Two-way radios

[BoneIdle]

Last week my wife was hospitalized for what turned out to be congestive heart failure. Fortunately her prognosis is very good. However, she's restricted to bed rest at home.

Since the house is a "four square" built in 1904, and I spend most of my time in the basement workshop, this presented a problem.

We have two blue heelers who think that their human pack members are invulnerable to their lively displays of canine affections. With my wife's delicate condition I decided that we'd put her out of their reach by installing her in the second floor guest bedroom.

After the first day of this, I became winded and fatigued: every time I'd hear her dulcet bellow from the second floor, I'd trot up one or two flights of stairs in response, only to trot back down the stairs multiple times to obtain what she required for her comfort.

And then there have been those times that I'd arrive at her bedside panting and wheezing, to hear the awful phrase "...I need one more thing from downstairs."

It became evident that we needed a better form of communication, so I purchased a pair of AudioVox two way radios ( 15 mile range, $27.00) from the local discount store. They worked great, but while I was reading the manual, I came across a disturbing statement: FCC License required.


I figured that the license would run maybe 10 dollars - tops. So, I logged into the FCC licensing site and commenced filling out the application.

Imagine my total slackness of jaw when the site displayed the $85.00 fee!

Of course I paid it. Apparently the new breed of walkie-talkies require a GMRS( General Mobile Radio Service) license. Sure, it's a steep price, but it's also for five years, and I'll not use cheap, Star Trek Action Pack "communicators" for my wife. I value her too much (and she could lay me out with one punch of a delicate forehoof).

But, I'm kind of amazed: apparently millions of these things have been sold, but there are only 50,000 licenses issued for them by the FCC. That's an approximate figure, but still...

Am I just being a goofball by obeying the licensing laws? Or am I the only person in the U.S. who actually takes the threat of a $10,000 fine seriously?

 

[aerog]

For close-range, in-house type stuff you'd have been better off (maybe) with a FRS radio and not a GMRS radio. The FRS band is shared with part of the GMRS band and can operate together but FRS is lower power (1/2 watt) and does not require a license. GMRS can go up to 50watts and with the right antenna your 15 mile range can be easily had - with two little hand-held radios you won't get that though unless one is up in a high building or mountaintop.

Also - if you have a true GMRS radio but <span style="font-style: italic">only use the FRS band on it</span> then you do <span style="font-style: italic">not</span> need a license to operate the radio.

 

[BoneIdle]

Well,I did some research yesterday and it wasn't clear enough for my comfort whether or not it's legal to use the FRS channels on the GMRS transceivers.

I wanted something that I could use across town anyway.
Town in this case being a mile in any direction.


So far the radios work at 3 miles and that's on FRS, so I'm happy.

Still kind of amazed about the potential numbers of unlicensed users out there though.

 

[mailbox]

FCC License required.

You have GOT to be kidding. An $85 license for a $30 handset? I personally would have ignored it. I mean whose going to come to your door and tell you that you are in violation of the law, the RADIO POLICE? You did the right and honorable thing, but still, $85? SHEEEEEESE.

P.S. Hope you wife is doing well. I will keep you BOTH in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Dave Richards]

I have a GMRS radio, but use the FRS, most of my hunting buddies do the same. The warning made us paranoid. The radios are built into a GPS unit that we use to text and keep track of each other. We're usually within a 1/2 mile of each other, FRS has worked fine.

$85 is a bunch of money, but you did the honorable thing.

I hope your wife gets better quickly.

 

[BoneIdle]

The other facet of this licensing thing with GMRS is that now I'm starting to think about higher power, repeaters,etc.

Ironically, if my wife's cellular provider had better coverage here at the house, we'd probably used cell phones instead.

It took her about a day to get used to the radio. Now, it's: "DEAR!!!! DEAR!!! I need half a grapefruit and some shiny 8d nails....PRONTO!!!" or some other arcane request. This happens about 15 times a day. Me and my bright ideas

 

[Darwin]

With all that exercise you are keeping your own heart in better health. So in a way your wife's condition is contributing to your own betterment....if all the running up and down the stairs doesn't do you in.

Hope your wife feels better soon.

 

[AweMan]

FCC License required.

You have GOT to be kidding. An $85 license for a $30 handset? I personally would have ignored it. I mean whose going to come to your door and tell you that you are in violation of the law, the RADIO POLICE? You did the right and honorable thing, but still, $85? SHEEEEEESE.

P.S. Hope you wife is doing well. I will keep you BOTH in my thoughts and prayers.

Believe it or not there ARE Radio Police, or at least there used to be.
Back in the 70`s a neighbor of mine was captured using an amature radio to transmit on the top side of the 11 meter band {Above channel 40 on the C.B. radio}
The reason I know this is beacuse an unmarked F.C.C. van was parked in front of my house every evening for a week straight, Yea I called the local police to investigate why this van was "Casing my neighborhood". They informed me it was an F.C.C. investigation.
Later on the neighbor told me all about what had happened. They fined him and conficated most of his radio gear!
Even if this guy had bought a license, what he was doing was/is against the law.

Just to be safe, I like you would, have paid the $ for a license.
Best wishes for your Wife, Get well soon!

 

[aerog]

Yup - like Aweman said, there are "radio police". I think the chances are pretty slim that a couple of people will get nabbed for casually using GMRS though.

They've watered-down the tests for getting an entry-level ham radio license to the point that a lot of people are getting their licenses (and radios) instead of going with GMRS. I'm sure getting into the hobby is another motivation too. Point is, the market for small handheld VHF and UHF amateur (ham) radio transceivers has really grown compared to how it was 20 years ago. The 70cm ham band is right there around GMRS, and some folks buy them thinking it's the same thing - or just blowing off the license requirements. Hams and the FCC take using those radios illegally <span style="font-style: italic">very</span> seriously.

Here's a typical case of a <span style="font-style: italic">licensed</span> ham broadcasting on frequencies he doesn't have authorization to use - I think he probably was being pretty blatant about his "illegal" operations though:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] 1. In this Forfeiture Order ("Order"), we issue a monetary forfeiture in
the amount of four thousand three hundred dollars ($4,300) to Ronald
Mondgock ("Mondgock"), the former licensee of Novice Class Amateur
Radio Service station KA3OMZ in Honeybrook, Pennsylvania, for
willfully and repeatedly violating Section 301 of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended ("Act"), by operating radio transmitting
equipment on the frequencies 439.850 MHz and 147.560 MHz without a
license.

2. On August 15, 2007, the Philadelphia Field Office issued a Notice of
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL") to Mondgock in the amount of
$10,000 for operating radio transmitting equipment on the frequencies
439.850 MHz and 147.560 MHz without a license. In its response to the
NAL, Mondgock does not dispute the findings, but requests a
cancellation of the forfeiture based on his inability to pay.[/QUOTE]

 

[lawguy]

...Still kind of amazed about the potential numbers of unlicensed users out there though.

That would be everyobody who owns these things but you.

You did the right, thing, though.

 

[Dave Richards]

I have no idea, but I would imagine the licensing requirement originated in the idea that "broadcasting" should be a regulated activity...

 

[DrEntropy]

I come from a time out of th' mist when "W3" was followed by three letters. You had to know more than CW, put in actual time studying and go thru a hierarchy of graded "class" license steps. QSL cards from London and Moscow were my prized possessions (at age 12) and Sunday mornings were spent in front of my Hallicrapters SX-99 (modified with an oscillator circuit), tuning in SSB signals by fellas broadcasting from places far, far away.

Now it's all contained in a hand-held, ya pony up th' fee and "presto!" you're a HAM Radio Operator. Grudgingly I admit: it's kinda neat. But I can still fire up that receiver and be warmed in spirit by the glow of vacuum tubes. :wink: