Batboard

Hello :
Got a friend asking about GMRS licenses.
When you apply for a GMRS license do you have a license for all of the GMRS freqs ?
If he as a family use applys for a GMRS license for a repeater does he have to select a freq pair he wants or will the license when granted allow him to choose any one of the repeater pairs ?
We understand that the repeater will be used for one pair but wondering if the license tells us which to use or if we can select anyone of the pairs for the repeater from the license ?
Also im told by another radio shop that doesnt do much with GMRS that they thought the GMRS repeater licenses didnt have to have coordinates for them as do the business type repeaters .
Is this true ?
Thank you.
Satelite

The GMRS license is issued to an individual and includes operating privileges on all GMRS frequencies.

A GMRS repeater does NOT require a license. Altho all who use the repeater have to have a GMRS license.

Hello Will:
Thank you for the reply.
I believe i got the jist of the license but asking for a clarification.
So the GMRS license is good for the individual licensed only and will not cover the imediate family users such as sons and daughters ?
The license would be in the fathers name and i assumed that the wife /daughter/son would be covered under the same license but as i read it this isnt the case ?
Thank you
Satelite

I have a GMRS repeater on 462.600. We use it for our farm & it has pretty good coverage considering that the antenna is only 80 feet up. Its a Motorola Desktrac and it works real well.

Any of the licensees immediate family can operate under their license. You can run a family business on it, but anyone who uses the radio must be immediate family or have their own license. Any of the 7 pairs are fair game. There is no coordination of repeaters, but there is a website that list many of the repeaters around the country. Before picking a frequency go to mygmrs.com so you don't pick a frequency/tone that may already be in use nearby.

A well tuned GMRS repeater on a good site will provide excellent service for its users. As an added bonus, in a few months tons of suitable equipment will be available at scrap value because right now, GMRS does not have to narrowband next year.

Satelite wrote: So the GMRS license is good for the individual licensed only and will not cover the imediate family users such as sons and daughters ?
The license would be in the fathers name and i assumed that the wife /daughter/son would be covered under the same license but as i read it this isnt the case ? Satelite

§ 95.1 The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS).
(a) The GMRS is a land mobile radio service available to persons for shortdistance
two-way communications to facilitate the activities of licensees and
their immediate family members. Each licensee manages a system consisting
of one or more stations.

Hello :
Thank you for the info.
Apreciated.
Satelite

For complete clarification of the OP's first post, go here, then to the FCC marked site:

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/general ... rvice-gmrs

And yes, one license DOES cover all family members.

By rule, a GMRS license is required for any operator to use any GMRS frequency repeated or simplex, but the license covers your immediate family (kids, wife/huusband, grandparents, etc... not Cousin Joe or distant relatives though.) In practice, typically a repeater owner will get licensed and put his callsign on the repeater, but not necessarily require the users to be licensed.

mygmrs.com is a joke.. put up an antenna and scan the band for a week or two to sniff out repeater usage in your area before picking a pair. Expect every output frequency to be occupied by kids with bubble-pack radios and to find one or two grandfathered or straight bootleg business repeaters, and occasional simplex use of input frequencies. 462/467.575 is a good one to avoid if you're in a seaport area as 467.575 is an input frequency internationally coordinated for 10 MHz-split shipboard repeater use. Different parts of the country do things differently, of course, but from what I've observed the overwhelming majority of repeater coordination is "gentleman's agreement" and very few people outside of Radioreference or Popular Wireless care enough (or have small enough egos) to go out and persecute unlicensed business use or bubblepack kids - either run more power than them or go to a different frequency. YMMV, of course.

You may put a repeater up, but ALL users must be licensed. Immediate family has been litigated in the past as family living in the same domicile.