Zip code search did pull up a test but there's a club much closer that doesn't come up. They are an affiliated club so it's probably just a glitch in the matrix.

As often occurs due to time spent learnin' about stuff on SIGforum, I've been deep diving this subject. Naturally, I'm probably gonna be acquiring more gear! Anyway, I got to thinking a HAM Base Station might be desirable. AND during my research, I found this...



Checked the Protective Covenants for my HOA...Apparently it would NOT be a violation to put that up!

quote:

Originally posted by P220forever:
I jumped in on a pair of Tidradio GM-5R's that come standard with 3800mAh batteries. These are GMRS radios so no ham bands but are FCC compliant and completely legal. Getting my FCC GMRS license was as simple as setting up an account and paying a $35 dollar fee which covers all family members including aunts, uncles and grandparents for 10 years.
Ham licensing was, by comparison, much more involved, and being a complete newb, seemed daunting. I may venture into ham at a later date but for now I'm legal in every way, which was a big factor in my mind. $57 out the door for the pair on Amazon (20% off coupon clipped).

I was going to pickup some extra batteries and a chirp cable, but then I saw your post and that deal is still on. I figured why not get some extra radios to boot, like you said this way legal for family members too. Going to do my GMRS license tonight. I am not sure but I think I watched a video where these will do HAM if you configure them on Chirp but I am going leave them like they are. The batteries and accessories are comaptible with the Baofeng, so win win.



I sure hope Amazon does not start selling Carrier Pidgeons.


Link to Amazon Tidradio

Those of you buying extended capacity batteries for your US5R: Pay careful attention to the locking tab on top of the battery and the adjacent lock release. Its fragile. Ask me how I know.

Anyway, if you find out, packing tape is your friend.

RMD

It does seem that GMRS is the choice for most people, given the ease of obtaining a license.

While obtaining a Technician's license certainly is not the hardest thing, since they do provide you with the multiple choice questions and the answers, it looks like the pool of questions numbers somewhere between 400 and 500, with the test being 35 questions from this pool. So, to be certain of passing it the first time does require a time investment. I intend to take the test before too long, perhaps a month or two from now but I'm going to nail down the questions to a certainty. It's a matter of rote memorization, but 4 to 500 questions ain't hay, especially if one's goal is simply to pass the test, rather than having an interest in delving deeply into the subject of radio communication.

Of course, all this started for me with recognizing the need for emergency communications in the case of a true catastrophe, and the irresistibly low price of a time-tested cheap Chinese radio which has a remarkable amount of information available online.

However, these GMRS radios which have outputs of 5 or 6 watts and appear to be quite easy to use, make a Hell of a lot of sense. One hundred fifty or two hundred dollars will get you a really nice GMRS radio and if you're willing to invest the money, you can get your whole family legal for the airwaves with no hassle.

But, even with a good-quality GMRS setup, the BaoFeng UV-5R still makes a lot of sense, especially when we're envisioning scenarios where the Federal Communications Commission would be the least of your worries.

Here's a good video to give you an idea of the advantages of GMRS.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Finding someone to administer the test is probably the hardest part of getting the HAM tech. license.

It's not exactly difficult.

http://www.arrl.org/find-an-am...license-exam-session

Exactly my point.

I found a local test site, but the soonest they are doing it is March. The waiting is the hardest part.

Para, still glad I picked up the BaoFengs first great deal for that price, and I am still going to do my HAM license too.

I showed some of my family and now the interest has been sparked so to get everyone on board I am going to add the GMRS option for those of us that will use them regularly and have the UV-5R's for backup.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:

quote:

Originally posted by P220forever:
I jumped in on a pair of Tidradio GM-5R's that come standard with 3800mAh batteries. These are GMRS radios so no ham bands but are FCC compliant and completely legal. Getting my FCC GMRS license was as simple as setting up an account and paying a $35 dollar fee which covers all family members including aunts, uncles and grandparents for 10 years.
Ham licensing was, by comparison, much more involved, and being a complete newb, seemed daunting. I may venture into ham at a later date but for now I'm legal in every way, which was a big factor in my mind. $57 out the door for the pair on Amazon (20% off coupon clipped).

I was going to pickup some extra batteries and a chirp cable, but then I saw your post and that deal is still on. I figured why not get some extra radios to boot, like you said this way legal for family members too. Going to do my GMRS license tonight. I am not sure but I think I watched a video where these will do HAM if you configure them on Chirp but I am going leave them like they are. The batteries and accessories are comaptible with the Baofeng, so win win.



I sure hope Amazon does not start selling Carrier Pidgeons.


Link to Amazon Tidradio

I've heard the FCC site is "fun". Yep, a GMRS license makes sense especially since it was lowered from $70 to $35. I also heard on Josh's HRCC channel that you would need to set up a PO Box PRIOR to applying if you don't want your physical address on the database.

Interestingly, I tried to install chirp on my Chromebook using a virtual Linux machine, another rabbit hole with lots of digging involved. I doesn't want to find repeaters so I may have to break out the dormant PC. manual programming isn't too bad but with obvious limitations.

Also, my local radio society has a repeater and was discussing the class they held on Saturday and GMRS was a bigger topic than ham. I can't discuss more because that's a FCC violation. Probably so is recording such conversation (especially without a license).

There's someone at the door so...

Sorry if this is a dupe…

myGMRS.com can be searched to see if you have a GMRS repeater near you or on a drive somewhere.

There is a repeater near me on a high rise building that enables me to contact people 50 miles away with ease. There is a weekly net that has around 35 to 60 checkins weekly from a large geographic area. Many are like-minded people that support the thing’s Sigforum does. My point is, GMRS can be more than just a short range point to point comms device - if you have a repeater capable handheld or base station. I typically recommend a radio of this type when asked.

Well I'd picked up a pair of TIRADIOs last year when the Jeep club I hang out with uses them and told me to go ahead and get my own instead of borrowing one every time. Its the GM-5R and I was using it straight out of the box, I'd no idea about Chirp or the other channels its capable of using. Hell, until this thread I'd no idea it had NOAA and an FM radio.

Thanks to this thread, I even plopped down $35 to the FCC for a license I didn't know I was supposed to have. I also realized that the same $35 was never intended to make the FCC website more user friendly when it comes to paying said $35.

Appreciate the post Para, you opened my eyes to some serious SHTF stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:

quote:

Originally posted by P220forever:
I jumped in on a pair of Tidradio GM-5R's that come standard with 3800mAh batteries. These are GMRS radios so no ham bands but are FCC compliant and completely legal. Getting my FCC GMRS license was as simple as setting up an account and paying a $35 dollar fee which covers all family members including aunts, uncles and grandparents for 10 years.
Ham licensing was, by comparison, much more involved, and being a complete newb, seemed daunting. I may venture into ham at a later date but for now I'm legal in every way, which was a big factor in my mind. $57 out the door for the pair on Amazon (20% off coupon clipped).

I was going to pickup some extra batteries and a chirp cable, but then I saw your post and that deal is still on. I figured why not get some extra radios to boot, like you said this way legal for family members too. Going to do my GMRS license tonight. I am not sure but I think I watched a video where these will do HAM if you configure them on Chirp but I am going leave them like they are. The batteries and accessories are comaptible with the Baofeng, so win win.



I sure hope Amazon does not start selling Carrier Pidgeons.


Link to Amazon Tidradio

These are different than Baofengs in that the antenna connection on the radio is female and the antenna is male. On the Baofengs the connection on the radio is male and the antenna is female. Other than that they look virtually identical.

^^^Good to know, thanks.^^^^^

Para would have to post that GMRS Youtube video... Now I have two Wouxun KG-935G Plus radios and two Nagoya 771G antennas on the way!

Legal ham radio operator here 1st ticketed Jan 1978 and still have a current ticket ...Obtaining a ticket now is almost a joke as the test have been relaxed and dummied down... Now a lot of hams are just ""OPERATORS"" and have no real working knowledge of what they are doing... Turn it on and if it works then that is ok.. If it does not work then so be it.... There ways of studing the different test levels from simple to complicated.. Books / tapes /computers... Some of books these books such as ""All Ham and no Spam by "Craig E."Buck" (K4IA)"" (available on Amazon books) give brief descriptions and the question pool with "ONLY" the correct answers instead of the multible choice answers that at test time just might confuse you... Each test has serveral different test so if you take the test more than one time each test will be different.. Answer on one test might be "A" then another test will be "B" or "C" or "D"..... Memorize the material... Some "hams" as young as 10 yrs old have and hold the EXTRA" class ticket. And I personally consider the "GMRS" ticket just a glorified updated version of "CB" At least that is the way I have seen it used around here.... And as the photo in nhracraft post shows a rotatable yagi style hf beam is nice to have but a home brewed wire antenna hidden in the attic or strung up along top of the yard fence or between trees in the yard will get you on the airwaves.. Whatever melts your butter go for it and enjoy the radiowaves....... de KL7JIU aka .... drill sgt.

I don't think anyone who is studying for the test is memorizing just the correct letter of the multiple choice. Give us more credit than that.

It's really not possible to not learn things, even when the questions and answers are provided. Test aside, in researching all of this, I've already learned a great deal.

I doubt, though, that there will ever come a time that I will need to know how to read an electronics schematic. I just want to be able to use my radios without being hassled by the FCC or super-serious, self-appointed ham radio cops who think that they own the airwaves and who daily scan the ham frequencies in an effort to find someone to berate and narc on. Some people have never had any kind of authority in their life, and I imagine a few of them end up on ham radio frequencies.

I need to be able to monitor emergency frequencies and be able to transmit on them should the need arise. I need to gain an understanding of which antennas are best for which frequencies, and understand the characteristics of aerial antennas.

I'll obtain the license which allows me to use my radios legally but this will never be a real hobby for me. Beyond the novelty of trying it out to make sure I can make myself understood over the radio, I'm just not interest in sitting around, talking about whatever to whomever.

Para in response to your posting my post was not meant to be bemeaning for those people wanting to get their ham tickets... Just my oberservations on some of the current up coming operators... And as far as the frequency cops trying to control the airways to berate and narc on I have no use for them.....There are so many facets to the hobby that there is plenty of different things to do to go around.............. drill sgt.

I ended up opting for TIDRADIO H8 GMRS Handheld Radio for several reasons:

Low FCC hurdle to be legal. Maybe someday, I'll have interest in studying for a ham test, but not right now.

Seemed easire to program. Program with an app over bluetooth, and import repeater list. No cable or computer involved.

Batteries came with USB-C port

Came with GMRS specific upgraded antenna

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I'm really enjoying NotaRubicon Productions on yt. I've no idea what I'm doing but he's a good place to start for those like me.
Except, I think he's got me set up on a menu item that will piss of the sad hams. He's hard to read at first.

quote:

Except, I think he's got me set up on a menu item that will piss of the sad hams

If it's the "Roger Beep", you'll be amazed at how many people are not impressed.

Same thing with CB's roger beeps were not encouraged. I did see one of his videos about GMRS and it seemed like it needed to be on to work with the repeaters. So much to learn.