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GMRS Update from Tony Morris via Facebook

#1 · December 4, 2022, 12:15 pm

Quote from WRFD401 Ray on December 4, 2022, 12:15 pm
NETWORK UPDATE - ALL SHOULD READ

GMRS Live is very busy and that is a good thing. With thousands of followers on Facebook and hundreds of node numbers issued there are hundreds of nodes currently connected to the registration server. Who is connected to whom is anybody's guess. That is the nice thing. You are free to connect and disconnect to anyone you want. Only if you (or who you connect to ) has a status page will anyone know where you are. You can advertise that if you want connections or stay private. We do not share the information. That is why there is no map with bouncing lights and lines showing who is connected and talking. You may not want someone to know your talking to someone else. It is not up to us to invade your privacy!

With that said we must make some changes. Starting January 1st 2023 GMRS Live is changing to a Membership Service. Membership will require a "Donation" of At Least $15 a year (just little over $1 a month). When you become a member you get everything you get now. Multiple Node Numbers. Freedom to create what you want. GMRS Live Zello access will be limited to Members Only. Pretty much what you have now.

This change came about for a few reasons. For going on 2 1/2 years Kim and I have paid 100% for the network (we are not complaining at all). All equipment, data center fees, email and domain. It does add up. Many people asked to donate and Kim always said "we got this". One group sent us a nice donation and we promptly returned it. We do this because we love doing it. But with old age sneaking up and retirement in my future I don't want to fall in a place that would jeopardize the network.

Then there is the administration side of things. There are a lot of users on Zello or with Node Numbers but there are also many who have requested access and never loged on, with many request in the email right now. Our email is full weekly of users requesting information. They request Zello access and Node Numbers. I truly believe many don't know what they are asking for. They just request them because they "heard something about them". Every request has to be evaluated then entered in to the user database. Then Node Numbers or Zello access has to be created. If Node Numbers then their nodes and passwords have to be entered in to the registration server. After all is done a email must be generated. It all takes time. Then if the user doesn't use the Nodes or Zello it wasted time, it could have been time we have to help current users that are in need of help. I am currently streamlining this system to make it more efficient. This would also create more family time for us.

I'm constantly thinking of new things to add to the GMRS Live. A 'Real' website is in the works. A new updated image. A image or a How-To with script support to put nodes on a PC since Raspberry pi's are so hard to come by. We want to do video for How-To for people that are struggling and do better seeing it then reading it. Just to name a few.

So the Donation is just that. A donation, not a fee. We say 'At Least $15', We are not a business. We don't have advertising on or pages. We are a group of people that like the hobby of GMRS. We plan on being around for a long time, but anything can happen. We are not in this to make a living. We strive to be fair and diplomatic to all users alike. It is currently in the works to add a couple people to the team that have access to all the workings just incase something were to happen to me. I figured it would have to be someone with drive and interest in the network. I had a couple picked out but that fell through.

This network is for all of you. You are what makes this work.

Tony & Kim Morris

NETWORK UPDATE - ALL SHOULD READ

GMRS Live is very busy and that is a good thing. With thousands of followers on Facebook and hundreds of node numbers issued there are hundreds of nodes currently connected to the registration server. Who is connected to whom is anybody's guess. That is the nice thing. You are free to connect and disconnect to anyone you want. Only if you (or who you connect to ) has a status page will anyone know where you are. You can advertise that if you want connections or stay private. We do not share the information. That is why there is no map with bouncing lights and lines showing who is connected and talking. You may not want someone to know your talking to someone else. It is not up to us to invade your privacy!

With that said we must make some changes. Starting January 1st 2023 GMRS Live is changing to a Membership Service. Membership will require a "Donation" of At Least $15 a year (just little over $1 a month). When you become a member you get everything you get now. Multiple Node Numbers. Freedom to create what you want. GMRS Live Zello access will be limited to Members Only. Pretty much what you have now.

This change came about for a few reasons. For going on 2 1/2 years Kim and I have paid 100% for the network (we are not complaining at all). All equipment, data center fees, email and domain. It does add up. Many people asked to donate and Kim always said "we got this". One group sent us a nice donation and we promptly returned it. We do this because we love doing it. But with old age sneaking up and retirement in my future I don't want to fall in a place that would jeopardize the network.

Then there is the administration side of things. There are a lot of users on Zello or with Node Numbers but there are also many who have requested access and never loged on, with many request in the email right now. Our email is full weekly of users requesting information. They request Zello access and Node Numbers. I truly believe many don't know what they are asking for. They just request them because they "heard something about them". Every request has to be evaluated then entered in to the user database. Then Node Numbers or Zello access has to be created. If Node Numbers then their nodes and passwords have to be entered in to the registration server. After all is done a email must be generated. It all takes time. Then if the user doesn't use the Nodes or Zello it wasted time, it could have been time we have to help current users that are in need of help. I am currently streamlining this system to make it more efficient. This would also create more family time for us.

I'm constantly thinking of new things to add to the GMRS Live. A 'Real' website is in the works. A new updated image. A image or a How-To with script support to put nodes on a PC since Raspberry pi's are so hard to come by. We want to do video for How-To for people that are struggling and do better seeing it then reading it. Just to name a few.

So the Donation is just that. A donation, not a fee. We say 'At Least $15', We are not a business. We don't have advertising on or pages. We are a group of people that like the hobby of GMRS. We plan on being around for a long time, but anything can happen. We are not in this to make a living. We strive to be fair and diplomatic to all users alike. It is currently in the works to add a couple people to the team that have access to all the workings just incase something were to happen to me. I figured it would have to be someone with drive and interest in the network. I had a couple picked out but that fell through.

This network is for all of you. You are what makes this work.

Tony & Kim Morris

#2 · December 5, 2022, 12:20 am

I see some backlash on this post on Facebook which is a shame. Certain people take things like this for granted and at the same time takes advantage of other people's hard work.

I honestly agree with this move. I really do appreciate everyone involved for all the hard work you all do to have this awesome network going, and I am very happy to be a part of it.

I am new to GMRS and I'm trying to learn as much as I can with repeater linking technology, repeater and node setup and more. I do know a lot of expensive equipment is involved to make it all happen. Then comes all the time and effort to maintain the system and the cost to keep it all running smoothly for everyone to enjoy this awesome hobby.

I for one will be more than willing to donate and help in any which way I can.

#3 · December 6, 2022, 11:19 am

I have no problem with donating. I am also new to the hobby in general, but I do know that equipment can get very expensive, not to mention the time involved in maintenance. The fact that there are so many people using the network is a good thing. The more users, the less the individual cost. If there were little to no users, the individual cost would be higher, or even worse, the network could be disabled due to non-participation.