Once again, lots of FRS/GMRS

[Shards]

Same here. Sometimes I think we've lost the battle. FRS and relaxed licensing has given us UHF CB, at least in some locations.

Well, GMRS users got put over a barrel by radio manufacturers who started marketing these 22 channel blister pack radios, the squatters who decided to ignore the blurb on the back of these blister packs saying the (then) GMRS-only frequencies require a license, and the lethargy of the FCC. I’m indifferent about them using channels 1 - 14, but it really chafes me when I hear them on 15 - 22, and then if they hear you on it, the squatters often have the nerve to try telling you to get off “their” channel, whether it be businesses using them, so-called “III%ers” and CERT who like to pretend like they can claim exclusivity to them, etc.

On the bright side, one of the strip clubs here in Denver uses FRS2. You can witness some hilarious stuff over the air if you drive by it at the right time. I keep that freq. in the scan list of my TK-8360.

There’s been a bunch of construction down the road from me where the old UC Denver Medical campus used to be. I was listening on my scanner, and I heard a crew on FRS5. At some point, one of the neighborhood kids heard them and tried saying hi to them, only to get cussed out by construction workers. So, I made sure to hound them pretty good for the next three months until I didn’t hear them anymore. I think the best was when I got on the radio, called out like I was on a CB radio, then when they answered, I told them I’d found a little walkie talkie on the ground and was trying to find out who it belonged to. Then I told them I was a truck driver from Georgia just doing a little shopping, and my Uber was about to get there to take me to my truck, and that I’d leave the radio at one of the businesses in the shopping center. I watched them go there to get it, and they were not happy when they walked out.

Maybe I wasn’t necessarily in the right, but you don’t just go cussing out a kid who simply tried saying hello on a radio service you don’t have any claim to exclusivity on, especially when you’re running carrier squelch.

 

[Einsteiger]

While studying for my technician's exam, I got a Midland MTZ-275 [and a GMRS license] to play with. Just from driving around in scan mode, it's pretty obvious that this radio will be most effective when I use it to communicate with known users using specific channels and the privacy codes. [Car club drives, camping, etc] Most of the traffic, what little there is, consists of employees of local businesses checking with the warehouse, driver whereabouts, etc. No call signs, no CQ calls...just....chatter. Most of the signals are so weak it's likely handheld FRS units. I'm not really sure what I expected, but GMRS is something to do until I get a ham license. The one other thing I plan to get is a higher end scanner that is compatible with the MAARS radio system that all the first response and law enforcement agencies use in the Greater KC Area. THAT should prove useful. So, excuse me while I navigate over to the scanner forum.