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I live in North GA as well. I've expressed my opinion on here before, probably on a different of the now 10,000 threads on this matter. I hear the same conversation on all but 1 repeater channel, and if I wasn't in the valley I live in, I would most likely hear it on that one, too. It's beyond annoying. I listen to their conversations from time to time and they're pretty friendly to folks that aren't members, but I've only heard a couple non-members pop in and I imagine they'd frown on continued use without a membership. Their network stretches from part of Tennessee all the way down into parts of Florida. I admire their desire to make such a large network and the sheer work it takes to build and maintain something like that is impressive, but to do that on a spectrum that has a grand total of 8 channels for repeaters is a little bit stupid in my book.

Playing devils advocate here, why should there be an exception to talk to the opposite side of the mountain? That’s usually no longer local. Of course the real solution is to put a single repeater on top of the mountain.

Please Select Operations Tab & Make A Simple Attempt To Understand It. Just As Driving While Intoxicated Is Illegal In All 50 States, It Doesn't Require States To List All Types / Brands Of Alcohol Which Makes Driving Drunk Illegal. Same Goes With Every & All Other Types Of Laws. If Wanting To Talk Longer Distances - Get A Ham License Or Get Over It. Linking GMRS Repeaters Is Done.......... https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

I don't understand the people trying to come up with some loophole for this. A linked GMRS system in range of me has finally done the right thing and de-linked their repeaters. The other night, I heard about four to six guys having a pity party on the repeater closest to me about "how wrong it is" that the FCC has taken away their linking. One or two trotted out the false notion that RF linking will be legal once they figure out how to do that. What was missed by all of them was that they were all on one repeater, having a nice, friendly, conversation, and it was working just fine despite the absence of linking. Also unnoticed by them I feel sure, is that three or four other repeaters were open and available to others in the respective local areas of each repeater, for similar conversations, contact with family or friends on the road, or other originally intended uses of GMRS. I have yet to hear a GMRS conversation taking place on one repeater, that the world would suffer if it were not simultaneously broadcast over multiple other repeaters. I spoke with an old regular contact and over-the-air friend last night who lamented the loss of linking on that system. I mentioned the advantage in that now, each repeater can carry its own, local area, conversations without disrupting that ability over a 100 mile long path for others. As he thought about it, he agreed with me. He did wish for the ability to at least link as needed, but I think he will adjust well to the change, with time.

I remember that! I couldn’t believe the news talking heads didn’t figure it out before airing the story. Talk about stupid.

"Linking multiple repeaters to enable a repeater outside the communications range of the handheld or mobile device to retransmit messages violates sections 95.1733(a)(8) and 95.1749 of the Commission’s rules, and potentially other rules in 47 C.F.R. Repeaters may be connected to the telephone network or other networks only for purposes of remote control of a GMRS station, not for carrying communication signals. In addition to violating Commission rules, linking repeaters is not in the public interest. Because GMRS spectrum is limited and used on a shared “commons” basis, the service only works well on a localized basis when users can hear each other and cooperate in the sharing of channels. Linking repeaters not only increases the potential for interference, but also uses up a limited spectrum resource over much larger areas than intended, limiting localized availability of the repeater channels." Linking Multiple Repeaters...... Pretty Much Self Explanatory. Key Word - Linking. Not Necessary To Explain Every Possible Means.

Huh? I hope you are referring to the mobile device meaning high up (up link) (transmitting) to the repeater and low (down link) (receiving) down from the repeater.

Why does every new license holder want to setup a repeater? I would like to shed a little light on some of the important things to consider if you recently got your GMRS license and now want your own repeater. First thing to consider, are there any open well placed repeaters in your area that you are able to use? I can assure you most repeater owners want people to use there repeater. Owning several repeaters I can assure you all are welcome and encouraged to use my machines. Do you have access to a location to host your repeater? If your answer is your garage roof you should reconsider. Your garage roof will give you about the same coverage as simplex. Unless you’re on top of a mountain and all your users are at the bottom you will never be happy with this setup. GMRS is not as popular as one would like to think, unless your repeater covers 20 miles or more you may find you only have 1 or 2 users in the area. Unless you already have a group of friends together you may want to consider this before spending money on a decent well positioned site to install your repeater. So you found a nice high site and the price is right, all you need to do is get the repeater installed, sounds simple right? Some thigs to consider first and foremost are the costs because they can add up quickly. Are you on a commercial tower that requires a license and bonded climber? If so this could be by far your largest expense depending on your area. I have spent $600 to $1200 on a climber; I have had quotes as high as $2500 depending on the amount of work and heights involved. Keep in mind commercial sites require certified mounts, hard line cable, cable clamps, engineered grounding solutions and commercial grade antennas. No tower owner is going to let you install a comet antenna and 200’ of braided shield coax. This brings me to my next point, the antenna. Because of the costs involved with climbers you will want to expend your budget on the antenna. Remember a $2000 repeater on a $200 antenna is going to work about as good as a $200 repeater. Whereas a $200 repeater on a $2000 antenna is going to work like a $2000 repeater. On my first repeater I was gifted use of a 150’ tower, I installed a DB-420 on the top and 160’ of 7/8 hardline. Total cost of equipment for the antenna install was $2500, with the climbers labor coming in at an additional $800. This left me with enough to purchase an old Motorola R100 repeater running at 25W. To my surprise it had 30 miles of coverage, all due to the cash spent on the antenna and waiting for a decent spot. Things happen, more so if you have an antenna 200’ in the air with a conductive cable connected to sensitive electronics. Antenna issues, feedline issues, repeater issues all cost money and I promise at some point you will have issues that need repair and require your money! It is my opinion that the GMRS community does not need another 2 to 5 miles repeater as it just becomes background noise. What use is a public listed repeater if somebody in a mobile can’t use it 5 miles away while moving or the portable coverage is only a mile? If after reading this you are still going to build a repeater for your garage more power to you, just don’t expect 20 people to show up if it only reaches a mile. As the owner of several GMRS and Commercial repeaters I can attest to the amount of money and effort go into my repeaters. I have only touched on the basics, if you add in any kind of testing services, duplexer tuning, addition of a combiner channel to an existing tower system, RF engineering, rent and insurance your costs can sky rocket. The best advice I can give any new licensee is to try and use the available systems in the area. Take the time to learn a little about what you’re doing and to assess the usability of the service before investing in a repeater for the sole reason of saying you own one.

I just came across some used commercial stationmasters and super stationmasters if you want something affordable and serious.

Don't confound government agency opinion with its actual regulations.

I bought a 24pc assorted adapters kit, plus a few SMA-M and SMA-F to PL259 and SO239 short cables, and a few PL259 to PL259 short cables. Less than $60 for all that. At this point I never run into things I can't connect to my NanoVNA, TinySA, and SW102. But your connectors are possibly more esoteric. Nevertheless you should be able to find adapters for them on Amazon, which is where I found all the other assorted adapters.

Here Is A Link For Synonyms & Antonyms For Pontifications - Guessing There Is A Grammar Issue: https://www.powerthesaurus.org/pontification Also, Sorry To Hear You Are Afflicted With Mitosis, Or Assuming That Is What Is Affecting Your Judgement. A Definition Provided If Needed... What is Mitosis Mitosis is a method of cell division where the mother cell divides to produce two genetically identical daughter cells.Itis similar in both plants and animals. In lower animals such as amoeba, mitosis is a means of asexual reproduction without the involvement of sex cells or gametes. The term ‘mitosis’ was coined by Walther Flemming in 1882 and derived from the Greek word ‘mitos’ meaning ‘warp thread’. Example: Healing of wounds, where damaged cells are replaced and repaired by forming new cells.

If Your Source Of Knowledge / Resources To Orchestrate An Opinion Is my GMRS Forums - I Wish You Well...... Good Luck With That Approach.....

Finally got to the shed and thought I'd share the pics of the hardline. Looks like i have Andrews 7/8 Heliax. The NanoVNA showed and an adapter kit so next I'm hoping to learn how to put the N-type connectors on.

Again: "In addition to violating Commission rules, linking repeaters is not in the public interest. Because GMRS spectrum is limited and used on a shared “commons” basis, the service only works well on a localized basis when users can hear each other and cooperate in the sharing of channels. Linking repeaters not only increases the potential for interference, but also uses up a limited spectrum resource over much larger areas than intended, limiting localized availability of the repeater channels." Linking Multiple Repeaters...... Pretty Much Self Explanatory. Key Word - Linking. Not Necessary To Explain Every Possible Means.

Both of the two cited rules refer to wireline control. There is nothing that is wireline control with RF Operational Fixed Stations such as Microwave or 70 MHz control.

Yup,,,,,, Outlaws don't give a $hit.. They'll steal your money and rape your sister.

I agree with all of the above with one exception -- which was first brought up by a poster on this forum, so no credit to me. If you have two local repeaters that are separated by a mountain, seriously limiting the range of both, linking the two should be allowed. More than two, no.

Thank you

I think you missed what he was asking. He wanted another level of alerting so that his radio doesn’t simply break squelch whenever the repeater is active, but so his radio will be silent until two things occur: The repeater sends the correct “privacy” tone, and Whoever is trying to reach him embeds a pattern of tones (DTMF, or 2-tone or 5-tone) that matches his specific alert tone.

There's always this classic that actually did make it on the air with zero fact checking.

I don’t care about linked repeaters, but it’s almost like people refuse to use the search function and the same threads happen over and over. I wish people would do just a little homework before flogging the same dead horse. Also, the latest iPhone software seems to conflict with the Tapatalk app. Whenever I quote a post it gets emoji-bombed. Now get off my lawn! :-)

Doesn’t matter. 25 repeaters in that part of the state is exactly why the FCC is deciding to “clarify” since 25 divided by 8 means even with properly spaced out repeaters there’s no free channels and reuse of each one 3 times… for money. Where does the family repeater owner go then that wants their GR1225 on their roof for the neighborhood?

Nice try FedBoi !

Are you with the FCC?

I'm new to this a bit, but I believe that if there is only an output freq listed, then the input will be the same. I usually just add the TX freq and call it good.

Please make the linked repeater thing stop…. [emoji849][emoji1787][emoji854]

Also a big difference between petn exploding and a lithium battery 'erupting'.. You dont want either in your pocket when it happens but the petn has more punch whereas the lithium has less punch but more heat/flame.

The radios that exploded in Hezbollah’s hands had been doctored with a high explosive compound called petn. This wasn’t a case of lithium batteries failing.

Max is 9.78 dB (assuming dBi) at theta = 90°, horizontal. That’s the blue horizontal line to the right, and it’s 9.77 dB along the green horizontal line to the left (theta = -90°). The red lines are about angles above and below horizontal. Theta is the angle along the circle. So at theta = 84° (which is the upper red line in the diagram) the gain is 5.74 dB. That’s 6° above horizontal. At theta = 95° (the lower red line) the gain is 6.77 dB. Everywhere within the 11° angle between theta = 84° to theta = 95° has gain greater than 5.74 up to 9.78 and back down to 6.77.

Here in North Georgia we have a 25 linked repeater business. And yes, it has turned into a lucrative business charging almost 100 bucks a year for access for 1 user. On their face book page they have stated that they are operating within the regulations and they are not going to unlink the repeaters until they are forced to.....Interesting that gmrs repeater owners are allowed to use the service for profit.

This sounds like a good reason for folks to get their ham ticket, and possibly a DMR radio. Linked repeaters and phone patches were great in the pre-cell phone days, and now DMR lets you connect to anywhere in the world from a repeater or hotspot.

No, not at all.

I am fortunate that a local amateur radio operator has a repeater available. It is done properly on a 400 ft tower. The repeater covers the entire county and portions of adjacent counties. My initial itch for my own repeater was because I live in a low lying area and needed help getting over a hump to reach my wife’s mobile when she is at work. Once I discovered the local amateur radio club, I joined and got access to the repeater. It eliminated all desire to set up my own repeater. Like you mention, GMRS is not wildly popular. For the most part it is only we two who use it, with the occasional visit from one of the hams. If the repeater owner ever decides to stop maintaining the repeater, I may very well become interested in building my own again. Fortunately, my coverage needs are modest, about 10 miles. We probably could blast through most of that distance on 40 Watt simplex, except for the hump right in the middle.

We have seen that the Google, Bing, Ask and other search engine spybots are camped out here reading new posts. Just a word to the wise... use your discretion in posting personal or sensative information that could possibly compromise your personal safety, security, lead to identity theft, or give non-licensed individuals a way to access your radio systems.

We are bumping up this announcement once again as a refersher to all members. MyGMRS is one of the fastest growing GMRS and alternate radio service forums in the US. As a result of it's popularity, we are being "scanned" by countless 'spybots' from all the major search engines as well as some from other countries. We have seen as many as 30 search engine 'bots' collecting data here at one time. We would just like to remind everyone that this forum is PUBLIC and if you don't want the world to see your personal info, don't post it.