on the system from knowing how the system works. Even the controllers are protected where the end user has no access to them for programming or repair. In order for a system like this to work, and work great, certain precautions have to be in place.... That's why I say no EchoLink or Allstar allowed as their system can/is too easy to gain access to.....

Thanks
So are you saying is that users like me, who might supply my own radios. For example Motorola Systems Saber, (part 95 approved), will not be able to participate without buying a proprietary radio from you? PM if you wish.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 

prcguy

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So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
If its not proprietary it will be hacked and even if it its proprietary it will probably get hacked. Many common scanners and radios will display the needed CTCSS or DPL code being used and if your using touch tones to access the system that is easily decoded.
prcguy

So are you saying is that users like me, who might supply my own radios. For example Motorola Systems Saber, (part 95 approved), will not be able to participate without buying a proprietary radio from you? PM if you wish.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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If its not proprietary it will be hacked and even if it its proprietary it will probably get hacked. Many common scanners and radios will display the needed CTCSS or DPL code being used and if your using touch tones to access the system that is easily decoded.
prcguy
GMRS is limited in the types of signalling permitted. I am not asking for the launch codes, but if the radios are somehow proprietary, my interest in supporting such a system will wane.

Whatever ROIP protocols are used, should follow some standards so that GMRS users can roam between systems (with permission of course). If the system is being run like Fort Knox, one has to question if it is a COOP or a commercial enterprise. I am giving benefit of the doubt that the OP isn't commercializing GMRS at 65 sites.

GMRS is under subtle attack by manufacturers, so to keep in the spirit of being the only non commercial , high performance communications option available, we should be vigilant of how the spectrum is used.



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N9PBD

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I think that you may be ignoring §95.183 of Subpart A of Part 95 (GMRS Rules), Prohibited Communications, paragraph (12) which states, "Messages which are both conveyed by a wireline control link and transmitted by a GMRS station". That would appear to preclude you from doing your linking of GMRS repeaters using any form of wireline communications, including IP.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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I think that you may be ignoring §95.183 of Subpart A of Part 95 (GMRS Rules), Prohibited Communications, paragraph (12) which states, "Messages which are both conveyed by a wireline control link and transmitted by a GMRS station". That would appear to preclude you from doing your linking of GMRS repeaters using any form of wireline communications, including IP.
That interpretation could be construed to prohibit satellite voting receivers yet the FCC has never stepped in to enforce such a position.


Nearly all FCC enforcement of GMRS has been a result of unlawful commercial business operations.


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N9PBD

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That interpretation could be construed to prohibit satellite voting receivers yet the FCC has never stepped in to enforce such a position.


Nearly all FCC enforcement of GMRS has been a result of unlawful commercial business operations.


I can see your point, although you make a broad statement about the lack of FCC enforcement, I'm not sure where you are able find that the agency has never (my emphasis) enforced that position. In any case, I tried to use the FCC.gov site search functionality to no avail, but I did discover an old thread from 2005 on QRZ.com GMRS VoIP linking | QRZ Forums that seemed to state that the FCC had ruled that GMRS over VOIP was allowed. Unfortunately, the link provided in the thread is no longer viable (it leads to a social media site of some sort).
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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I can see your point, although you make a broad statement about the lack of FCC enforcement, I'm not sure where you are able find that the agency has never (my emphasis) enforced that position. In any case, I tried to use the FCC.gov site search functionality to no avail, but I did discover an old thread from 2005 on QRZ.com GMRS VoIP linking | QRZ Forums that seemed to state that the FCC had ruled that GMRS over VOIP was allowed. Unfortunately, the link provided in the thread is no longer viable (it leads to a social media site of some sort).

Somewhere I have archived a discussion where an FCC representative was quoted as saying there were no rules prohibiting RoIP/VoIP. By the way, the current part 95A rules are botched in that the interconnection rules 95.141 - Interconnection prohibited refers to a subsection 95.127 (Controlling a station from a remote point), and that subsection was deleted in previous revisions.

I think the FCC has enforced GMRS rules, but the NAL's they have issued have nothing to do with many of the broader questions regarding linking repeaters, type certification, etc. I think if the FCC receives a complaint from a licensed GMRS operator on rule infractions they do respond. Most complaints seem to be regarding non-family oriented business use of the channels.

I have searched the database as well, and I read NAL's that get posted on these boards. I also spent an afternoon Googling; FCC, NAL, GMRS etc and found nothing to suggest the FCC was concerned with any linking of systems or using Part 90 radios in GMRS. Stuff I found were like a $30K NAL against a car dealer using GMRS .

You have to realize the climate where the Interconnection rules were written has gone away. The reason for the rules involved GMRS operators in rural areas of the southwest using GMRS as a mobile phone system and competing with local RCC and AT&T not only for mobile phone but crossing toll area boundaries. These protections are archaic and the PSTN no longer exists.
 

amphibian

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Come on gentleman....this ain't rocket science as they say..... (Sorry to be rude, not intended, been up all night with server & repeater problems)

1: Linking of GMRS repeaters by use of VOIP, (AKA ROIP) is legal....stop beating a dead horse further into the ground. This topic has been covered numerous times on this site as well as ten other sites and when all said and done it all comes to the same final answer..... IT IS LEGAL... FCC gave me the right to do it with the writing of their rules and regulations.....

Read the rules, and read them again and again till you become cross eyed... especially you ham radio guys that seem to want to interpret the rules the way you want to, read and reread again till you get it down and understood...... the rules only state that no connection thru the telephone switched network....IOW, no phone patches, no dial-up, and no DSL connections. BROADBAND & FIBER ARE NOT SWITCHED TELEPHONE LINES....

2: Interference with other repeaters..... I'll explain it like I did to a local GMRS/HAM repeater owner and radio operator here close to me that didn't like even the suggestion of linking..... Told me that if I wanted to do linking and get FCC to approve DMR on GMRS that I need to go play in the ham radio games and leave GMRS alone..... There are eight pairs of GMRS repeater frequencies... The likelihood that all eight pairs are in use in any one given area every where in this country, with the exception of major cities (Dallas, Houston, Chicago, NY, Miami, etc) are slim to never..... Even in the City of Dallas that is 45 miles away from me there are only three GMRS repeaters in operation. IMHO only an idiot would go and install a repeater on the same frequency as one that is already in operation. Now I will say this, when I look to install a repeater in a new location, I try to select a frequency that is not in use within a 50 mile radius so as to prevent the possibility of interference. If I can't obtain a repeater frequency that is not in use, and I can't work with an existing repeater owner to do some networking with, then I won't be placing a repeater in the area... Why would anyone want to open and eat a bag of worms like that is beyond me....

3: Hacking.... NO system anywhere is beyond the reach of hackers this day and time. I don't care what system you talk about if it's home computers, office computers, databases, CC's, Banking Accounts, etc...and it is connected to the Internet, even with the best security and laws preventing such, it will eventually get broken into. All I can do, just like anyone else that does networking and has the programming and security knowledge that I do, is to do the best I can to prevent such from happening. Your bank can't give you a 100% guarantee that your bank account or credit card won't be hacked any more than I can give you a 100% guarantee that some punk hasn't already hacked a local network or won't try to hack the GMRS network I'm putting together. and with that being said,

4: Proprietary system. "GMRS is limited in the types of signalling permitted. I am not asking for the launch codes, but if the radios are somehow proprietary, my interest in supporting such a system will wane." No they are not proprietary... All I can do (at first) is use the current technology tools available and provide a system that most all radios that can be used to obtain access to the network. Until such time that new technologies are allowed (like DMR's) we are stuck with what we have now available to use. Will the system be perfect? Probably not, especially in the beginning, but as time goes along bugs will be worked out, new formats will be developed and the future of GMRS networking will progress and it will do so with the future technologies even if the majority of us don't want it.... That is just the way technology works. Right now, the system design is simple (at least to me)....what isn't simple is the abusers that will try to do what they can to disrupt it in the beginning. That is why I have stated over and over that no ability to connect to Allstar and/or EchoLink will ever be allowed. Until such time that the GMRS networking system is in wide use, proven to be beneficial and accepted by all I/we will have to deal with what problems are dished out as they occur.

5: Commercial - noncommercial..... "GMRS is under subtle attack by manufacturers, so to keep in the spirit of being the only non commercial , high performance communications option available, we should be vigilant of how the spectrum is used." I disagree.... Manufactures, if anything, have always tried to advance technologies and bring to market radios full of those technologies. It's always been the greedy individual sectioned users like Cellular Phone Companies, Private Wireless WiFi Providers, Public Safety, and Amateur Radio Operators that have tried to control the use of spectrum. Cellular Phone & Wireless WiFi providers that are claiming all the time they don't have enough spectrum as does the Public Safety (even after they were given the additional freqs they received from narrow-banding) and Amateur radio operators that have more spectrum at their finger tips than any other single user of spectrum have. It's a known fact that Amateur operators have tried to have their fingers in the rule making and control of GMRS since the beginning. I get emails all the time where hams are trying to convince me I can't do networking on GMRS, I can't place a repeater in operation without first getting permission from the local club and (the best one yet) is that GMRS is a stepping stone to all infamous Amateur Radio Licensing... So you can see why I disagree with the manufactures trying to control spectrum. Without us radio users of spectrum the mfg's would be out of business. To prove my point, several mfg's are now communicating with me to see how the USGMRS Association and them together can further the use of GMRS and offer better quality radios and offer them to us at pricing discounts to our membership base.

Do I have all the answers....NO... But at least I am making the attempt to further the use of GMRS and my use thereof. I'm always open to good constructive suggestion. Leave the criticism at the door....not needed.... lets work together to better our communication abilities on GMRS and not hinder it. No one says you have to be part of the GMRS linking/networking. No one is forcing you to change or modify your repeater so others can be part of the network. GMRS networking is not for everyone everywhere.... but for those that it is let us make it work for them. If you don't like my ideas or my intended linking methods at least provide another method (like Zello if you thinks it will work), put it to use, prove it works and lets move on with it.....

Thanks,

William R Howell, WQYX489
USGRMS Repeater & Users Group Association, CEO
 
Last edited:

RFI-EMI-GUY

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Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,859
Come on gentleman....this ain't rocket science as they say..... (Sorry to be rude, not intended, been up all night with server & repeater problems)

1: Linking of GMRS repeaters by use of VOIP, (AKA ROIP) is legal....stop beating a dead horse further into the ground. This topic has been covered numerous times on this site as well as ten other sites and when all said and done it all comes to the same final answer..... IT IS LEGAL... FCC gave me the right to do it with the writing of their rules and regulations.....

Read the rules, and read them again and again till you become cross eyed... especially you ham radio guys that seem to want to interpret the rules the way you want to, read and reread again till you get it down and understood...... the rules only state that no connection thru the telephone switched network....IOW, no phone patches, no dial-up, and no DSL connections. BROADBAND & FIBER ARE NOT SWITCHED TELEPHONE LINES....

2: Interference with other repeaters..... I'll explain it like I did to a local GMRS/HAM repeater owner and radio operator here close to me that didn't like even the suggestion of linking..... Told me that if I wanted to do linking and get FCC to approve DMR on GMRS that I need to go play in the ham radio games and leave GMRS alone..... There are eight pairs of GMRS repeater frequencies... The likelihood that all eight pairs are in use in any one given area every where in this country, with the exception of major cities (Dallas, Houston, Chicago, NY, Miami, etc) are slim to never..... Even in the City of Dallas that is 45 miles away from me there are only three GMRS repeaters in operation. IMHO only an idiot would go and install a repeater on the same frequency as one that is already in operation. Now I will say this, when I look to install a repeater in a new location, I try to select a frequency that is not in use within a 50 mile radius so as to prevent the possibility of interference. If I can't obtain a repeater frequency that is not in use, and I can't work with an existing repeater owner to do some networking with, then I won't be placing a repeater in the area... Why would anyone want to open and eat a bag of worms like that is beyond me....

3: Hacking.... NO system anywhere is beyond the reach of hackers this day and time. I don't care what system you talk about if it's home computers, office computers, databases, CC's, Banking Accounts, etc...and it is connected to the Internet, even with the best security and laws preventing such, it will eventually get broken into. All I can do, just like anyone else that does networking and has the programming and security knowledge that I do, is to do the best I can to prevent such from happening. Your bank can't give you a 100% guarantee that your bank account or credit card won't be hacked any more than I can give you a 100% guarantee that some punk hasn't already hacked a local network or won't try to hack the GMRS network I'm putting together. and with that being said,

4: Proprietary system. "GMRS is limited in the types of signalling permitted. I am not asking for the launch codes, but if the radios are somehow proprietary, my interest in supporting such a system will wane." No they are not proprietary... All I can do (at first) is use the current technology tools available and provide a system that most all radios that can be used to obtain access to the network. Until such time that new technologies are allowed (like DMR's) we are stuck with what we have now available to use. Will the system be perfect? Probably not, especially in the beginning, but as time goes along bugs will be worked out, new formats will be developed and the future of GMRS networking will progress and it will do so with the future technologies even if the majority of us don't want it.... That is just the way technology works. Right now, the system design is simple (at least to me)....what isn't simple is the abusers that will try to do what they can to disrupt it in the beginning. That is why I have stated over and over that no ability to connect to Allstar and/or EchoLink will ever be allowed. Until such time that the GMRS networking system is in wide use, proven to be beneficial and accepted by all I/we will have to deal with what problems are dished out as they occur.

5: Commercial - noncommercial..... "GMRS is under subtle attack by manufacturers, so to keep in the spirit of being the only non commercial , high performance communications option available, we should be vigilant of how the spectrum is used." I disagree.... Manufactures, if anything, have always tried to advance technologies and bring to market radios full of those technologies. It's always been the greedy individual sectioned users like Cellular Phone Companies, Private Wireless WiFi Providers, Public Safety, and Amateur Radio Operators that have tried to control the use of spectrum. Cellular Phone & Wireless WiFi providers that are claiming all the time they don't have enough spectrum as does the Public Safety (even after they were given the additional freqs they received from narrow-banding) and Amateur radio operators that have more spectrum at their finger tips than any other single user of spectrum have. It's a known fact that Amateur operators have tried to have their fingers in the rule making and control of GMRS since the beginning. I get emails all the time where hams are trying to convince me I can't do networking on GMRS, I can't place a repeater in operation without first getting permission from the local club and (the best one yet) is that GMRS is a stepping stone to all infamous Amateur Radio Licensing... So you can see why I disagree with the manufactures trying to control spectrum. Without us radio users of spectrum the mfg's would be out of business. To prove my point, several mfg's are now communicating with me to see how the USGMRS Association and them together can further the use of GMRS and offer better quality radios and offer them to us at pricing discounts to our membership base.

Do I have all the answers....NO... But at least I am making the attempt to further the use of GMRS and my use thereof. I'm always open to good constructive suggestion. Leave the criticism at the door....not needed.... lets work together to better our communication abilities on GMRS and not hinder it. No one says you have to be part of the GMRS linking/networking. No one is forcing you to change or modify your repeater so others can be part of the network. GMRS networking is not for everyone everywhere....

Thanks,

William R Howell, WQYX489
USGRMS Repeater & Users Group Association, CEO

Thanks William;

Based on your responses above, I think WE are pretty much in agreement.

Some clarification on my part. In my opinion the GMRS spectrum IS under attack by the manufacturers and potentially the FCC.

1) The "bubble pack" problem. Manufacturers are incorporating GMRS into FRS radios solely to have bragging rights of more channels and more "miles". The GMRS features on none of these radios are sufficient to ensure quality HIGH PERFORMANCE communications. Few radios have a repeater mode, and none comply with the BENEFICIAL ("wide band") +/- 5 KHz deviation GMRS employs. Kudos to Midland for making some GMRS repeater radios, but shame on them for forcing narrow band only radios on the market.

2) Uniden and others would like to see license by rule and power restrictions. This would be a death knoll for high performance GMRS operations. GMRS is high performance communications, the bandwidth and power levels are key to the distinction between GMRS and FRS.

3) Whether GMRS operators want to believe it or not, the tiny sliver of GMRS spectrum is smack in the middle of coveted UHF spectrum. The FCC has already acquiesced to Part 90 operator MRA by permitting encroachment on the band edges. This should be a sign of things to come. Think of the old woman whose home is in the middle of a parking lot of a casino in New Jersey. If the FCC sees licensed GMRS interest diminishing either by increased unlicensed users, or spectrum occupancy falling, they will be inclined to pave ways to auction the spectrum. That will result in the loss of the only low cost high performance personal communications option that is not controlled by corporate interests.

Your construction of a repeater network is to be commended. More is needed to bolster the success of GMRS.

There is an NPRM several years old that the FCC has shelved because it received an unanticipated level of response from the GMRS user community. Among the things proposed by the FCC were the license by rule and severe power restrictions that would cripple the performance of GMRS and relegate it to the "bubble pack" world.

The GMRS community needs to seize the opportunity to clarify the Part 95A rules;

1) To reinforce that GMRS is a High Performance Personal (Family) radio service. It is not a replacement or competition for Amateur Radio, nor is either a stepping stone for the other. And it is not an extension of FRS.

2) Clarify that GMRS uses a wide band +/- 5 KHz analog FM as its primary modulation scheme, and that power levels of up to 50 watts (output) are essential to its continued success.

3) Amend the rules permitting use of Part 90 radios meeting the technical requirements of GMRS. (This would legitimize the use of surplus Part 90 wide band radios). Many decades ago, GMRS first got it initial growth from availability of surplus radios.

4) Clarify the interconnection rules to dispel any notion that RoIP linking is banned.

5) Force FCC to block certification of any mixed FRS/GMRS radios. For example, certified radios should employ a minimum 4 watts of power, have wide band deviation capability and repeater access mode.

6) Retain and enforce the existing individual family licensing and not entertain "license by rule" proposals. Without licenses, repeater operators cannot control the access of their systems. There will be no accountability for abuse and interference.

7) Reintroduce the concept of licensing by site. This should be optional, but will provide a mechanism for repeater operators to protect their repeaters from interference. The encroachment by MRA on the band edges is a big reason this is needed. If there is interference between Part 90 or GMRS on the band edge channels, there is no legal argument as to who was the incumbent.

8) Pave the way to future migration to digital technology. I suggest that the GMRS digital migration retains analog FM as the primary mode of communications. Any digital modes would be secondary to existing analog operations for the foreseeable future. I also suggest that DMR be the digital mode of the future. I am sure this will be debated, but there are some clear operational advantages. Personally I hate the sound of digital, but it is the best way to increase capacity and provide effective networking.
 
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