PopularWireless.com Thoughts on GMRS

GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) is more popular on the East Coast than it is here in California, but several Community Emergency Communications Groups are considering GMRS and GMRS repeaters as part of their comm plans. FYI.

Moderator

June 9th, 2007

(Huntingtown, MD) Monitoring of the General Mobile Radio Service in the North East United States here at PopularWireless HQ is raising some serious concern about how some repeater owners, that are also Amateur Radio licensees, allow their GMRS systems to be used. It raises concerns because Amateurs who own and operate GMRS systems should hold themselves to a higher standard but from what we hear some Amateurs take full of advantage of GMRS to use it in ways they would never tolerate on their own repeater bands. The behavior also does not bode well for GMRS generally since it leads the general public to believe that this is what GMRS is all about when some of these Hams are not at all good examples.

During the first two years of the PRA Enforcement Team Program the PRA has forwarded GMRS complaints to the Federal Communications Commission involving Amateurs including:

1. Failure to identify with GMRS call signs
2. Unlicensed use of GMRS. Listen to GMRS at ANY ham fest.
3. Beacon repeater identification
4. Using modified amateur radio equipment on GMRS and FRS. A great place to observe this is at any ham fest
5. Amateurs employed by or that own radio shops putting commercial intruders on GMRS or FRS. This has included building FRS repeaters.
6. Using a personal GMRS license to cover employees that are not related to the licensee to conduct the licensee’s business.
7. Setting up buff groups on multiple repeater pairs and discouraging family use as “unprofessional.”
8. Declaring GMRS frequencies as emergency channels chasing off family users.
9. Using Amateur Radio call signs in the GMRS.
10. Engaging in deliberate acts of interference on FRS.
11. Amateurs, that are also public safety employees, that use GMRS systems for official purposes without licenses.

Clearly, at least to PRA members, the behaviors of some Amateurs that own and operate or just use some GMRS repeaters is way out of line and does not speak well of the Amateur Radio Service. These Amateurs behave one way in the Amateur Radio Service and enjoy letting their hair down in GMRS. They also do not mind deceiving others into believing their way of using GMRS is the accepted way rules be damned. These Amateurs have established what has become a dangerous double standard. It is a standard that is attracting attention.

Given that the FCC has been considering for more than a decade of de-licensing GMRS through license-by-rule and perhaps even terminating repeater operation completely — it does not help build our case that family repeaters are still a viable communications option.

Granted, not every abuse of GMRS or FRS is by someone that holds an Amateur license and there are quite a few very good GMRS systems owned or operated by GMRS lciensees that happen to be Hams, but far too many of the complaints we see involve Amateurs. It is enough to be very concerned. Amateurs that own and operate GMRS systems had better start behaving according to the FCC Rules or their bad behavior may be one big reason we eventually lose the service as we know it. PopularWireless also encourages every licensee to subscribe to the Personal radio Association’s GMRS Code of Conduct.