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I noticed that a not all MN licenses show on the map. Mine did not show up and my call is about 5 years old. Also a friends didn’t show. Very cool what you did though.

Many/most radios allow this but to know for sure just try it.. You aren't going to break anything.

From all the information I've read over the last few minutes, it appears that whatever offer DX Engineering made was rejected. Who knows, maybe they or someone else might finally work something out, but for now whatever is left of MFJ after next month will be a shell of its former self. It's going to be a bunch of MFJ-branded imports.

Linking GMRS repeaters is entirely possible. If someone in your group is willing to search "linking repeaters" in the My GMRS forum they will find good information on what's involved, generally, and how GMRS users enjoy, or dislike, linked repeaters. Just not sure if it will fit into your overall plan. Perhaps you could share how you see fitting GMRS into, or interfacing, with your communication plan for the county. With more specifics you would likely get some more targeted guidance. A good place to start is here..

The advantage of RX tones is simply that your radio will not break squelch for any radios transmitting with no tone or a different tone. Because the simplex channels receive the same frequencies as the repeater channels that might reduce the amount of traffic. Im sorry, I don’t know how those radios work as far as allowing you to program additional channels.

I need to get that MFJ 1886 loop before they go away!

Spectral purity info would be nice. As well how sensitive receive is. Maybe a flir/thermal image after some usage. I am curious about were energy is most wasted in the radio. Only to see what part may fail first. Edit to add flir request. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

This just arrived in my mailbox - video to follow in the next few days... Please post your questions below and I will address them in the video (if they're not stupid)..

GMRS repeater channels share the same channels as Simplex channels. We will use channel 17 and repeater 17 as an example. The repeaters output will be on 462.600 MHZ and Channel 17 (simplex) is also on 462.600 MHz. So if you don't have a receive tone set on your radio, you will hear the repeater traffic and any simplex traffic (with no tones). And yes you can still hear the repeater even when it is using the output tones even though your radio does not have a receive tone set. Setting the receive tone just filters out any unwanted traffic on the channel so you don't hear it. We have tones set for both receive and transmit on our repeater. Last Saturday there were a bunch of kids on Channel 17 simplex. I did not hear them at all since I do have the receive tone set on my radio, others that don't have the receive tone set did hear the kids.

Would you know? I'm using TD-H-3's and TD-H8's. I'll do my research as well, still in my learning curve. If I may also ask, If I enter the Rx and Tx tones/codes, what's the advantage? Less traffic on my radio to radio communication? Or? Thank you! Any and all info is appreciated!

1. You only need the TX tone. 2. Yes, if your radio allows it, but not all do.

Hi, still learning so please have patients... So on my hand held I found my local GMRS repeaters, entered the in & out Rx and Tx tone/code and I hit them/opened them up. 1) Do I need both Rx and Tx in & out programed to take full advantage of the repeater or can I just enter the Tx out and leave the Rx off so I can listen to all traffic? With Tx out only programed will I still be able to use/open the repeater? OR do I need both Rx and Tx programed for the repeater to work properly? 2) Can I enter a repeater on any channel I want? Say channel 50, as long as I set the offset +5 and the proper tones/codes? Thank you much!!

Maybe MFJ can be "parted out" to save the brands. All those different companies under one umbrella must be hard to manage as a whole and still stay profitable.

Hey guys, this has happened a few times. Someone calls into and trips the repeater but doesn't activate the node affiliated with the repeater. Any ideas? WRXU693 James

I would still clear out the receive tone to see if you hear anything.

The green circles on the map are just a very rough estimate. I live 20 miles outside the circle for a large repeater in my region and can use it just fine.

I am going to look into that Ryobi suggestion. That might be just what I need. Thanks for the help.

To answer yall's questions: The repeater uses the same tone for both TX/RX so I set them both to the CTCSS tones he indicated. Neither one of us can hear any traffic on the channel. I thought 100 feet apart would be enough I think I'll try to hear some traffic by myself. I was in town by myself this morning, my wife over 17 miles away (that should be more then plenty but the repeater doesn't cover my house). I did a few test but nothing came back, not even the "kerchunk" According to Google Maps I was about 9 miles from the repeater which, according to the repeater coverage on mygmrs is well within his coverage area. We are both going into town on Monday so we'll try again without the receive tone. I'll also try with wife's radio off. We are using the Btech GMRS Pro which is suppose to put out 5 watts. I think I can put it on low power (0.5 watts) when we test it in town again. I was able to contact her this morning on GMRS 18 about 3 miles away but, as it was pointed out, that was the simplex channel. At the house it's no problem while I'm working outside contacting her but it's mostly line of site. I don't think a lot of people are on GMRS in this town. It was a small town but is growing rapidly. Musk put his Boring Company out here and is trying to create his own town. They are trying to put an Airport out here but people are fighting it. My wife an I say there's too many people moving out here so we need to move further out. I appreciate your help/comments. alfie

I haven't tried one of those jump packs for starting a vehicle but they have a large amount of stored power. I have used a Ryobi battery converted to power up a 20w mobile device (need to find that thread from last month).

LOUISIANA NEEDS GMRS/HAM users.. Yes

If we are discussing simulcast, and lora back bones/ radio. Why is the group not talking to the local pd. Who probably has simulcast already set up. Old gear that can be repurposed, get potential federal grants and be administered ( really only sounds like you need 1-2 tac groups). As well as the license for the extra frequencies. Probably can be encrypted as well. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

My first thought is how close to the repeater are you? Do you know for sure that you are in range and that no hills or mountains or large buildings are in between you and the repeater? GMRS is line of sight and if anything substantial is in the way you will not get through. Can you drive close to the repeater so you can test it?

No, you’re correct in using one of the repeater channels instead of the simplex channels. 15-22 are simplex. REPT15 - REPT22 are dedicated to repeaters. Could either of you hear any repeater traffic? At first it’s a good idea to leave the receive tone empty so you can hear everything on the frequency but you must have the correct transmit tone. Also, if you and your wife were too close to each other it’s possible that the receiving radio was desensitized. Normally I would not expect that if you were 100 feet apart but it depends on the radio. Welcome!