Liberty wrote:JALLEN wrote:
I also believe the Forum discourages or forbids advocating unlawful activities or conduct, which using non type accepted or approved radios in FRS and GMRS is. "Well, it's only in emergencies." Right!
From what I have seen this area (Harris County / Galveston) is pretty disciplined during emergencies.. But we are kinda used to it.
It isn't illegal to monitor those frequencies with ham gear, although I think I might have inadvertently implied that one could be used to transmit.
My thought is my cheap amateur handhelds would be monitoring major nets including preset GMRS channels. Most of the handhelds are pretty decent scanners Almost any 2 way communications I would be doing would be on my GMRS sets ( I got 4 of them) unless I were working with one of my emergency groups/clubs. GMRS worked great for me during Ike. Even in the direst of emergencies, there is still plenty of empty bandwidth to be used on 70cm to be used if one works within the simplex bandwidth. Amateur is a pretty lousy way for most family groups to keep contact unless everyone has a license, but it is still pretty handy to monitor what is going on, or to contribute to Emergency services.
I'm sorry, but I don't accept that in the least.
It's not illegal to monitor GMRS using GMRS sets, either, and no temptation to transmit in violation of the law. You have those anyway, so no problem. What do you need amateur equipment for?
You intend to use them if need be, in the "empty bandwidth" of 70 cm, simplex. It may seem empty but in metro areas, I doubt it is. There are a lot of control channels there, or used to be. When I was trustee of a very large repeater club site, during the Socal repeater wars, we used 70 cm to send control functions for the various repeaters on our site, and monitor operations remotely.
If you want to contribute to "Emergency services" get a license, do the training, acquire the competence and discipline it takes to make a meaningful, helpful contribution, rather than the well meaning big mouth "cowboys" who show up in those situations full of enthusiasm, but without a clue of what needs to be done or how to do it.
In the fire situations in San Diego, where I was East County EC, you could always count on these blithering idiots showing up on frequency, popping off with rumors they heard on other frequencies, jumping in to offer to whatever popped into their otherwise empty heads. It made them feel important. They were not helpful, actually interfering with legitimate emergency traffic. When we held training drills, those guys were nowhere to be found, never heard a peep from them. You didn't dare send one of these self important morons out to a Red Cross evacuation site. They weren't prepared for that, not organized, didn't have a clue what they would need to get set up, etc. not that they would actually go, etc.
I suppose there are folks out there so commited and dedicated to observing the law that they would never violate it by using cheap amateur gear on frequencies the radios were unapproved for, or the operators unlicensed for. After all, it's an emergency.
It's never been against the law to sell radio equipment to someone who isn't properly licensed. In the past, acquiring and illegally using transmitting gear was something not often done! Except by scofflaws, psychopaths and the disturbed. Given the weak moral discipline and habits the younger folk seem to be quite proud of, it might be time to do that, but given the international market place, it probably can't be done now even if it a Real Good Idea.
I don't approve of it, and I won't.
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
