'The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a land-mobile radio service available for short-distance two-way communications to facilitate the activities of an adult licensed individual and his or her immediate family members, including a spouse, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and in-laws (47 CFR 95.179). This includes communication between two or more licensees. Normally, as a GMRS system licensee, you and your and family members and/or other licensees would communicate among yourselves over the general area of your residence or during recreational group outings, such as camping or hiking.
The FCC grants five-year renewable licenses for GMRS Systems. The individual licensee is responsible for the proper operations of the licensed GMRS system at all times.'
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Before any station transmits on any channel authorized in the GMRS from any point within or over the territorial limits of any area where the FCC regulates radio services, the responsible party must obtain a license. The FCC usually grants GMRS system licenses for a five-year term. While not all users will need a license, all users of GMRS must be covered by a license. What this means is, at least one (1) immediate family member must have a GMRS license. Immediate family members include your spouse, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and in-laws (47 CFR 95.179).
There are two ways to get a GMRS license:
1) BY MAIL. Click on this link to get a printable copy of FCC 605 license application. Once printed, it can be filled out, then mailed to the FCC.
2) ON LINE. Click on this link to go to the FCC ULS Online Licensing website. New filers can learn more about FCC's ULS in its getting started tutorials.
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Full Name: | Referred to as: | FCC's Information URL: |
---|---|---|
Citizens Band | CB | http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/cb/ |
Family Radio Service*** | FRS | http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/family/ |
Multi-Use Radio Service | MURS | http://www.provide.net/~prsg/murs_faq.htm |
'***' Shares some frequencies with GMRS. |
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Users of GMRS must follow these FCC Part 95 Rules and Regulations.
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When discussing what GMRS channels to use, it should be taken into account that not all radios in use by the group’s members may be the same (if they are, lucky for you!). However, more often than not, members of a group will have different radios. Some users may have pre-programmed 'off-the-shelf” radios (of which there is a vast variety), while others may be utilizing commercial grade, UHF-FM radios. For this reason when deciding on a frequency to use, or to change to when the group is out in the field, it's best to avoid terms like 'Channel One' or 'Position One.' Most GMRS licensees use the 'designators' when discussing what frequency they will be using. For example: the frequency of 462.550 MHz has the designator of “'550.' The complete listing of GMRS Designators may be found here.
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Here is a listing of the GMRS primary frequencies:
GMRS Designator | Lower Frequency (MHz) | Upper Frequency | Motorola convention | Icom F21-GM convention | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
'550' | 462.550 | 467.550 | Ch. 15 | Ch. 1 | |
'575' | 462.575 | 467.575 | Ch. 16 | Ch. 2 | |
'600' | 462.600 | 467.600 | Ch. 17 | Ch. 3 | |
'625' | 462.625 | 467.625 | Ch. 18 | Ch. 4 | |
'650' | 462.650 | 467.650 | Ch. 19 | Ch. 5 | Use not permitted near the Canadian border. |
'675' | 462.675 | 467.675 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 6 | Nationwide emergency and road information calling. Nationally recognized coded squelch for 675 emergency repeater operation is 141.3 Hz. |
'700' | 462.700 | 467.700 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 7 | Use not permitted near the Canadian border. |
'725' | 462.725 | 467.725 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 8 |
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What is a type accepted radio in the Family Radio Service (FRS)? To quote the FCC: 'Some manufacturers have received approval to market radios that are certified for use in both the Family Radio Service (FRS) and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). Other manufacturers have received approval of their radios under the GMRS rules, but market them as FRS/GMRS radios on the basis that: Some channels are authorized to both services, or A user of the radio may communicate with stations in the other service.'
GMRS licensees as stated before, may use pre-programmed radios or utilize commercial grade, UHF-FM radios. That being said, regardless of the type of GMRS radio in use (pre-programmed or commercial grade), be aware that these frequencies can only be used for simplex operations.
As to the power output of a GMRS licensee on these frequencies, the FCC addresses this issue in Part 95 Section 95.29 (f). Quote: 'Except for a GMRS system licensed to a non-individual, a mobile station or a small base station operating in the simplex mode may transmit on the following 462 MHz interstitial channels: 462.5625, 462.5875, 462.6125, 462,6375, 462.6625, 462.6875 and 462.7125. These channels may be used only under the following conditions: (1) Only voice type emissions may be transmitted; (2) The station does not transmit one-way pages; and (3) The station transmits with no more than 5 watts ERP.'
Here is a listing of the GMRS interstitial frequencies:
GMRS Designator - FRS Name | Frequency (MHz) | Motorola convention | Icom F21-GM convention | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
'5625' or 'FRS 1' | 462.5625 | Ch. 1 | Ch. 9 | Nationwide emergency and road information calling. |
'5875' or 'FRS 2' | 462.5875 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 10 | |
'6125' or 'FRS 3' | 462.6125 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 11 | |
'6375' or 'FRS 4' | 462.6375 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 12 | |
'6625' or 'FRS 5' | 462.6625 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 13 | |
'6875' or 'FRS 6' | 462.6875 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 14 | |
'7125' or 'FRS 7' | 462.7125 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 15 |
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CTCSS tones are listed below by both code and frequency:
Code | Tone Freq. | Code | Tone Freq. | Code | Tone Freq. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XZ | 67.0 | 1B | 107.2 | 6A | 173.8 | ||
WZ | 69.3 | 2Z | 110.9 | 6B | 179.9 | ||
XA | 71.9 | 2A | 114.8 | 7Z | 186.2 | ||
WA | 74.4 | 2B | 118.8 | 7A | 192.8 | ||
XB | 77.0 | 3Z | 123.0 | M1 | 203.5 | ||
WB | 79.7 | 3A | 127.3 | 8Z | 206.5 | ||
YZ | 82.5 | 3B | 131.8 | M2 | 210.7 | ||
YA | 85.4 | 4Z | 136.5 | M3 | 218.1 | ||
YB | 88.5 | 4A | 141.3 | M4 | 225.7 | ||
ZZ | 91.5 | 4B | 146.2 | 9Z | 229.1 | ||
ZA | 94.8 | 5Z | 151.4 | M5 | 233.6 | ||
ZB | 97.4 | 5A | 156.7 | M6 | 241.8 | ||
1Z | 100.0 | 5B | 162.2 | M7 | 250.3 | ||
1A | 103.5 | 6Z | 167.9 | 0Z | 254.1 |
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The owner of a GMRS repeater, may impose rules and regulations above and beyond those rules and regulations set by the FCC as to the use the repeater and/or repeater system.
Listed on this link page are some examples of some General Repeater Rules, Guidelines & Usage Regulations.
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This page was last updated 05/19/2010