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Here’s what the regulations say. It’s certainly not limited to families. People can use GMRS talk about many different things. There is a longer list of prohibited uses, but talking about radios isn’t in there. 95.1731 Permissible GMRS uses. The operator of a GMRS station may use that station for two-way plain language voice communications with other GMRS stations and with FRS units concerning personal or business activities.

Seems to me “some people” have very strong opinions about how and what people can and can’t talk about on repeaters they don’t even own. This us vs them rhetoric is ridiculous. It’s just fn radios people, not the Middle East. You can turn the knob or oh wait if only there was a way to have private conversations with people we know without all the RF turf war tensions. Google it on your iPhone. Go sports team go . If I may interject some sarcasm of my own… Sad hams? Sad GMRSer or is it antihamite? Oh life is so horrible, why can’t I control how hams (AKA other licensed GMRS users) talk on repeaters that aren’t mine? Damn those sad hams! Damn appliance operators! Geezus! Funniest thread ever.

IMHO a repeater should be used however the owner (the one that used private resources to set it up) allows it to be used. A GMRS repeater is not a public utility, even "open" repeaters. If the repeater owner does not like how it is being used then there are ways of limiting access. If you want a channel where you can contact family (or who ever) then you may want to set up your own channel. There are no private or secure frequencies on GMRS but cleaver use of channel selection and CTCSS/DCS filters can give you a discrete channel to use as you want.

Yep we get the same BS here.... A bunch of HAM guys get on the GMRS channels just so they can talk about HAM radio. I don't get it either, there are A LOT more ham repeaters in the area than GMRS and A LOT more HAM repeaters on different bands that are active. Now why in the world they would want to use GMRS when they can use one of the available digital modes or even the analog modes available on the HAM repeaters completely escapes me, but im not a HAM and haven't been for X number of years so maybe I just don't understand it. And here to we get the HAM jargon on the GMRS channels too, QS-whatever, 73's, and other nonsense. With all of that I do feel that everyone that has a GMRS license is equally entitled to use of the GMRS repeaters even the HAM's, but they are two different services and which is why there are separate licenses and call signs.

Yes.. Many repeater owners list their repeater then vanish.. Many also specify that it is an open repeater or that anyone can use it and dont bother replying.. If the tones are listed you can usually start using the repeater and ask for permission over the air, or just use it and wait until someone asks you to stop using it..

Height equals might. Put up a tower first. A repeater without a tower doesn't do much of anything. An antenna mounted on a tower may be all you really need.

@WSAK691 I want to touch on the EmComm stuff a bit. I have a 50w UHF station, a 110w UHF station, 50w VHF station, three 50w VHF/UHF repeaters, a 300w VHF station, and a 100w HF station. I have solar and batteries delivering enough power to run at 100w with a 50% duty cycle, 24 hours a day for the life of the batteries (translate to many years). And the reality is, in a real emergency, which I have worked many, I promise you are not going to be anywhere near 50% duty cycle. All of my stations drop to 5w, except my HF radio which will go to 0.4w. Even with no batteries, I can run any one of my radios on low power and pure solar for peak direct light hours. That can be 5 to 7 hours a day, depending on the time of year, weather, etc. I mention all this to highlight the fact that just because a radio can produce 50w, 100w or more, that doesn't mean you have to run them that high all the time. In fact, the FCC rules and generally good practice for not causing interference, is to use the least amount of power required for reliable communications. I would rather have the power in case I need it, rather than not having the option. If you're going to spend the effort and money, there is very little cost or time difference when building a 40w power source and a 1,500w power source.

wow, this is getting good... (lol, there is no right way to radio...)

Oh no it isn't just you. I saw it. I've been marveling at the irony.

Hams are 100% the issue. And I completely recognize that I just tipped the gas can and lit a match by saying so. Your profile is only 50% complete on MYGMRS until you add you ham radio call sign, so I recognize that i'm about to be in a fist fight with an upset beehive. IDGAF I know what's right and what's not. Hams don't like to be told that they're out of line in the world of radio because they've been used to being the "radio dudes". In this case they're actually the away team. This is actually not a ham band. It's not for hams. I know it's crazy to imagine. But there do exist radio people, who know and do radio, who don't hold a ham ticket. I know,.. it's nuts. Can't even be bothered to take a day off of work to sit for an exam by some self serious medically retired guy in a library and get 26 right out of 35 multiple choice.. IDK,.. We just don't do it.. Our idea of applying radio as a hobby doesn't require it. But we do have wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sister, etc who we'd like to be on the radio with. ,....and we don't want to always be like "WHISKEY TANGO BRAVO ZULU 554!!" on the radio all the time just to get on.. We don't call out CQ to eachother.. And we don't say 73's! (yuck).. Some of the parties on the license might not even know what kind of radio they have when colostomy bag Larry asks, and I don't think they need to feel weird about that. They're just trying to relay a practical message to another party on the license when someone else in town hears traffic and thinks it's the 440 net.

Wow is short for, “Thank you for explaining the issue with hams on GMRS.” The issue is not the hams.

I think there may be a misunderstanding of what GMRS is for - it's for any kind of conversation, not just intra-family communication. The two operators having a discussion had just as much right to be talking on that frequency as your family. Now, if your wife had emergency traffic, that's a completely different situation, but otherwise it's first come-first served. It would have been considerate to allow your wife to break in, but not obligatory. There is no requirement to limit the duration of a conversation on GMRS, only that a station must identify every 15 minutes. Wow.

Jeep: XTL5000 w/Midland MXTA26 antenna Out of the Jeep while off-roading: XTS2500 Base: XTL5000 connected to Tram1486 Office: KG1000GPlus w/MXTA26 on a cookie sheet in the window Couch: XTS5000 Repeater: Vertex 7000 w/Tram1486 and LMR400 coax. Other than the repeater all the coax is just inexpensive black-coax.

Completely different frequencies and propagation effects, but GMRSers might be suprised to learn on HF (short wave) some hams get lucky and bounce signals all the way around the world with 10 to 20 watts. Back to relevant bands and frequecies, you can communicate with the ISS with a regular 50 watt VHF or UHF transceiver. Using a Baofeng HT I have listened in on hams using the ISS repeater to make contacts with other hams. Knowing the antenna polarization and sweeping thru the frequencies made it better as did waiting for a high overhead pass. It is about the antenna and knowing what to do with it

The antenna is more important than the power output of a transmitter.

Ohhhh, the irony of the irony…

The fender mount is the most practical one due to ease of installation and the fact that there is easy access through the firewall to run the antenna cable. Btw, truck is a vintage 2009 F150 Super Crew.

No, you don't need your own repeater. You may just want to make your station very good. I'd be curious to know where you are located geographically. You might think that 17 miles it too far to reach, but you'd be surprised. I routinely talk on repeaters over 20 miles away and sound good on them. With a handheld. There's just a handful of things to know and you can do it too. You don't need to spend thousands, or even hundreds to be able to shoot a signal pretty far off.

Well this topic sprung back to life... Here's another thing to consider. IDK about anyone else here, but sort of married to my interest in having domestic radio is a concept of preparedness. A 50 watt station needs quite an amperage draw. If you're not about "what happens when things go dark" and you're just a comfy radio desk plugged into mains power type guy. sure. Blow out 50 watts. Even if 70% of it is a waste. But is your station operable when that's not the case? When that supply needs to be plugged into something to give you 12 amps stable? I like a station that can run on batteries. With gain and directional antennas, I can be every bit as loud as anyone with 10 watts. And that can be fueled by the sun.

50 watts can be overkill if one has a good clear line of sight to a local repeater. But 50 watts comes in handy when trying to reach others on simplex. I can get into the local GMRS repeater that is 21.5 miles away with 10 watts. I need all 50 watts to talk to guys on simplex that are at the same distance. One guy lives about 2 miles west of the repeater tower. His antenna is at 40 feet while mine is at 18 feet. The repeater antennas are at 400 feet.

One note on the NOAA weather radio stuff... There is no official "channel" name/number/designation. NOAA just has these as a frequency for each. If its preprogrammed and not changeable by the radio Manufacturer by you, they can and do call them whatever they want. WX 1 on one brand, with the same freq. on another it might be hard coded in as NOAA 3, for example.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PQVPNLQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title 04 Dodge Ram on the hood and my shoe size is a 13 wide, LOL.

New to the forum, WRKW564, Athens, Ga.

I have to agree that using commercial repeaters is better than building one from two mobile radios. Though building one yourself is a learning experience. @WSCF738 I would try a mobile radio with a good antenna and good coax cable at your home first. You will want to get the base antenna up as high as you can.

I've commented on your tube vids exactly twice. If those remarks impressed upon you, I can now check the box of "master communicator".

I cant put my finger on it, but you sound very familiar and I think I like you.

The tiger tail is 80's approved

I've tested this 100-ways to Sunday.. and even Monday.. My results show that it might help.. a little.. maybe?.. on some radios.. I think? Basically, any improvement was so slight, i wasn't even sure if it was an improvement or just my very vivid imagination, and it certainly wasn't worth risking my reputation by looking dumb walking around with a piece of wire wagging from my radio. It should be noted that it almost always did show an improvement in SWR on my meter - but, a slightly lower SWR does not necessarily mean more farz

I was playing with the cross band repeat function of my TYT TH-7800 that I am using as my base station. I was using the KG-Q10H on UHF to talk to the TYT which then connected to the local 2m repeater (21.5 miles away). I was getting excellent signal reports while using the KG-Q10H. I still want to test 1.25m and 6m. I also want to test the KG-Q10H cross band repeater functions. So far I have been impressed with the radio. I find myself grabbing it or my KG-935G most of the time.

and for deconfuckulation: You will experience zero noticeable degradation in performance if you roll-up the extra few feet of cable and tuck it away somewhere, vs shortening it, in-despite of what "some people" will try to tell you.

The broader point. From my limited experience on GMRS, talking about radios is not uncommon - either from hams who are interested in radios, or new non-ham GMRS operators who want to learn more about their new hobby, and non-hams GMRS operators who enjoy using their radios and want to learn more about ham radio. I agree with Steve, that behavior is independent of radio service, so how are hams negatively impacting GMRS?

This! If a person is an ass, it doesn’t matter what radio service they’re using.

I'm glad that's not the case in my area. So far, I've only encountered one ham that was a jerk. He was on a ham repeater ranting about GMRS and NO other ham agreed with him. We all defended GMRS and basically told him to shut up. I never could get his call sign but I think, by his voice and his rant, that he was the same guy I heard several months ago on a GMRS repeater ranting about something. I think it's more about the individual than the radio service they are using.

5 minutes Actually, we hams tend to call each other by our call signs more often than our names. We often log those contacts. If we’re having a net we check in and then wait to be called back. We say our call sign every 10 minutes or sooner and at the end of the conversation. When I use GMRS it’s strictly casual on a first name basis. I don’t care what the other person’s call sign is. I use mine at the end of every 15 minutes and when ending a conversation, but otherwise I just don’t say it. GMRS is like talking on the phone to someone except simplex.

Thank you so much for your help. I think now I have everything where it belongs. And I'll keep that ch15 in mind. Won't have to use this as a paper weight now.

Just starting out on my journey. I ordered the wife and I a pair of Tidradio GM-5R's off Amazon. At least they turn on and charge (That's about as far as I have made it this evening. I had to rebuild my home internet network due to equipment failure. I am looking forward to learning many new things here and upgrading in the future as needed. So far I figured that I need to learn how to get set up on a Repeater or two and program the radio to talk to and listen to them. Be Patient with me... LOL And Thank you for having me here!

Unless you are trying to bounce your signal off the moon, just mount your antenna in the best spot you can, as high as you can get it, and it will work fine for for highway/trail comms. My antenna is mounted above the rear tail-light/rear fender of my jeep, below the roofline, where many "experts" warned me it "will not work". and while it certainly does not work as well as it could, it works just fine. I can hit a repeater with it at 92 miles and regularly get 20+ miles on simplex and have never had issues on the trail where i could not hear someone that others could, or they could not hear me. My two words of advice are: 1) ignore the 'experts' B ) - dont over-think it.

You want a coax switch. Be sure you get one that is rated up pass the highest frequency you intend to use. Since you're stuck using SO-239 sockets on it you have to be careful to get the right insulator and socket design type. Most SO-239 sockets for CB radio or HF work may use the crappy red or brown Bakelite insulating material around the center pin. DON'T use those!. These will cause SWR issues. The better choice is when the material is white. That would typically be Delron or Teflon. While better than the above I would only recommend it for VHF and below. The best is where the center pin is supported by what looks like a spoked wheel design around the center pin. That gives the interior of the socket mostly air and results in a socket impedance closer to 50 ohms, matching the radio and coax, which will mitigate SWR problems. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/431-coax-switchjpg/

thanks, I'll give it a shot

Talk to them just like you would on a phone call. "WRVM969 <Person being called's name> are you on?" As you are both under the same call sign, only one needs to give the call sign.

Dang !!! That turned into one helluva pissing contest !!! Lmfao !!!!!

These are vestigial settings left-over from being a ham radio. Most GMRS radios are not designed as GMRS radios from the ground-up. Instead, they are repurposed ham-radios, and usually a lot gets lost (or remains) in the translation. Look through the menus of most of these radios and you will find options that make no sense on a GMRS radio, they do nothing, or, both.

Recently, a local Phoenix family drove up to the mountains northeast of Phoenix several days ago and got caught in a snow storm and they were stranded for several days. The family did survive and made it out unharm. They were lucky to be found by local Payson Area residents during the snow storm. While they were stranded, they attempted to call for help using their cell phone but unfortunately, they were in an area of no cell service, which is not unusual in the remote mountain areas of Arizona. However, the area they were in was well covered by the Diamond Point GMRS Repeater which is linked to other repeaters of the Southwest Community Radio System (SWCRS) that serve the Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and the eastern mountain communities in Arizona; and throughout the state of New Mexico. If they had a GMRS radio and if they were licensed and knowledgeable about the GMRS repeater system they could have use their GMRS radio to summon for help. The point is, you can’t always rely on a Cellular Telephone for help, especially in remote areas. So, don’t leave home without your GMRS radio even in the metro areas. You can never plan when a GMRS radio will be the most valuable tool in the time of need.

HOME Vertex Standard Repeater with EMR Corp Duplexer Laird FG4602 Base Antenna tip at 30' and Times Microwave ("Some People" thinks it is called Times New Roman as in the Font) LMR400 Cable. For my Base Radios - Two Motorola XTL5000 Dashmounts, one with a Motorola Desk Microphone connected to a Laird B4502N non ground plane antenna with LMR400 Cable in the attic, and the other radio using a hand mic connected to another Laird B4502N mounted in the side window of my shop/garage. FOR MY CARS Chevrolet Silverado 1 Ton Dually Diesel - Motorola XTL5000 Remote Mount connected to a Laird B4502 roof mount antenna. A Cobra 29 LTD Nightwatch AM/FM CB Radio connected to a roof mount K40 antenna as a secondary radio. Jeep Wrangler "IZARUBIcon" 2 Dr - Motorola XTL5000 Remote Hi-powered connected to a Larsen Glass-Mount Antenna mounted on the rear glass. A Cobra 19 DX III CB radio connected to a Firestik II 5 Ft Adjustable Tip antenna mounted in the rear near the spare tire as a secondary radio. Corvette Racecar - Motorola HT1000 connected to a Laird non-ground plane Phantom antenna mounted to the roll bar and audio equipped helmet. XTS 1500 radios used by the spotters. Corvette Grocery Getter - Motorola XTS5000 Type 3 FPP Porsche Grocery Getter - Kenwood TK 880 connected to a Laird 1/4 wave unity gain on a Midland Magmount. The radio is not permanently mounted and is powered from the accessory power plug. Club Car Golf Car Grocery Getter - Motorola XTS5000 Type 2 with Remote speaker microphone. The radio sits in a cup holder. I have a gazillion Motorola mobiles and portables as spares: XTL5000, XTL2500, XTS5000 (FPP, Type 2 and 3) XTS3000 Type 2, XTS2500, XTS1500, MT2000 (A4 & A7), MTS2000, HT1000, ASTRO SABER (Types 1, 2, and 3), and VISARs. Oh, one Midland MXT500 with a Midland Magmount and Phantom antenna I temporily loan to my radio-less friends when on Trail Rides or Porsche Driving Tours.

I keep hearing "I don't want to have to carry two radios while doing an outdoor activity, while traveling, whatever..." Two radios are not heavy. Also, you get the benefit if having tuned antennas for each, instead of one that might be almost good enough. If you don't want two radios, good for you. I think it makes me more attractive to the chicks to have two on my belt clips.

I only use the 5 watt minimum power setting on the KG-1000G. Have not needed more than that for my use, in fact the KG-935G+ works just as well on 5 watts. I don't use the .5 watt channels. The mobile rig will not tx on them anyway. In my situation we are right next to Canada so can't work that direction anyway. The Yagi pointing South covers my local town and others all the way to Seattle.

I was doing a job a few years ago and picked up 6 "Ozark Trail" FRS HT's from Walmart in two packs. Just found one of them in a box yesterday and it does have a default ctcss tone of 67.0 across 22 channels. Range sucks on them - we installed truck parking detectors at the interstate rest areas and had to validate and time stamp every truck that came in and out of the parking lot to make sure the system was working. They had a hard time trying to make it across the parking lot, had to sit outdoors in the middle of the lot to coordinate things. Battery life is excellent on them, one of the guys forgot to turn the radio off when he threw it in the back of my car. Every now and then for the better part of a month I'd hear a muffled voice when driving for a second and couldn't figure out where it was coming from before I found it (low battery chirps). At least it didn't interfere with the voices in my head.

I'm just wondering... And anyone feel free to chime in here. Who, exactly, is monitoring my GMRS communications for hidden meanings, and more importantly, am I going to get busted for asking my wife to "Rendezvous at Location Sierra Bravo" instead of saying "Meet me at Sonic Burger"?

Around the Detroit area 2M and 70cm are dead most of the time. Many of the repeaters see little use. On 70cm with 20MHz of spectrum it’s easy to get lost in it if you’re looking to talk to somebody. On GMRS you only have a handful of frequencies to use so it doesn’t take much to find activity. On the Ham 70cm band yeah you have some grumpy people. With GMRS it’s geared for “family” use and the range of permissible uses is far greater than the Ham band allows. On GMRS everyone has the same type of license call, none of the 1x2, 1x3 etc. calls depending your license class. Some Hams won’t talk to somebody with a tech class call for example. On GMRS nobody cares how much DX you’ve worked, how fast you can send and receive CW, you run 1500 watts into an antenna on a 200 foot tower in your yard etc., it levels the field.

I can tell you why I am on GMRS often. Availability, coverage and the people using it. Though, that changes depending on where I am in the country. I cannot tell you how many @$$h0l3s I run into on ham radio every day. They think they are smarter than everyone else, and then use that very wrong opinion to assert their 'authority' (bad opinion stated as if it was a fact) over others. Then there are the jammers, tuner-uppers, and people just plain-ole' showing their butt. It makes me want to toss my gear in the trash some days. I don't have that problem on GMRS. On the GMRS side, we have local person here who used their personal time and money to put up repeaters on every pair and spread them around the DC metro area, just to make it so the community has something to use in an emergency (he's actually the opposite of what the jerks are in Ham radio). Thanks to this person, there are 90+ miles of continuous coverage edge to edge; more than 6300 square miles. You can double that coverage if you tolerate a 60%-70% reliability rate. There isn't a single amateur radio repeater or club network that can match his coverage. As far as who I talk to, my son is the only person in my family that has a Ham license and he doesn't even own any amateur radios. My wife let hers expire more than a decade ago. There are a small handful of friends that have their Ham license, but are rarely on the air. Now, on the GMRS side, I literally have several dozen family and friends that are on GMRS or use FRS while we are out doing things together. The lack of testing, the affordable gear and the fact that people like me are in their life to help with technical stuff, so they don't have to actually learn anything to simply use the radio, is a huge draw to them. Many of them refuse to get their amateur radio license. Side note on why I hate Ham Radio: Before you read this... it may be long and boring, which is why I put it after the more relevant part of the post. It is still relevant, because its a great example of why I as a Ham, prefer GMRS. As you read this, keep in mind that on the amateur frequencies from 144 MHz to 148 MHz, FM signals are just a little more that 16 KHz wide on a properly running radio. Also, based on the 16 KHz wide signal, the proper technical spacing between occupied frequencies is 20 KHz. However, for some reason the community in about half the country opted to use 15 KHz channel spacing instead, which leads to overlap and interference. Jerks in Ham radio never cease to amaze me. I have an example from just a few days ago, while I was talking to a traveler on 146.520. For our non-Ham friends, this is a calling frequency. Meaning if you are looking for someone to talk to, you go to that frequency to call for other operators, and many operators listen here to chat, too. Once you make contact, its customary to move the conversation to another frequency, but not required. Often it is used continuously for hours at a time for contests and special events, or just for a couple of people to just chat. I was talking on 146.520 to a person who was on the highway, traveling through the area on his way from PA to FL. Total conversation was 6 minutes. I figured it would be best to stay on that frequency, rather than to distract the driver by having him figure out how to adjust his radio while driving on the highway. Especially since at 65-70 mph, it wouldn't be long before I couldn't hear him. I had a guy come to 146.520 and yell at me because we were tying up "the calling frequency" instead of moving to another frequency. He was also very mad because I was using about 200 watts and was splashing him and his friends on 146.535. He was calling me names and generally being very rude. Well, I am not surprised he could hear me on 146.535, because (as mentioned earlier) a proper signal is a little more that 16 KHz and he was only 15 KHz away from 146.520. Him and his friends should have picked the better channel spacing of 20 KHz (146.540) or more, so there was no overlap. The power I was using was not an issue, because I could hear him splashing me... and I am assuming it was the overlap, not his power levels. Among other things I can't type in a family friendly forum, he said my gear was crap and I am a bad operator who shouldn't even be on the radio because I was splashing him so bad that he couldn't talk to his friends. He said that he hates new operators, can't believe they don't teach new people better manners and to follow the rules. When I told him he didn't know what he was talking about and I was an operator for 20+ years, his answer was that he was a Ham for more than 60 years and knows more then new guys like me. LOL The funny part of the whole situation is, in his eyes I'm the jerk who doesn't know anything and shouldn't be on the radio, but he was the one attacking me and insulting me while HE was using bad practices of not using proper channel spacing, being at least 20 KHz away from the most popular coordinated VHF frequency in amateur radio. This stuff NEVER happens to me on GMRS.