As licensed Amateur Radio operators, we are already familiar with the purpose, spectrum allocations and characteristics of this service. According to Part 97 of the FCC rules, the fundamental purposes of the Amateur Radio Service are -

• Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
• Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
• Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
• Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
• Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

From time to time, we should all stop and ask ourselves how our own ham radio activities coincide with the hobby’s defined purposes. We must also be aware that Part 97 lists a number of prohibited transmissions in the Amateur Radio Service. Some of these include -

• Communications for hire or for material compensation, direct or indirect, ...
• Communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. (Amateur operators may, however, notify other amateur operators of the availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in an amateur station, provided that such activity is not conducted on a regular basis)
• Music ...
• Communications intended to facilitate a criminal act;
• Messages in codes or ciphers intended to obscure the meaning thereof, ...
• Obscene or indecent words or language; ...
• Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.

There are a wide range of ham radio bands with different propagation characteristics and many possible modes of operation ranging from Morse Code to transmitting live, real time color television pictures. The use of these resources can provide reliable communications over long distances as well as on a local level. However, the FCC has placed a number of restrictions on what we are allowed to use those frequencies for.

Many hams might be interested in the particular characteristics, purpose, and licensing requirements of other two-way radio services available to the American public and businesses. Other than obvious exceptions like playing music, facilitating criminal acts and that sort of thing, there are several radio services we might also use that permit many of the types of communications banned from the Amateur Service and don’t require any of the license examinations required of hams to prove their technical competence.

Note that the use of modified ham gear to transmit on any of these other radio services is not permitted. This may seem awfully tempting but can result in some rather severe consequences including forfeiture of equipment, cancellation of any government issued radio licenses, and some pretty stiff fines. Fortunately, FCC type accepted equipment for each alternate radio service is readily available, often at reasonable cost.
 
 

A vast array of frequencies, modes and equipment are available to businesses under Part 90 of the FCC rules. Licensing is limited to "... entities engaged in commercial activities, engaged in clergy activities, operating educational, philanthropic, or ecclesiastical institutions, or operating hospitals, clinics, or medical associations." Equipment can range from one or two watt hand held radios that are available at sources from Sam’s Club and mail order all the way up to large systems of high power trunked and/or linked repeaters.

Virtually all business radio channels require frequency coordination as part of the initial licensing process. When purchasing equipment from a professional two-way radio shop, help with the paperwork involved in the coordination and licensing process is one of the services the shop may provide at or near their cost. Under some circumstances, the business two-way radio user might operate as part of a shared system that is already coordinated and licensed.

For short range job site communications, those two hundred dollar or less radios a business might pick up at a local home center or RadioShack store can be coordinated and the initial license application filed through the Personal Communications Industry Association (http://www.pcia.com/PciaSolutions/Mbonly.htm). Fees for this coordination and licensing service start around $200 depending on system complexity and the number of channels required.

For the uninformed, however, bargain priced business radios from sources other than a professional radio dealer are often not as good a deal as they first seem. For example, a well known chain of stores currently has a 2 watt VHF hand held radio on sale for only $100. Although it can be configured for several different frequencies, this radio must be sent to a service center if, by the luck of the draw, the buyer isn’t licensed for the channel setting as it comes out of the box. The manuals provided with this type of two-way radio almost always mention the requirement for an FCC license but the companies selling them provide no assistance in obtaining one. These sellers also tend to not inform the buyer of the significant additional expenses required in obtaining initial frequency coordination and the FCC license fees.

The 27 MHz Citizens Band is authorized under Part 95 of the FCC rules. This now-unlicensed radio service provides for up to 4 watts output on AM or 12 watts PEP for single side band transmissions on 40 discrete channels. Although subject to skip of several thousand miles during peaks in the sunspot cycle, communications with stations beyond 250 kilometers (about 150 miles) are prohibited by Part 95. Both business and personal communications are allowed on the Citizens Band. Telephone patches are even legal but they must be done under the continuous control of a base station operator.
 
 

According to the Personal Radio Steering Group, "[In] 1996, the FCC created the Family Radio Service (FRS) in the 462 and 467 MHz spectrum. ... FRS uses narrowband FM (NBFM) with maximum effective radiated power of 0.5 watt. FRS is intended for hand-held, short-range local communications. No license is needed." This has become a very popular communications medium for families so that parents can keep in touch with their children and each other with little investment in radio equipment.

FRS consists of 14 channels in two groups of seven in the areas of 462 and 467 MHz. In accordance with the short range nature of this radio service, antennas cannot be detached from a FRS unit and external antennas are prohibited. Many radio models are available with up to 38 Continuous Tone Coded Squelch settings or a digital equivalent that allow channel sharing among several different families or groups. A significant amount of FRS activity can be found in popular tourist and vacation locations like amusement parks. On clear channels, very reliable communications of over a half mile can be expected with a practical limit of around 2 miles.

Some businesses have even found FRS to be a viable short range substitute for equipment and licensing in the Business Radio Service. Business users should, however, evaluate if their business can be conducted properly within an unlicensed and uncoordinated radio service intended for the use of the general public. On FRS, there is no protection afforded against interference and no channel user coordination.
 
 

The Personal Radio Steering Group web site states that "The General Mobile Radio Service (formerly known as Class A of the Citizens Radio Service) is a personal radio service available for the conduct of an individual's personal and family communications. GMRS uses commercial grade, UHF-FM radios identical to those used by public safety agencies, businesses, and other governmental, commercial and industrial licensees in the Private Land Mobile Radio Services." The General Mobile Radio Service is a licensed two-way radio service but, unlike the Amateur Radio Service, requires no examination and it also allows communications directly relating to a licensee’s business activities.

The General Mobile Radio Service is the licensed two-way radio option for family and personal communication. There is no lengthy basis and purpose for GMRS as in Amateur Radio. The service was not intended to be a amateur auxiliary service to supplement emergency or public service communication, though some ham organizations use it under their organizational GMRS licenses for that purpose. GMRS was intended to be a directed communication service for personal and family use.

A license currently costs $75 and is good for five years. Operation of GMRS radios is extended to all of the licensee’s immediate family even if they don’t all reside in the same household. The FCC web site (http://www.fcc.gov/wtb) has provisions for filing GMRS applications on-line and an instant, temporary license is available to applicants. Like CB, this service is authorized and regulated by Part 95 of the FCC rules. Unlike CB, GMRS uses FM on UHF channels rather than AM on skip-prone frequencies. GMRS is much less sensitive to ignition and other man-made electrical noise. It is also entirely free of interference caused by ionospheric skip propagation.

Businesses and other "non-individuals" such as public service organizations are no longer eligible for licensing under GMRS. Those which were already licensed when the new rules went into effect were grandfathered and can renew their licenses indefinitely as long as no significant changes or upgrades are made to their system from the way it was originally licensed. A large number of R.E.A.C.T. teams, as business users prior to 1987, had obtained repeater system licenses under the old rules and can also continue to renew their licenses indefinitely provided no changes in channel pair or system specifications are made from that listed in their original FCC authorization. Users of these grandfathered systems that do not hold individual GMRS licensees of their own are prohibited from using any other GMRS channel not listed on the organization or business' license. That prohibition is also extended to the interstitial frequencies mentioned below. There is no grace period for late renewal of a business or other non-individual’s GMRS ticket. If it is not renewed on time due to lack of diligence by a licensee, that business or organization must permanently abandon their operation on GMRS frequencies.

Eight channel pairs in the 462 and 467 MHz spectrum are used for GMRS base stations and repeaters. For locations within about 75 miles of Canada, operation on two of these channel pairs is prohibited leaving six available. Power levels of up to 50 watts output are allowed on these eight primary GMRS channels with no limit on antenna gain and height. As is common on business band channels, simplex communications take place on the repeater output frequencies. Range using a GMRS repeater in a high location can easily exceed 25 miles. There is no longer any requirement for a GMRS licensee to notify the FCC of repeater locations, channel pair, or other specific system specifications. This is one result of the FCC’s recently implemented "all channel licensing" for individual GMRS users. (Note that grandfathered businesses and other organizations do not share in the benefits of all channel licensing. They are restricted to just the one or two channel pairs shown on their original license.) Telephone interconnects of any kind are prohibited in the General Mobile Radio Service.

Besides the eight primary channels, seven additional simplex frequencies are available for hand held radios, mobiles, and low profile base stations to transmit on. These channels, called the "interstitial" frequencies because they fall in between the eight primary channels, coincide exactly with FRS channels one through seven. However, the licensed GMRS operator is allowed 5 watts Effective Radiated Power (ERP) and up to 5 kHz FM deviation rather than the 1/2 watt and 2 1/2 kHz limits of unlicensed FRS. Range on the GMRS interstitial channels of five miles or more is not uncommon. Intercommunication between GMRS and FRS on these seven channels is not specifically addressed by Part 95 of the FCC rules and is generally considered permissible.

Any modern commercial UHF two-way radio equipment that meets the specifications for GMRS and that is type accepted under Parts 90 and/or 95 of the FCC rules is permissible for use in the General Mobile Radio Service. (Modified Amateur Radio equipment is illegal for use on GMRS and business band channels.) Some manufacturers are now coming to market with radios specifically tailored to the needs of a GMRS operator. One example is the ADI/Pryme (http://www.adi-radio.com) PR-460 UHF handheld which is available configured as either their SportConnect or ClearConnect model. The former is set up for the seven interstitial channels and has 462.675 MHz with 141.3 Hz CTCSS (the recommended GMRS emergency frequency) as an eighth. Their ClearConnect provides all 23 possible GMRS channel combinations – 8 repeater, 8 repeater talk-around (simplex), and the 7 interstitial channels and provides quick access to the same emergency frequency as its sibling. Unlike equipment designed for use by businesses, these models and most other GMRS-specific radios have user selectable CTCSS right out of the box.
 
 

The Multi-Use Radio Service came into being on November 13, 2000.  This unlicensed radio service reallocated 3 existing one watt and 2 two watt VHF high band business channels for both personal and business use.  Up to two watts with a limited antenna height are permitted.  There are some additional restrictions on bandwidth, based on frequency. The former two watt business channels are already heavily populated by construction and manufacturing companies, garden centers and landscapers, golf courses and race tracks, and even some McDonalds drive up windows. On the other hand, the FCC database listed only three licensees in all of Ohio on the former one watt business channels.

As yet, there is no business radio equipment on the market that is specifically geared to five channel MURS operation. Most commercial gear that meets current FCC requirements for the three former one watt channels will probably be acceptable. Current two watt business channels with 5 kHz deviation will only be permitted on two of the five channels as unlicensed MURS equipment. Over a period, MURS radios will probably become more prevalent and affordable as has occurred with the now inexpensive Family Radio Service handheld transceivers. One thing to look for once these radios become available is a user adjustable CTCSS feature to save the expense of paying a qualified technician to reprogram them.

More current information about MURS can be found on the Personal Radio Steering Group web site. Several discussion threads about the pros, cons, applications for and implications of MURS appear in the Forums of the Popular Wireless Web Magazine’s Personal Wireless Bulletin Boards.

The Personal Radio Steering Group (http://www.provide.net/~prsg/) is the recognized authority on the General Mobile Radio Service. Their web site provides in-depth information about GMRS and FRS, and preliminary information about MURS. The Popular Wireless Web Magazines (http://www.popularwireless.com/) are dedicated to the communications needs of families and individuals.

A group of discussion forums is also associated with the GMRS Web Magazine. These can be found by following a hyperlink to the GMRS Web Magazine Personal Communications Bulletin Board (http://www.popularwireless.com./cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi). All of the radio services mentioned in this article are discussed regularly on the web site’s forums. Other forums on this web site cover a wide range of radio communications topics from cellular telephone to radio direction finding.

May 28, 2002

by Bill Easterday, KB8FU

former KAD7920 (GMRS)

FCC General Radiotelephone Operator Licensee

Forum Moderator, GMRS Web Magazine

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Copyright 2000, 2002 William C. Easterday