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Unlicensed GMRS Operators

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bill4long

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Indianapolis
Of the 5 illegal simplex repeaters in the area they are all run by licensed Hams who use the fact that they are licensed Hams to harass and intimidate others on the PRS bands. They use their ham license as an excuse to bully non-hams and think that GMRS/FRS is their private spot where they can do what they want.

Nevertheless, when they are not operating on ham frequencies, they are not operating as hams.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,859
Why don't you use CTCSS or DCS squelch? Then you won't hear them. That's what they are there for.
During recent hurricanes I have encouraged my neighbors to use FRS Chan 1 in carrier squelch because it removes a potential technical barrier for emergency communications, however despite my suggestion that their kids use a different channel., they are on there playing with nothing but mindless beeps and squawks.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 

bill4long

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Messages
1,459
Location
Indianapolis
During recent hurricanes I have encouraged my neighbors to use FRS Chan 1 in carrier squelch because it removes a potential technical barrier for emergency communications, however despite my suggestion that their kids use a different channel., they are on there playing with nothing but mindless beeps and squawks.

Pick a different channel. But if you really want to escape from the kiddies, encourage your neighbors to get MURS radios, and standardize on, say, channel 3. They can be had for around $50 these days, and external antennas (mobile, rooftop, etc) are legal.

https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-MURS-V1-Manufacturing-Personal-Business/dp/B075VBP9YG
 
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n1das

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Feb 17, 2003
Messages
1,601
Location
Nashua, NH
1. Not your job to inform them of anything.
2. They may have PL or DCS enabled on their receivers, in which case they won't hear you unless you are transmitting the right code.
3. They may be using perfectly legal FRS radios.
4. See number 1 again.

I agree with this. Let them be.

They did, so that is that. The FCC recently changed Part 90 to allow FRS radios to be used on all the FRS/GMRS channels.

Uhh...NO. There were no changes to Part 90 which would affect FRS. I assume you meant Part 95. The 22-channel GMRS/FRS combo bubble packs were reclassified as FRS. IOW, the rules for FRS were updated to reflect what the 22-channel bubble packs are today. No more FRS/GMRS combo radios will be certified under the new rules.

You are entirely free to use CTCSS or DCS on your radios to avoid hearing them. Or switch frequencies. Life is too short to worry about it.

Exactly.

I've used DPL (DCS) on GMRS in the past. I've heard DPL also referred to as DPL = Definitely Prevents Losers. :) I dealt with a long time and legendary radio pest on CB, GMRS, and ham in the Nashua NH area for many years. I only had to deal with him on ham and GMRS. This guy claimed to know all there is to know about radio and liked to harass and jam everybody on CB and GMRS/FRS and sometimes on 2m ham just to get attention. He was banned from a few 2m ham repeaters in the area. I put my local GMRS repeater on DPL to keep him out of it. It worked because he didn't have a clue about DPL and didn't have any DPL (DCS) capability in his radios. He tried multiple PLs to get into my repeater and failed and finally gave up trying. He was p!$$ed about it and ranted about it on the air. LOL. The FCC's Boston Regional Field Office was familar with him too and has taken action against him in the past. The problem eventually solved itself because he is now a Silent Key. Local FRS activity is still there.

Now I don't have to deal with FRS users at all anymore because I moved my local on-site simplex comms with family and friends to 900MHz using Motorola DTR and DLR series 900MHz FHSS digital on-site business radios. They work excellent and are high quality, license-free, 100% digital, and more professional than FRS.
 
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needairtime

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Messages
383
Location
CO, USA
I wonder... if I use a part 95 bubble pack FRS radio on channels 15-22 and accidentally use my amateur call sign, would I get chastised by licensed GMRS users?

That's how bad things are I think...
 

Hans13

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Messages
995
I wonder... if I use a part 95 bubble pack FRS radio on channels 15-22 and accidentally use my amateur call sign, would I get chastised by licensed GMRS users?

That's how bad things are I think...

lol! Most of us primary GMRS users in my AO are also amateur radio operators. At least one of us is always make that mistake. The bad time to do it is in reverse; use your GMRS callsign on an amateur radio net. Whoo-boy! :eek:

GMRS is really relaxed in a lot of places. I tell people that is sits somewhere between Chicken Band (chaos) and amateur radio (kinda uptight) in feel.
 

needairtime

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Messages
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CO, USA
Are you serious? Don't worry about it.
I sure don't care, but it's those GMRS people that need to take a look at themselves if they also get upset at the bubble packers that don't and don't need to ID, and then they hear a traditional GMRS interferer: an amateur, lest it is legal for a ham with no GMRS license to use a bubble pack radio and "invade" GMRS output frequencies...

And yeah, it's true in reverse that hams get upset in the same way if a GMRS call is used on ham bands, alas, if one only has a GMRS license, they shouldn't be transmitting in the ham bands.

If only people just use the frequencies they are legally allowed to use, legally... and yes we have to share...
 

Hans13

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Messages
995
I sure don't care, but it's those GMRS people that need to take a look at themselves if they also get upset at the bubble packers that don't and don't need to ID, and then they hear a traditional GMRS interferer: an amateur, lest it is legal for a ham with no GMRS license to use a bubble pack radio and "invade" GMRS output frequencies...

And yeah, it's true in reverse that hams get upset in the same way if a GMRS call is used on ham bands, alas, if one only has a GMRS license, they shouldn't be transmitting in the ham bands.

If only people just use the frequencies they are legally allowed to use, legally... and yes we have to share...

Your two posts are confusing. o_O Perhaps it's me or it's perhaps the way you are expressing your thoughts. I really can't tell.

I don't think you realize that it is not the "norm" for GMRS users to get up in arms about other people using the frequencies. Sure, people might remark about bubble pack users now and then. However, uptight GMRS users have not been my experience. Generally, they are pretty forgiving and welcoming folk. Much of what you are seeing in this thread is not what I encounter IRL.

It sort of comes off as if you are an amateur radio operator with a chip on the shoulder for GMRS users. I sincerely hope not. :)
 

Hans13

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Messages
995
And yeah, it's true in reverse that hams get upset in the same way if a GMRS call is used on ham bands, alas, if one only has a GMRS license, they shouldn't be transmitting in the ham bands.

I was referring to local amateur operators who know full well that the GMRS operator made a simple mistake between their two callsigns while in an amateur net. I was not referring to a situation where the other amateur operators did not know, in advance, that the transmitting party held dual licenses.
 

needairtime

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Apr 9, 2018
Messages
383
Location
CO, USA
Nah, just merely commenting on how angry people get when people invade peoples spaces, including unlicensed, as witnessed by this thread, and other postings I see about so-called "interference" when it really is just sharing of the channel. Doesn't matter if it's ham bands or GMRS or whatever, it's the same problem, just different requirements to get on the air.

Perhaps people are just griping on the forums instead of on-air, but with this "out of band" griping implies that they are indeed "up in arms" and thus confusing to me why it's not the "norm." (Also the other fact that it seems GMRS repeater owners are less welcoming than amateur repeater owners for free use, but that may be an artifact with the limited number of channels.)

Of course if the "interference" is actually malicious jamming - with the intent of knocking someone off the air for whatever reason be it overpowering/ensuring communication failure or "get off our channel" then there's a point there...
 

Hans13

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Messages
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Nah, just merely commenting on how angry people get when people invade peoples spaces, including unlicensed, as witnessed by this thread, and other postings I see about so-called "interference" when it really is just sharing of the channel. Doesn't matter if it's ham bands or GMRS or whatever, it's the same problem, just different requirements to get on the air.

Perhaps people are just griping on the forums instead of on-air, but with this "out of band" griping implies that they are indeed "up in arms" and thus confusing to me why it's not the "norm."

Now I understand. Thank you for clarifying. :cool:

I think (and hope) that it is mostly just GMRS users venting online. One of my favorite things about local GMRS is the laid-back feel. It's sort of a neighborhood thing here instead of some strictly self-monitored service. It seems to be a pretty good gateway service for future amateur operators. We get people starting here on FRS that haven't the slightest clue about how RF works and they learn by doing. Undoubtedly, some will see the value in an amateur license.

(Also the other fact that it seems GMRS repeater owners are less welcoming than amateur repeater owners for free use, but that may be an artifact with the limited number of channels.)

All of the GMRS repeaters in our area are open to everyone. I have encountered very few in other areas that were not but it seems like it might be a regional thing. The amateur repeaters here are slightly less welcoming and have many more rules. Again, this is probably a regional thing.

Of course if the "interference" is actually malicious jamming - with the intent of knocking someone off the air for whatever reason be it overpowering/ensuring communication failure or "get off our channel" then there's a point there...

Swen_out_west had a really bad go of it. I remember when he first started posting about his experiences. They were apparently brutal to him in his location. I felt genuinely bad for the guy. Nobody should have to endure that, IMHO.

On the flip-side , I personally see setting a tone and then just transmitting with high power without regard for existing traffic on a channel as negligent interference. If someone does it to get other traffic to move channels, I would consider that malicious interference. I always consider FRS users as on equal access entitlement as GMRS (of course, with repeaters, that's almost impossible due to many current FRS low power transmit). It's a judgement call for myself and those in my family. I trained them to open squelch or watch the busy light before transmitting with tone squelch set. I almost set busy channel lockout on our repeater for the same reason but realized that with some of the local jammers, they would quickly use it to make the repeater useless.
 

Marine_Cotporal

Simplex Kid
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Messages
68
People will vent and also transmit to other users for one reason only. A feeling of Superiority to others.

I work in a train yard. I have MURS radios that my partner and I use so that the Yard Master can't hear what we are doing over the official frequency. While transmitting some woman started engaging us. Instead of venting or any other nonsense, we just changed frequencies and added PL codes. Now we don't hear her. It's as simple as that. She can add the same ones to her radio so that she doesn't hear us. But some people like feeling important.
 

bharvey2

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Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,842
I wonder... if I use a part 95 bubble pack FRS radio on channels 15-22 and accidentally use my amateur call sign, would I get chastised by licensed GMRS users?

That's how bad things are I think...

In my shack I have one Kenwood radio (TM-V71A) for ham use and another Kenwood (TK880) for GMRS use. I've thrown out the wrong call on the wrong radio a few times. I usually realize it right away and just inform others to ignore my mistake. They do.
 

N4GIX

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Hot Springs, AR
In my shack I have one Kenwood radio (TM-V71A) for ham use and another Kenwood (TK880) for GMRS use. I've thrown out the wrong call on the wrong radio a few times. I usually realize it right away and just inform others to ignore my mistake. They do.
I have four hand-held mics on my desk. Three of which are for ham and the other for GMRS. I've often grabbed the wrong mic and done the same thing you have. Everyone I've talked to has laughed when pointing out my faux-pas.

I also have a TM-V71A (and an antique TM-V7), along with the TK-880 here in my shack stack. I have a TK-840 for my car, but it's not installed yet.
 

bharvey2

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I have four hand-held mics on my desk. Three of which are for ham and the other for GMRS. I've often grabbed the wrong mic and done the same thing you have. Everyone I've talked to has laughed when pointing out my faux-pas.

I also have a TM-V71A (and an antique TM-V7), along with the TK-880 here in my shack stack. I have a TK-840 for my car, but it's not installed yet.


Yeah, it happens. No one has ever been ticked off because of it. Maybe I should try using my old CB call sign and see what I get. I suspect either a "what was that?" response from the younger folks or a "here's the old fart" from the fellow old farts who recognize it.
 
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