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ICOM did what Motorola, Cobra, and RadioShack did not do and that was continue to market a license-free Family Radio Service two-way radio for families. The others might all refer to the GMRS/FRS hybrids as FRS radios but we all know that is not true. The companies that sell twenty-two channel hybrids are all bargaining that the FCC declares GMRS license free by rule. ICOM, however, is living up to its name as a real and quality-radio company with a serious concern for the radio services as each currently exists under the FCC Rules. ICOM is selling a real Family Radio Service radio. No license required.

When the FCC OET unilaterally authorized the twenty-two channel bubble-pack radio with no objections from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau the assault on the General Mobile Radio Service began. It was the first time in history that a licensed radio service was combined with an unlicensed radio service. What did the FCC expect the major national retailers to do? Wow what a gift! We believe the FCC expected and even anticipated what has actually happened. The assault on the General Mobile Radio Service was planned by American marketers on behalf of off-shore manufacturers and executed by the bureaucrats of the FCC in Washington D.C. It was all about economy building.

The moment the twenty-two channel bubble-pack radios hit the market GMRS was doomed and the FCC knew it and frankly didn’t care. They decided long ago GMRS should be licensed by rule whether or not the individuals licensed to use GMRS had a chance to publicly argue the merits of the move. Walk into a local retailer and ask them if a license is required to use any of the channels in the twenty-two channel bubble packs. We believe the majority will say no or tell the customer that no one will care. Ask the retailer if a school or business is allowed to use the twenty-two channel bubble pack and the answer will be sure no problem! Most retailers now have no clue that the ONLY license-free channels in most twenty-two channel bubble-pack radios are FRS channels eight through fourteen. There are actually SEVEN FEWER license-free channels in the GMRS/FRS hybrid bubble-packs!

Do not suggest that the market place made the decision, that the hand writing was on the wall. or that at the end of the day it’s what the people wanted. This was planned and executed before a GMRS advocacy group like the Personal Radio Association, Inc. could object on behalf of GMRS licensees. People always want something for nothing. Manufacturers and retailers gave away something that did not belong to them because no one was there to object. This was ultimately a for-profit spectrum grab, nothing more nothing less. A grab that the FCC thought was cool! This was one spectrum grab the government bureaucrats felt was socially acceptable so they engineered a way for it to come true for all radio retailers - eventually.

Had the truth been told to the customer at the point of sale, and had stores observed the licensing laws the big three could have continued to sell license-free radios and license-required GMRS radios. That idea was never explored. The nation might now be building new nation-wide GMRS radio repeater systems. Imagine if the public had access to radio systems other than subscription cellular service. Families could be using radio repeaters, base stations, mobile radios, and hand-held radios in national parks, state parks, amusement parks, tourist areas and even in America’s neighborhoods. The American public believes a cellular subscription is necessary to communicate effectively and exclusively with family members!

Keeping the license-free FRS radios would have meant that a TRUE license-free option was available for families desiring simple no-hassle personal radio communication. Instead we now have interminable interference problems in the GMRS related to the illegal use of the twenty-channel bubble packs radios by everyone and anyone. Families have no clue how to use their new GMRS hybrid radios or how to comply with licensing laws.

The retailers - AMERICAN BUSINESS EXECUTIVES made the choice to co opt GMRS. This was a move to do the wrong thing looking at future business quarters of climbing profits. The retail industry had its eyes on GMRS and they were taking it over. Their fingers were crossed behind their backs and the FCC was giving them the wink.

Interestingly enough the FCC OET and WTB did not approve requests for a dual band LICENSE-FREE radios using MURS and FRS! Draw your own conclusions. We DO NOTE that OET approved a marine VHF radio with FRS included but not before the Personal Radio Association objected through channels to rumors of a combined marine GMRS/FRS combo units. Mark our words. We believe that that the Marine/FRS combo radios are going to appear on the nations ski slopes. The FCC OET has opened Pandoras box and now the Marine Radio Service is in serious trouble. The public is going to ASSUME that the license free FRS channels mean using the marine channels on land is no big deal either! You guessed it. Using marine channels on land is not legal unless you have a special license to permit such operation.

Thousands of licensees in the General Mobile Radio Service who have millions of dollars invested in their family communication or personal-family-business systems do care. I believe that every licensee takes notice of ICOM being the only major radio manufacturer still selling a license-free Family Radio Service two-way radio. Every licensee that has ever given up trying to communicate with a family member because little Johnny and Sally were using the GMRS Mr. Microphone to sing silly songs cares a lot. We think ICOM rocks!

In a way it makes sense. I own quite a bit of ICOM’s stuff. Two R8500 receivers and an ICOM 756 PRO III at the high end and a hand-held ICOM GMRS radio at the low end. Their radios have always impressed me as has their customer service. It just doesn’t get any better than ICOM! A company with this kind of quality would as a matter of course do the right thing by the laws of the United State.

Thanks to Motorola, Cobra, Audiovox, and RadioShack American consumers no longer have lots of license-free FRS radio options. Now it’s a trust issue. You sell the 22-channel bubble pack radio and cross your heart that your customer will only use SEVEN of the 22 channels to stay legal. It is absurd. Only seven of the of the channels in most of these radios are actually license free and those channels are FRS 8-14. FRS 1-7 in a bubble pack are often now at GMRS power levels making the channel ineligible as a license free channel.

By the way, not one of the radios we are talking about is even made in the United States. The 22-channel bubble pack boom never benefited anyone BUT foreign manufacturers and the pocket books of US based marketing folks.

None of the major retailers ever bought into helping build GMRS the right way. The little guys under them like AudioVox and Garmin followed in lockstep pushing the 22-channel radios which have devastated the GMRS with horrendous interference levels in urban areas. The FCC is marching alongside. While license applications have gone up and continue to rise the numbers don’t equal radio sales. Humans follow the path of least resistance just like electrons. Most people will not (and have not) license a 22-channel bubble pack.

We think that individuals, businesses, or organizations considering the purchase of license-free radios should consider the ICOM FRS radio before any other. You can use it without a license. You will not be tempted to operate without a license and if you want to upgrade the licensed radio service will still be there waiting for you. Truth be told, the higher powered bubble packs do not provide the significant mileage claimed by the manufacturers. That is unsupported marketing hype. It always has been and always will be marketing hype. Dropping the license free radios and manufacturing only 22 channel bubble packs was also a marketing decision. One that focused on the future - asking the FCC to license GMRS by rule. A future that we believe will doom GMRS to the same fate as CB radio.

We might already be doomed but until then we think you should buy ICOM FRS if you need a license-free option. You can choose your own ICOM dealer or our preferred ICOM dealer, PopularWireless advertiser NSI Communications. We suggest that RadioShack redeem their own reputation after having helped create FRS by selling a REAL FRS radio and then properly train all of their employees. Retailers should STOP referring to the GMRS hybrids as FRS radios! These are NOT FRS radios they are GMRS radios that require a license for FIFTEEN out of the twenty-two available channels. Signs in stores should tell customers that an FCC license  is required and that there is a fee. Until then contact NSI Radio. NSI is the the dealer doing the right thing by the GMRS community and the FCC Rules.

The ICOM IC-4088 is still available:

With rapid charger $145
With overnight charger $124
Radio only, no charger $95

ICOM is a TOP manufacturer of two-way radio equipment and systems. This radio is not a GMRS chew toy. It is a quality product that will give you or your organization excellent service and utility. NSI Radio is ready to take your orders so you can stay license free!

(Huntingtown, MD) It is possible to identify an in-transit ship as the most likely source of FSI (Foreign Shipping Interference) in the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service.) Using an AIS - Automatic Identification System receiver and a directional antenna the signal from ship’s AIS transponder will tell you the ship’s name, it’s ITU MMSI registration, call sign, country of registration and destination. Using the MMSI look up at the ITU you can determine what company owns the ship.

On the Chesapeake Bay near Plum Point, MD the PopularWireless AIS receiver has so far identified three ships using GMRS channels while in US waters. Vessels from Norway, Vanuatu, and Singapore are currently on the Foreign Shipping Interference Log. The Norwegian vessel was docked and easily identified with a directional Yagi antenna at some twelve miles distant. The ships from Vanuatu and Singapore passed PopularWireless on the Chesapeake Bay and each was followed with the directional antenna as they sailed by.

The requirements are pretty simple but there is an investment in equipment. The first AIS receiver was an ICOM IC-R8500 receiver. A wide variety of inexpensive scanner receivers can be used as long as the one selected can be modified to take audio directly from the radio discriminator. The receiver was changed that to an SR-161 AIS receiver purchased for $189 from Milltech Marine. The power requirements are very low. An older three-amp power supply was used successfully. The antenna is a VHF antenna with LMR400 cable at about 60 feet above sea level and of course the higher the better. Use good low-loss feed line. The SR-161 serial data from is connected to a computer with Ship Plotter software installed. The switch to serial data from an audio feed to the sound card restored another analog audio input on the computer used for recording ship transmissions on the unauthorized channels also via the ICOM R-8500. The ShipPlotter software is about $30. The payment is processed in Europe so the price is up and down a bit based on the current exchange rate.

Using the ShipPlotter software you can super impose the ship on marine navigation charts or photographs from Google Earth. It is possible to zoom in on a chart to determine where a ship is berthed or moored. A bearing from the chart to your location can be compared to the bearing determined from the directional antenna. ShipPlotter has an active Yahoo Group where the program author and active users provide some support for users of the software. It is even possible for a group of licensees to create their own server and share local data using this product.

Now if you don’t have the cash to purchase an AIS receiver you can purchase the AIS software at Shipplotter.com and watch the feeds from various ports around the United States. There are many ShipPlotter users sending regular data on many US ports that a GMRS licensee could use to help identify Foreign Shipping Interference from a ship illegally using GMRS channels in US waters. Ports in Delaware, Virginia, Texas, California, Washington, and even the Great Lakes are covered. Licensees will also find that many other websites that display AIS ship data on line. Another good one is ShipPlotting.com.

Once the name and owner of the ship is known the GMRS licensee can attempt to contact the ship owner directly by email or mail. My first attempt to contact a ship owner in Singapore was unsuccessful. This did not surprise me given the lack of cooperation from ship’s Captains I have encountered on both coasts. Should the licensee be unsuccessful, a Personal Radio Association GMRS Interference form can be completed (available at PRAWEB.ORG) and sent to the FCC GMRS address in Gettysburg (See Part 95) directly or through the PRA along with the AIS data and the directional methods used to verify the source of the radio signals was the ship in question.

Licensees curious what ships are in or around the area of Southern Maryland can check the AIS Map of the Chesapeake Bay generated at PopularWireless HQ through the courtesy of Shipplotter AIS software and unique scripts written by Shipplotting.com.

At PopularWireless two ICOM-R8500’s and one RadioShack PRO-2006 monitor GMRS, FRS, and international shipping frequencies to assist in the identification of FSI. On any complaint audio files can be recorded and sent to the offending company as evidence. All three scanners are controlled by Spectrum Manager, a ScanStar product. Spectrum Manager is an outstanding product and is very useful for this purpose. A PC audio card conversion to the M-Audio Delta 1010LT purchased from SweetWater will allow recording up to eight computer controlled radio receivers.