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It's personal property. We don't owe anyone anything. I think stopping someone from verbally abusing you and threatening you by removing their access to your personal property sounds smart, not immature. Too many people seem to overlook the point that this is personal property and the owner has all the rights and privileges that go with that honor. Just my opinion, rather have the owner hear venting instead of losing their cool. Having people to talk to and work through problems is healthy and we are hear to support like-minded people in the GMRS community. Sounds like the perfect place for the discussion.

For anyone planning to implement MDC signaling, you should investigate the use of DOS (Data Operated Squelch) and PTT Sidetone. I'd recommend only using it in a group if everyone on the repeater is using MDC, and everyone agrees on the setup parameters. If properly done, the users on the system will not hear the MDC squawk, and every radio on the system can ID other users. MDC can also be used for selective calling, radio alerts, and Status updates. It's a pain to set up if you're using multiple radio models across different manufacturers. DOS will silence the MDC turkey call noise (either pre, post, or both) for users that have it active - and a PTT sidetone can be useful to remind the user to pause for a moment until the MDC pre-burst is sent. Set the PTT sidetone to something less than obnoxious if you're using it. Whackers like MODAT, MDC and PTT Sidetone - even when they're not actually using MDC for any signaling benefit. They just think extra noises sound cool & they heard all those noises on their Bearcat Scanner - so they think that the radio users must be hearing those noises too. Well designed radio systems don't annoy their actual users with squawks and obnoxious beeps.

As a repeater owner, I support whatever you do. That said, I would have explained that as a repeater owner, you are only responsible for content that originates on your device. You are not responsible for transmissions that originate on someone else's device. If they have a complaint, they need to complain to the originating station. If that isn't good enough for them, its too bad. The level of stress I am seeing in your post is way to high and not worth it. Don't let them get to you. If unplugging the system brings that stress level down, more power to you.

Oh,,, geeze. Long day. So first off. I couldn't give a rip about the guy in Wisconsin getting blasted and then talking on the repeater,,, even if it was MY local repeater. I am guessing he ruffled a few feathers. I didn't hear him on today before I pulled the plug, and my guess is that he got up this morning and remembered what he did and out of pure embarrassment stayed off the air. I believe there were a few comments made about him being blitzed as the night wore on. But again, don't care.... not my problem. Others may feel differently, but that's my stance. So what spun me into a rant filled tizzy. I had a user of all 3 of the repeaters at the site contact me on one of the OTHER repeaters, not the 600 that's linked. And he started in about the way the guy was drunk and using vulgarity (his words) on the repeater. I replied that I had heard part of it and was aware. I explained that it was a linked system and that I had little control over someone in the middle of the night, 3 states away acting the fool on the linked repeater system. This for some reason didn't seem to be the response he was expecting. Reading between the lines of what he was saying, he expected me to be equally offended and that it was totally unacceptable that someone acted that way and something needed to be done. But I wasn't doing it and that was unacceptable in his mind. So I reacted. I keyed the radio up, told him he was right, and further more, since he was obviously offended by the FREE REPEATERS that I provide to the community, and that I would just pull the plug and he would no longer be offended. Or if he was he wouldn't have me to complain to about it. Yes, to put it plainly, I was pissed that I was getting this passive aggressive holier than thou crap for someone I provide free GMRS repeater access to. So I reacted in the most polite and politically correct manner I could muster. I pulled the plug on two of the three repeaters. Ultimately, here's the real truth. People say and do things that are not acceptable at times. God knows I have, more than a bunch of times. Now I haven't done it on a repeater, I refrain from that out of respect for others. But I have more than a bunch of times went into a cuss word filled rant when something broke, didn't work as planned, got away from me and fell, fell on me, fell near me and was expensive, and a whole list of other reasons. That's the way SOME people are... and I accept that. Smack your thumb hard enough that the skin tears on the bottom side, not the side you hit, and try to refrain from letting the colorful adjectives come spewing forth. If you can do that, you are a better man than I. But people are people. If you choose to NOT partake of the booze ( i personally don't) then cool. If you choose to have a couple, that's fine. And there are instances that a few turns into a few more and you might start acting dumb. Again, human nature, and I ain't gonna judge. Ol boy decided I personally needed to be offended by the acts of another. And HE wanted to push HIS belief structure on ME. THAT ain't gonna happen.

Radio Reference. www.radioreference.com

Let us know when you achieve the rank of YouTube scallywag ?

I just recently purchased 2 MXT575 units. They are wide and narrow capable on repeater channels. At first I was using the included antenna and was pleasantly surprised at the distance but the girlfriend didn't like the look of it on her car. I didn't care for it either. I installed Larsen thru glass mount antennas on both vehicles and they work great. I noticed improvement on the transmit side and receive was much better than the included antenna. The Larsens weren't cheap by any means but I've used them in the past with good results. I know some have had bad luck with thru glass antennas. I used to run Icom radios but I have to admit I do like the simplicity of the Midland and finding a place to mount a full size radio in a 21 Durango is almost impossible so this fits the bill. I just keep a list of repeaters and tones on my phone if I need to program one on the fly when I get out of my area. I was able to get the SWR down to about 1.3:1 and one unit is putting out exactly 50W and the other is about 48W. I have to say I'm pretty impressed.

As you stated in a later post your planned use is mobile and that brings up another set of questions. GMRS isn't like CB where there are a lot of units in use along the highways so don't expect help with traffic congestion or directions. People on GMRS seem to primarily use the radios for communication between family members and close neighbors. The use of GMRS is shifting to where more units are installed in vehicles but it's going to be several years before GMRS begins to challenge CB for car-to-car conversations and assistance. With that in mind, you also need to look at what you want to accomplish with a radio. If it's finding people to chat with, then your better choice would be to get an amateur license at this time. An amateur Technician license gives you access to two frequency bands, VHF and UHF. GMRS is UHF. As amateur radio has been around for over 100 years there are thousands of repeaters available all around the nation and even millions around the world. People on amateur radio are those that like nothing better than talking to others also known as rag chewing. Entry level VHF/UHF radios are in the same price range as some of the better GMRS radios. I started with a little 25W unit that was around $125. An antenna and mount set me back another $50 or so and a power supply to use it in the house was another $30. That's about the same price you are going to put into your radio station but limited to the GMRS/FRS frequencies. Yes, the requirements for an amateur license are greater but nothing onerous. The Technician level license for V/UHF takes about 40 hours of study and passing a 35-question test on some basic radio knowledge and the rules. The biggest difference in the licenses is an amateur license is for the individual only where your GMRS license covers your entire family. The biggest difference in making contacts is I'm not limited to just those in an area around me. With my ham transmitter I lack only contacts in Africa from working all continents. I can still talk on the GMRS/FRS frequencies using my GMRS transmitter as I'm licensed in both services. But to get back to your questions, if you are going to have the unit in just a vehicle, a 25W radio will meet all your needs. These can be powered from the cigarette lighter socket so just add a magnetic mount antenna and you are set. While not according to the rules, you can use some dual band radios for both amateur and FRS/GMRS communications. That's not a recommendation to do that, but just letting you know it is possible with some radios. Adding an external power supply, you can bring your radio inside and make contact using an external antenna. You can also upgrade to a higher power radio going up to the 50W limit. I would stick with an analog or FM only radio unless you go into the amateur ranks where you may want to try a digital radio and connect to others through the Internet. There is a freeware software package called Chirp that can program any frequencies you need into a great many radios but Midland isn't a brand that's covered. You can see the large number of different radios at Home - CHIRP (danplanet.com). Chirp is an easy to use program and there are other sites that have tutorials on using the software as well. As far as brands go, four that would meet your needs are Alinco, BaoFeng (and BTECH), TYT and Wouxun. There are a great many others, but these 4 offer a wide variety and are generally reliable performers.

It's not. It's been down for a long time. It was never updated on the repeater listings. Sorry for the confusion

I still have to explain to die hard dispatchers that this is the case. Analog sites complain about analog, while digital trunked sites complain about digital delay. Then others ask what the tones are, MDC ID, Basestation ID (BSI), which then leads to a discussion on Pre and Post sending of MDC ID versus Pre only. I like MDC ID on my own repeater, but respect those that do not want to hear it on theirs.....there are only a few other GMRS repeaters in my area.

Now, what LScott and a couple others were talking about. RAC or repeater access code, which is a Motorola thing that sounds like MDC but isn't will control the access of a repeater if enabled. First thing you need to know about it, it's only a Motorola thing. So if you go down that road, only Motorola radios, WITH RAC ability will be able to access your repeater. I suppose you COULD setup a single channel LTR trunking system and use that to control access. But again, You are limiting access to a few radio types. Standard conventional radios will not run on LTR. So you would need to be very specific in the radios you choose to buy. My take is different. If I am putting up a GMRS repeater, it's gonna be open. I would rather pull the plug on it than need to go through dealing with all the crap of trying to put split PL's or RAC or any of that crap on it. If I need to talk on the radio to someone else and I need it to be that tightly controlled, I will get a commercial repeater pair and load up some encryption in my radios and disappear. Or just call them on the phone. It's just simpler. If you are so worried about unauthorized people getting on your GMRS repeater, turn the stupid thing off and find another way to communicate.

I have looked myself (at the last 10 years of enforcement), thats why I dont trust what you're saying.

Not that I dont trust you, or think you're making stuff up out of thin air, but i would love for you to share some actual facts about all these others this has happened to. Perhaps a link to the FCC enforcement database entry? Because as I'm sure you know, every time the FCC breathes down anyones neck, for any reason, by law, the FCC must publish that enforcement.

I only watch the ones with GMRS geeks and youtube hobos.

HAM ...

"Two Meters"? I'm no ham, and it is entirely possible that I am totally confused, but isnt GMRS closer to 70cm?

I keep my Roger Beep on - when someone complains about it, I remind them that its my radio and nobody is forcing them to listen to me.