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GMRS or eXRS or MURS?

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mjz55

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Messages
103
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PA and NJ, USA
This is my first post and I am totally new to all of this and I have this question.

I'm involved in emergency management in a town that is approx. 1 sq mile. We had a situation where we lost all contact with the stakeholders of the town except for the police/ems/emergency management communications which is only for important emergency communications. We had non-emergency communication needs which involved IE: how are our streets doing, when is the electric coming back on, do we need to call a state of emergency. These are all communications which are not allowed between stakeholders and nonessential emergency people, but are important.

Now, I know FMS will not work because I tested it. Obtaining a business license is too expensive along with the radio expenses. I'm not sure if eXRS is even do-able, I know CB is a pain. MURS is a possible choice but are the channels busy and I know the radios again are expensive. GMRS is inexpensive and you can have a only an individual license which covers family HOWEVER, I have no problem obtaining the license and paying for it. Now, the stakeholders are not "family" but am I really pushing the FCC limit by using these cheap radios in an emergency by not using "family" members? I thought of picking up many pairs of the Motorola MR356R for really emergency purposes because they will not be used for anything else and they are affordable for us. Plus I know we can do more mobile power and a repeater/base for for GMRS.

I am open for any opinions or comments or suggestions and I appreciate all.
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
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Messages
7,452
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Illinois
This is my first post and I am totally new to all of this and I have this question.

I'm involved in emergency management in a town that is approx. 1 sq mile. We had a situation where we lost all contact with the stakeholders of the town except for the police/ems/emergency management communications which is only for important emergency communications. We had non-emergency communication needs which involved IE: how are our streets doing, when is the electric coming back on, do we need to call a state of emergency. These are all communications which are not allowed between stakeholders and nonessential emergency people, but are important.

Now, I know FMS will not work because I tested it. Obtaining a business license is too expensive along with the radio expenses. I'm not sure if eXRS is even do-able, I know CB is a pain. MURS is a possible choice but are the channels busy and I know the radios again are expensive. GMRS is inexpensive and you can have a only an individual license which covers family HOWEVER, I have no problem obtaining the license and paying for it. Now, the stakeholders are not "family" but am I really pushing the FCC limit by using these cheap radios in an emergency by not using "family" members? I thought of picking up many pairs of the Motorola MR356R for really emergency purposes because they will not be used for anything else and they are affordable for us. Plus I know we can do more mobile power and a repeater/base for for GMRS.

I am open for any opinions or comments or suggestions and I appreciate all.


GMRS will work for that distance,and use a DPL tone. :)


73,
n9zas
 
Joined
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Messages
83
Location
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
motorola DTR's are really good radios. little pricy but very good. avoid exrs, they are even cheaper junk then gmrs/frs bubble packs. murs is another good alternative and radios can be had cheap on the used market for the 154 frequencies.
 
D

DaveNF2G

Guest
Are there any amateur (ham) radio operators in your town? Talk to them.
 

Bob_61

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Joined
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Messages
298
Location
Enfield,Ct.
GMRS will work for that distance,and use a DPL tone. :)


73,
n9zas

Hey G how far on average do these eXRS reach in "real time". Would a tin can with a string work better! In the near future I will get my GMRS License have cheap puxing ready start when the time comes..
 

SCPD

QRT
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Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Who are these stakeholders you refer to? From your profile you are a disabled forklift operator and no mention of emergency management,you may volunteer and I have did that to most of my life until becoming disabled but in my opinion I would not spend my money on communications for the town they can provide their own.I hope you rethink your decision about using GMRS and allowing someone else to use it unlicensed .

I would not put myself liable for them and it is not stretching the rules of the FCC its a direct violation and you seem to know that so they will not hesitate to fine you when caught and the comments about mobiles and repeaters/base for GMRS will make you high profile and just to let you know the FCC does monitor this forum at times and we are having enough problems with the FCC in keeping the GMRS frequencies for licensed people to use for the simple reason the general public do not think they need a license or do not fear getting caught.

I am a repeater owner and have been successful in getting unlicensed users off of GMRS and do not think it is a good idea to use GMRS unless you and your family use it not half of the city,as far as that goes let them use MURS it will cover a bigger area than you think and it will be legal also.
 
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krokus

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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

If you are involved in emergency management, then there is no cost for the license. (FCC doesn't charge government agencies.)

Find a frequency coordinator, to get a new allocation. I would suggest something in the same band as the current community allocation, to allow interoperability. There are inexpensive options for Part 90 radios.
 

Bob_61

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Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
298
Location
Enfield,Ct.
Who are these stakeholders you refer to? From your profile you are a disabled forklift operator and no mention of emergency management,you may volunteer and I have did that to most of my life until becoming disabled but in my opinion I would not spend my money on communications for the town they can provide their own.I hope you rethink your decision about using GMRS and allowing someone else to use it unlicensed .

I would not put myself liable for them and it is not stretching the rules of the FCC its a direct violation and you seem to know that so they will not hesitate to fine you when caught and the comments about mobiles and repeaters/base for GMRS will make you high profile and just to let you know the FCC does monitor this forum at times and we are having enough problems with the FCC in keeping the GMRS frequencies for licensed people to use for the simple reason the general public do not think they need a license or do not fear getting caught.

I am a repeater owner and have been successful in getting unlicensed users off of GMRS and do not think it is a good idea to use GMRS unless you and your family use it not half of the city,as far as that goes let them use MURS it will cover a bigger area than you think and it will be legal also.

Did you mix me up with mjz55? Since I am a disabled forklift operator and recently posted in this thread, I was just wondering and no harm done.

This was in my email: Here is the message that has just been posted @ 1:40am
***************
Bob,you better be careful about using GMRS with unlicensed users you call stakeholders the FCC will fine you if caught and monitor this forum at times.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Did you mix me up with mjz55? Since I am a disabled forklift operator and recently posted in this thread, I was just wondering and no harm done.

This was in my email: Here is the message that has just been posted @ 1:40am
***************
Bob,you better be careful about using GMRS with unlicensed users you call stakeholders the FCC will fine you if caught and monitor this forum at times.

Sorry Bob I sure did my apologies
 

mjz55

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
103
Location
PA and NJ, USA
I really appreciate all the comments and thoughts. I guess I have to look into murs. We just have to find about a half dozen inexpensive if possible. Seems I have no luck finding them. I think though, I will pick up a pair of GMRS and apply for license for my family usage. I was going to go with public service radio but even though the license is free, the coordinator fees are around 350 from what I saw. Well, lots to digest. Thanks again to all of you!!
 

mjz55

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
103
Location
PA and NJ, USA
I didn't know if I should post this elsewhere but thought it should go here to continue the conversation. If the moderator thinks it should be moved please do so and I apologize in advance.

I saw this on the internet. Is this true or real? If so, any recommendations to which frequency or even VHF compared to UHF?

”If you and your friends don’t want to attempt using FRS/GMRS, the following business “Dot” Frequencies are good for radio chat. These frequencies require an easy to obtain license. One license for one business covers any number of radios used by that one operation. For license information, contact the FCC at 717-337-1212 or Home | FCC.gov. An itinerant freq is one used when moving around (such as by a delivery service). Before licensing a freq, monitor it when you’re at your backcountry haunts to make sure it’s not being heavily used by someone else. Hopefully, the FCC will try to analyze this when you get a license, but nothing is better than checking for yourself.”

color and freq
Red…….151.625 itinerant
Purple….151.955
Blue……154.570
Green…..154.600
White…..462.575
Brown…..464.500 itinerant
Yellow….464.550 itinerant
no color..151.505 itinerant
no color..158.400 itinerant
no color..469.500 itinerant
no color..469.550 itinerant
 

kny2xb

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
278
Location
North Clearwater, FL
This is my first post and I am totally new to all of this and I have this question.

I'm involved in emergency management in a town that is approx. 1 sq mile. We had a situation where we lost all contact with the stakeholders of the town except for the police/ems/emergency management communications which is only for important emergency communications. We had non-emergency communication needs which involved IE: how are our streets doing, when is the electric coming back on, do we need to call a state of emergency. These are all communications which are not allowed between stakeholders and nonessential emergency people, but are important.

I am open for any opinions or comments or suggestions and I appreciate all.

Wouldn't the local government frequencies qualify for these type of communications?

Just my two cents.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
I didn't know if I should post this elsewhere but thought it should go here to continue the conversation. If the moderator thinks it should be moved please do so and I apologize in advance.

I saw this on the internet. Is this true or real? If so, any recommendations to which frequency or even VHF compared to UHF?

”If you and your friends don’t want to attempt using FRS/GMRS, the following business “Dot” Frequencies are good for radio chat. These frequencies require an easy to obtain license. One license for one business covers any number of radios used by that one operation. For license information, contact the FCC at 717-337-1212 or Home | FCC.gov. An itinerant freq is one used when moving around (such as by a delivery service). Before licensing a freq, monitor it when you’re at your backcountry haunts to make sure it’s not being heavily used by someone else. Hopefully, the FCC will try to analyze this when you get a license, but nothing is better than checking for yourself.”

color and freq
Red…….151.625 itinerant
Purple….151.955
Blue……154.570
Green…..154.600
White…..462.575
Brown…..464.500 itinerant
Yellow….464.550 itinerant
no color..151.505 itinerant
no color..158.400 itinerant
no color..469.500 itinerant
no color..469.550 itinerant

the blue/green frequencies are MURS to begin with you need no license and White/ 462.575 is a GMRS frequency,you have found a outdated list someone has posted.
 
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mjz55

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
103
Location
PA and NJ, USA
spd640, thanks. I feel like a fool. Glad I didin't call the FCC. Believe it or not, this was posed in a story about 2 weeks ago, so that author had old information.
 

rescuecomm

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
1,445
Location
Travelers Rest, SC
(FCC doesn't charge government agencies.)

The FCC will not charge government agencies regulatory fees, but you will pay the application fee and the coordinator's fee. (Pretty much the largest part of the money anyway.) Not as much a free ride as one would think. MURS should work for a 1 sq mile area especially talking to a base station with an elevated antenna. Churches are eligible for business radio licenses, so that might be another way if the local government can't work with you.

Bob
 

Phantom1989

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
27
Location
Alexandria, LA
Both MURS and GMRS would be great for your situation but GMRS gives you more hardware (and power output) options. Before you buy the bubble pack radios, check with your town's police or sheriff's department. They may have some dormant 400Mhz UHF portables to sell/auction. These can be programmed for GMRS.

Professional UHF portables give you the option to remove and replace antennas if needed, and you don't have to worry about them shattering if one of your worker's drop them.

Anyway, both should suit your needs either way you go.
 
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