The Folsom
Kindly Shut Your Noise Hole.
Premium
join:2003-01-31
Yucaipa, CA
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Re: ARRL will fight BPL to the death The "Bubble Pack Pirates" is an apt term. the FRS does share some frequencies with GMRS and I have on many occasions heard some of their operations. FRS radios out of the box are unable to access the repeater frequencies of GMRS, though.
The "Combination" FRS/GMRS are very popular. These are most likely the "Pirates" to which you refer; these radios have a higher output on the GMRS portion. Frequently, the packaging downplays the need for an FCC license to operate on the GMRS portion, and advertise them as "22 Channels". There is usually a small advisory in the enclosed literature about requiring a license. I have met many people who have bought these and bragged about having "more channels and more power" than "regular" FRS radios. If this is brought to their attention, they usually shrug and say, "So what? I have more power and more channels than the guy next door!" But most of the combos don't have a repeater capability and at 1W output, they are not likely to cause interference to the higher powered transmitions to stations operating legitimately. Technically, it is a violation of Rules, but unless more people start using unlicensed GMRS radios to "jam" GMRS users or simply operate without a license, the FCC is not going to have the time or the interest in pursuing illegal operators(IMO). I am not aware of such occurances, but I would be surprised if there were none.
With all respect, though, I think you are incorrect about GMRS being non-commercial. There are many businesse that use it, and if they cannot get a frequency pair in their area, they must enter in to a written agreement with the owner of a local repeater.
I would be interested in hearing more about this issue, but I think I have jacked the thread far enough.
Also, the original reply I made to Retired_rich's original post was more aggressive than was necessary; in the heat of being ham radio's self appointed defender, I may not have considered the main point of his post. I wish I could edit out the post I made, but it is too late. So I offer to him here my public apology and hope that this part of the thread can die.
But thank you for your comments.
Cheers.
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Q: What is- More powerful than God; More evil than Satan; rich people want it and poor people have it; If you eat it you will die? A: Nothing.
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