FRS/GMRS Radio Use at Sugarbush

[ohgary]

Your not being ask to STOP using the radio, JUST use the channels that you legally can use. STAY off the GMRS channels and use only the FRS channels. You have 14 channels to use that should be enough. The additional 8 require a license.

Now I will grant you that its hard to tell what channels you can use and that has been done by the radio manufactures. They should have NEVER been allow to mix radio services in the same radio. One of the most stupid things the FCC has done.
But the simple fact is the law says you need a license.... You dont ski down the closed trail becuase the rules say your not allowed. There are rules for a reason, Just bcause they dont seem to impact you doesnt change the fact there are rules to follow.

[castlerock]

You don't have the option of selecting which of those rules you follow and which of them you do not. It doesn't work that way.

Uhhh.....Yes actually you do have the option.

You do have the option of selecting which rules you follow and which of them you do not. When you do that you also implicitly accept the consequences of your actions, both to yourself and others.....

And in this case there are ABSOLUTELY NONE. Don't you get it? The FCC NEVER CARED and does NOT CARE about this spectrum from a licensing standpoint. Leaving the "legal" requirement for a license was political window dressing to placate the oldschool mobile radio types that feel a proprietary ownership of the spectrum. They want all the new users to join their club on their terms. Hence the ludicrous waste of time website that ltng92 has (and I'm guessing ohgary and jwilkers hang at).

The Plantation Florida (Motorola Land Mobile) boys opened up this spectrum through the FCC and made a bunch of money selling a consumer product. Trust me the last thing that was going to happen was for a REAL liscence requirement to exist

[Tin Woodsman]

Hmm, So your saying you follow proper operating procudures. Before every transmission you listen (open squelch/monitor) for other people using the channel? The key is open squelch to make sure someone else isnt using the same channel but differant privacy code.

Well, if there is other traffic on the channel/band that I've selected, then I generally move to another channel where there is no competing traffic. Seems pretty simple to me - and I don't even have a license!

Hmm, Your car can go over the 65mph speed limit on the nations highways, so I guess since the government doesnt put govonvers on your cars its ok to speed? The rules have been stated, the laws are in place you should not have to have devices to enforce them, you should be able to restrict your own actions.

So you're telling me that you've never exceeded the speed limit? And you never had an alcoholic beverage prior to turning 21? I'm calling BS on all of that. As with speeding, if you drive 70 and are moving with the traffic, then yes it's perfectly OK to do so. If you are driving 110 and zig zagging through traffic, that's a different story alltogether. If you have a few drinks with friends and then pass out and sleep it off at age 19, what's the harm? If you down a fifth of Jack Daniels and run your car into a tree at age 19, that's a problem. There are so many shades of grey here, and it is not necessary to be licensed to use that portion of the spectrum responsibly. Consequences matter.

Hnm, skiing populating is the wrong group, WHO is the right group to let them know they are operating illegal?
Heck skiing may be the perfect group, your up on a mountain and YOUR signals are going to travel further than some hunter at ground level.

Clearly you haven't operated these devices in many mountain environments. As a general rule, the folds in the mountain topography tend to reduce the effective range of these radios. Most of them claim a 5 mile range, whereas the effective range is often 1-2 miles at best. Try keeping in touch with friends at Mt. Ellen while you're at Lincoln Peak and you'll realize those limitations. Even where there is a clear line of site towards the East, you are looking at a VERY lightly populated Mad River Valley. Signal can't get over Mt. Waitsfield to the Roxbury/Northfield area. If there are only 74,000 licensees in the entire country, how many of those do you think are in the MRV and fuming at the interference people on the mountain are causing? My guess is that you can count it on your thumbs.

[random_ski_guy]

Hey Radio Guy, a few questions;

i) How did you know you were speaking with licensed or unlicensed operators when skiing at the 'Bush?
ii) Does the FCC limit the licenses of this spectrum what so ever? or should 300 Million radios be sold and 300 Million license applications be submitted, all applicants will be granted a license?

I understand people might be breaking the law, but unless you are running a repeater or a commercial operation with heavy usage this offense seems like jay walking on a dirt road. sure, in many towns jay walking is illegal, but seriously....

[ltng92]

i.) Licensed users are required to identify themselves with an FCC callsign. Users who do not use their callsigns are considered unlicensed.

ii.) No

[Lostone]

Licensed users are required to identify themselves with an FCC callsign

I didn't see any requirement for using your callsign on any of the info I went thru to get my license.

Do you know where that is stated?

[tumbler]

OK, I gotta say this. Now, I'm as big a geek as anyone, but ltng92, your call sign takes the cake

Clearly you take this radio-thing seriously, but as others have tried to point out, NO ONE ELSE DOES! Technically you might be right, but a regulation that gets no enforcement, is really not a regulation. You have not demonstrated any harm to yourself, your business, or others. Your argument seems to boil down to the fact that you paid to be in a "special" club, and others have figured out how to get in for free.

[smootharc]

Does anyone have direct COMPARATIVE experience (hopefully using a combo unit that has both FRS/GMRS capabilities) with how effective sending/receiving radio transmissions are in the field in the Mad River Valley......FRS vs. GMRS.

FRS broadcast power is so much less than GMRS. Wondering if you've tried both in the MRV.....and how the actual, in the field performance compares.

Very interested. Thanks.

[Lostone]

Most of the problem with communicating in the valley has to do with line of sight. No matter how much power you have, you ain't not getting thru that ridge.

That said, more power gets you farther, in clear line of sight terrain... if you ever find any.

[Yard Sale]

I have nothing of value to add here, but your question rejuventating this thread caused me to read the entire thing. I couldn't stop. It is hilarious. Thank you. Merry XMas. Over and Out.

[random_ski_guy]

I have nothing of value to add here, but your question rejuventating this thread caused me to read the entire thing. I couldn't stop. It is hilarious. Thank you. Merry XMas. Over and Out.

I second your sentiments. I wonder what has happened to our licensed radio friend. Wonder if he/she trolls here waiting for more hand held radio talk.

[mattlucas]

Red leader,

were you into radio communication before consumer level handheld walkie talkies became decent? If so, I could understand how you're peeved at the explosion of people using transmitters, but if you walked into a radioshack 3 years ago, read all the fine print and DISCOVERED that if you paid 80 bucks, you could have a clear channel for the rest of your life than that just seems a bit naive.

Are these channels even really that busy? Is it just incessent jabbering people parents and their kids? I wouldn't want to hear that either, but I ski the woods by myself, hate phones, ipods, children, parents, liftlines, things that cost money, food, and air too.

But I'm still bummed if anyone has a bad experience at the bush, it's the best mountain around!

Happy turns,

Matt

[Hawk]

People, just ignore this guy. This type of thing comes up every year. The end result is if you really care and are paranoid get the licence. You will sleep better. The actual fact of the matter is that the FCC DOES NOT have the resourses to track down individual people so basically it does not matter. There are Tens of thousands of people like myself that do not have one. What, you think the feds are in a van at the base of the mountain monitoring us? I think not. This whole topic is foolish and a waste of time.

Instead I think we should all do a big snow dance. Right Treeskier?

[skiladi]

Your not being ask to STOP using the radio, JUST use the channels that you legally can use. STAY off the GMRS channels and use only the FRS channels. You have 14 channels to use that should be enough. The additional 8 require a license.

Now I will grant you that its hard to tell what channels you can use and that has been done by the radio manufactures. They should have NEVER been allow to mix radio services in the same radio. One of the most stupid things the FCC has done.
But the simple fact is the law says you need a license.... You dont ski down the closed trail becuase the rules say your not allowed. There are rules for a reason, Just bcause they dont seem to impact you doesnt change the fact there are rules to follow.

But I do have a serious question. If your "big" number is in the 1-14 range and your "little" number is in the range over 15 are you still a criminal? Are you half a criminal? If you only use the smaller numbers do you have less power? range? etc. I will gladly change to both small #s. I was just using one that was easy to remember. I don't use my radio much , anyway. But if I'm ever in trouble I'll use any channel I can find an answerer on! ; }

[Tin Woodsman]

The offending trolls/clueless folks who turned this thread into garbage when it was first created haven't been seen since. no need to reply to them as if they're still active. If the FCC would like to come and prosecute us for unauthorized use of restricted bandwidth, they know where to find us.

The End.