OpenGD77

Hello,

I'm quite new to radio, never was in need of it. But lately my hiking tours expanded beyond the reach of cellular towers. And as to communicate with other tour-members which went out of sight, I would like to use radios.

I'm quite into C++ and Linux and other stuff, so I hope people will understand me, even as a radio-noob.

Regards

Hello,

it seems you have no amateur radio licence? I mean no harm, but in this case you should seriously not use radios like the GD-77 or other Baofeng radios.

Please consider to use PMR oder CB-radios, that avoids many trouble in technical and legal kind..

Best regards

Yes, I was using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet_(radio) frequencies, to avoid legal trouble. In areas which are rarely inhabitated (where I hike), these frequencies are good for me.

Based on that page's info, you're still using a device that's not certified and thus still afoul of the law.

Ideally don't do that with OpenGD77 as it's not cool to pull this firmware into that mix.

You do not say where you live, but your id is close to "hamburg" and you cite "freenet", so I will suppose that you live in Germany.

Indeed what you are doing is not entirely legal. You may also be underestimating the range of these radios. I found out that repeaters are able to pick a 500mW handheld at ~10km in a city and considerably more in open terrain between mountains.

Using the freenet frequencies may help you to stay under the radar. Better: use the PMR446 frequencies, as DMR is more common in that band. Use a low transmit power (that will also help your battery problem...) and stick to the exact frequencies of the band. Still not very legal, but less obvious that way.

The potential legal issue is that your national radio regulator may require type acceptance of a radio to be used on unlicensed frequencies.

That type acceptance typically specifies a number of technical characteristics for the radio (including limited power output) that the radio is evaluated for before being made legal. It doesn't matter if you're using a given service's frequencies and modes - if the radio itself has not been type accepted you're running afoul of the law.

If you're in Germany I'd recommend you first check with your nation's radio authority before proceeding to do more than just listen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet_(radio)

You'll see from this overview that in Germany "Freenet" requires specially certified radios. The moment you modify the firmware in your GD77 is is no longer certified under their law and regulations. It's also interesting that the radios are prohibited in the SchwartzWald...

Freenet is prohibited close to the German borders because the frequencies are used by other services in neighboring countries and you are right that PMR/Freenet/CB demand certified radios. But with the truckload of Baofeng, etc... radios which are sold in Germany the chances of somebody checking your handheld for certification is pretty low for someone who stays on the unlicensed frequencies and does not use unreasonable power levels.

The chances are noticeably higher if transmitting out of band. As I said, these handhelds can be received surprisingly far. I know from experience.