A GMRS Word
List
& Other Traits of the Service
GMRS Web recognizes that many GMRS and
FRS users are not technically inclined. The following word list may answer a
few questions about the words you might hear spoken by those who are involved
in making the GMRS work. If you are interested in taking your technical or
radio hobby interests farther we suggest you consider an Amateur Radio
license.
 Antenna: Every radio transceiver has an
antenna. The antenna radiates radio frequency energy that you create when you
press the push-to-talk button. Antennas come in various shapes and sizes and
serve different purposes. Some direct energy all directions (omnidirectional)
and some direct energy in one direction or to a general area (beam, corner
reflector.)
Base: This is the term generally
referred to as your home base or base station. The location of your radio
transceiver at home.
Beam: A directional antenna.
Boom: A beam is built on a boom. A long horizontal pole
on which the antenna elements are mounted.
Bunker: The term often refers to the
small buildings that contain the GMRS radio repeaters.
Call sign: The official FCC assigned
call sign that you use in your GMRS system.
Channel: This refers to to the channel
on the radio that you use or
Channel pair: A GMRS repeater uses a
pair of frequencies. Frequently a repeater channels/frequencies are also
referred to as a channel pair.
CTCSS: Continuous Tone Coded Squelch
System. This is the process by which a radio signal is transmitted containing a
sub-audible tone. Only a receiver that is set up to detect the tone will
un-mute its receiver. Using CTCSS is a way of limiting what you hear to only
what you want to hear on the frequency you are using.
DCS: Digital Coded Squelch. This is
similar to CTCSS above but uses a digital signal rather than an analog
signal.
Direct: When both persons or a group of
persons talk on one radio channel to each other rather than using a repeater
they are said to be talking direct.
DPL: Digital Private Line. Motorola's
trademarked acronym for DCS.
Duplex: Duplex isn't used in
GMRS.
HT: An acronym for Handie-talkie
Hand-held: The same has HT,
walkie-talkie, portable hand held radio.
Heliax: The "slang" term used by hams is
hard-line. Stiff solid copper shielded coaxial cable with very low loss
characteristics used to connect a radio to an antenna. It is highly preferred
over standard coaxial cable because of the low loss characteristics.
"How you": (Use a southern
accent.) Derogatory slang referring to hick sounding CB'er types of radio
operation. CB like radio operation is highly discouraged.
Intruder: An individual or business that uses GMRS
frequencies illegally.
Mast: The pole on which antennas are typically
mounted.
Mount: The hardware used to attach the antenna to the
pole or tower.
Machine: Ham slang for radio
repeater.
MaxTrac: Motorola trademark name for a series of
commercial quality radios that can be used on GMRS frequencies.
Mobile: using GMRS radios in a car,
truck, bicycle, or on foot.
Mobile Unit: Some GMRS licensees adopt
mobile unit identifiers for use on repeaters or on simplex. This is in addition
to their FCC assigned call signs.
Mountain top: A reference to the
location of a repeater antenna. It means literally what it says. Refers to the
top of a mountain where a radio might be located.
PL: "Motorola's trademarked term
for CTCSS called "Private Line."
Portable: Carrying radio with you, or
refers to a hand held radio.
Power Supply: A direct current supply
that powers radios.
Private Line: Same as PL.
Quarter Wave: A short six inch UHF antenna typically
seen on vehicles.
Radio Tech: A frequently sought after individual who
understands the inner workings, hidden mechanisms, and theory behind the
operation of radio systems. Often called upon to build, fix, or install radio
systems.
The radio shop: The place of business of
the radio tech.
Repeater: A radio transceiver usually
located at a high place that receives a signal on one frequency and transmits
it as received on another frequency. By doing so, a low power portable radio
can retransmit a signal over a larger area. The benefit is that people can
carry smaller radios and communicate with one another over a wide geographical
area, a city, a county, or a region.
Rubber Duck: A small, short, inefficient antenna used on
hand held radios.
Squelch: The squelch control or circuits
of a radio "squelch" or make quiet the noise a radio receives when a
radio signal is not present on the radio channel. The radio is un-squelched
when a signal is received.
Squelch Threshold: The signal level at
which a receiver squelch is broken.
Simplex: Communicating direct on the
same frequency.
Site: "The site" often refers
to the location of something like a repeater.
Stubby: A slang term for a small rubber duck
antenna.
Talk Around: Same as communicating
direct except you are doing so on a repeater output frequency.
The hill: A slang expression referring
to a high location which could even be a mountain!
Tone: Refers to CTCSS and DCS.
Tone hog: A person that enables all tones on a repeater
to intentionally block others from using the same tones on their repeaters.
Reserving tones is not an FCC approved practice AND the FCC expects all
licensees to negotiate the use of tones. Tone hogs are bad neighbors.
Tower: Antennas are mounted on towers.
Unit: Self assigned call sign for a
person using a GMRS radio.
Watt: The measure of output power for a radio
transmitter.
Some Cultural
Aspects
of GMRS
GMRS is not an organized radio service
like the Amateur Radio Service. It is loosely organized through licensees that
share their radio systems with others or by user groups and repeater groups
that organized and built family communication systems. Many of these repeater
groups don't charge their members. Some tend to be rather loose knit groups
interested only in family communication and communication between friends. The
communication itself is not a hobby as it is in Amateur Radio. The
communication tends to be directed and purposeful. You won't find GMRS
licensees "calling CQ" or popping up on repeaters just to chat with
strangers.
Other repeater groups are very similar
to ham groups. It is often hard to determine where the ham ends and the GMRS
begins as the emphasis on these systems is public service communication and
ham-like activities.
There are some GMRS groups that were
formed around hobby activities. Activities where not all members are hams so
the activity was not in the ham service. There are a number of ambulance chaser
and fire chaser types that created GMRS repeaters to support their hobbies.
These are generally considered inappropriate uses of GMRS if the primary reason
of communication is to support the hobby and not family communication. Such
systems typically use paging to alert members to public safety broadcasts and
have little if any GMRS style communication purpose. Clubs like these should
license in the business radio service.
Many GMRS licensees also hold licenses
in the Amateur Radio Service, or are in some way employed in the communications
industry. They understand the value of two-way radio as a family communication
tool. Their families can enjoy the utility of repeater communication without
having to take an FCC operator's exam to operate in the radio service.
There is a growing number of families
buying GMRS radios for use when traveling or for use with family and friends on
sporting vacations.
Just because you bought a radio with
repeater channels included doesn't mean you can use any repeater the radio
might actually access for you. GMRS licensees all expect you to ask for
permission before your family begins to use the repeater. It is no longer an
FCC requirement but it is expected by virtually ALL licensees. Repeaters are
private property. No one is under any obligation to allow you to use or
continue to use any repeater station. The FCC cannot force someone to allow you
to use their repeater either. The national emergency pair 462.675/467.675 MIGHT
be available for travel assistance and reporting emergencies in a few areas but
you CANNOT expect to use any of these repeaters for routine family
communication unless you have the permission of the licensee.
GMRS licensees tend to be very
supportive of spouses, children, and other family members that use the radio
systems. Where an Amateur Radio or even CB enthusiast might expect every
operator to have complex knowledge of procedures and practices, in GMRS we tend
to adapt to the operating habits of spouses, children, and friends. We expect
that our families will understand and apply what they or are willing to
understand about our radio systems. The person responsible for the license
makes up for any shortcomings. Some licensees are are not even interested in
any level of technical or operating sophistication. Don't expect a ham-like
environment. GMRS is a family and personal communication environment where the
communication is more important than technical knowledge and operating prowess.
It is very similar to using a business repeater. One pushes a Mic button and
talks and then listens. That's it. This is why you will find very little
patience by GMRS licensees for on-the-air uses of GMRS that require serious
discipline and minute attention to operating details. A spouse or child is
quite likely to come up on a repeater channel and call a family member while a
public service activity is in progress. It's just not fair to expect a ham-like
environment in a service that was never intended for such use. Organized nets
on GMRS channels are ham-like events that could present a problem if the
network organizers become angry and impatient about interruptions.
With regard to using CTCSS tones, it is
generally recognized that the FCC doesn't regulate PL tones directly. Their
Policy on PL tones is that the last one to put it on his system changes.
However, you cannot leave a tone installed in a system to "hold" it.
There must be a current user for each tone. If one changes users, the date the
tone was placed on the system is the date the newest licensee with that tone
was placed on the system.
GMRS currently suffers from severe
abuses by unlicensed users conducting operations that are not even eligible for
license in GMRS. These Intruders are controlling and monopolizing frequencies
in huge geographical regions of some states.
There are a number of licensees that
place a very high value on monitoring 462.675 for traveller's aid and radio
emergencies. Many of these folks are members of REACT. Major cities have active
REACT teams that use these channels for family communication but are also eager
to help other licensees just traveling through. REACT has a time honored
presence in GMRS.
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