help with gmrs/frs

[saltysenior]

unit399, I think I remember coming across that thread surfing the web. You are in Chile or somewhere down there?
You could also program land-mobile equipment to use the GMRS and FRS frequencies, but if you poor like me you make do with what you got. I played around too with FRS/GMRS by replacing the duck with a bnc connector. You be suprised how much more power it put out with a higher gain antenna than the 1/8th wave piece of crap from which it came with. I still do not think it is worth the trouble, all the cutting, fitting, soldering and afro-engineering to have a bnc connector that works and looks half decent. You buy a radio that puts out 1 watt ERP, and end up with a radio that puts out 1.5 watts (or a radio thats ruined). I saw some 16channel UHF radios go on ebay for $50 a pair, 4 watts and PC programmable. You might as well bite the bullet as unit says, and get a real radio.

as the season winds down, we as a group have plenty of bullets left over to bite :blushing: how big are the uhf units you mention, and does the uhf work in the pines??? as i said before the group favors giving the marine vhf another try as the frs/gmrs deal was a complete flop......what i myself do not understand,is why the wireless people spend so much developing phones that do or will do everything,but have seemed to stopped in increasing coverage area...what good are phones that do all that stuff if you can not get a signal ...

 

[Moleculo]

why the wireless people spend so much developing phones that do or will do everything,but have seemed to stopped in increasing coverage area...what good are phones that do all that stuff if you can not get a signal ...

The wireless companies increase their coverage in areas where there are customers. There aren't enough customers in a lot of areas where it is populated sparsely enough to hunt to make it worth their equipment costs.

 

[towerdog]

as the season winds down, we as a group have plenty of bullets left over to bite how big are the uhf units you mention, and does the uhf work in the pines??? as i said before the group favors giving the marine vhf another try as the frs/gmrs deal was a complete flop....

VHF Marine I would not recommend, however I would recommend a radio on a VHF "hi-band" frequency, it does better in the pines than UHF.

I bought one of these and it worked out awesome, I even disassembled it to see how it was constructed and discovered solid aluminum plates for grounding and circut isolation, rubber shock abosorbant, and rubber gaskets all around.
The FDC-160A, chinese import, heck its all chinese now so why not buy somethintg thats honest about its country of origin
FDC FD-160A VHF 136-174Mhz + Earpiece x 1set - Radioshop 888 KG-UVD1P VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60R FT-897 FT-857 VX-7R VX-7RB VX-6R VX-3R FT-18
wideband, full coverage from 136-174MHz, 5 watts power, programmable, stores up to 100 frequencies as channels.
Price, $58ea, shipping included. You may find even better deals on ebay, especially if buying more than one unit. I had good luck iwth radioshop888 by the way, they even gave me a free pen with a hook on it.
These little buggers can work on the entire landmobile/business band as well as the old military band. Stay off of those! Do not use a frequency you know nothing about, even if it appears to be dead.
VHF marine channels are in the VHF hi-band, so it can talk with VHF marine radios.
Use the MURS channels for normal com. Multi-Use Radio Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
They are as follows.
151.820 MHz
151.880 MHz
151.940 MHz
154.570 MHz
154.600 MHz
If you need VHF marine, the frequencies can be found here Marine VHF radio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stay off all other frequencies. If your group decides to no longer be radio pirates and become ham operators, this radio is good for 2 meters (144-148MHz), I can talk from GA to Kentucky on a single repeater up here on my mountain, and with a linked system or echolink, all over the country.

You could even mount whats called a vehicluar repeater behind the seat of your truck, that repeats everything from those handhelds. Here is an example of such, Midland 70-2945 Series Vehicular Repeater Information however such a system can be had for much less on the surplus market, the state highway patrol used such a system, perhaps someone on here can remember the names of some of these old vehiclar repeater systems, it is nothing new, I had one from the mid 1960s made by motorola but I never put it to use.
You might want get some accessories too, like extra batteries, on high power you only got maybe 2 hours to talk time with the 1350mah 6v it comes with.

 

[towerdog]

they say i can be fined $$$$ and shot at dawn for using the word ''sh-t'' on the vhf that would be heard by maybe 40 people, but they let the stuff on t v, radio [h. stern],and the internet that are heard or viewed by millions...

I 100% agree, only now its not just strong profanity, they are showing homosexual acts on daytime TV. And I get bitched at for using the word "pissant" on the radio, I didnt know it was a profane word, just thought it was a type of ant.
Anyone who does not like this advice, be sure to write the FCC to complain about Janet Jacksons hairy breast or about those 2 queers touching genetalia and making homoerotic at the american music awards.
Then post on this thread and complain to me.
You can contact the FCC chairman at Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov , but I am not sure he is eligible, I mean, he was appointed by someone ineligible to hold the oval office, so that make him ineligible too, right?

 

[Mike Gain]

The marine and murs should have about the same range, both being vhf. I think the FCC made a mistake doing away with the marine lic. How many 4x4 pickups have you seen sporting base loaded shakspeare whips? Hmm, wander what their using those for?

 

[Chop]

The marine and murs should have about the same range, both being vhf. I think the FCC made a mistake doing away with the marine lic. How many 4x4 pickups have you seen sporting base loaded shakspeare whips? Hmm, wander what their using those for?

you don't need a license to talk on the VHF marine bands? so, it's like a VHF CB?

 

[doctor]

I still use MURS, radios from reddog radios on the internet..VERTEX or ICOM, work great for me and a nice range, he also has handhelds ..
DOCTOR/795

 

[Wire Weasel]

I still use MURS, radios from reddog radios on the internet..VERTEX or ICOM, work great for me and a nice range, he also has handhelds ..
DOCTOR/795

Hi Doc.....MURS ?? Nice range ?? You must only need to ever talk but a mile or two.

MURS was/is a good idea but the FCC underpowered it at 2 watts. Almost nobody will settle for 2 watts.

Good luck and happy new year!

 

[kd-5-bgt]

I have heard of folks getting knee deep in trouble using marine VHF for uses other than marine.

I lived in Arkansas for a long time and I have heard of several people getting busted using marine rigs out hunting....and one guy got busted using marine rigs for his business...needless to say he was fined right out of business by the FCC

just food for thought

 

[doctor]

MURS

I understand on the marine band no license needed anymore, but I have never listened to it, living in the cornfields.

I will stick to MURS, no one on except a friend at 30 miles and nice comms all the time with my beam..

DOCTOR/795

 

[towerdog]

Its true, watch your #@$ on VHF marine. I read about the enforcement actions in arkansas. It was a crackdown/sting operation. FCC agents driving down the road looking with radio direction finding equiptment for people talking on VHF-marine mobile, they even had agents go into the woods on foot looking for hunters using VHF illegaly.

Will you get caught if you hunt with a VHF-marine, probaly not, thousands of hunters use them every day of the season. Will you get caught using it casually without a care from your home, eventually, yes you may get caught.
Whats the point, you can buy equipment to talk on the MURS frequencies for half the price of a marine radio and not have to worry with pissing off the coast guard or the FCC. Just about any commercial/public safety radio for the VHF "hi-band" (150-174MHz)can be set up with MURS frequencies, and e they are readily available on ebay and surplus auctions. Alot of amature equipment can too be modified easily to transmit on MURS. Yes its illegal to use ham equiptment and most commercial radios as it is not approved, but, will you get caught, no. I seen several chinese manufactures of handhelds that can do MURS on ebay, once again, no type acceptance and more than the 2 watt max power, so technically illegal, but it cost as little as $50. Alot better than $100+ for a VHF-marine band.

My 2 cents.

I have heard of folks getting knee deep in trouble using marine VHF for uses other than marine.

I lived in Arkansas for a long time and I have heard of several people getting busted using marine rigs out hunting....and one guy got busted using marine rigs for his business...needless to say he was fined right out of business by the FCC

just food for thought