[Ares-races] RI: "A walkie-talkie could be a lifesaver in times
ofdistress"
N4AOF
n4aof at arrl.net
Tue Oct 3 22:46:43 EDT 2006
Yes and no, Mike -- but mostly NO.
Your comments on GMRS are based on a the radio service which existed two
decades ago, not what is left after the FCC debacle when they trashed Part
95A to supposedly remake GMRS into a so-called Personal Radio Service.
Where you noted "(can be repeater input)" on the 467MHz GMRS frequencies,
you should add the word ONLY. Those frequencies cannot be used for simplex
communication except by a fixed station and the FCC stopped issuing fixed
station licenses the same time they trashed the rest of Part 95A.
You stated unequivocally "> There are 16 frequencies for GMRS and 14 for FRS
period end of story." which is quite simply WRONG. There happen to be 23
GMRS frequencies: 462.5500, 462.5750, 462.6000, 462.6250, 462.6500,
462.6750, 462.7000 and 462.7250; plus 462.5500, 462.5750, 462.6000,
462.6250, 462.6500, 462.6750, 462.7000 and 462.7250 available as repeater
inputs and control frequencies; plus the seven interstitial frequencies
462.5625, 462.5875, 462.6125, 462,6375, 462.6625, 462.6875 and 462.7125.
Eight, plus eight, plus seven equals TWENTY-THREE, not sixteen.
Yes, GMRS and FRS do have seven frequencies in common.
As you pointed out, there are no formal channel numbers assigned by the FCC
to the 23 GMRS frequencies.
This was never a problem in the Old GMRS service where each station was
licensed for only one or two frequencies or frequency pairs (the 467MHz
frequencies were never licensed without the corresponding 462MHz frequency
and each licensee could request a maximum of two frequencies or pairs
without having to provide detailed justification for using additional
frequencies). In those days, the most channels any GMRS operator ever
needed on a radio would be a maximum of six channels, two licensed simplex
channels, two licensed repeater pairs, 462.6750 simplex, and the
467.6750/462.6750 repeater pair for use when operating outside the
geographic area listed on his license.
Once the FCC screwed up GMRS with their attempt to remake it into a PRS,
suddenly GMRS licensees could have a reason to want 23 channels in their
radios. I don't know of any manufacturer who marketed any dedicated 23
channel GMRS radios, although a very few did market a factory-programmed
version of one of their Part 90 radios with all 23 GMRS channels
pre-programmed. Which frequency was programmed in which channel slot varied
from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some programmed the radios from lowest
frequency to highest frequency pair, others attempted to program the
channels in some sort of "logical" sequence such as 462.5500 simplex in
channel 1 followed by the 467.5500/462.5500 pair in channel 2, and so on -
which left the interstitials stuck on the end at channels 17-23. This
programming was also popular with some radio dealers because it mirrored the
way they had programmed the 16 original frequencies in their shop GMRS
radio.
This presented a problem for many non-technical GMRS users because two
different GMRS radios might need to use different "channels" to talk to each
other on the same frequency. Old time GMRS licensees had been used to
referring to the frequency pairs by the three digit designation representing
the KHz portion of the frequency, but that wasn't very user friendly for the
newer licensees who had no reason to need to know or care about frequencies,
just which position to set the knob to talk to each other.
The manufacturers were slow in talking to each other about resolving the
problem at first. Then there was some progress towards moving the
interstitial frequencies into the "channel" 1 through 7 slots to make them
easier to agree with the same frequencies which were assigned channel
numbers in FRS. That was a start, but there was still the question of
whether to number all the 462MHz simplex channels followed by all the
462/467MHz repeater pairs or if manufacturers should alternate them, keeping
each simplex channel together with its repeater pair. Most experienced GMRS
users favored keeping each simplex channel together with the corresponding
repeater pair, but that didn't fit well with the manufacturers who were
producing simplex-only "GMRS" radios (these 15 channel radios were not on
the market long)
Then the FCC decided to go even further insane perpetuating their policy of
destroying any service stuck into Part 95 -- they began approving the
so-called "FRS/GMRS" radios which are best known as the 22 channel
blister-pack radios we see flooding all sorts of mass market stores.
Although the instruction manual for each of these radios mentions somewhere
that a license is required to use the GMRS channels, many of those manuals
don't even bother telling the user which channels need a license! These
radios all have some things in common, they all have a fixed antenna, they
all include 22 channels, all have the same frequencies in the same channel
positions:
CH 01 462.5625 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 02 462.5875 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 03 462.6125 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 04 462.6375 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 05 462.6625 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 06 462.6875 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 07 462.7125 Power varies with different manufacturers and different model
radios even from same manufacturer
CH 08 467.5625 Always 500mW or less
CH 09 467.5875 Always 500mW or less
CH 10 467.6125 Always 500mW or less
CH 11 467.6375 Always 500mW or less
CH 12 467.6625 Always 500mW or less
CH 13 467.6875 Always 500mW or less
CH 14 467.7125 Always 500mW or less
CH 15 462.5500 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 16 462.5750 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 17 462.6000 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 18 462.6250 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 19 462.6500 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 20 462.6750 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 21 462.7000 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
CH 22 462.7250 Somewhat less than whatever the radio claims (typically 1 to
4 watts)
On channels 1 through 7, SOME radios automatically transmit at 500mW or
less; SOME radios transmit at nearly whatever power level the manufacturer
claims for the radio (typically 1 to 4watts); SOME radios offer a choice
between "High" and "Low" power on channels 1-7 with High power being
whatever the radio is rated for and "Low" power being the 500mW power level.
However almost none of these radios bother telling the user what power level
the radio uses on the critical channels 1-7. This is critical information
because only the radios that automatically limit power to 500mW or less on
channels 1-7 can legally be used on those channels without a GMRS license.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike (KA5CVH) Urich" <ka5cvh at gmail.com>
> On 10/2/06, Doug Younker <dougy at ruraltel.net> wrote:
>
>> Someone pointed out that channel 1 is
>> a frequency that's shared with the GMRS.
>
> Mike wrote.
>
> Not true.
>
> There are 16 frequencies for GMRS and 14 for FRS period end of story.
> That doesn't prevent manufactures marketing them however they want to
> but there are no official channel numbers for GRMS. They are
> generally referred to as "550" or "650" depending upon their
> frequency.
>
> I have one radio, a 2 watt Midland, that only has the 15 "462 MHz"
> frequencies. Channels 1-7 are FRS 1-7. "Channel 8" on that radio is
> 462.550 then 462.575 and so on.
>
> 462.5500 GMRS
> 462.5625 FRS 1
> 462.5750 GMRS
> 462.5875 FRS 2
> 462.6000 GMRS
> 462.6125 FRS 3
> 462.6250 GMRS
> 462.6375 FRS 4
> 462.6500 GMRS
> 462.6625 FRS 5
> 462.6750 GMRS
> 462.6875 FRS 6
> 462.7000 GMRS
> 462.7125 FRS 7
> 462.7250 GMRS
>
> 467.5500 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.5625 FRS 8
> 467.5750 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.5875 FRS 9
> 467.6000 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.6125 FRS 10
> 467.6250 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.6375 FRS 11
> 467.6500 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.6625 FRS 12
> 467.6750 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.6875 FRS 13
> 467.7000 GMRS (can be repeater input)
> 467.7125 FRS 14
> 467.7250 GMRS
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