Not true, my understanding is a properly typed commercial rig is legal to operate on both amateur radio and GMRS with the proper licensure. Am I misinformed?
Basic GMRS radio recommendations
- Thread starter srimes
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Not true, my understanding is a properly typed commercial rig is legal to operate on both amateur radio and GMRS with the proper licensure. Am I misinformed?
The FCC police have yet to come kick down my door for not having any sort of license.
In hind site, I kinda think I really didn't need to go through the hassle. Although if you want to use repeaters, the owners ask that you have a license. I guess one could make one up a call sign?
Not that I've heard of - but I'm hardly "Mr Radio". I'd like to see it if it exists...
Here’s the radio I have. It’s a part 90 commercial radio.
https://powerwerx.com/db750x-dual-band-commercial-mobile-radio
I am with the 8w version of the baofeng with an external antenna. You need an adapter but they are cheap on amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00COKNKS8?tag=wranglerorg-20
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Your understanding is outdated. The FCC clarified the vagueness in their rules that many interpreted to mean that a Part 90 commercial radio could be legally used on the GMRS frequencies back in 2017. Here's the current rule regarding what equipment can be used on the GMRS frequencies (click here to go to the source FCC web page:
Subpart E of Part 95 is the GMRS rules. What that means is your radio needs a certification to Part 95E in order for you to meet FCC regulations for use on GMRS frequencies. If you are using a commercial (business) radio for GMRS, in addition to its Part 90 certification, it would need a Part 95E certification. Those are rare.
That said, I wouldn't worry about using your radio for GMRS. Just be aware that it is not legal. As long as you are not being stupid, the FCC has bigger fish to fry. From an ethical standpoint (if that's more important to you than the legal standpoint), the airwaves are public, so as long as you're not impacting other users of the airwaves anymore than you would be with a legal radio, you can sleep well at night, if that's important to you. Part 90 radios are very well made, so the chances of inadvertent interference with other users is minimal. Now, cheap Chinese radios are another story altogether. I've heard rumors that some of the early Baofeng units would walk over other frequencies, and that's a bit rude.
Ah! There's the gotcha. Kinda silly if you ask me - but I do agree: As long as you adhere to the power levels and bandwidth for GMRS, I don't see a real world problem.
I got a 2-pack of BAOFENG GT-5R PRO, as they're "legal" and not much more money
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D49DWZ5G?tag=wranglerorg-20
mic:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RZ0EQ0?tag=wranglerorg-20
And a battery that accepts USB charging. Seems like the other 12v options all replaced the battery. I liked the idea of keeping a batter so it can work disconnected.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L6JTVC2?tag=wranglerorg-20
I'll get a wire and external antenna, but want to figure out how to use it first
Any good youtube tutorials for programming? I'm new to all this...
Look up videos on how to download and program using Chirp software. You'll need a programing cable and a computer.
I programmed it but couldn't get it to work. After banging my head against the wall I found that they're internally restricted to not transmit in the GMRS range! Shipping back to amazon.
Ordered this as a replacement. 20% black friday deal. No ham, just GMRS and weather radio.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CLD3M1MV/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CLD3M1MV/?tag=wranglerorg-20
As far as legal radios go, and by that I mean certified by FCC, if it's a ham radio, it won't transmit on GMRS frequencies, but should be able to receive them. Then, for GMRS radios, some will be able to receive on some ham frequencies, but won't be able to transmit. I like that type for SHTF scenarios. Most of the Wouxun radios are like that, and some Baofengs are. For instance, I have a pair of these, and they're programmed to receive NOAA (weather), MURS, and some ham frequencies, in addition to transmitting/receiving GMRS:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGHXV6Y4/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I'm pretty sure there are some of these floating around that will transmit on all frequencies, too, which is not legal. Baofeng seems to run very loose when it comes to the FCC man...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGHXV6Y4/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I'm pretty sure there are some of these floating around that will transmit on all frequencies, too, which is not legal. Baofeng seems to run very loose when it comes to the FCC man...
The UV-5g is a good choice. It's a gmrs radio. Some, and probably most of baufeng's radios can be unlocked to do several frequencies. I would consider the radioddity gm-30. It's a straight up gmrs radio that's pretty simple to use. I've thought about getting a ham license and at my age, I just have a hard time retaining information and learning new stuff. I have 3 uv-5g's that I have unlocked by watching YouTube and have them set up for gmrs to hand out to people that don't have comms.
huh. Wonder if that works on the gt5r too. Guess I shouldn't have sent it back so quickly
It might. What I have learned late is to try and Google information for what ever radio I'm interested in before buying. I've still made mistakes. I've ran cb's while I was a part-time truck driver in 90's and early 00's. I'm just getting back into radio and still trying catch up with the technology.
