I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which I use
in my business, and found on their website that my call sign is... WQCTxxx.
It is a seven character combination or capital letters and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in there?
Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is WQCTxxx,
please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only in the air?

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?

Thanks

On Sat, 28 May 2005 02:48:16 -0400, ALEXB wrote:

I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which I use
in my business, and found on their website that my call sign is... WQCTxxx.
It is a seven character combination or capital letters and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in there?

It is the 4-letter 3-digit sequence assigned to you by the FCC. This is
listed in the box labeled "Call Sign" on the middle left side of the
"Radio Station Authorization" form you got from the FCC in the mail.

Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is WQCTxxx,
please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only in the air?

95.119 Station identification.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (e), every GMRS station must transmit a
station identification:

(1) Following the transmission of communications or a series of
communications; and

(2) Every 15 minutes during a long transmission.

(b) The station identification is the call sign assigned to the GMRS station
or system.

(c) A unit number may be included after the call sign in the
identification.

(d) The station identification must be transmitted in:

(1) Voice in the English language; or

(2) International Morse code telegraphy.

(e) A station need not identify its transmissions if it automatically
retransmits communications from another station which are properly
identified.

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?

Try this URL: http://www.provide.net/~prsg/part95ae.htm

Enjoy the GMRS radio service.

Regards,

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"ALEXB" wrote in
:

I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which
I use in my business, and found on their website that my call sign
is... WQCTxxx. It is a seven character combination or capital letters
and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in
there? Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is
WQCTxxx, please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only
in the air?

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?


Sorry to tell you.... You wasted your money. GMRS use for businesses are
prohibited. You used to be able to license for a business, but the rules
have subsequently changed. Only those who have a grandfathered license
from back when it was legal can do so.
See regulation below:

95.5 License eligibility.

(a) An individual (one man or one woman) is eligible to obtain, renew
and have modified a GMRS system license if that individual is 18 years
of age or older and is not a representative of a foreign government.

(b) A non-individual (an entity other than an individual) is ineligible
to obtain a new GMRS system license or make a major modification to an
existing GMRS system license.

(c) A GMRS system licensed to a non-individual before July 31, 1987, is
eligible to renew that licenses and all subsequent licenses based upon it
if:

(1) The non-individual is a partnership and each partner is 18 years of
age or older; a corporation; an association; a state, territorial,
or local government unit; or a legal entity;

(2) The non-individual is not a foreign government; a representative of
a foreign government; or a federal government agency; and

(3) The licensee has not been granted a major modification to its GMRS
system.




The GMRS crowd hangs out on another newsgroup, alt.radio.family

FCC regs can be found he http://www.provide.net/~prsg/part95ae.htm
Oficial GMRS FCC website is he http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/per...generalmobile/


--
John L. Wilkerson Jr.

GMRS Consumer information website:
http://www.geocities.com/johnlwilker....net/gmrs.html

"ALEXB" wrote in
:

I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which
I use in my business, and found on their website that my call sign
is... WQCTxxx. It is a seven character combination or capital letters
and digits.

Your email bounced... I was going to send you more information.

"General Mobile Radio Service |nformation" wrote in
message ...
"ALEXB" wrote in
:

I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which
I use in my business, and found on their website that my call sign
is... WQCTxxx. It is a seven character combination or capital letters
and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in
there? Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is
WQCTxxx, please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only
in the air?

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?


Sorry to tell you.... You wasted your money. GMRS use for businesses are
prohibited. You used to be able to license for a business, but the rules
have subsequently changed. Only those who have a grandfathered license
from back when it was legal can do so.
See regulation below:

95.5 License eligibility.

(a) An individual (one man or one woman) is eligible to obtain, renew
and have modified a GMRS system license if that individual is 18 years
of age or older and is not a representative of a foreign government.

(b) A non-individual (an entity other than an individual) is ineligible
to obtain a new GMRS system license or make a major modification to an
existing GMRS system license.

(c) A GMRS system licensed to a non-individual before July 31, 1987, is
eligible to renew that licenses and all subsequent licenses based upon
it
if:

(1) The non-individual is a partnership and each partner is 18 years
of
age or older; a corporation; an association; a state,
territorial,
or local government unit; or a legal entity;

(2) The non-individual is not a foreign government; a representative
of
a foreign government; or a federal government agency; and

(3) The licensee has not been granted a major modification to its
GMRS
system.




The GMRS crowd hangs out on another newsgroup, alt.radio.family

FCC regs can be found he http://www.provide.net/~prsg/part95ae.htm
Oficial GMRS FCC website is he
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/per...generalmobile/


--
John L. Wilkerson Jr.

GMRS Consumer information website:
http://www.geocities.com/johnlwilker....net/gmrs.html

Thanks for telling me that but I think I am fine. I am not incorporated. I
have one employee. I applied as an individual. I filled out an application
on their website at www.wireless.fcc.gov/usl/ and I do not remember if they
asked me about my business name. Anyway, I used my office address as I
recall. It is too confusing for me to understand in all its entirety since I
have too many other things to worry about.

Let me ask you another question. For my counterpart to use their GMRS I have
to get a second license (Yes/No)--I guess the answer is yes?

That second license can be had as if it is attached to my existing account
which now has the first license on it that is discussed here (Yes/No)?

I don't really need a crowd to join. You, guys, are giving me almost more
than I need to orient myself to the wireless world

Thanks.

"General Mobile Radio Service |nformation" wrote in
message ...
"ALEXB" wrote in
:

I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which
I use in my business, and found on their website that my call sign
is... WQCTxxx. It is a seven character combination or capital letters
and digits.

Your email bounced... I was going to send you more information.

Yes, I am fed up with people harvesting my email address and sending junk.
Until a legislation is enacted to protect Internet users I will remain
anonymous.

I just entered your email address in my safe list of my
hotmail account and you can send it to Please,
remove "333" before mailing. It is for protection.

I really appreciate your help. Thank you very much.

Happy Memorial weekend everyone.

Sorry.

Hello Alexb:

I listen in on a bunch on vhf and uhf Frequencies on my scanner. Most
GMRS and the commercial channels hardly any one uses call signs, except
for a few hams that are using modified UHF radios to talk on the GMRS
and FRS channels, they slip up and give their ham call sign, hehehehe

When call signs are used they mostly get it wrong or leave out letters
or numbers kind of funny. Or a foreign accent adds to the "What was that
they said"

If the general public was held for call sign accuracy we would all be in
jail.

So I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.

We had a local vhf channel that at one time had Berts Pizza and a few
delivery cars, a cement truck company, a school, and a fire fighting
outfit showed on the same channel during a forest fire. No body used
call signs, but it was very entertaining. We call it the "E" channel,
hehehehehehehhehe

Jay in the Mojave

ALEXB wrote:
I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which I use
in my business, and found on their website that my call sign is... WQCTxxx.
It is a seven character combination or capital letters and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in there?
Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is WQCTxxx,
please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only in the air?

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?

Thanks

"Jay in the Mojave" wrote in message
...
Hello Alexb:

I listen in on a bunch on vhf and uhf Frequencies on my scanner. Most
GMRS and the commercial channels hardly any one uses call signs, except
for a few hams that are using modified UHF radios to talk on the GMRS
and FRS channels, they slip up and give their ham call sign, hehehehe

When call signs are used they mostly get it wrong or leave out letters
or numbers kind of funny. Or a foreign accent adds to the "What was that
they said"

If the general public was held for call sign accuracy we would all be in
jail.

So I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.

That's what I thought too. Common sense pictured me a similar image or
reality. Just wanted to find out what other people's experience is with it.

Aside from what you just said which is valuable, I want to point out that my
communications, I hate to say it, are encrypted. That small GMRS has 15 or
so codes and multiplied by the number of channels I can use (from the top of
my head from the 12th up since I transmit at "high power" of 4W) makes it
unlikely that somebody would instantly tune in. How in the world would I
make a fool of myself blubbering that gibberish? There is nothing especially
'secret' about what I talk about. It is all about stocks, like, "sell 500
GOOG right now" or "do you want me to bring you a sandwich?" but I still do
not want people with scanners like you hear it. I actually use the telephone
line most of the time but need a back up system since once in a while the
phones do fail.

How do you go about listening to encrypted conversations, I am curious?

You know I have a full respect for the law but I would hate to be
ridiculous.


We had a local vhf channel that at one time had Berts Pizza and a few
delivery cars, a cement truck company, a school, and a fire fighting
outfit showed on the same channel during a forest fire. No body used
call signs, but it was very entertaining. We call it the "E" channel,
hehehehehehehhehe

Jay in the Mojave

ALEXB wrote:
I've been granted an FCC license for a GMRS radio (ZA category), which I
use
in my business, and found on their website that my call sign is...
WQCTxxx.
It is a seven character combination or capital letters and digits.

What does it mean and how can I use it? My "radio" is a small handheld
walkie-talkie with 4W max power output. Where is the call number in
there?
Shall I use it when I talk to my counterpart: "Hello, this is WQCTxxx,
please, report to me?" Is it all to it? Like a caller ID only in the
air?

Is there a set of rules describing the proper use of it?

Thanks

On Sat, 28 May 2005 13:06:44 -0400, alexb wrote:


Aside from what you just said which is valuable, I want to point out that my
communications, I hate to say it, are encrypted. That small GMRS has 15 or
so codes and multiplied by the number of channels I can use (from the top of
my head from the 12th

I would take what he said about call sign usage with a grain of salt. It's
no different than somebody telling you it's OK to do 20 over on the
highway because they never saw a cop. Yeah you might get away with it for
a long time, but sooner or later you'll get nailed. Also consider you're
trying to use it for business, that gives the licensed users an extra
incentive to report you.

Now for your comment above, if your talking about those
so-called "privacy codes", forget it. They don't encrypt anything. What
they're for is to keep other radios from opening up the squelch for every
transmission on that channel except for the one using that code. That way
you don't have to be bothered listening to transmission you're not
interested in. Anybody with a scanner can still hear everything you say.
One more thing, if you read the rules about station ID it states clearly
that you must ID either in English or Mose Code on the GMRS channels. That
basically ends any sort of encrypted transmission on GMRS. You may find
FRS radios using "voice inversion" scrambling, but then again you have to
have all matching radios typically from the same manufacture and most
people who are serious monitors have ways to unscramble the signal anyway,
either using hardware or some software based technique using a computer
sound card. The best rule to observe is assume that somebody can hear you
regardless of what kind of transmission you make scrambled, or in the
clear.

Regards,

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO
WPYJ972

On Sat, 28 May 2005 08:12:38 -0400, ALEXB wrote:


Yes, I am fed up with people harvesting my email address and sending junk.
Until a legislation is enacted to protect Internet users I will remain
anonymous.

They have but it doesn't seem to be doing much good as of now.

You're not as anonymous as you may think. Your home IP shows in the
headers. If you have a way to turn it off I would advise doing so unless
you don't care or can't as many people find out. Also you should turn off
your Ping (Echo) response too unless you need it on. Sometimes I turn mine
on when I'm doing some testing or network configuration modifications. At
least you don't seem to have any ports hanging open. I did a quick port
scan of your system so if you have any logging enabled my port scanning
it'll show up there so don't worry about it.

-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 May 2005 08:12:38 -0400
From: "ALEXB"
Lines: 28
Message-ID:
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 28 May 2005 07:14:01 -0500
NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.40.200.77
Newsgroups: rec.radio.cb
Path: local01.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.comcast.com!new s.comcast.com.POSTED!not-for-mail
References:
Subject: FCC license
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly
X-Complaints-To:
X-DMCA-Complaints-To:
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1437
X-Postfilter: 1.3.32
X-Priority: 3
X-Trace: sv3-lEStMSy0m78LOK5D0y9rxiC5oMgZZ8PW8tR8EdFTJtkKWFi4JH 09qYxEyUyJgDZZEJ0e9W3iM6fJTJm!QorZ1PCHhzWQ/jr+fkCe2kSTBfAGku8SAvZ33Z4TLcSUruQaD/p776+UU3Uf0yU8D5dq/LEGN3Gw!caM=
Xref: number1.nntp.dca.giganews.com rec.radio.cb:398351
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
---------------------------------------------------------------------


[Querying whois.arin.net]
[whois.arin.net]
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. JUMPSTART-1 (NET-68-32-0-0-1)
68.32.0.0 - 68.63.255.255
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc MICHIGAN-A-1 (NET-68-40-0-0-1)
68.40.0.0 - 68.41.255.255

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-05-27 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

While that may not do much good for finding your E-mail address it gives
them a start.

Regards,

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO