MURS questions

[keithro]

Would the best form of short range trail communication (rig to rig) be to use MURS if you have a mix of licensed/non-licensed drivers? The assumption is that they will all be licensed in the near future.

Can a Yaesu FT-8900 or 7900 legally transmit on MURS frequencies for an unlicensed person? (turn power down to 2 Watts) From the specs I see 5 Watts is min. output.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Would the best form of short range trail communication (rig to rig) be to use MURS if you have a mix of licensed/non-licensed drivers? The assumption is that they will all be licensed in the near future.

Can a Yaesu FT-8900 or 7900 legally transmit on MURS frequencies for an unlicensed person? (turn power down to 2 Watts) From the specs I see 5 Watts is min. output.

No, they can't: Ham radios are not legally approved to transmit on MURS freqs. Not saying it doesn't happen, though.

Depending on how short your short-range is, FRS might be best...

 

[keithro]

We will be pretty short range.....maybe CB communication is the way to go.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Maybe. But FRS has far better sound quality.

 

[xtatik]

Maybe. But FRS has far better sound quality.

Definitely!

 

[craig]

Maybe. But FRS has far better sound quality.

But less range... Go Amateur Radio!

 

[Pskhaat]

Actually, GMRS makes the most sense even over MURS. I'm surprised no one makes consumer-grade mobile GMRS radios to take the market for those looking for more out of both FRS and CB.

 

[craig]

If I'm not mistaken, the FCC requires all consumer grade FRS/GMRS equipment to be handheld with, limited wattage, and limited antenna size.

GMRS licenses are more expensive than Amateur Radio licenses, though they don't require a test.

 

[Pskhaat]

Correct on FRS with ERP and integrated antenna. Not the case for GMRS-proper though, that's where I thought the market would fill, alas no.

 

[craig]

That is interesting. GMRS in a mobile unit would work really well for club use. No test licensing, but improved audio.

 

[gary in ohio]

That is interesting. GMRS in a mobile unit would work really well for club use. No test licensing, but improved audio.

GMRS can not be licensed for a club, They can be licensed for a individual or family. While not test is required, there is a 5year license fee. GMRS has 15 channels, 7 lower power 5watt max channels and 8 channels that can be used in simplex or duplex mode up to 50watts. GMRS can use repeaters

 

[DaveInDenver]

That is interesting. GMRS in a mobile unit would work really well for club use. No test licensing, but improved audio.

I've always thought so, too. We've gotten the majority (around 60%) of our club members licensed for the amateur service but even so there is still only a small part of the club that I would call dedicated hams. They see the advantage of 50W FM transceivers and repeaters, so GMRS would be a perfect fit.

 

[craig]

I wasn't suggesting a *club* would buy a license. And by club I meant an offroad club, not an amateur radio club. We've been trying to get all of the individuals in our group licensed for Amateur Radio use for the past 3 years. It's tough to get everyone licensed. GMRS would be appealing because people wouldn't have to take a test, just fork over a little cash. That's a much easier sell.

A 50w mobile radio is identical to what we are doing on 2m today. If a 50w mobile rig were available we'd switch over to that in a heartbeat. FRS and CB just don't work well.

Craig

Edit: I accidentally quoted the wrong post. This reply is in response to gary_in_ohio's post.

 

[craig]

Apparently I don't know what I'm talking about. There are 50w mobile GMRS radios already available. I just let my GMRS license expire because I saw it as a big waste of money. With people running these, it becomes an interesting option. I'm not sure if the handheld GMRS license would be the same or different for these higher powered GMRS radios. I'm also wondering if any of them support APRS. I have a lot of commercial customers interested in running APRS with Overland Navigator for fleet tracking. Time to do some research!

This one is made by the parent company of Yaesu:

Vertex Standard VX-4207 45watt UHF 450-512 MHz band split w/dual band UHF/VHF transceiver.

 

[Pskhaat]

Interesting. The commercial UHF radios can be pre-programmed with a small set of frequencies, yes? But does it have the ability to change subtones on-the-fly and scroll through the standard channels?