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Try this tool: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ It is a line of sight calculator. Drag the two pointers to the locations you want to check and it will show you the terrain that may be in between. You should also include the height of your antenna's above the ground.

You must refer to your manual to determine which channel is assigned to which frequency. Part of the problem is that even though the FCC specifies the channels, they didn’t assign numbers to them. A specific combination of a frequency, power limit, and bandwidth programmed into a radio is a channel. There are at least two different naming schemes. Some manufacturers number channels sequentially so the repeater channels simply extend the repeater channels to 23-30. Some number them RP15-RP22. That’s because they receive on the same frequencies as simplex 15-22. The manual of each GMRS radio should include a table that shows the repeater frequencies and the channel numbers for each frequency. Any of the repeaters that advertise frequencies in the 467 MHz range or channels designated as RP15-RP22 or 23-30 are duplex repeaters. The repeater receives at 467.xxx MHz and transmits at 462.xxx MHz where the xxx portion is often used to refer to the repeater, such as “the 550 repeater “. Unless they specify otherwise they follow the convention of exactly a 5 MHz offset for GMRS. There are some people who deliberately choose to setup their repeaters with an offset that deviates from 5 MHz, but as far as I know there are no current retail 95E certified GMRS radios that are capable of being programmed with that deviation.

are your two radios at least 50 feet apart from each other when testing?

It was alwasy common to test in the middle when we used CB and think GMRS would be the same. With that said repeaters are 467.xxx and simplex is 462. If you use simplex 99% of the time I'd test on a middle 462.xxx channel. For instance a 1/4 wave should work fine across the board. It realyl depends on useage. For my SAR stuff we always use the National SAR channel for tunign as thats the most important channel we use. Other channels are repeaters and a portable works fine so worring about a great single from the mobile is less concerning. Granted we are all in the VHF side and most folks run a quarter wave to eliminate then eed to tune to a certain frequency.

Not sure what kind of radio you showed Steve, but here are repeater settings for my stuff - GR1225 Calls it Hang Time MTR2000 Calls it Drop out Delay Icom Calls it Hang Time I dont have my Quantar or GTR8000 software on my home PC so can't show those.

Because they all have a better signal/are closer to the repeater than you, and you have an HT with a small antenna/are further away/have more stuff between you and the repeater. The best thing you can do is connect to a bigger/better/external antenna or get closer to the repeater. A mag mount stuck to a cookie-sheet placed up high/near a window can work great.

I'm a budget minded radio hobbyist, which means that I'm an avid consumer of the "cheap Chinese junk". I've possessed all variety of Baofeng, Quansheng, QYT, Talkpod, Radioddity, Retivis, etc. My experiences have been mostly positive. Some QC issues occur at a higher rate than higher priced "known quality brands", but they all DO essentially work. When factoring in the price/value ratio, there's simply no debating whether or not they're worthwhile purchases. Furthermore, when you move away from the $30 category into the $50-80 tier of such radios, It's been my experience that they're mostly excellent, especially when accounting for the value relative to the $200+ options. (Secret time,.. Those radios are made in China too). And say what you want about the Chinese makers of radio equipment, they seem to be very active in being a driving force in innovation and care about what people in the space ask for, and then they do their best to bring it to market. Quickly. If you choose to not be a consumer of such products, that's ok, but you should at least appreciate that they're there applying pressure in the market. Anyone who follows the radio YouTube space is familiar with how often these guys are being sent radios for testing, get pretty honest feedback about the shortcomings, and then revisions are made to solve the problems. That's a pretty remarkable thing for a market sector in the US that if left to the mainline brands, we'd be pretty niche and neglected. A prime case example is the TidRadio brand and the TD-H8 model. A relatively new entrant in the market. The early versions of the H8 had problems, honest feedback was given, and revisions were made. I've waited until I've reached a bit over 30 days of ownership to write this review. Initial impression: Very good build quality. feels "weighty" and stout in the hand. Powers on to a standard logo screen and defaults to a dual VFO display screen. One pet-peeve I have with some of these Chinese made radios is the font choice of the characters. Please stop using seriffed fonts. It's an odd look for a display that should only emphasize utility and readability. Another thing that I found to be a bit of a detraction was the mushy feel of the PTT button. This is less of an issue for my use case because I have my example of the radio mounted down statically and operate it with an external speaker mic. But if I used this radio daily in HT only form, I'd probably really have an issue with this. On day one, when trying to use the bluetooth programming function, I found it to be broken because it wasn't properly saving my repeater shift information. I later found that it was my mistake because I wasn't doing so with the "repeater designated channel" but the simplex one. I now know that the bluetooth programing of this radio does work perfectly fine, but I'll stick to the Chirp method just because of the ergonomics and familiarity that I have with the format. After prolonged use: The handful of cons listed above seem to be the extent of anything wrong with this radio. It probably should be mentioned HOW I deploy this radio. I've made it my primary home "base" radio. It's mounted statically on my desk, with a hand speaker/mic, and via LMR-400 coax to a 9db gain GMRS yagi outdoors about 17ft high and rotatable. I have my reasons for wanting to operate this way. A low power draw radio that operates from a self contained battery. I don't require a high amp power supply that requires mains power to operate. I could even get it charged with solar if need be. Maybe you're getting the idea of why that might matter to me and why I'm of the mind of wanting that. So with that being said, I've been in search of an HT style radio, but, one that has a bit more balls than the standard 3-4 watt options. Anyone whose done the same thing might be familiar with how frustrating that search is, with all of the gaudy and fake Aliexpress (false) advertisements of 8-10 watt HTs. The TidRadio TD-H8 is genuinely a 10 watt radio (picture below). Which means that it straddles the line perfectly between a more powerful mobile and a less powerful handheld. With a 9db gain antenna and 1.4db loss across a 50ft run, it provides for an ERP of 57.8 watts. Which has been good enough to simplex my mobiles solidly in a 12 mile radius, and reach repeaters full quieting at least 50 miles away. The way that I have things configured, for my needs, I give this radio two very big thumbs up and recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone trying to accomplish a similar thing. ::Edit:: I neglected to mention one important thing. There are two variants for sale of the H8. The GMRS and Ham versions. The GMRS version of this radio will be software locked to transmit at 5 watts. Fortunately it doesn't matter which model that you buy, because there is an unlock method that simply involves a button press combination at startup to toggle the radio into operating unlocked. You'll need to do this with either model to get it to both operate on GMRS frequencies, and also at the higher power. Ham mode will be the higher power but wont allow operation on GMRS, GMRS version grants the GMRS frequencies but at low power. Unlocked mode is the third mode that allows both and both variants of the radio can be toggled into it..

This Tram 1185 dual band has served me well. (Cookie sheet mount in front of a west facing, second story window.) Using a UV5X3 I hit GMRS repeaters south and east of me at 15 miles, I easily hit VHF repeaters on high ground at 25+ miles. using my KG805 or my TYT 8600 I do slightly better. Eventually I'll have an antenna up on the roof eave, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

@WSAW350 (and Guest Ray-El), I think you are right, the only way to know is to test. Based on the gear you mention, I think its possible, but has more to do with your antenna placements and height than anything else. I agree with the mindset of making the comms without a repeater. best to not rely on someone else's infrastructure. looking forward to seeing more replies on this and finding out what works for y'all.

Hey if 10 codes work with your coms, it works and isn't dumb. Lol, I have to admit when someone uses a 10 code other than 10-4 or 10-100, I have no idea what they mean. (I also assume they are of a certain age or might be tactical LARPing.) If you use them, you be you, use 10 codes, wear 5.11, have fun... there's room for all!

From what I have seen, the GMRS License covers the immediate family. I have seen nothing to suggest they have to be in the same household, town, or even the same state. Does anyone have any firm information to confirm or correct this understanding?

It doesn’t matter but the regulations specifically say that you are allowed to include unit designators.

Great idea. I'll give that a try. Now for some reason my wife is asking where all her cookie sheets have disappeared to.

My wife and I have HT's and one license we both use, and we're legal.

I run a MTR2000 with a Zetron. There is hang time, which is the time after proper carrier AND PL is lost, that the transmitter remains on air. It is used to keep the carrier up so another person can respond without any re-keying time. I set mine to 6 seconds. In my area alot of Ham repeaters have a long hang time. It's ok to not use it at all, but with a 100% duty cycle repeater, I'd rather have it. Then...there is tone in tail. Your carrier in hang time can transmit the PL or not. You can drop the PL and the carrier will stay up for the duration, but receiving radios (programmed with the output tone) will close their squelch. I also use the Zetron input carrier beep, which is a medium "beep" when a carrier drops. This helps people tell if a unit is on the fringe of coverage and their actual signal is weak or just their audio. It helps the non radio people learn repeater-ese.

In my humble opinion, I tune my mobile antennas closer to 467, since I primarily use repeaters and I'd like to have maximum efficiency on the transmit end. If you only work simplex, tune it closer to the 462 end. But like they say about instruction manuals, that's just how one guy did it.

I have found that my antennas get real good SWR on 462.XXX MHz or 467.XXX MHz but not both. I'll get 1.0 to 1.2 SWR on one and up to 1.8SWR on the other. Don't worry about it as long as your SWR is at 1.8 and below for both.

I ran with a mag mount mobile antenna on a cookie sheet until I was able to get my base antennas installed. The mobile on a cookie sheet works pretty good. The local repeater tower (21.5 miles away) has 2m, 70cm, and GMRS setup. I can always get into and be heard on 2m with my HT. I can forget about the 70cm repeater with my HT. The GMRS repeater is hit or miss on getting in and being heard on my HT. Hooking the HT's to a mobile mag mount antenna or base antennas all work fine.

Be careful listening to friends. Using any type of amplifier with a CB radio is illegal. CB is limited to 4 watts. My suggestion is to get your amateur radio and GMRS licenses. That way you can use all of the amateur and GMRS frequencies without worries and go with what works best for you.

My last repeater (Yaesu DR-2X, same one Steve showed) had a STE programmable value on it. There are no references to Hang Time nor Reverse Burst in the owners manual... but I know that it had a Hang Time function and a Reverse Burst function, too. I'm at work right now, so I don't have a lot of time, but I can see if there is anything in any of the advanced manuals later tonight.

Check (high/low) power setting, and if possible, measure power output for the particular repeater (467) channel. Probably not the problem in your situation, but always verify transmit settings. If it is not leaving good... Well, you know the thing,,,

If I have a choice I typical go for the 400MHz to 470MHz range since most of my usage is Ham so that covers the full band. It's also usable on GMRS, but as I mentioned before they're not certified for Part 95, but typically for Part 90 of course. When looking for used commercial grade radios there are several things I'll do before dropping my money on one. 1. Look up the manufacture's brochure to see what features the radio has, namely number of channels, display type, frequency ranges etc. You might decide at this point it doesn't look so appealing. 2. Look up the FCC ID's, usually on the manufactures brochures. Check to see what the certifications are for the radio, tested power levels, modulation types and frequency ranges. You need the FCC ID to verify what you're trying to buy or bid on. I frequently find sellers who get the model name wrong or frequency range wrong in the ad description. The FCC ID doesn't lie. 3. Check and see if the programming software is obtainable. This is a big one. Sometimes it almost impossible to find. If I can't get the software the idea is dead right there. It doesn't matter how good the radio is. Commercial radios are basically useless without the programming software, you REALLY need it. 4. Most commercial radios are firmware up-gradable. Chances are the one you're interested in will need a firmware update to make it compatible with the recent radio programming software release. 5. Are important accessories like battery packs, chargers, programming cables, microphones, power cables etc. easy and cheaply available? There are some nice used radios out there but battery packs are almost unobtainable as an example. 6. Then I go looking for the documentation for the radio. Important things like user manuals, service manuals, any programming tips etc. 7. Then it comes down to just how much you want to spend. Some sellers price the radios like they are gold plated. The worse offenders are sellers of digital radios with P25 being at the top of the list. In general it seems that the VHF gear sells for a premium compared to the UHF stuff.

FYI, there is an "Ignore User" feature on this site. It comes in handy for filtering out responses from folks you don't want to read responses from.

The offset is baked into the GMRS radios. All you have to do is select the desired repeater channel on the radio. The offset is already there.

Many GMRS radios have a button that may be labeled something like Mode or VFO that changes they displayed readout from channel to frequency mode. Want to know what frequency a channel is, push the button and it will show you the frequency. Check your manual. BTW which radio are you using?

Carrie aka Frog: Would a cop, taking a leak on the side of the road interest you? Bandit: Yes, it would! He's taking a 10-100. Carrie aka Frog: At least, it's better than 10-200.

Your feelings do not matter. I have setup in the neighborhood of 30 repeaters from the listing here, and 100% of them had all the information I needed to use them. If you are not able to figure out how to use a repeater listed here, then you are doing it wrong. and no, those details will not benefit the community at all because they are irrelevant, or in the case of tones, all the info is already there.

I disagree. 10-100 means I have to go #1, and 10-200 means I have to go #2.

Clipped from an ARES 2m Net instruction page: The repeater is linked into the (Name Removed ) network of repeaters during the net, so remember to pause for a full second or two before talking when transmitting to allow for all of the repeaters in the network to sync up. Given the nature of many GMRS users, I would expect a total mess so be careful of what you wish for. Also, network of repeaters seems to be the appropriate term in this context. Glad the FCC doesn't allow it. (My bold)

Solved the problem after receiving a link from Baofeng support for an updated version of the software

Then you probably should have said that, especially since the OP is a self-confessed n00b and prone to confuckulation and at a very impressionable stage in his radio career.

If the repeater cant hear you then how can you kerchunk it?

While not exactly emergency situations we have used our GMRS radios during a forced evacuation from a very large fast moving wildfire with a forced power outage. We used them again last year when our area had a 30 year record snow fall where our area lost power and snowed in for 5-14 days. We used them instead of phones, due to the weather, while were out digging cars out and checking on neighbors. On a trip last fall with a couple of friends, two if us had radios. The other two didn't want to mess with carrying a radio. One of the four person group decided to return to the car but didn't let anyone know as we had spread out in the valley we were in. We looked for the person and for a while and finally found them near the car. The next day we were in a different area and I gave the other two in our group a radio because I had brought extras. They didn't not object to carrying a radio that time. We have now used them enough that I bought my wife a pink radio for Valentine's day. She was actually happy to get it.

One last thing to add. There's one thing that was encountered and I dont know if this was only in my radio or if this happens on all of them. The lower tuner/VFO is "hotter" on VHF. Uppper and lower will do about the same on UHF, but I do MURS too on this radio also. It'll do about 10 on VHF on the upper as well, but on the lower it does 12. Just a little quirk I discovered..

My TK-3170's US versions will do the same. Might even go lower. The European versions start at 440MHz.

My TK-8150 radios were the 450-500 split. It did work down to 440.00 while complaining. I never checked power output that far out.

Putting it in conduit also helps protect it from weed eaters, rodents, neighbors, etc.

Not necessarily. As long as you use direct-bury coax, it's not an issue. But make sure that's what you use. Not all coax can withstand being buried because of moisture, temperature changes, that kind of thing.

Same Input PL's on both repeaters? How about swapping antennae, if they are in same site. Maybe put a temp antenna on the new one and see if it acts the same.

Looks like a 9 dbi gain antenna. I’m guessing that doesn’t hurt the PFM (pure fn magic). I like my Comet mobile antenna.

I hate to burst y'all's bubble, but the longer antenna on an HT won't help. That 771G Nagoya is a 5/8 wavelength antenna, which in order to have "gain" in the plane normal to the antenna would require a ground plane diameter of at least 1 wavelength. Obviously the radio is not that. What you really want is a simple 1/4 wavelength antenna (about 6 inches at GMRS) that has LOW LOSS, meaning it's efficient. With the GMRS HTs being also about 6 inches tall this makes for a really nice dipole antenna. A simple piece of heavy gauge copper wire would work just fine, but would not be so good mechanically. And that would not be so good for VHF, only tuned to UHF. I took a chance on this antenna and found it to be excellent since it's just a copper wire encased in flexible plastic. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0855PVDWS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You will find that Motorola uses this concept on their HT's and for a good reason: it works the best for a handheld. The bottom line: for a handheld radio, you want radiation efficiency. Any antenna that has fancy coils to tune them is by definition low efficiency. Radiation pattern make little to no difference, and radiation pattern is the only thing you get with an antenna system longer than 1/2 wave dipole. Consider that over a propagation path you have no idea what the best path is to the other station at any point in time. Consider an urban or forest environment: reflections off of a building, car, tree is frequently the best path, and that changes literally by the foot as you walk around. Hope this helps.

It's just you...and me...and everyone else on this site.

Yep and to make it more interesting, for the most part there is zero enforcement of any of them.

The rules can definitely seem convoluted at times. People having different opinions and interpretations of those rules don't help matters either.

Is it just me, or are the GMRS/FRS rules and regulations among the most convoluted, ill-conceived and poorly-written set of rules the FCC has ever come up with? It could be just me. Maybe not. It could be others too. Or just me, I don't know.

This ^^^ . I think a good practice is if I live around family members using my license that works for me. If we’re on a trip and I hand out radios we’re still good. If they’re on a trip of their own perhaps they should have their own license. If my adult son or daughter in another State is using radios with their kids it would be best if they had their own license. I know you can make an argument against this but it maintains some control of your license and is in the spirit of how the rules are written. If some family members were or are interested I would even get them a license as a gift.

No. In fact the wording of the requirements allows an individual to operate “stations.”

I laugh at all the complaints on here about loosing linking. If that's the only reason you use GMRS you need another hobby. As has been said many times over and over GMRS was never intended to be a social gathering place. It was meant for local communications for families and friends. All linking has done is ruin this in many areas. Use GMRS for what it was intended and its fine. I operate 6+ repeaters. I've never needed nor wanted any linking. Each one is for a purpose. If I need to chat with someone 100 miles away I pick up the cell phone. Personally I hope this is the start by the FCC to do something. Maybe they will, maybe they wont. But if those that are linking decide they dont want to deal with it and dropped there links its up to them as the owners of the equipment. To many folks get on hear and complain about the way a repeater works, covers or operates. There is also the expectation that repeaters are up for you and your family. If you didn't purchase it, install and maintain it then you need to rethink.