[Merged] Radio talk

[Olonam]

frs is family radio service; what is gmrs?

i just got a cobra 8 miler and am concerned. di naman cinonfiscate sa airport...

[RedHorse]

sa hanh tools at shang, 8 miler cobra is sold with ntc license

[oldblue]

yun binili ko sa electronics boutique sa glorietta may advertisement sila na 1-time NTC license na daw. pakita ko na lang daw resibo in case ma question. NTC pre-approved daw shop nila. ang mahirap siguro eh yun bumili ka sa bidshot or any other buy and sell website, kasi d pa sigurado kung may license yun ..

sa bidshot kasi going rate ng 2-way 5 miler around 3-4k. pero sa shop 5-6k lisensyado na so ok na din bumili sa shop.

[oldblue]

to make it simple, ang commercially available na external antenna for FRS (UHF) ay yung maiksi lang (less than 1ft) while for VHF is yung parang walis tingting (about 1m

sir *boybi, yun kasi nabili ko parang fixed na yun antenna. eto yun cobra na almost available everywhere ngaun sa lahat ng malls. I'm so surprised na pagkabili ko pa lang dami ko na nasagap na frequencies sa glorietta 4 na gumagamit, eavesdrop pa tuloy ako hehehe.

may turnilyo malapit sa antenna, parang puwede buksan. if every bili na lang ako ng antenna pang tsikot tapos i-patch ko na lang DIY project ko sana hehe

* oldblue - yung mod regarding crystals involve the frequency range (number of channels). It has nothing to do with distance. If you want to increase the distance (transmit AND receive), the antenna is the most important factor. Generally it's a case of "the bigger, the better", as long as it is tuned at the right frequency.

ok so yun pala yun crystals. I just read from another forum kasi about pinoy brothers from the central plains like Tarlac, Pampanga, Pangasinan etc.. puro daw naka FRS dun and they found a way to modify the radio. baka kasi may naligaw sa mga magagaling natin FRS'ers dun dito at nag-modify para mas malayo coverage, puntahan ko na lang hehehe

[oldblue]

pwede ka magkabit ng external antenna, pero dapat supported ito ng radio mo. si afrasay naka external antenna yung car nya for FRS radio. and make it sure na for FRS (UHF) yung ikakabit mong external antenna, maiksi lang ito (less than 1ft) unlike yung pang VHF na mahahaba (around 1m).

san kaya niya nabili yun FRS external antenna? sana wag na yun bubutasan yun tsikot kahit slightly opened na lang yun window for the cable

[StraightSix]

frs is family radio service; what is gmrs?

i just got a cobra 8 miler and am concerned. di naman cinonfiscate sa airport...

From a quick search ...

Family Radio Service (FRS)
- No license needed.
- No age requirement.
- Max power: 500 mW (0.5 Watt) erp
- Must have an integral (non-detachable) antenna.
- Radio must not be modified in any way.
- Frequency coverage is 462.5625-467.7125 MHz divided into 14 channels.

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)
- Needs a license.
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- License covers the whole (immediate) family.
- Base station maximum output power is 50 Watts erp.
- Repeaters are allowed.
- Frequency coverage is the same but divided into 23 channels.

So basically, FRS is an entry-level service while GMRS is an upgrade over FRS. Remember, sa FCC yan, hindi NTC (Phil). Hintayin na lang natin si 111prez kung na-check na niya ang status ng FRS/GMRS sa NTC.

[oldblue]

yun ata mga nauna FRS Radios like yun Motorola & Kenwood bawal kasi they're operating between 462.5625 to 467.7125 Mhz Channels 1 to 14 respectively. I think ito yun hinuhuli ng NTC, so dont buy units with 110V chargers na galing US kasi malamang operating between 462 to 467. pang US itong frequency range na ito.

ang approved ng NTC para sa P'nas ay yun operating between 325.0000 to 325.4875 Mhz Channels 1 to 40. kaya from .5 watts (2 miles) to 2.5 watts (8 miles)

I checked my Cobra 6-miler Packaging, may dalawang naka-stick on na license numbers from NTC. so I guess kung ayaw nyo mahuli ng NTC, mapipilitan talaga kayo bumili ng sa mga authorized dealers ng malls or buy FRS Radios in the 325 Mhz range.

the moment na gumamit kayo ng US specs FRS Radio tyak mahuli kayo ng NTC coz some frequencies in US FRS particularly 462.550Mhz to 462.725Mhz eh pang GMRS na din. GMRS needs licensing sa States and malamang dito na din coz GMRS can have repeaters and base stations and mayrun din emergency frequencies.

I just learned this from a pinoy frs yahoogroup.

so bile na lang kayo mga taga-tsikot ng Cobra or Motorola operating sa 325 Mhz range , tapos usap usap tayo libre pa! hehehe

last night nasa megamall ako, and alam nyo ba kung gano kadami binababa na levi's pants from the inventory to the store? :evillaugh

[oldblue]

* straightsix, tama ka nga by adding crystals sa FRS radio ma-increase ko number of frequencies ko. if operating ako 325 Mhz range pa-mod ko na lang from 325Mhz to 467Mhz makakausap ko na lahat ng naka talkies whether Made in the Phils or Imported from the States pa yun handheld radio ....

I've scanned some pinoy forums already particularly sa north, ginagawa na nilang cellphone yun FRS ngaun coz of the increased range !! and by increasing the output power to 5watts or 8watts ata, I can increase my range to 25 miles!

but of course, this is illegal! dont try this * home hehehe


add ko lang I also canvassed Motorola Talkabout T5920 sa Park Square Glorietta. ito yun bawal coz FRS/GMRS frequencies na pala ito. Since covered nya in part GMRS frequency, kelangan talaga ng lisensya. siguro just check the store na lang where you will buy the Talkabout kung pre-approved na sya ng NTC. kung ang presyo niya ay nasa price range din ng Cobra Philippine made FRS, malamang wala pa ito license coz hi-end/hi-freq unit na pala itong Talkabout.

[oldblue]

in the philippines, the ntc has not allocated any FRS bandwidth, to the best of my knowledge

the NTC has its own term for Phil. FRS: SRRS - Short Range Radio Service 325.0000 to 325.4875 Mhz. Sa unit na nabili ko, my NTC License # starts with SRRS-xxxxx-xx.

[StraightSix]

but of course, this is illegal! dont try this * home hehehe

Especially when you're out of the house, for that matter, hehehe. Just remember that increasing your output power only increases the range of your transmitted signal ... your receive will stay the same.

And so it seems that the license-free SRRS in the Philippines operate on 325.0000 to 325.4875 Mhz in 40 channels and those on 462.5625 to 467.7125 Mhz even if they are US-FRS, are considered also as GMRS in the Philippines - thus the need for it to be licensed at malamang may allocation na nga ng GMRS ang NTC.

Mukha ngang ganito nangyari kay promdiboy ... US-spec'ed FRS, so he thought it was license-free, pero GMRS from NTC's point of view.

[StraightSix]

Dito sa UK eh PMR446 (Personal Mobile Radio 446) ang tawag sa radio service na yan. The main difference from FRS are:

- 446.00625 to 446.09375 MHz frequency range in 8 channels.
- The integration of a CTCSS encoder/decoder to blank out unwanted chatter.

▼ I gave my family this ... cheap ones they can throw around.



▼ while I kept this for myself ... equiv price of P9k+ when new, bought for P200 at a fair from a guy who didn't know what it was for.

[scarab]

...we have 2 pairs of FRS radioes that we used to bring around when malling. nabwiset lang ako dahil napipickup frequency ng mga security guards sa loob ng mall kaya maingay lagi.

[boybi]

mag apply nalang kayo ng amateur license. madali lang naman ang exam lalo na kung electronics graduate na kayo. kung meron na kayong amateur license, pwede na kayong mag VHF radio, mas wider ang frequency range kaya mas maliit ang chance na meron kayong masagap na ibang gumagamit ng same frequency. mas malayo din ang range ng mga VHF radios.

[boybi]

san kaya niya nabili yun FRS external antenna? sana wag na yun bubutasan yun tsikot kahit slightly opened na lang yun window for the cable

don't worry, clip on lang naman sa mga edges ng car ang mga external antennas.

[StraightSix]

mag apply nalang kayo ng amateur license. madali lang naman ang exam lalo na kung electronics graduate na kayo. kung meron na kayong amateur license, pwede na kayong mag VHF radio, mas wider ang frequency range kaya mas maliit ang chance na meron kayong masagap na ibang gumagamit ng same frequency. mas malayo din ang range ng mga VHF radios.

The range is even more with the use of a repeater. Another advantage of an Amateur license is the diversity of activities you can do on VHF. Whereas most other services can only be operated on FM voice, Amateurs can also use morse code (for weak-signal work or just for fun), video (like slow-scan TV), data, even satellites. Some use the moon to reflect their signal, so they can talk to the other side of the world. You can also talk to radio amateurs in the Int'l. Space Station ... a lot of astronauts/cosmonauts are Hams. Even Shuttle flights and the old MIR were able to operate on the 2m VHF Amateur bands.

A bit of Ham news:

Russian spacesuits wear-out in time. Instead of sending them back to earth (at an expense) from the space station, they just throw them overboard. A group of Hams made an unusual satellite from one of these suits. They attached a Kenwood handheld radio unto it, which will transmit telemetry, voice greetings, and an SSTV picture. Launch is set for Dec. 8, 2005, and the orbit is expected to last for several weeks before the "SuitSat" re-enters the atmosphere and burn up.

Downlink frequency is at 145.990 MHz (2m VHF FM) and a small omni antenna will do. Anybody with a simple 2m setup can get this signal. For SSTV reception, there are free SSTV softwares on the internet that uses the PC's soundcard to decode SlowScan TV signal - all you have to connect is the radio's speaker-out line.

Oo nga pala ... you don't even have to pay for services you get in Ham Radio. It's against the law.

[boybi]

try ko nga mag-monitor sa frequency na yan. baka naman puro russian ang mapakinggan ko

[afrasay]

Maliit lang ang antenna ng UHF FRS band mga isang dangkal ko lang. Yun VHF 2 meter ang full wave kaya mga 2 meter band ang tawag dun. So you can just imagine ang full wave ng CB 27mhz, 22 meters (correct me if I'm wrong) and more so HF and LF band na parang kulahan ng damit. Radios using disk (as in microwave disk)are usually in the GHz freq range. And some, namely satelite communications doesn't even use coaxial cables just waveguide as in parang aluminum sqaure tubing as transmission media.

[StraightSix]

... ang full wave ng CB 27mhz, 22 meters (correct me if I'm wrong) and more so HF and LF band na parang kulahan ng damit.

27 MHz CB band is 11 meters.

And some, namely satelite communications doesn't even use coaxial cables just waveguide as in parang aluminum sqaure tubing as transmission media.

Waveguides are used on microwave frequencies because other transmission lines, like cables, have very high losses per length (attenuation) on higher frequencies. But that doesn't mean that all satellite communications are on microwave.

An example satellite is the RS-10/11 which had uplinks on 15m and downlinks on 10m ... both of these bands are on HF. And yes, coaxial cables were used for those because waveguides would be impractically huge at those frequencies.

[oldblue]

* afrasay, what would you recommend na gawin ko para ma-extend sa tsikot yun antenna para sa fixed antenna unit ko?

[lm723]

Guys, may bayad ba ung license?