1. How about making it into a cheap wireless modem. You could run the audio out from a modem into the microphone jack. You could have another running into a phone line or another computer.

Posted at 1:54AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Max

2. I am not sure that I like this idea the more I think of it, but I'm going to mention it anyhow... Make a "gaydar"-style social networking thing. Have a server elsewhere that maintains a list of your interests, what you are looking for, etc. As you travel around it tracks you and it's other users and when one that it feels is an appropriate match is in the immediate vicinity, it notifies the two of you so that you might meet face to face.

Posted at 1:59AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Blind

3. this is what i get for posting when it's late and I should be sleeping.

Assuming that it isn't obvious, I'm expecting there to be gps tracking on all of the units (like the original post) in addition to the required connection to the server.


Probably an easier way to do this though.

Posted at 2:02AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Blind

4. you do realize that gmrs radios require a license, don't you? also they must be fcc type accepted to operate on the frs/gmrs bands, therefore no 'hacks'. the rhino also was a rare exception and granted special permission to transmit data within the band.

Posted at 2:03AM on Nov 19th 2007 by a

5. i have a bunch of these. i'd love to be able to harness their power and use them as an R/C control, or at least figure out how to boost the tx power or change the frequency :)

Posted at 2:22AM on Nov 19th 2007 by steve diraddo

6. i also noticed that the frs band has a greater frequency than whats required by an analog NTSC video signal. perhaps its possible to transmit video signals with a slight modification or two.

Posted at 2:26AM on Nov 19th 2007 by steve diraddo

7. @#4:

Yes, GMRS is licensed. Barely. You pay a fee, fill out a form and you're licensed - no test whatsoever. And that's if you're hyper-honest. I don't think most people bother with even that small formality.

Posted at 2:49AM on Nov 19th 2007 by josh

8. @4, @7:
Not in canada, Here they are bound only by RSS-210, as is FRS. Refer to Annex 6 of RSS-210 for details.

Posted at 3:06AM on Nov 19th 2007 by wikityler

9. Here in NC the police use GMRS somehow. I think it's on there belt mounted radios. They use EDGE or something on there computers.

Posted at 4:18AM on Nov 19th 2007 by TJhooker

10. The freq can be readjusted pretty easily with a handheld freq meter and a pot tool on most model's.

You can't go far only .5 mhz but it's enough to get all the channels to be in between the regular channel's so that anyone without a adjusted radio only gets garble junk that doesnt even sound like a voice.

Aka poormans scrambler.

Ive done it dozen's of times

Posted at 5:00AM on Nov 19th 2007 by TJ

11. Funny all the licensing crap. I like the idea of having the GPS attached to one of the radios. It is not cost effect to have it on all of them. Nor would young kids like this.

Maybe to use the main radios (FRS with GPS) TX a homing signal to the child FRSs) This way the child Radios can track the parent when the parent is on the move. What and how the protocal would be, I do not how to handle this.

Posted at 6:25AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Brat

12. I like the idea of sending video. You have a lot of channels can you make you of that as added bandwith. But how does that make use of the GPS? Maybe to encode the remote users location?

Posted at 6:25AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Brat

13. You could connect a radio to your PC and using Voice over IP magic, have conversations with people on the other side of the world!

e.g.: http://www.446user.co.uk/article_12.html

Posted at 7:06AM on Nov 19th 2007 by lwr

14. Hmm, this is tough. You could modify them for a wall-mounted intercom system. I'm not sure, but you may be able to modify a radio to act as a scanner. I know you can do it with an AM receiver, but I don't know whether FRS/GMRS radios use AM or what.

Posted at 8:16AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Skyler Orlando

15. simple idea: how about a hack to make a 2-way system? that way it could be used hands-free.

if only 2 people are using the link, then a separate channel could be used in each direction. now you have a poor-man's radio-telephone.

the only way i can think to do this is strap a pair together - making it quite heavy. however since it is hands-free, and if you take the skiing example, the "box" could go in a back-pack or deep-inside pocket or something.

Posted at 8:33AM on Nov 19th 2007 by aefaradien

16. another idea (sorry for double post):
2 gps/radio units that always point at the other?

Posted at 8:35AM on Nov 19th 2007 by aefaradien

17. Just a correction, transmitting on GMRS radio frequencies does require a license. It's not a "proof of competence" license like a ham license; the only test is whether or not the FCC can cash your check.

There are interesting things you'll learn once you get your license, though. For example, it's illegal to use GMRS channels 19 and 21 north of the 49th parallel from Washington to Minnesota, and other points sufficiently near the Canadian border (apparently they conflict with some Canadian military frequencies.) The thing that always puzzled me was why Garmin didn't encode that line in the internal map, and shut off those two channels in the "forbidden zone".

Posted at 8:47AM on Nov 19th 2007 by jaded

18. FCC rules on FRS and GMRS say "No unmodified radios" (sigh) , and also say only an approved radio can be used... which annoys me, since if I were to freeband my Ham HT and set it for low power (both software changes), I could emulate FRS and GMRS except for the "no mods/approved hardware only" rule. Would be nice to have just one radio to talk to Hams and non-Hams alike just by turning the knob.

You're also not supposed to push data over them, unless you have an FCC exemption.

That said, what kind of _legal_ fun?

I believe an FRS with Vox plugged into the soundport of a computer would be legal. Load up one of the voice recognition packages, add text-to-speech and build an FRS/eMail gateway. Have a pre-defined "Heinlein/Number of the Beast/Gay Deciever" syntax to control it, and you'd be all set.

Having it tied to an RSS feed accumulator of some sort would rock too - being able to be out on the far side of the farm and say,"Computer, weather report, execute" would rock.

Tie it into one of the cheap USB X-10 controllers, and you've got the house lights and outside light. "Computer, Front lights, fifty percent, execute"

The VOIP one has been done with EchoLink, but that's a Ham-only set up. Should be able to use off-the-shelf software for the rest.

If you can track down one of those old "dialers" you hold to the telephone, or use your PDA headphone jack plugged into the FRS, you could send DTMF from an unmodified radio.... Might be useful to control various things.

One option for an unmodified radio being used more efficently with a vehicle would be a plastic box with a magnet in it. Use long earphone/mic cords through the car window, put the radio up on the roof so the car doesn't block 90-odd% of the RF. You won't be able to change channels, but it should substantially improve the range while on the road.

Posted at 8:57AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Jeff

19. @10 - You win. That's the best information on FRS I've ever read. I have 5 of these units. Ideally, when we have soccer tournaments that mean my wife and I are trying to keep track of multiple games and kids at different events within a mile or so of each other we can use them. Unfortunately, the band is so crowded with kids being stupid on them that it doesn't work out. They're a little better for road trips between cars in a caravan (a convoy if you're old enough to remember the 70's film).

Anyway, I'm going to look into that 1/2 step freq change you mentioned. That would rock.

Posted at 9:10AM on Nov 19th 2007 by Andrew Pollack

20. the garmin rinos only TX a position report when you key up, so they're not much good for finding someone who isn't actively wanting to be found.

data transmission on FRS/GMRS is strictly forbidden; garmiin was granted an exception for the rinos, and that exception has limits (no automatic position beacons - they must be requeted by a human operator).

there are some tools that go with xastir (unix APRS application) to import the rino data into xastir alongside APRS data. pretty cool.

and a minor nit, the opentracker is based on an MC68Hxx controller, not a PIC. I think the original TinyTrack was a PIC, but he's switched to Atmel micros.

Posted at 9:13AM on Nov 19th 2007 by jason Winningham