In answer to the second part of bezking's question...take one of the YaeComWood radios and drop it...see what happens. Now, take a Motorola Saber or Jedi and do the same thing. See which one stands up better. 
MDC1200 on Ham
- Thread starter bezking
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Yeah, but one of my Astro Sabers is mint, so I'll do the drop test on a old Saber 1
As it seems some hate MDC1200, I'll program the AS3 for MODAT instead :twisted: :lol:
As it seems some hate MDC1200, I'll program the AS3 for MODAT instead :twisted: :lol:
mkewman
Member
Grog said:Yeah, but one of my Astro Sabers is mint, so I'll do the drop test on a old Saber 1
As it seems some hate MDC1200, I'll program the AS3 for MODAT instead :twisted: :lol:
both are eargasmic.
mkewman
Member
Isn't it illegal to have MDC on GMRS?
All MDC capable Moto rigs have removable antennae, you may not use a rig with a removable antenna, therefore MDC is illegal on GMRS. Correct?
All MDC capable Moto rigs have removable antennae, you may not use a rig with a removable antenna, therefore MDC is illegal on GMRS. Correct?
D
DaveNF2G
Guest
Don't read more into the regs than they say.
1) I think you might have GMRS confused with FRS. FRS radios may not have removable antennae. If that were a limitation on GMRS, there could be no mobiles.
2) Hardware requirements are one thing and permissible emissions are separate. Just because radios that happen to have a certain signalling format available are not acceptable for a certain service because of hardware specifications, the signalling itself might not be a problem. It could be installed into appropriately configured hardware.
3) To know whether MDC is legal on GMRS, you should consult the section of Part 95 that discusses emissions.
1) I think you might have GMRS confused with FRS. FRS radios may not have removable antennae. If that were a limitation on GMRS, there could be no mobiles.
2) Hardware requirements are one thing and permissible emissions are separate. Just because radios that happen to have a certain signalling format available are not acceptable for a certain service because of hardware specifications, the signalling itself might not be a problem. It could be installed into appropriately configured hardware.
3) To know whether MDC is legal on GMRS, you should consult the section of Part 95 that discusses emissions.
I do not think it is illegal on GMRS I have mine setup like that on non repeater channels. I have my GMRS and MURS MDC1200 so I can see the ID# show up who I'm talking too. I don't think ham operators around my area don not like the special affect sounds on the repeaters. That is why my radio doesn't do MDC1200 on repeaters. If I had GMRS repeater I would set up the MDC1200 if someone is passing by and talks on it I wouldn't matter if they had MODAT or other weird sound that wouldn't bother me. And I do have a GMRS license. One day I'll have a repeater somewhere in town just have to find a stop for it.
mkewman
Member
oh crap thats right, the removable antenna rule is FRS. my fault.
n1das
Member
mkewman said:
MDC1200 is legal on GMRS as the emission type is F3E. Whether or not the antenna is removable is irrelevant and has nothing to do with MDC1200.
n1das
Member
bezking said:
Do I get annoyed hearing MDC1200? NO! I use it on GMRS. I also have DOS muting enabled to help mute it but I don't mind hearing it.
I know some Old Fahrt hams in particular get annoyed by it and maybe sometimes they need to be annoyed. I don't use MDC1200 on the ham bands because I haven't needed to (yet). If the Old Fahrt hams are easily annoyed by MDC1200 packets, I'm curious what they'll think when they sooner or later hear a ham repeater transmitting APCO-25 digital audio and they don't have any gear that does APCO-25.
The steady blast of raw APCO-25 data would get annoying real fast.I recall back in the late 80's, Kenwood had a 2m handheld with MDC-like signalling capability for selective calling purposes. The data packet sounded just like MDC1200. The handheld was the TR-2600A, the replacement for the old TR-2500. IIRC, you programmed in your callsign and the callsign you're calling. The recipient's radio stayed silent until opened up by the signalling, just like other paging formats. It basically worked as designed and worked through repeaters but never really caught on in the ham community as a signalling format. DTMF paging is more universal and readily available in handhelds from different manufacturers.
I have LE gear (Part 90 commercial radios) on the ham bands and some have APCO-25 digital capabilty in addition to MDC1200. I've been bitten by the APCO-25 bug on the ham bands.
Lately I've been leaning toward owning and operating more commercial gear and less ham gear. The commercial gear covers the ham bands by default and works well there for the most part (some don't work as well). I recently built a 440 ham repeater using a pair of Part 90 UHF mobiles. The commercial stuff has gotten good enough that it's now what I prefer to use on the ham bands. The fact it's FCC type-accepted for use in other radio services (with the appropriate FCC license of course) is an added bonus. Example: Icom IC-F40GT UHF commercial handheld...type accepted for Part 90, Part 95 (GMRS), and a few others. I use the F40GT legally on GMRS (yes, I'm licensed) and it also works on the 440 ham band.
I also recently had an experience at a mountaintop repeater site with my ham and commercial portables. My ham portable (Yaesu FT-60) and a friend's ham portable (Yaesu VX-5R) were basically useless and totally deaf due to receiver front-end overload from the broadcast transmitters at the site. It was like how most scanners behave in a dense RF-soup environment. My commercial gear worked flawlessly in the RF-soup environment due to the better receiver design.
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n4voxgill
Silent Key
if i heard mdc bursts on a ham repeater and thought it was just one unit transmitting for no valid purpose, I would file a report with the FCC base on 97.101 violation of good amateur practice and 97.111 (2) as the transmission was not necesary to establish communications with another station.
If I filed a report about every ham I heard transmitting for no valid purpose, the FCC would be really sick of hearing from me by now.
My favorite recipe for an annoying sound is to turn on RAC (repeater access), pre-MDC, and post-MDC. Make sure to set the preamble on the RAC really long. This way you get a MDC burst with preamble followed immediately by another MDC burst, and then for good measure another when you unkey. Believe it or not, I heard this configuration on a police channel near me not long ago.
My favorite recipe for an annoying sound is to turn on RAC (repeater access), pre-MDC, and post-MDC. Make sure to set the preamble on the RAC really long. This way you get a MDC burst with preamble followed immediately by another MDC burst, and then for good measure another when you unkey. Believe it or not, I heard this configuration on a police channel near me not long ago.
n1das
Member
n4voxgill said:
I'm not worried about any reports being filed. A major reason why I don't use MDC1200 on the ham bands is that I haven't had any need to use it there.
Thats why I didn't put the MDC1200 on the repeater channels case some of them don't allow them. I have my ht1250 setup for FRS/GMRS and GMRS Repeaters. I do have setup as the paging like the F/D or EMS page. I have them set on FRS and GMRS case I call my buddy if we go to the games or somewhere we split up.
n1das
Member
bravo14 said:
This is a non-issue for me on GMRS since I own the GMRS repeaters I use.
I know some ham repeater owners might get annoyed by MDC1200 so I don't use MDC1200 at all on the ham bands.
n4voxgill said:
Well if you had the equipment, then you'd see who it was. There's also the free software avaiable for decoding MDC1200....
bezking
Member
Really? I'd Love to know what it is...Grog said:
loumaag said:
I've found that some repeaters are easier to decode the data on than others. A local PD has used it (unoffically) to speed up dispatches. The dispatcher calls two units for a call, hears the two MDC bursts (and can see who it is) and can give out the call without the officers actually saying anything, the MDC burst from just keying their mic saves that time/trouble (like one cop I know who had a mouth ful of cheeseburger when he was called for a call :lol: )
I leave my MDC enabled on my XTL5000 when on the ham repeaters I use, mainly because the folks I talk to are all 'technology enabled' and use it for what it is meant for. Recently I was paged while out of my vehicle by another MDC carrying geek. When I got back in the vehicle, I was able to see who called, and reply without wasting time, which is one thing I hear a LOT of on ham repeaters...
...no problem with mdc1200 here. Actually doesn't sound bad to me. Neither does modat.
Second hand commercial gear is so cheap now, and if folks used it, you could jump in your ride mid conversation, look down and see who's tx'ing. Less anoying than "what's your call again, lemme get my notepad...." 5 times.
I would use it, but no one else around here has it so....
to run it would be whac......
you get the point
Second hand commercial gear is so cheap now, and if folks used it, you could jump in your ride mid conversation, look down and see who's tx'ing. Less anoying than "what's your call again, lemme get my notepad...." 5 times.
I would use it, but no one else around here has it so....
to run it would be whac......
you get the point
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