Comments for Kevin Sanders, K0KDS http://radio.kdsanders.com Radio technology and scanning in the Midwest Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:28:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by General Johnny Reb http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-298 General Johnny Reb Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:28:30 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-298 This is simply wrong. I must say first that I am currently NOT licensed for GMRS, however I respect the service. I do have a few bubble pack radios, but I ONLY use them on the FRS low power channels. I wanted FRS only radios, but I could not find them at any of the stores. Tempting as it may be I NEVER use them on the GMRS or GMRS/FRS shared frequencies. Personally I prefer the MURS radio service (VHF band of five "channels") thing is with MURS though is that radios for the most part are rediculously high priced and extremely hard to find. Anyway, I am drifting from the point....this is NOT RIGHT!!!! I have considered going GMRS for my family myself. I have been pricing repeaters, mobiles and the tools to make it work great for us. I was just about to make a purchase and get licensed when these rules changes were brought up a couple of months ago. So, I am holding off for now. I would hate to spend a couple of thousand dollars only to have to give it all up. MURS is GREAT for simplex operation where I am at, but I want a little more range and the convinence of repeater operation for my portables so I was wanting to go with GMRS. I will be waiting now to see how this goes. Another option I might go with is licensing a buisiness frequency for my farm, however my family and I will not be able to chit chat just for fun that route. I am of the firm beleif that they should go ahead and do the license by rule for low power bubble packs, but continue to license High Power and Repeater GMRS users. At the very least let current GMRS users be grandfathered to use their equipment (much like they let businesses be grandfathered in GMRS). They should also allow a 5-10 year timeline for the forced narrowband thing. This would allow users time to upgrade their equipment. Anyway.....just thoughts from an outsider to the GMRS world. I wonder how long before hey close the wide band gap in MURS.....154.6 and 154.57 are still wide or narrowband with no suggested changes. I am sure it wont be long. This is simply wrong. I must say first that I am currently NOT licensed for GMRS, however I respect the service. I do have a few bubble pack radios, but I ONLY use them on the FRS low power channels. I wanted FRS only radios, but I could not find them at any of the stores. Tempting as it may be I NEVER use them on the GMRS or GMRS/FRS shared frequencies. Personally I prefer the MURS radio service (VHF band of five “channels”) thing is with MURS though is that radios for the most part are rediculously high priced and extremely hard to find.
Anyway, I am drifting from the point….this is NOT RIGHT!!!! I have considered going GMRS for my family myself. I have been pricing repeaters, mobiles and the tools to make it work great for us. I was just about to make a purchase and get licensed when these rules changes were brought up a couple of months ago. So, I am holding off for now. I would hate to spend a couple of thousand dollars only to have to give it all up. MURS is GREAT for simplex operation where I am at, but I want a little more range and the convinence of repeater operation for my portables so I was wanting to go with GMRS. I will be waiting now to see how this goes. Another option I might go with is licensing a buisiness frequency for my farm, however my family and I will not be able to chit chat just for fun that route. I am of the firm beleif that they should go ahead and do the license by rule for low power bubble packs, but continue to license High Power and Repeater GMRS users. At the very least let current GMRS users be grandfathered to use their equipment (much like they let businesses be grandfathered in GMRS). They should also allow a 5-10 year timeline for the forced narrowband thing. This would allow users time to upgrade their equipment. Anyway…..just thoughts from an outsider to the GMRS world. I wonder how long before hey close the wide band gap in MURS…..154.6 and 154.57 are still wide or narrowband with no suggested changes. I am sure it wont be long.

]]> Comment on Universal Radio has a good sense of humor by John AE5X http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/universal-radio-has-a-good-sense-of-humor/comment-page-1#comment-286 John AE5X Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:10:12 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=587#comment-286 Pretty funny! I performed a similar mod to a keyer years ago... Pretty funny! I performed a similar mod to a keyer years ago…

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by Bob Rossin WQLL245 http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-281 Bob Rossin WQLL245 Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:45:37 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-281 I just got my gmrs liscense a few mounths ago searched for ever for legal radios I could use. finaly found a good base antenna. paid a fortune for low loss coax. got a couple mobiles and got my family geared up to use it , try as I do to be legal, what would I do if all these changes go into effect ? and where would we find (legal) radios I just got my gmrs liscense a few mounths ago searched for ever for legal radios I could use. finaly found a good base antenna. paid a fortune for low loss coax. got a couple mobiles and got my family geared up to use it , try as I do to be legal, what would I do if all these changes go into effect ? and where would we find (legal) radios

]]> Comment on New Polk County Fire radio system? Could happen if grant is approved by Kevin Sanders, K0KDS http://radio.kdsanders.com/scanning/new-polk-county-fire-radio-system-could-happen-if-grant-is-approved/comment-page-1#comment-276 Kevin Sanders, K0KDS Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:49:26 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=572#comment-276 Only a small portion of RACOM is ProVoice. Most of the traffic on that system in the Des Moines area is in the clear on analog. Only the Metro STAR (tactical) and some suburban police departments are ProVoice and/or encrypted, so don't fret, there's still plenty to listen to on RACOM in Des Moines. Only a small portion of RACOM is ProVoice. Most of the traffic on that system in the Des Moines area is in the clear on analog. Only the Metro STAR (tactical) and some suburban police departments are ProVoice and/or encrypted, so don’t fret, there’s still plenty to listen to on RACOM in Des Moines.

]]> Comment on New Polk County Fire radio system? Could happen if grant is approved by David Whitten http://radio.kdsanders.com/scanning/new-polk-county-fire-radio-system-could-happen-if-grant-is-approved/comment-page-1#comment-274 David Whitten Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:42:07 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=572#comment-274 Yes, I am heading to this city very soon, visiting from Texas. At present, I've been quite disappointed in the Pro-Voice system called RACON in the state since it disallows monitoring. So, hopefully, this P25 system will work on my GRE PRS 500. Yes, I am heading to this city very soon, visiting from Texas. At present, I’ve been quite disappointed in the Pro-Voice system called RACON in the state since it disallows monitoring. So, hopefully, this P25 system will work on my GRE PRS 500.

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by bevo http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-244 bevo Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:19:34 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-244 PRSG posted a helper on responding to these bizarre FCC proposals: http://www.provide.net/~prsg/issues10-119.txt I think WQED459 nailed the situation. I hope everyone will file their comments with the FCC. PRSG posted a helper on responding to these bizarre FCC proposals:

http://www.provide.net/~prsg/issues10-119.txt

I think WQED459 nailed the situation. I hope everyone will file their comments with the FCC.

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by tony tyler http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-235 tony tyler Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:50:46 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-235 wow, is this free country really getting that restrictive. i can not imagine a 2 watt c.b. or not being able to put up my antenna on c.b. of what i choose. are we really becoming that communist in this country? it is a hobby of talking on the radio. give it a break government. enough is enough. wow, is this free country really getting that restrictive. i can not imagine a 2 watt c.b. or not being able to put up my antenna on c.b. of what i choose. are we really becoming that communist in this country? it is a hobby of talking on the radio. give it a break government. enough is enough.

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by David http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-232 David Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:11:21 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-232 I support keeping GMRS licensing for high powered operations and repeaters. I am a licensee and a repeater owner and I would be impacted if GMRS became a bubble pack only service. At the same time, license by rule needs to be done to accomodate the 22-channel bubble pack radios. I'm wrestling with how to recommend rules that works for both and I believe it can be done. The bubble packs absolutely MUST NOT have any repeater capability. I'm in support of narrowbanding GMRS as part of efficient spectrum management and I already went narrowband years ago with my equipment. All of my adjacent channel interference problems from bubble packs 12.5kHz away from GMRS primary channels went away as soon as I switched the GMRS primary channels to narrowband. My equipment is Part 90 commercial gear that also has Part 95 type acceptance. The rules propose to eliminate dual certification of good commercial gear used by GMRS licensees. I don't want to have to use a repeater-capable bubble pack to access a GMRS repeater. I believe the bubble packs can be accomodated without having to make GMRS a bubble pack only service but I'm concerned it may happen anyway. I support keeping GMRS licensing for high powered operations and repeaters. I am a licensee and a repeater owner and I would be impacted if GMRS became a bubble pack only service. At the same time, license by rule needs to be done to accomodate the 22-channel bubble pack radios. I’m wrestling with how to recommend rules that works for both and I believe it can be done. The bubble packs absolutely MUST NOT have any repeater capability. I’m in support of narrowbanding GMRS as part of efficient spectrum management and I already went narrowband years ago with my equipment. All of my adjacent channel interference problems from bubble packs 12.5kHz away from GMRS primary channels went away as soon as I switched the GMRS primary channels to narrowband. My equipment is Part 90 commercial gear that also has Part 95 type acceptance. The rules propose to eliminate dual certification of good commercial gear used by GMRS licensees. I don’t want to have to use a repeater-capable bubble pack to access a GMRS repeater. I believe the bubble packs can be accomodated without having to make GMRS a bubble pack only service but I’m concerned it may happen anyway.

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by David http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-231 David Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:38:15 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-231 Just a quick comment to clarify things slightly. The term "freeband" is incorrect and inappropriate. License-free does not mean regulation-free. The correct terminology is "license by rule". Just a quick comment to clarify things slightly. The term “freeband” is incorrect and inappropriate. License-free does not mean regulation-free. The correct terminology is “license by rule”.

]]> Comment on Will GMRS go freeband? FCC seeks comments on Part 95 review by WQED459 http://radio.kdsanders.com/amateur-radio/will-gmrs-go-freeband-fcc-seeks-comments-on-part-95-review/comment-page-1#comment-230 WQED459 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:01:34 +0000 http://radio.kdsanders.com/?p=506#comment-230 Having failed to properly enforce GMRS rules, this simply appears as if the FCC logic is noncompliance can be eliminated by doing away with the rules. I guess crime rates would go down if there were no criminal offenses in statutes either. Either way, it looks like another case where those who would not follow the rules have impacted those of us who have. GMRS would be of little to no use to me whatsoever without the ability to use a repeater, and only have access to bubble pack radios. Having failed to properly enforce GMRS rules, this simply appears as if the FCC logic is noncompliance can be eliminated by doing away with the rules. I guess crime rates would go down if there were no criminal offenses in statutes either. Either way, it looks like another case where those who would not follow the rules have impacted those of us who have. GMRS would be of little to no use to me whatsoever without the ability to use a repeater, and only have access to bubble pack radios.

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