Prep Comms - What MURS Can’t (and Can) Really Do

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Digital Modes, Text Messaging, Repeaters—and Why Clarity Matters In this episode of the Prep Comms Podcast, we dive into one of the most misunderstood parts of MURS radio: digital modes. Is digital really banned on MURS? Can you send a text? What about crossband repeaters or modes like MT63, RTTY, or APRS? Caleb clears the air by breaking down what the FCC actually allows—and where people still cross the line. From legal analog data modes to banned digital voice, this episode brings clarity to a confusing corner of the radio spectrum. We’ll also hit: Texting over MURS (yes, it’s possible) Why repeaters—including crossband—are a no-go How your antenna system makes or breaks signal strength What “manual control” and bandwidth limits really mean Mentioned in this episode: 📍 Webinar + course for families: www.FamilyConnectSystem.com 📍 Amazon gear list: https://amzn.to/3DKR8Lx 📍 ZBM2 QP Whip Antenna: ZBM2 Store — use coupon PREPCOMMS 📍 Ed Fong DBJ-1C: Ed Fong Store 📍 Centerfire Ground Plane: View Here 📍 JPole for MURS: J-Pole Antennas Rattlegram: Blog Post 📍 Rattlegram: Android 📍 Rattlegram: iOS Want to stay legal and stay connected? Join the families building real emergency comms systems—without the confusion: 👉 www.FamilyConnectSystem.com  

So welcome back to the third episode of the Prepcom's podcast mini series regarding MERS radio, the service. And the first two episodes went pretty hard on the legalities, the realities, and all the otheralities in regards to this radio service that I have a very deep affinity for. I left a lot of room open for you guys to decide what was right, in different legal illegal gray

I'm gonna try to paint with a black and white paintbrush today and Honestly, I've spent about three weeks digging with my fingernails into this thing to get you the truths now I know a lot of a lot of folks listening just don't care that the rules don't matter It's radio spectrum. It should be free The government does it. I don't care. Whatever.'s, it's radio spectrum. It should be free. Uh, the government does it. I don't care. Whatever. That's cool.

That's not this program. This program is part of the family connect system. I'm Caleb, the family radio guy, and we're helping families build radio systems in, in the, the field of preparedness in case something happens. That way their family members can stay connected. Now this, this is family oriented and I'm just the guy that's going to keep it legal and keep it out front. I'm not saying you can't, I'm just saying you may not like what we do here because those are the rules we follow. There's thousands of people on YouTube that will probably take you down the rabbit holes.

It's not me. So if this is not for you, it's okay. I really appreciate you being here, but it may not be the show for you. Other than that, I'm excited you're here. All right. So let's get back into this. Like I said, I left it just gray. It's gray, digital modes, data modes. It's gray. And it really is pretty, pretty vastly gray from the outside, you know, the thousand mile view. Telemetry is straight up. It's just measuring back and forth between radio devices. There's no questions there. That's all there.

And guys, you can literally spend a week trying to figure all these different services out if you want to with all the different parts and whatever the government's given us, but here it is. So if you've ever wondered, can you send a text message over MERS or can you do packet or APRS over MERS or can I use a repeater over MERS? Well, those are some of the things we're going to talk about today because some of it you can depending and some of you absolutely cannot. I mean, you can, but you shouldn't because you're not supposed to.

Okay. So anyway, I'm not picking sides guys. I'm just telling you, I'm here to get it right. My job is to stay clear, to stay credible and to give you and your family the best information that I can regarding the communications plan as a dad of five, homeschool dad of over 20 years. This is how I teach. So I'm here helping you and I hope that you guys are enjoying this. So here's what the FCC says. Excuse me. You can legally transmit digital data.

Okay, so we're gonna check the telemetry box so we've talked that to death. So digital data, you can do that on MERS as long as you do it over analog FM, Okay. It has to fit between the legal bandwidths and it depends on which channel you're on, which frequency of MERS you're using as which the size of bandwidth that's the maximum is either 11 and a quarter or 20 kilohertz. All right. It has to be manually controlled. Okay. So that means that if you're doing it, you have to do it.

You have to be the one personally to start it, and you have to be the one to stop it. You can't just press a button and walk off and expect it to do the thing the right way because it has to be manually controlled. Alright? Also, you can't encrypt it because Merz is wide open. It has to stay wide open. Now, people will say, well, digital is encryption. Also, you can encrypt it because Merz is wide open. It has to stay wide open.

Now people will say, well, digital is encryption. No, digital is just another mode of communications. Now it does give you, I'll give you this, it does give you, like if you're not sitting there monitoring that frequency with the software that's being used to create that digital toning, uh, it will sound encrypted cause you won't know what it says, but if someone has what you're using and listening, they can decrypt what you've said.

So it's not encrypted. It can get kind of down in the weeds there a little bit and maybe somebody not know what you're saying. So anyway, here we go. Um, so modes like MT 63 RTTY, Contestia, Packet, keyboard to keyboard messaging, even APRS, all right, those are okay, but you have to do it responsibly. Like I said, you can't just set up a DigiPeter or an iGate on MERS because that is almost a remote control type of station and you can't do it without being present with the device. Okay, some of the things you can't do on

the digital modes and the big ones are the digital voice modes. So when you say digital mode sometimes people think digital voice. So we're talking DMR, Yezu system fusion, NXDN, D-Star P25, different modes like that. They're not allowed, just not allowed. It's too broad. It's also just against the rules, right? So it has to be FM analog formats. If it's, if it's a non FM digital mode, you can't put it on MERS. All right. So what we really should have said is digital voice is illegal, but some analog digital data is allowed as long as it falls within

the parameters of the rules set forth by the FCC for MERS radio service. All right. So get all the way back to say this, you can, and really you should legally, if you want to use digital modes that fit the parameters like packet or APRS. Doesn't mean you hook your TNC up and just let it run and you and your buddy have a BBS on MERS. That some of that doesn't mean anything to anybody, but basically you can't, okay? It has to be, I'm sitting here, I press a button, it sends a message, press another button to stop the message. It has to be that way.

Rattlegram, now I've got a podcast, I'm sorry, an old blog post in the Ham Radio 360 show notes and it will be in the blog post for this particular episode on the Prepcom's website that talks about rattlegram when it first came out. And I think it's kind of stalled in development, but man, it's a really cool digital mode that you don't have to have any kind of device other than like a smartphone or a tablet. And you download the app on your tablet and your friend downloads the app on his tablet and you don't have to connect the radio you just do audio coupling press the press the

push to talk button hold it over the speaker of the tablet it makes a bunch of squeaks and squelches and all this crazy sound and you can decode it on the other side the same way so rattlegrams cool I try to remember to go back and add that to the show notes but you got to remember it's got to be analog and it has to fit the bandwidth specifications. And is this a dead horse? Yeah, but sometimes people take a long time to understand what you're really trying to say.

Some things you have to remember about what you're actually transmitting on Merz, even if it's a digital, like a Rytlegram or a MT63, something like that, it's not private. I've already rattle gram or MT 63 something like that. It's not private I've already said it but you have to hear it. It's not private people can have the same software They can have the same whatever you're using and decode what you're saying in air quotes The biggest thing is you can't automate it You can't beacon it and you can't repeat it and And I know, I know some of you guys are like,

well, I use MERS for crossband on GMRS and it's against the rules. Okay. Keep listening. We're going to keep going here. Um, no repeaters are allowed on MERS. This is, um, I want to quote I want to quote part 47 CFR 95.2 705. A MERS station must not be operated as a repeater station. It's pretty simple. And really that's what makes MERS so amazing and why I've held this secret for so long regarding the service is because, with the fact that it's not repeated, with the fact that it doesn't

have DMR on it, with the fact that people aren't just blowing it up with digital modes all day long, it's really quiet in a lot of places. I know I've heard from a few of you guys that it's really busy where you live and the majority of you are in really big urban areas, but by and large, MERS is very quiet. That's the power of MERS. And it's just one of those things that I hope by finding out about this service that you'll respect that and utilize it as a quiet service for yourself and your family too.

So you cannot operate repeaters on the five MERS frequencies. That includes crossband repeating. Okay. That includes store and forward repeaters. So you have a little, the parrot box where you talk into a repeater and it waits and then it sends the exactly what you just said a few seconds later. That is not allowed. It's the rules. It's not my opinion. You, you cannot digipete.

Okay. So a digipeter is basically, look at the word digipeter, digital repeater. So we use these in packet radio and APRS where a box hears some signals in it automatically picks them up and spits them back out to push them on down the line into other nodes of the network so that the signal can keep going. That's a repeater. That's a no-no in regards to MERS. IGates. You cannot use an IGate. And what does an IGate do? Well, it takes a digital signal and converts it into data that can be streamed or utilized on the internet basically repeats it to put it on the internet and you can't do that and it wasn't too long ago that they

shut down the MERS, I'm sorry the GMRS, linked repeater system to the internet too because it was against the rules. So I know you guys, a lot of you don't like rules, I do. So let's keep going. I'm a first born is what we do. So again, this, the whole Merge thing is simply a private air quote, small air quote, local comma business comma. It's there for you to use. It's not there for you to abuse so that others can't use. Right?

So be nice, play nice. You can increase it. We've already talked about it a hundred times, but you can put an antenna 60 feet in the air. You can also put an antenna 20 feet above a structure that it's mounted to. So if you happen to own a five-story apartment complex somewhere, you can put a MERS antenna on the top of that apartment building plus 20 feet.

So yeah, you'll cover your whole city without any questions. There's just a lot of ways to be able to use this service. It's best because it is a simplex service. Simplex means point to point, radio to radio, nothing in the middle. It just works because it works. So it's so simple that, and that's the key. The beauty of the whole thing is that, um, it doesn't have to be tied in all these things to work and it's not, MERS is not built the frequencies aren't there

for you to cross state lines with. You know what I'm saying? They're not made there for you to talk multiple states that the, the, the frequencies aren't there for you to cross state lines with. You know what I'm saying? They're not made there for you to talk multiple states that the pattern, the the structure of the frequency is not made for that without high power directional antennas and more than you're going to want to get into here as a prepper, we'll talk about it in the hand radio field on down the road, But again, you got to keep it manual means that there's no automation. You got to keep it brief, which means you're just not on there. Just like channel 19 on the CB.

God bless them. I used to be one of those guys and I still have CBs and love them, by the way. I just don't use them like that anymore. And, um, with data modes again, it has to be manual. It has to be a brief sent and receive, and you have to keep it within the bandwidth specifications. Uh, again, knowing that even though you may put privacy tones or CTCSS tones in your radio and your buddy's radio, and you guys only hear each other, it

doesn't mean that half the country, I'm just kidding, half the county can't hear what you're saying. You have to know that. So you, I can feel it as I'm recording it. I can feel it already. So bear with me. All right. Again, let's just go back to antennas real quick. I know this is kind of a rambling show, but this is, this is just kind of a boring small print at the bottom of a contract. Um, we've already talked about height, the buff structure.

We've already talked about antennas. If you'll put up a good base station antenna, you will be shocked how well this radio service will work for you and your family. If you have an in-law or in-laws a couple of miles away, if you'll set up a directional antenna at your house and at their house, point them at each other, you guys are gonna have a virtual intercom. It's gonna be beautiful. If you have short-run coax, meaning that from your radio to the connection point of your antennas, 50 foot or less, you can get by with some really low

cost coaxial cable. If it's longer than 50, you're going to spend some more money with something like an LMR 400. It's a great cable. Uh, it's not as flexible as 8X, but it will work. And down the road, as you progress in your communications hobby, uh, the, the higher end coaxial cable will give you the ability to do more with what you already own.

Um, again, I've got show notes that will have the antennas that I recommend. Um, you really not going to go wrong with any of them. You're really not because any antenna you add to the outside of your structure or vehicle, you're removing all sorts of interference. And if you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot. Uh, we will have a rollup J-Pole type antenna for GMRS and M U R S in the store in a week or so be looking for an email or an Instagram post on that.

We're going to see how well that's received for folks who just don't want to be hams and that's okay, but you want a roll up portable antenna with a little more gain that you can pull up in a tree. If you're out in the field, we're going to have those for, we have those now for ham frequencies. We're going to bring them in for MERS and GMRS as well. So again, um, I wasn't 100% correct or incorrect and I'm going to just wear the hat. I was, I should have been more clear and having thought about after going through comments and speaking with friends and listening to the program

myself, I want to be 100% clear and just saying it's gray and you'll figure it out is not really what this show is about. So thank you for allowing me the opportunity to come in and say, Hey, it is gray, but down here in the real deep parts, it's very black and white. So I would love to know what you're doing with it. Are you, are you using MT 63 on MERS at two watts because MT63 is a really, really great program to send text back and forth over VHF. You can do it on repeaters. I've actually called in the repeaters, can I use

this for a test? And I'm like, yeah, we know what you're doing. And it is really loud. It makes a lot of noise. Nobody wants to hear it except me, but it does work really well simplex point to point on our ham radio stuff. So I know it works on VHF. You can use it on MERS, uh, the rattle gram, Ribbit radio, uh, it's, it's good to go to. Those are probably the two. Well, MT 63 is not the easiest by any stretch because you have to have a suite of software and blah, blah, blah.

Rattle gram is ridiculously easy. It's a free app. He gets the free app. You get the free app. G3 is not the easiest by any stretch because you have to have a suite of software and blah, blah, blah. Rytlegram is ridiculously easy. It's a free app. He gets the free app. You get the free app. You guys are talking. Check the show notes. I promise you I'll put it in.

I'm going to go add that right now to the show notes. Still, here's the deal. You can do more with MERS than people give it credit for. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube, go to the YouTube channel, start reading some of the comments where we've got actual listeners using actual MERS radios talking to each other. There's some, uh, some, some sticklers there too, but whatever. Um, it's not a digital playground.

It is not made to just, you know, blow up at 50 Watts with your wide open Chinese radio and just ruin it for everybody around you. But it's a great kind of stealth network minus the fact people can hear you. So if GMRS is too busy at your house, try merge. You'll love it. Again, like always, I'm going to tell you, you know, the rules, respect the rules, respect the band and respect the other users because you know, they could be blowing it up for you too.

So just use it well, treat others the way you want to be treated. And I think everybody will be okay. Coming up real soon, the Family Connect webinar will be releasing probably in the next couple of weeks, but it doesn't matter when you're listening to this. You can visit FamilyConnectSystem.com. That's the show sponsor. It's my Family Connection webinar that you can take in and see if you'd like to learn more about that. Also, don't forget links in the show notes for the Amazon storefront, Merz radios, we have GMRS, everything in there that we've talked about all through this time and even

more. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for letting me just get this off my chest. I'm sorry I left it gray to start with. I hope that I've brought some clarity to that. And yes, if you're using MERS, try the Rattlegram. Let me know how it works for you. I'm really excited to hear from you guys.

Thank you again for being here, being a part of what we're doing, allowing us to help you and your family prepare for a communications emergency. Hurricane season's coming up. You never know, and now's the time. So if we can help you, please let us know. Otherwise, we'll catch you on the next episode.

God bless, 73R.