MURS as a disaster communications solution

[gewecke]

MURS is a vital communications tool. In my mobile command unit I carry a MURS radio that scans the vhf MURS channels along with a 14 channel Radio Shack FRS scanning radio.I also carry a mobile 40 channel cb radio for Channel 9 and 19. I also have a GMRS Mobile unit to use on a local GMRS repeater. I also have 2 meters and 440Mhz in a dual band mobile. In is a great idea to monitor your local MURS VHF channels in your local area. You never know when you are going to hear someone calling for help. If you are in the local area and can contact them you could make the difference between life and death."Saving lives so others can live" Bumper sticker on the back of my mobile command post. Also another sticker that says Ham Radio Operators Save Lives.

Tim there are hams in this country, that have no idea what the hell MURS even is much less the general public so a call for help on murs is not likely in reality. Now on 146.520 or 156.800, maybe.
Even from your ... mobile command post. :lol:

73,
n9zas

 

[W9NES]

Yes and I monitor a lot of things from my mobile cammond post including MURS, FRS,HAM 2M, 440, 10 Meters HF, CB, GMRS Scanner. I was told that I could listen to 156.800 but could not transmit by others on this fourm. MURS is available for Crime Watch, ect. Nextt time you get a chance N9ZAS scan the VHF MURS channels on your scanner. You will be surpised at what you hear. Please let us know what you hear. Thank You, 73

 

[robertmac]

Just reading this post, puts me back into the CB 11 meters era. For a while, everyone followed the rules. Then those that do not follow the rules came out of the wood work. It became a sin pit of foul mouth, ignorant radio ops [at least 90%]. So what is going to prevent MURS from going the same way if the majority break all the rules. In an emergency, I can just imagine the chaos.

 

[gewecke]

Yes and I monitor a lot of things from my mobile cammond post including MURS, FRS,HAM 2M, 440, 10 Meters HF, CB, GMRS Scanner. I was told that I could listen to 156.800 but could not transmit by others on this fourm. MURS is available for Crime Watch, ect. Nextt time you get a chance N9ZAS scan the VHF MURS channels on your scanner. You will be surpised at what you hear. Please let us know what you hear. Thank You, 73

I listen to everything tim, including murs and have been for decades and none of it surprises me.

73,
n9zas

 

[rapidcharger]

MURS is not, nor was it ever intended to be a replacement for citizens band or GMRS, despite it being lumped into part 95 (CB).

Just so we all know where I stand, I strongly favor expanding murs by allocating more frequencies and allowing a little more power so that people can use their 5 watt radios with it. I'm not one of the hall monitor types that freaks out when someone uses a non-certified radio, I'm just pointing out before all this time is spent creating a national prepper frequency, that would be encouraging the masses to not only break the rules but to all make MURS harder to make use of.

As a neighborhood crime watch system, it might be OK for that supposing everyone was able to find the right gear. I know from experience that even getting a group of people to even buy a $9 FRS radio is rather difficult. But what everyone seems to be forgetting is channel congestion. The majority of MURS users aren't hams. They are not well versed in net-like operation and traffic handling. Most of the MURS users are private businesses that think they own the channel because they bought the radio. Which is fine because those are precisely the people that MURS was originally intended for.

So my issues are that #1, there is allegedly a movement to make MURS more like a personal CB-like service, which would be a travesty. I really like the absence of children and roger beeps on MURS. That makes MURS a good radio service for many users who have activities to coordinate but don't want to use a junky FRS radio.

Issue #2 is that advocating using MURS for distress calls, doesn't make sense. There's not enough people monitoring it with the right kind of gear. If someone is looking for a radio to head out into the wilderness with, they shouldn't head out solely with an MURS radio with the expectation there will be someone listening for their mayday.

Issue #3 . "Preppers" was brought up. It doesn't make sense for preppers to use MURS in a SHTF scenario. The mere definition of a prepper is someone who stockpiles supplies and has the resources to be able to survive those scenarios. In a SHTF scenario, theoretically there will be evil-doers who want to take what you've got. So privacy and security are important. Using MURS could lead people right to you are.

Issue #4 is that for more commonplace disasters such as severe weather, there's a radio service for that... it's called the Amateur Radio Service. Heck, even local emergency management agencies keep ham radios on hand for that. Your local walmart or warehouse where they use MURS radios on a good day isn't going to be there to assist in a disaster, nor should they have to.

The right radio service for the job, people. I rest my case.

 

[jhooten]

There are more people who do not have an amateur license than do. I have FRS, MURS, and CB capabilities in my station and "go kit". Instead leaving those without a license in the dark I will be happy to relay information in both directions.

 

[dksac2]

Different radios work in different places. Much depends on the amount of radio traffic on each type. That can be a deciding factor on what some one wants to use for an emergency.

I've lived in mostly rural areas, so excess traffic has not been a problem and most people are pretty polite on the radios with a few exceptions.

So rather than run down this or that type of radio, find out what works the best and use it. Having a radio that you know works and that someone will be monitoring is far better than no radio at all.

In addition to regular radios, those who are within a few miles of me have also got the Trisquare radios. They stopped making them, but some are still available. Sportsmans Warehouse had the best one's and e bay has the cheaper one's.

Within their range and capibilities, they are a darn good close in radio and zero interfearence. Don't be too quick to put them down unless you have used them. Some has some problems, but for the most part, they work very well, I just would not depend on them as my only radio.

John

 

[gman4661]

Rapidcharger, I do not disagree with anything you have said, but...

1. A cheap, used 25 or 40 watt mobile with a quarterwave will give the best bang for the buck for the prepper types. Being illegal is completely beside the point as they will not care about that "minor detail" in the event of an emergency. I doubt the FCC sent enforcement types to Katrina in search of lawbreakers. I suspect that most preppers are not going to pay money, fill out forms or take a test.

2. The prepper community, if somewhat organized with very basic gear as mentioned above, could certainly coordinate their efforts. If cell sites and radio repeaters were inoperable, at least this low tech approach would work for their purposes. A little VHF can go a long way.

3. Most evil-doers are too stupid or too lazy to use radios, much less have the technical savvy to monitor anything radio-wise, so prepper privacy would not be at risk. I suspect the preppers could rally their comrades to share resources and enhance their safety by combining forces.

4. I am not suggesting that Wal-Mart employees are coming to the rescue, but it is a fact that the company owns many thousands of MURS radios. As previously mentioned, there are others with MURS as well. I'm just thinking that there could be any number of folks with MURS radios, and if there were some simple coordination, they could supply limited communications in the absence of anything else.

 

[dksac2]

The good thing about Murs is that where I am, there are a couple of businesses that use them instead of using GMRS or some other radio-freq etc.

I'm no lover of GMRS, but there are people who do use them who like the fact that the Murs takes some businesses off of their band.

I'm the one who originally used the Prepper term and perhaps it was not the best of terms to use in my case.
We live in a rural area, get lots of snow, so if we get a big earthquake etc, the chance of help getting to us quickly is not very likely. For that reason, we need to be able to take care of ourselves for a longer period of time than most.
Being able to check on others via radio is one of the better ways of seeing who may need help.

Due to different locations, different experience and available money, we have got togather to try and find what will work for different people. Some use GMRS, some Ham. I'm not aware of anyone using Murs.
With no electricity, people need a way to keep radio batteries charged, so we have tried to educate those who are interested and there have been quite a few.

I have the ability to monitor most bands as do others without commercial power.
Depending on where you live, what kind of help may be available and if you believe that Fema and others will respond quick enough dictate your level of preparedness. Here, people could freeze to death in a matter of hours, so depending on how close your community is may be a factor on what you keep to help yourself and others. And yes as far as I know, almost all are licensed for whatever type of radio they choose to use.

I have lived in 5 different places and rural Idaho is by far the best place I have ever lived. People here really do care about their neighbors. Radio has become pretty common here, not a bad thing.

I might add that it was as cold as 30 below some places in the valley I live this AM and colder if you include the wind chill factor. I was lucky, it was only 10 below at my place.

John

 

[bill4long]

One good thing about MURS, you can have external antennas up to 60 ft high or 20 ft above the structure it is mounted on, whatever is HIGHEST, including a high gain directional antennas. So the potential for fairly decent range is there even with 2 watts.

 

[SCPD]

One good thing about MURS, you can have external antennas up to 60 ft high or 20 ft above the structure it is mounted on, whatever is HIGHEST, including a high gain directional antennas. So the potential for fairly decent range is there even with 2 watts.

The antenna for a small base station or for a small control station must not be more than 6.1 meters (20 feet) above the ground or above the building or tree on which it is mounted.Not 60ft high.

 

[jhooten]

CFR › Title 47 › Chapter I › Subchapter D › Part 95 › Subpart J › Section 95.1315

47 CFR 95.1315 - Antenna height restriction.
§ 95.1315
Antenna height restriction.
The highest point of any MURS antenna must no be more than 18.3 meters (60 feet) above the ground or 6.10 meters (20 feet) above the highest point of the structure on which it is mounted.

 

[rapidcharger]

I'm no lover of GMRS, but there are people who do use them who like the fact that the Murs takes some businesses off of their band.

Oh believe me... BUSINESSES ALSO LIKE that gmrs and frs keeps the children/preppers/general public off of MURS.
Every single radio service that is opened up as a citizens band ends up getting trashed. Can we not try to preserve just one little eencey weencey radio servce, please?

Rapidcharger, I do not disagree with anything you have said, but...

1. A cheap, used 25 or 40 watt mobile with a quarterwave will give the best bang for the buck for the prepper types. Being illegal is completely beside the point as they will not care about that "minor detail" in the event of an emergency. I doubt the FCC sent enforcement types to Katrina in search of lawbreakers. I suspect that most preppers are not going to pay money, fill out forms or take a test.

Well, if you're going to break the rules, you might as well break the rules with something that's cheaper and easier to come by such as a marine radio or ham radio. You would be wrong about "most preppers not going to pay money and take a test". Preppers most certainly do spend a money to prepare (a lot of it!) and they do take and pass their ham tests and carefully plan out their communications plan, and they would be extremely offended by your comment. And the ones that I have met don't want to break the FCC rules, especially since it's not necessary to do so.

3. Most evil-doers are too stupid or too lazy to use radios, much less have the technical savvy to monitor anything radio-wise, so prepper privacy would not be at risk. I suspect the preppers could rally their comrades to share resources and enhance their safety by combining forces.

This is another broadbrush claim. Evil-doers are not too stupid or lazy to use radios or technology. They do it all the time. They were cloning cell phones back in the early 90's. Heck, they even put those credit card swipers on the gas pumps to steal people's credit card numbers.

4. I am not suggesting that Wal-Mart employees are coming to the rescue, but it is a fact that the company owns many thousands of MURS radios. As previously mentioned, there are others with MURS as well. I'm just thinking that there could be any number of folks with MURS radios, and if there were some simple coordination, they could supply limited communications in the absence of anything else.

I'm afraid I don't follow you. If you think you have a chance at calling mayday on a murs frequency to a walmart associate, then by all means, you should program a radio to transmit on murs. But buying murs radios with the expectation that someone at walmart is really going to hear you or care about your problems is not a good idea. There's better radio services for that.

 

[kc8vlv]

Bandwidth limitations on 1-3 are 11.25Khz....Motorola P1225's only go 12.5 or 20/25 so they are technically not compliant. However, I agree it is a good resource to utilize and I have seen some decent MURS radio have good range and usefulness.

I have a puxsing ph-77 and i am able to do murs, i am also within a mile of canada

 

[quarterwave]

I have a puxsing ph-77 and i am able to do murs, i am also within a mile of canada

What did quoting my *corrected later* statement have to do with anything you said there...

 

[KF4ZTO]

I think I need to make some clarification here. I'm not trying to talk to outside users and I'm certainly not trying to contact my local Wal Mart parking lot attendant. I'm talking about as an emergency communications system. I don't intend on using the equipment outside of emergency situations. As far as I can remember from getting my ham license...the FCC rules stipulate that during an emergency any mode can be used on any frequency. So I don't think the FCC would be too worried about my radio occupying 1.25 kHz of extra bandwidth.

 

[robertmac]

Give someone an inch and they will take 12 inches.

 

[bill4long]

spd640,

see this:

47 CFR 95.1315 - Antenna height restriction. 95.1315 Antenna height restriction. The highest point of any MURS antenna must no be more than 18.3 meters (60 feet) above the ground or 6.10 meters (20 feet) above the highest point of the structure on which it is mounted.

 

[rapidcharger]

spd640,

see this:

47 CFR 95.1315 - Antenna height restriction. 95.1315 Antenna height restriction. The highest point of any MURS antenna must no be more than 18.3 meters (60 feet) above the ground or 6.10 meters (20 feet) above the highest point of the structure on which it is mounted.

Take your pick?

 

[KB7MIB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

There is no blanket rule or regulation that allows you to use any radio service or frequency in an emergency. The Amateur service rule that folks are mis-quoting allows a Novice to use an Extra class frequency segment if that is what is needed to acquire