Leaderboard

Damned right! I am just doing that this morning while try to determine why the bottom button hole in my new shirt is horizontal and sewed in red thread. It was never that way all my life of 70 years! But I see on the internet now that all bottom button holes are done this way, so now I'm confused. Well, I just saw it on the internet so, IT MUST BE TRUE, right? After checking all my shirts and button down coats, It's Hogwash I tell ya and that is my experience! If you're not a Jeeper, your mileage might vary, IJS... stuck on channel 16 (actually I use the SCAN button on my Midland MXT 400 and get all the conversations along with all the PTT pushers).

I thought I would inject something about meters. While a true IARU S-meter will exhibit the behavior described, none of my radios do, and most notably the Wouxun radios. The meter on every radio I own with a meter has been measured in the past. Although varying slightly by model, the meter on every Wouxun radio I have tested will swing from zero to a full 9 bars with an input signal change of less than 14dBm when hooked directly to an FM signal generator. One unit will do so in as little as 6dBm, the rest are typically around 12dBm. So whereas the meter on my ham FT-991A require a bigger change to move (1) S-Unit (at times close to 6dBm), the Chinese GMRS radios go from zero to full bars with very little signal change. I bring this up because some folks using the cheap radios might think that when the meter on their radio changes by 1 bar they are indeed experiencing a 6dBm signal level change when in reality they may be experiencing less than 1dBm. Regards, Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

What hams, or "ham lights" that dabble in GMRS don't understand is that there are groups all over the country that represent the fastest growing segment of GMRS use. And it ain't preppers. It is the off-road community. And they travel the highway, many times cross-country, traveling to their destinations. And most of them use simplex channels and don't care about what frequency it is on. You are going to have a hard fight to resurrect 462.6750 from the 6 foot deep hole it just fell into. Like it or not, there will be convoys of 4wd's heading down highways chatting away on channel 19 before switching over to 16 when they hit the dirt, and driving some of you absolutely bat excrement crazy as they enjoy themselves, blissfully ignorant of what fequency they are on.

So you asked a question about something unsettled. You didn't know. I don't think its a big deal. I also don't think everyone has to agree in order to be considered playing well with others. In fact, I think society in general has come to believe that disagreement is hostile. That's the real sad state of affairs. I think we can all disagree and still enjoy discussion. A forum is for discussion. I've never read anywhere that there was a requirement for agreement. In fact, I think there is far less growth when there is no disagreement. I think it is healthy, on the whole. I don't think anyone has crossed the lines and gotten intentionally personal or nasty. But that's just my opinion, (which I'm sure many around here would agree is worth 2 cents. A few seem very scared it is worth much more than that, though. Lol.) This is one thread in a forum full of many topics. Folks who disagree on this topic probably agree on many others. And most threads don't really involve any disagreement. I'd just advise not taking any of it too seriously. If someone gets feelings hurt around here, they probably need to take a break and regain perspective. I know some disagree with me a great deal right here in this thread, and with some good support for it. I'm fine with that and still would consider each of them friends with more in common than not. Some might be surprised to know that my opinion can be changed sometimes, too. It might take some work to get me there, though. ?

+Kudos for gettting the word "maths" correct!

And again, you missed it. He was being funny. Watch the video. Did you not see the crown? He's a funny dude and does not take himself or the subject too seriously, except for helping others. He works very hard at that and does a great job of it.

The outreach is already there, and it is grassroots. Off-road clubs have been discussing this and picking up on it for some time now, not just due to the video. But the video will certainly give it a strong boost. @OffRoaderX videos are spreading wildly in the off-road clubs because they are adopting GMRS VERY quickly. Just 4 years ago, I put a CB in my new Jeep. Shortly thereafter I went to GMRS because fewer and fewer in the clubs even bothered with it. I still have it for highway communication with truckers and for the occasional old school guys in the clubs that roll their CJ/YJ/TJ out for the first time in years and still have CBs. Most of the time, after experiencing a trip without direct comms with the main group, they go buy a GMRS when they return home. A few still keep the CB, but most take them out. In the Jeep clubs I frequent, which have about 500 members in agregate, I'd say 85-90% are now equipped with GMRS. (Mostly Baufens). That would have been about 20% in as little as a year ago. So where are these off-roaders learning about their new toys? @OffRoaderX. So he didn't ordain himself anything, other than to be humerous. They have flocked to him and sort of adopted, or drafted, him, as their primary source. He's actually moving many of them beyond the Baufengs and into better radios, too. I'm starting to see that trend. So before you go misunderstanding him, and quite frankly, taking his humor too seriously, you need to look a little more objectively and then ask yourself what you've done that's been even .01% as impactful. 90% of what he does is educate, and he does a darned fine job of it. 10% is to tongue-in-cheek needle the folks who are actually, in reality, truly, the arrogant ones. The Sad Hams, many of whom are very upset that their playground has been encroached by a new crowd. But they aren't the bully's some claim. Off-roaders are some of the nicest, most welcoming, non-judgemental, and generous people you'd ever meet. Most off-road/Jeep clubs which I frequent do many charity rides, such as raising money for kids with cancer, familys who have lost providers, first responders who have been ill or injured, and even public projects like park equipment, and more. Welcome them in and if they do something you don't like, it's ok. Just as I'm ok if channel 20 winds up with a resurgence. And I won't beat up on the Sad Hams beyond joking. I learn a great deal from them, when they lower the shields a bit. There's room for many groups and opinions in the GMRS world. I may argue passionately sometimes, but I can handle losing and still love everyone. I'm well practiced at it.

I did. The video was fine. His channel / his content. No problem. I looked at it as a parody. I want to be 100% clear on my issue and I'm not sure why it doesn't disturb everyone else as well. I thought we were having a conversation about all this. We may disagree or have other ideas and all that is fine. That's what the conversation is for. But to have someone bust in, declare that things are going to be a certain way, and the conversation is over... well, I'm afraid not. I have problems with that. It's about civility and decorum. If you have an idea, then present it and your arguments for it. But to charge in and announce "this is the way it's going to be. everybody else shut up" Meh, that's not the way to resolve things. My opinion.

It’s more organic to spread the word via GMRS. ? I really think that by the time any outreach and consensus process is completed (and who’s to say when it’s complete without first formally recognizing the validity of such a process?) the decision will have been made by people simply tuning to the unofficial official royally decreed travel channel. By that time anything the formal group says or does had better simply ratify whatever has become the de facto travel channel.

No one? Obviously everyone on this website is licensed!

In theory consensus is great, but takes a long time and frequently results in frustration. Having someone simply say out-loud something that makes sense to a lot of people is just fine. Personally, I would have preferred channel 20. It’s next in order, denoting an incremental progression over CB’s channel 19; it’s unaffected by Line A (some of us do travel along the high line, where that’s a concern); and it reflects the notion the GMRS is CB 2.0. But the simple fact is that a lot of people already think of channel 19 as “The Travel Channel”. It just works. Sometimes it just takes one person to make a decision instead of a bunch of people milling around expecting someone else to do something. I can live with it.

hahahahaha... Too funny. The comments on the video are ridiculous. Just my own opinion. It sounds like people are confusing the Open Repeater Initiative (OPI) and the "Travel Tone" with a "travel channel". The Open Repeater Initiative, which is long gone, was not the same thing as a "travel channel". There was a nationwide group of repeater owners who participated with the Open Repeater Initiative to set their ch20 pair (462.675/467.675) to use tone 141.3 (known as 4a). The idea was, to make the repeater open to the traveling public through common knowledge. If you found a repeater on the rCH 20 pair with a 4a PL, the assumption was to be that you don't need special permission to use that repeater. That is not the same as simplex channel 20 or simplex channel 19, etc., for just cruising around the country. Whatever most people agree on, who cares. Just talk. Again, just my opinion.

Then why in the heck does a simplex user, non-geek GMRS'r need 50 frick'n watts of transmit power just to turn the radio on and talk to their buds? At a $400 price tag, with simpleton features? I just don't get it! I got into this hobby with a Midland MXT275. I liked the simple operation, and the mic features as I have it in my Jeep, which is room deprived. my taste for GMRS evolved, and I quickly outgrew the Midland for its lack of features. Bottom line, It's nice to see Midland making an effort to produce a radio that checks some GMRS boxes, but at that price tag, I will take a hard pass.

Do we have a comprehension problem here? You will not let this fascination with a channel number go for some damned reason. I don't care what channel was decreed and I don't give any consideration to this video that you are so enamored with. It's irrelevant in the context of this thread. I thoroughly explained the reason for my outburst in my previous response. It was thoughtful, methodical, and covered! Period! If you want to keep going down fantasy avenue then fine. Enjoy the ride. I'm done trying to reason with you since you continue to make this into something that it wasn't.

This doesn’t directly answer how it was chosen, but it gives some of the history: Originally, there were only 23 CB channels in the U.S.; 40-channel radios did not come along until 1977. In the 1960s, channels 1-8 and 15-22 were reserved for "intrastation" communications among units under the same license, while the other channels (9-14 and 23) could be used for "interstation" calls to other licenses. In the early 1970s, channel 9 became reserved for emergency use. Channel 10 was used for highway communications, and channel 11 was used as a general calling channel. Later, channel 19 became the preferred highway channel in most areas as it did not have the adjacent-channel interference problems with channel 9. https://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/history-of-channel-19.82602/

I'm giving you an alternative like. For some reason this forum limits the number of likes you can give in a day.

I have already shared my opinion and will offer none further. I do not have a dog in the hunt for what is or what becomes the official channel, if any. I will share what I currently do however. When I am traveling around town (mine or other(s) that I regularly frequent) my radio is scanning only for activity on known repeaters. Why? Because that is the dominate source of activity and I like having the ability to communicate back through those repeaters if the need arises. Now, when I outside the coverage range of these towns, I switch to scanning for activity on all FRS/GMRS frequencies using CSQ. If there is active communications along my route, odds are good I will here it. So far there is has been some, but minimal, travel-related radio traffic being heard, but no pattern discerned. Off course if what I hear is repeater traffic or otherwise uses CTCSS I cannot easily engage without tone scanning or stopping to fiddle with the radio. When caravanning, I start by using a frequency that has no activity. If activity emerges that I or others are not interested in listening too, we will either switch frequencies or enable CTCSS. It has happened a couple of times only. If I have a TDR radio in the vehicle, I generally leave one receiver tuned to the caravan channel and scan on the other, but only for as long as its activity does not interfere with internal conversations or other caravan communication activity. Everyone of us can come up with our preferred channel/frequency and why. In the end however, it will be whatever the people decide it to be…for them. If there is a substantial ground-swell of travel related activity on some particular frequency in an area, then so be it, that will be the one that folks in that area gravitate towards. Remember this phrase? “We the people…” Remember, we are not talking about making a law or rule that people must follow. Folks here are offering opinions, and hopefully making recommendations and well-informed decisions based on what they currently know. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Cool!

Well I'll be darned, that Wikipedia article lists "Chanel 20" as: (7) National GMRS calling channel (CTCSS tone 141.3 Hz). How about that? ?

Well I'll be darned, that Wikipedia article lists "Chanel 20" as: (7) National GMRS calling channel (CTCSS tone 141.3 Hz). How about that? ?

I've always heard that you'd get hair on the palms of your hand... ?

I hear you loud and clear and appreciate your perspective. My concern is that outside of this forum and a YouTube channel, no one else will have the foggiest idea that there is a travel channel much less which one it is. That's why I'm suggesting some sort of outreach. Yes, it will be hard work and frustrating, no doubt. And I can imagine some would take exception to an outsider coming in and even making the suggestion. Even here in this forum there are some that believe GMRS is only for talking to family. I don't know the history of how channel 19 on the CB became the truckers channel but I would wager a guess that it propagated from the truck stops and informal agreements that would be the channel they would hang out on. That was their social network of that period. For us, we have the internet to get the word out.

This was the original question, so with this linking bundle on each of 2 of the rt97 repeaters, Will it link those repeaters to each other, OR just link each to the Mygmrs network? If it links individual repeaters to each other(not the network)Some friends andI with repeaters may be upgradingto the new retevis models and buying some bundles!

Eh, I am a bit of an oddball and use duck duck go as my search engine. Google serves notarubicon’s video as the top video result and this forum as the top web result. Reddit is a mixed bag, just like this thread. ————- Seems like notarubicon gets scoffed a little around here. I guess I can see why as a lot of what he says “calls out” radio enthusiasts. I just want to point out that I am exactly the metaphorical “regular guy” that he alludes to in his videos. Everything he says makes logical sense to me. My guess is there are lot more people like me out there than there are HAM lights (did I get that right?). Consider this: When vetting search results one of the first things I check is the date of a publication, especially with emerging tech, which I would include GMRS in (I know it’s been around for decades). Notarubicon has not only the most definitive answer, but he also has the most current stance on the issue. Posts on reddit are a year or more old. Most of the post on this website regarding the issue are a year, or several years old. See where I’m going with this?

@mbrun I agree that many inexpensive radios don't have an accurate S-meter. I did put a caveat in there, but only a single line. Thanks for emphasizing that point. Side note.... I love to hear some people report "a real 59", not a contest 59. LoL

This is 100% correct. I am brand new to GMRS, just got my license a couple days ago. The primary interest for me is communicating while offroad and beach driving. I am not a radio nerd (I don’t mean that in an offensive way). I am naive to HAM/amateur radio culture but I do have mild familiarity with CB. I am the noob just searching for answers. A quick search for “GMRS road channel” yields notarubicon dot com as the top result. The reality is that YouTube is a pretty powerful platform. It’s going to be hard to compete with that video simply because it is the only thing out there that’s definitive and makes complete sense to a noob or “regular guy/gal” that just wants a “plug and play” radio solution but doesn’t care about radio theory. I would think a bigger hurdle than convincing a few off-road enthusiasts is getting truckers on board. I know there are many reasons why even CB use is dwindling with truckers but they were the lifeblood of CB channel 19. Anyway, GMRS channel 19 is where my radio will be set when I’m on the blacktop.

I didn't say 10 meters is 30 MHz; I said that 30 MHz is 10 meters! As @OldRadioGuywould say: Actually 30 MHz is 9.99308 meters, to be more precise! I was just rounding up for you repeater guys! ?

I wouldn't be too worried about leaving the meter inline. I leave meters inline on all my gear so I can monitor SWR and power while I am operating. Any loss is almost non-existent, basically has no impact on system performance and knowing if my radio or antenna is starting to fail real-time is way more important to me. A quick explanation as to why... lets say you are hearing a weak station and you only have 3 bars (or S-units) on the radio's receive strength meter. Assuming the radio's meter is configured correctly, you would have to decrease the receive signal to 1/4 of what you normally hear to have the meter drop to 2 bars. That would be a dB loss of 6dB. The same is true for your transmit power. If you are transmitting and the person on the other end receives your signal at 3 bars, you have to quadruple your output power to make that person's meter go up to 4 bars... or a 6dB gain in power. Now, lets say you are running 50 watts from the radio and you have a 6dB loss to the antenna, that gives you 12.5 watts into the antenna. It seems like a lot, but your signal only dropped one bar (1 S-unit). If you have a 3dB loss, you would have a reduction in communications so small, that your radio can't measure and neither you are the other station will be able to detect by ear (assuming all else is equal). So, if your meter has 0.anything insertion loss, who cares? It's not impacting your communications.

That depends entirely on antenna height, and I would guess it is 250'+ in the air. Typically a home station is 50' or less, and short of going higher, I personally think it's better to take out losses that aren't necessary to every day operations.

"some people".. have trouble comprehending anything outside of their own experience and will often demean it in an attempt to compensate for their own social deficiencies.

GOT IT volume to low.

@liahju What makes you think it needs adjustment? I'm assuming you have the tools/software to program it, correct? I guess, what are the symptoms you are having? Or is it more/less you think it might need adjustment? pull the duplexer cable off the transmit side and put a power meter on it. Verify frequency accuracy and power, it may not need anything. There is a great resource called Repeater Builder, and they have a whole section on that series of Motorola radios/repeaters: https://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola/r1225/r1225-overview.html

Proclaiming something on a YouTube channel is adoring. If you were truly interested in the travel channel initiative then you would form a nationwide commission and reach out to the thousands of GMRS operators for a consensus. That's a lot of work and effort. Are you willing to do that? I'm afraid that no one has heard you outside of your YouTube fiefdom. So crow about it all you want. It accomplishes nothing. Oh by the way, take a minute to use your favorite web browser to look up the term "GMRS Travel Channel". Outside this discussion, the preponderance of results will point you towards this ---> Ignore it all you want, I'm sure you will.

As this is a GMRS forum, some readers here who are not Hams may not know, so just to clarify: 446.000 mHz is designated as the national call frequency for UHF (for VHF it's 146.520 mHz). ...

Someone finally got tired of the endless circular arguments to see who has the biggest antenna and actually DID something... It's now officially channel 19 .. Argue, complain, whine, list your credentials all you want, whats done is done.

Apparently the authors of CHIRP are offended by some GMRS guy on YouTube who keeps referring to "Sad Hams" so they are not motivated to link to a GMRS website! ?

GMRS "frequency" listing has been the standard for over 50 years Channel numbers, only a few years, and still not standardized That is why.

I wish people would do some basic research first about travel tones for open repeaters and the semi official channel 20 for travel. A simple Google search lists a bunch of references on this topic. If people just used what has been the norm for years instead of trying to change it maybe we would have more people using it.

Right!?! The whole reason I got into this is because I heard that the chicks dig a guy with a radio clipped to his belt, plus I wasn't getting anywhere in Tinder ?

For anyone who was interested in the new RT97 repeater that can work with the myGMRS Network, we have a limited number in stock right now (9 left as of my last count). The new model is the RT97S and it features a new metal case and a DB-9 port on the side for connecting an external repeater interface. These are FCC certified with the ID 2ASNSRT97. We're going to offer plug-and-play linking bundles with this repeater so the audio levels should be preset and ready to go very soon. https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/featured-products/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater Also, as of right now we're only stocking this new model instead of the original RT97. It doesn't make sense to stock both versions since they are so expensive, so we're just carrying the new one now.

I really like this idea here.

Coming from the perspective of a radio listener, I think 1 min is a good value as well as a serves as a reminder to keep one’s transmissions short and keep the dialog moving. However, as the talker, I admit I have personally settled on 2 min. One just proved to be to short and restrictive in way to many cases. While the TOT is a great way aid in keeping the duty cycle down, I like the security it provides knowing that if the PTT gets stuck unknowingly and accidentally that the radio will stop transmitting automatically after the TOT time has expired. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

gman1971 we are all very aware of your opinion of any radio other than some professional part 90 radio. The problem with your opinion, is that if we all took that route, companies would stop manufacturing new Part 95 radios. Yes, I am very aware of what Superheterodyne is. I grew up in a radio shop, it was my dad's business. The point is though, the radio in question is not a radio on chip radio. That is all I said. The attitude of some on this site is getting to be as bad as the other radio site. It is a shame. All that is accomplished by this type of attitude is to drive new users off. Some people's needs can be very easily met using some of the radios you deem junk. Use what you want, and I am not saying you are wrong when you use a Part 90 radio from Motorola, or Kenwood, they are great radios, I know. Some people however want and nice off the shelf solution, and Midland, Wouxun, and others will fit their needs nicely. The Wouxun radio in question would be great for me, due to its detachable faceplate, which would make mounting in my car possible. I don't have room for a Motorola in my car, there is no good way to mount it. If I can take the largest part and mount it under the seat, then that would work nicely. Too many people here spout off about a radio without ever actually using it, seeing it, or even reading its specs. It's ridiculous and counterproductive. Not everyone needs, or desires, a Part 90 professional radio.

I did look it up and my address in on it. Hope Rich see this post as I agree... as LEO they do not print our address on checks. Jack

This is true, Alexandria 675 is hidden. It is very much in use. I actually posted bitching about not knowing which repeater was in use. Till I found the setting. It is very much alive. Maybe a setting to say when the repeater was last heard to keep a repeater that is alive showing on the map. I found it hard to contact the repeater owner, not sure if it traded hand or the e-mail went into oblivion.

Don't assume the coverage shown on the map display in My GMRS is accurate. It's a generalization based on assumptions such a antenna height, efficiency and generally flat terrain. Software that uses more accurate Longley-Rice propagation models are very expensive and those do include terrain modeling showing coverage holes used by hills and ridges.

I'd like to be able to see the map with __all__ coverage circles __at the same time.__ Should make it much easier to tell where repeater coverage is required!

Personally, I like this idea. However, I suspect it will be controversial. May I suggest that rather than adding this to the official repeater listing, you could create a thread in the Private Discussion topic to report member discoveries. In that case, other members with more information, like the owner does not want it used by others, or it is officially open, etc. could also contribute.

I would suggest an addition to the repeater listings that would allow some degree of crowd sourcing of current status. In other words, let users add something like a QSL card or signal report. It could be simply binary as did or did not work. Or, it could be more detailed. Location at the time of the report, signal strength, etc. Then, "last verified access" could be added to the repeater report page and, possibly, people could search on, reported active in the last: 30, 60, 90 days, etc. In the signal report it might also be possible to report if anything differed from the listing, like Frequency, PL, or location. The specific information would not be given, except in the case of a fully-open repeater. But, at least other users would know there had been a change. And, finally. The owner could receive an, optional, email each time a signal report was received. In any case, the basic point is even if the owners do not update their listings, other users could help a bit.

How about a classified section? I second the chat room....