HAM/GMRS

DRAX said:
It's that selfish/entitled attitude that is going to be the end of us as a society and planet, people not caring about anyone or anything but themselves and what they want right now. Not sure how we got to this point, but society needs a serious course correction ASAP as we're quickly approaching the point of no return.

Look at what all of the "deleted diesel" owners have done. I'm sure they thought "I'm just one person, what's the big deal?" and didn't even bother to think about the big picture or how individuals add up to a large group. Not only is the EPA going after the companies that sold the tunes and parts (and fining them tens of millions of dollars), but it gives diesels a bad name/image which then results in elected officials pushing for even more stringent emissions requirements that are killing diesels in the US.

If people don't start being educated and start caring about things other than themselves then we're doomed.
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You sir get my point. Don’t get me started on the “diesel” rant. Some states (Oregon for example) are going Extreeme on the issue…
 
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as someone who has both ham and gmrs licenses and a ham rig I got tired of having to carry a second radio for when folks wanted to run GMRS instead of ham. i modded my kenwood d710 over the weekend to work on GMRS. in an imperfect world i don't see a better solution that doesn't involve 2 radios and 2 external antennas. not to mention i can change from wideband to narrowband on GMRS.
 
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ndamico said:
as someone who has both ham and gmrs licenses and a ham rig I got tired of having to carry a second radio for when folks wanted to run GMRS instead of ham. i modded my kenwood d710 over the weekend to work on GMRS. in an imperfect world i don't see a better solution that doesn't involve 2 radios and 2 external antennas. not to mention i can change from wideband to narrowband on GMRS.
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As with many things ham, this can be a hot topic when it comes to "can" vs "should" and you may get some heat from the black-and-white ham purists. No judgement from me (that would be hypocritical anyway ;) ), my thought on this specific mod and use is something like this...

For the majority of people here (on OB), having a modded radio to operate on both ham and GMRS is likely to only be used on GMRS frequencies out in the middle of nowhere where the only people that will hear you (and any potential spurious emissions, etc) are the ones in your group. I wouldn't expect folks to operate their ham radio on GMRS frequencies in populated areas, with GMRS repeaters, etc where the transmissions from the modded radio could potentially cause issues or interference. I would also expect folks to operate within the PEP limits for the various GMRS frequencies/channels. Anyone that plans or wants to operate their ham radio on GMRS channels a lot because there's a lot of GMRS use in their area, outside of group comms, then get and use a proper GMRS radio.

If a tree falls in the woods... :)
 
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DRAX said:
As with many things ham, this can be a hot topic when it comes to "can" vs "should" and you may get some heat from the black-and-white ham purists. No judgement from me (that would be hypocritical anyway ;) ), my thought on this specific mod and use is something like this...

For the majority of people here (on OB), having a modded radio to operate on both ham and GMRS is likely to only be used on GMRS frequencies out in the middle of nowhere where the only people that will hear you (and any potential spurious emissions, etc) are the ones in your group. I wouldn't expect folks to operate their ham radio on GMRS frequencies in populated areas, with GMRS repeaters, etc where the transmissions from the modded radio could potentially cause issues or interference. I would also expect folks to operate within the PEP limits for the various GMRS frequencies/channels. Anyone that plans or wants to operate their ham radio on GMRS channels a lot because there's a lot of GMRS use in their area, outside of group comms, then get and use a proper GMRS radio.

If a tree falls in the woods... :)
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well said!
 
Wow, lots of advice one way or the other.
Yes several radios are out there, can be used for many freqs, depending upon where you want to talk, distance, what freq, HF, VHF/UHF etc. Even a Marine band radio can be used to program different freqs that can be used out there.
Also, the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) uses channels in the 151 – 154 MHz spectrum range. The most common use of MURS channels is for short-distance, two-way communications using small, portable hand-held radios that function similar to walkie-talkies. MURS is authorized five channels that were previously in the industrial/business radio service and were known as the “color dot” frequencies in Part 90 of the FCC rules. There are radios out there that can be programmed for MURS channels.
Last thought -- think of your partners and the distance you wish to communicate and go from there. Someone mentioned above that we should and are held to a higher standard, so watch your six. Risk and reward!! Or just ignore my thoughts........
 
Here over In Europe we don't have that specific problem as there is no GMRS. But usually people (and that includes Hams) program their VHF/UHF Walkie-Talkie with both Ham-frequencies and PMR446 and Freenet-Channels. There's no wrongdoing in that as long as you don't transmit on the frequencies.
I have the channels on my Baofeng, too. But that's just for listening and emergencies (No, coming home late isn't an emergency, aim higher).

If you want to transmit on the bands use the proper rigs and licenses. It's not that expensive to play according the rules.

Cheers MaG
 
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ndamico said:
as someone who has both ham and gmrs licenses and a ham rig I got tired of having to carry a second radio for when folks wanted to run GMRS instead of ham. i modded my kenwood d710 over the weekend to work on GMRS. in an imperfect world i don't see a better solution that doesn't involve 2 radios and 2 external antennas. not to mention i can change from wideband to narrowband on GMRS.
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Surely where's no prosecuter, there's no judge. But if there is only one way to do it properly with 2 rigs then you should go with 2 rigs. If you get caught, there's not only the money you have to pay; you also have the damage of the reputation to our community.

I personally go with a PMR446-rig when it's plannedfor communication even if my ham radio could (and the channels are programmed) do it.That's not so much of an inconvinience.

Cheers MaG
 
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I've got both my HAM license (KI7TSP) and my GMRS license.

This 25W BaoFeng radio is a dual-band HAM radio that also transmits and receives GMRS. They also have a 50W dual-band radio (I believe 50W is the max you can go on a GMRS radio). I like the small size, and mostly it was for convoy communication. I haven't gotten into repeaters and such.

Link: UV-25X2 - BaoFeng Tech

Ham radio.6.PNG

Some folks like to hate on the BaoFeng radios. But for the price, it works fine for me. I like it. On my last overlanding trip, everyone had their HAM license so sometimes we would be on a GMRS frequency, and other times we would be on a HAM frequency (depending on if the channel was busy or not). I had two GMRS channels programmed in (I believe 15 & 16 whatever they were), and two HAM frequencies programmed in (146.something and 146.something else).

I've got it mounted in my Jeep on top of my CB radio (back in the day, all we used was CB).

I've also got a couple of the BaoFeng hand-helds for when we were out of our vehicles.

Ham radio.2.jpg

Ham radio.3.jpg
 
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armyRN said:
I've got both my HAM license (KI7TSP) and my GMRS license.

This 25W BaoFeng radio is a dual-band HAM radio that also transmits and receives GMRS. They also have a 50W dual-band radio (I believe 50W is the max you can go on a GMRS radio). I like the small size, and mostly it was for convoy communication. I haven't gotten into repeaters and such.

Link: UV-25X2 - BaoFeng Tech

View attachment 245437

Some folks like to hate on the BaoFeng radios. But for the price, it works fine for me. I like it. On my last overlanding trip, everyone had their HAM license so sometimes we would be on a GMRS frequency, and other times we would be on a HAM frequency (depending on if the channel was busy or not). I had two GMRS channels programmed in (I believe 15 & 16 whatever they were), and two HAM frequencies programmed in (146.something and 146.something else).

I've got it mounted in my Jeep on top of my CB radio (back in the day, all we used was CB).

I've also got a couple of the BaoFeng hand-helds for when we were out of our vehicles.

View attachment 245438

View attachment 245439
Click to expand...

I just installed the 25X4 today. Compact size was really nice.
 
armyRN said:
I've got both my HAM license (KI7TSP) and my GMRS license.

This 25W BaoFeng radio is a dual-band HAM radio that also transmits and receives GMRS. They also have a 50W dual-band radio (I believe 50W is the max you can go on a GMRS radio). I like the small size, and mostly it was for convoy communication. I haven't gotten into repeaters and such.

Link: UV-25X2 - BaoFeng Tech

View attachment 245437

Some folks like to hate on the BaoFeng radios. But for the price, it works fine for me. I like it. On my last overlanding trip, everyone had their HAM license so sometimes we would be on a GMRS frequency, and other times we would be on a HAM frequency (depending on if the channel was busy or not). I had two GMRS channels programmed in (I believe 15 & 16 whatever they were), and two HAM frequencies programmed in (146.something and 146.something else).

I've got it mounted in my Jeep on top of my CB radio (back in the day, all we used was CB).

I've also got a couple of the BaoFeng hand-helds for when we were out of our vehicles.

View attachment 245438

View attachment 245439
Click to expand...

I mean, that's not a HAM + GMRS radio, that's a 2m/70cm (144/430) dual-band radio. Yes, I'm sure you can enable the ability to transmit on both ham and GMRS bands but if that radio is sold that way out of the box then it's not FCC compliant. Whether the bands are expanded by changing software settings or by doing a physical MARS/CAP mod (radio dependent), the end result is the same. Just wanted to make sure you knew that wasn't a special HAM + GMRS radio since, legally, they "can't" exist. No judgement from me. Looks like a nice little radio, and honestly if I were looking to get another mobile radio I'd probably get an AnyTone AT-D578UVIII Plus that does 220 and DMR. Anytone AT-D578UVIII-Plus Transceivers Mobile Tri Band 2m-1.25m-70cm, ATD578UVIIIPlus I have a handheld AnyTone AT-D878UV Plus that's a great, solid radio.
 
DRAX said:
armyRN said:
I've got both my HAM license (KI7TSP) and my GMRS license.

This 25W BaoFeng radio is a dual-band HAM radio that also transmits and receives GMRS. They also have a 50W dual-band radio (I believe 50W is the max you can go on a GMRS radio). I like the small size, and mostly it was for convoy communication. I haven't gotten into repeaters and such.

Link: UV-25X2 - BaoFeng Tech

View attachment 245437

Some folks like to hate on the BaoFeng radios. But for the price, it works fine for me. I like it. On my last overlanding trip, everyone had their HAM license so sometimes we would be on a GMRS frequency, and other times we would be on a HAM frequency (depending on if the channel was busy or not). I had two GMRS channels programmed in (I believe 15 & 16 whatever they were), and two HAM frequencies programmed in (146.something and 146.something else).

I've got it mounted in my Jeep on top of my CB radio (back in the day, all we used was CB).

I've also got a couple of the BaoFeng hand-helds for when we were out of our vehicles.

View attachment 245438

View attachment 245439
Click to expand...

I mean, that's not a HAM + GMRS radio, that's a 2m/70cm (144/430) dual-band radio. Yes, I'm sure you can enable the ability to transmit on both ham and GMRS bands but if that radio is sold that way out of the box then it's not FCC compliant. Whether the bands are expanded by changing software settings or by doing a physical MARS/CAP mod (radio dependent), the end result is the same. Just wanted to make sure you knew that wasn't a special HAM + GMRS radio since, legally, they "can't" exist. No judgement from me. Looks like a nice little radio, and honestly if I were looking to get another mobile radio I'd probably get an AnyTone AT-D578UVIII Plus that does 220 and DMR. Anytone AT-D578UVIII-Plus Transceivers Mobile Tri Band 2m-1.25m-70cm, ATD578UVIIIPlus I have a handheld AnyTone AT-D878UV Plus that's a great, solid radio.
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It isn't advertised as such, but when you look at the specs, it covers the GMRS frequencies. Just like my UV5R and UV8R handhelds.
 
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ndamico said:
as someone who has both ham and gmrs licenses and a ham rig I got tired of having to carry a second radio for when folks wanted to run GMRS instead of ham. i modded my kenwood d710 over the weekend to work on GMRS. in an imperfect world i don't see a better solution that doesn't involve 2 radios and 2 external antennas. not to mention i can change from wideband to narrowband on GMRS.
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THIS. Exactly this. When I am camping with family I want to talk on GMRS. When I'm out and about and goofing about I want to talk on amateur bands. I only want to have one mobile rig, one that can handle both bands. I do understand why the FCC would want to separate ham users from GMRS users; they are two different use cases. Ham radio is for education and fun for enthusiasts. GMRS is utility comms for the masses. I can be both of those people on different days. I can be both of those people on the same day. I shouldn't have to carry separate radios because the government doesn't trust me to use the systems for their intended purposes, but I understand the difference fully and STILL want only one radio on my motorcycle. From what I have observed, the FCC doesn't really go hard against individuals unless they are being egregious in their disregard for the rules, AND the rules tend to bend towards what the majority of users need them to be. I'm not saying we should blatantly disregard the regs, I'm saying that maybe we need to take a closer look at how they could be improved.
 
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There are multiple channels in my area that are totally unusable because of clowns like that. From spewing nonsense to 24 /7 Morse code.

What I understand is, there are only 2 FCC employees running down complaints East of the Mississippi. That's a lot of work with none of the manpower to keep up with.
 
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