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I'm pretty new to GMRS and I've been dabbling with it on and off. Many of the repeaters near me or what I can here are "private" . I'm curious as to why? Which leads me to my 2nd question. Do I have to be a member to all these repeaters to be able to transmit?

That's not a mobile repeater in that pic, its a HAM operating HF. As far as a mobile repeater it really is a waste of time. I have done this already and it was a total disappointment.. Unless your car is at a substantial height advantage you will not have any better coverage then simplex. Again you can and will try to explain or reason away my logic without listening to what I and others have been trying to tell you. I have tried the mobile repeater, the setup was a 50W Motorola SLR 5700 with a 4 cavity BP/BR duplexer connected to a 5.5dB gain antenna on the top of my truck. After testing for about month I realized it had no practical use and only offered slightly more range than simplex, best part I ended up needing a jump after a day at the fair. Mind you this was a $2400 repeater, $800 duplexer with an antenna that was tuned using an Anritsu S331D. I promise I nor anybody on this site will try to steer you wrong, I hold a Commercial, Amateur and GMRS license, own and operate several large repeaters and have all the gear for building, testing and maintaining these kinds of systems.

Thank you all for clarifying this for me! I'll leave those frequencies out of my radio since the lowest it can transmit is 1 W. You all are appreciated!

Typical? No. Common? Yes. Morse code is permitted and used to meet FCC ID requirements.

Thanks JohnE I set my radio to the tone and offset I was supplied by a repeater owner, and when I first tried to transmit a test, it replied with Morse code. Is that typical? Cheers

Question do you need special permission to set up a GMRS repeater from the FCC or do you just look for a repeater output thats not used in my local area?

They're marketed as "interference eliminator codes" in honest marketing. They offer no privacy, only solitude. If you want privacy, you want encryption and or FHSS… both are illegal in GMRS, but available in 900 MHz unlicensed radios that can do up to 1 watt. Motorola markets them heavily for business use, as the licensing requirement is … well, "no requirement" is very easy to comply with. They don't encrypt, but they do do FHSS, which makes them pretty low-probability-of-intercept.

There is a few repeater stations around have always been into radio was a cb radio guy for many years but been off for many years now also and was looking to find something a little interesting to get back into ...So starting back into it again i figure i would go gmrs for a bit till i get time to study for ham also .....So with that note looking forward to talk listen and learn more ...There is some action around me not as much as i would think but been traveling with the handheld in the commercial vech during the day and pick up lots on the way

Some require an application be filled out and a fee paid, also. AntiSquid Disclaimer: All posted content is personal opinion only and may not imply fact or accusation.