Please Take Note On Changes That Need To Be Made At The FCC
The Amount Of Used Two-way Radio Equipment Available On The Market For Sale Today Is Becoming Slimmer And Slimmer. Soon There Will Be No Used Radios Available For Use On GMRS.
The majority of the older GMRS repeaters in use today are running old 25KHz analog repeaters. As those repeaters fail, GMRS repeater owners and potential repeater owners will begin to have a harder time finding good wideband gear like what has been available.
Even the mobile and portable radios that are being used to make portable repeaters will soon be gone.
New radios that are being manufactured today for part 90 use are not part 95 compliant. And, the manufactures of Part 95 gear for GMRS are not interested in expanding its line of GMRS radios to meet the challenges we Licensed GMRS operators are facing.
Too many combo FRS/GMRS radios are being produced instead of quality GMRS radios. Even finding good quality new repeaters at a reasonable price is a joke.
In order for GMRS to stay viable for it's licensed users view and opinion on GMRS and the types of radios (can we say narrow-band, digital) are going to have to change at the FCC.
Rules and regulation about part 95 compliance and/or certification needs to be updated to include those radios that are also included under Part 90.
Please send a letter or email to FCC asking them to make the changes necessary to the rules, including the use of "Digital Modes" so that we GMRS licensed users will have radios available to us in the future.
We GMRS Licensed Operators are entitled to the same advanced technology (Digital Modes) in radio communications equipment as is allowed and being used in/on other bands.
Don't sit back and let other bands (like Amateur & Commercial) control what direction GMRS travels forward.
Home of the USA GMRS Association
How to Get Involved Locally ...
Over the past years, due to disasters, parades, and other local functions, community leaders and law enforcement have had to ask its local community members to help with assistance in the aid or delivery of services of their community. At times it may become necessary for community leaders (including law enforcement) to ask others in the community to help provide additional communication when all other communications are stressed or stretched to the max and/or even not working. In a majority of the times when additional communications have been required Amateur radio operators will usually provide additional assistance with local, state and nationwide communications when called upon, but, they are not the only ones that can. GRMS licensed users can do the same. Amateur radio operators are not always available in all areas of the United States. In such places, GMRS licensed users and FRS radio operators can fill that gap. In addition, there are generally, nowadays, just as many if not more users of GMRS and FRS radio equipment than there are Amateur radio operators.
Like the Amateur radio operators, GMRS licensed user have been forming a relationship with other like GMRS licensed users in around their local areas. Some have even formed clubs for the training and sharing of GMRS information just like Amateur's have. Since many GMRS users have obtained a GMRS license before they obtained their Amateur radio permit, and vice-a-versa, many are familiar with how the advantages of additional communication can be of benefit to their communities. But like anything else, if your communities leaders are not aware that you have your license and radio equipment than you really won't be called upon. It is up to you, now that you have your license, to make contact with your community leaders and specifically your local County/City Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) to introduce yourself and let them know what you have, how often you can be available and what service(s) you can offer to them. Even if you have an EMC and he/she tells you they won't need your services or shows that they are not interested in talking with you and getting your information then contact your County Judge or Mayor and advise them of the response you received from the EMC so that they can be aware of your offerings and maybe so they can change the attitude of your EMC.... We all have capabilities and services we can provide to our communities, don't let one person or community "leader" convince you of otherwise....
Well for one, FRS radios have lower transmit power (like .5 watts of RF power output), must not have the ability to remove the antenna, and FRS channels require no license to transmit on them.
GMRS radios can run more power (up to and a max of 50 watts with no max on ERP) and GMRS users may use handhelds Click here To Read More
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Topics about GMRS Mobile Radios, GMRS Handi-Talkies, GMRS Repeaters, GMRS Repeater use and/or sharing for local, state, and nationwide use. Also discussions pertaining to GMRS Rules & Regulation as set forth by the FCC and the sharing of experiences and knowledge of a licensed GMRS operator. Please keep it "family friendly" and of the English language and about GMRS........"