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I'm afraid that I am not familiar enough with that topic to make a video about it..

Thank God you have zero authority over who can or cannot use GMRS. There are many people who use it for many different reasons. Neither you nor I have the authority to say they don’t belong.

I dont publish the actual/*exact* elevation of my repeater antenna because its connected to my house and knowing its exact elevation would make it easier for all the mentally-ill people that send me threats to locate it.

They have a mental/emotional defect that makes them crave power and control - often because in their life, they have none.

Why do I catch this nonsense first thing in the morning and feel compelled to even bother to say something? First off WTF are you talking about? Are you referring to someone putting out there call sign on a repeater to see if others are also on the repeater? You answered that question in your own before anyone else ever could, THEY ARE BEING SOCIAL It's sort of HOW THEY CHOSE TO USE THE SERVICE. WTF do you care? You decided to post about it here so it must really effect you. Do you loose sleep at might over it? Does it plague your dreams? Is effecting your performance in the bedroom? The cure for any and all of that is tuning your radio to a channel without a repeater and turning off the scan function. Then you will NOT hear those pesky SOCIAL GMRS users calling out their ID's morning noon and night being social. And Randy, if you are looking for a topic for a video how about No being a TROLL

The butt-prints smell fresh so your story checks out.

That is correct. There are several other threads that started with someone pontificating about how others use GMRS incorrectly. None of them settled anything. This is one place where GMRS is similar to ham radio; someone thinks their way is “the only right way” even though the regulations don’t support that.

WOW!!! Looks like some people could use a Snickers Bar about now. We can't blame it on people being cooped up in the house due to cold weather either. We aren't sticklers on the use of call signs on our repeater. You can either give your call sign at the beginning of your first transmission or at the end of your first transmission. I know the rules only state every 15 minutes and at the end of the conversation. But it's a curtesy to give it in the first transmission since we have a lot of people with the same names or they sound similar on the radio. It makes it easier to know who we are talking to. The only time we say anything about someone NOT using a call sign is if they are kerchunking the repeater. It' not hard to just say "your call sign testing". And if they want to give their call sign at the end of every transmission, we won't say much about that either. This is especially true if there are a few of us on the repeater talking as a group.. To each their own.

Why does it bother you?

It kind of seems to me like so many GMRS users are eager to police what other people do on the air. Why?

Actually, no, the rule is that GMRS communications may not be placed onto a network. That extrapolated into not linking repeaters.

I sign on and off with my callsign and use it frequently throughout the conversation. I don't know why people refuse to believe my callsign is BR549.

What I hear is that one guy is going into town to get parts for the tractor or a load of feed. He and his friend get together on 70 cm DMR for maybe 10 minutes every day just to check in with each other. It’s nice to hear.

A guy on one of the FB Groups for GMRS/FRS/MURS/CB posted: "I'm thinking off throwing out a call on my MURS Radio to see if anyone is around to talk, what do y'all think?" Besides the obvious reply about it being pretty much used for businesses for short distance comms. etc., my question back was, "what will you do for a callsign, given there are none for MURS; 'This is Cleanup on Aisle 9 monitoring, anyone around?' "

I wish it was that boring around here. We have the most uncouth people on the radio around here. One lady got on the repeater (not simplex) to tell her husband to go break-up the kids from fighting because she was taking a crap and couldn't get off the commode.

"Well, you see, little Timmy, sometimes a man buys a radio so he can meet other men and exchange signal reports and talk about antennas." "What about talking to friends and family?" "Yeah yeah, they do that too, but first, let's talk about mag mounts and ground planes..."

Sven, I think you’ve lost your marbles, That’s exactly why we have call signs and why we’re required to use them: to identify ourselves to others and have a way to look them up when we engage in the personal or business activities of “making contact”. Although it’s not explicitly encouraged like ham radio it’s absolutely not discouraged in any way, explicitly or implicitly.

Im often mistaken for an adult because of my age.

This doesn’t sound “utilitarian”. In fact it sounds pretty social. § 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.

That TV does not sound like it's smart.

I just say let them do what they want. It hurts no one. If it annoys you maybe you should work on that. It a style, a personality. Now it they start demanding you do the same then maybe it's them with the problem. If this is their "fun" why should they need to stop. Just sitting here now and someone came on with their phonetic call sign just to say they were on the repeater. Not talking to anyone. Didn't bother me.

@OffRoaderX went far beyond sharing an opinion. I genuinely cannot imagine why anyone would be annoyed by use of the phonetic alphabet unless it's because "some people" think it's a symptom of trying to be a ham in a GMRS community. I think part of the reason hams use the phonetic alphabet so much is that amateur radio is international. It can be pretty hard to understand someone whose first language is not the same as your own, especially the pronunciation of some letters. Just think of how much "B" and "V" sound alike in Spanish. GMRS users almost never talk to someone in another country, so being understood is not as much of a challenge (unless you're in California). Furthermore, shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies, which typically improves clarity in voice signals. Even the difference between 70cm and 2m can sometimes be discernible. If you're playing around on 80 meters, you're going to repeat yourself quite a bit. GMRS, being at the higher end of the spectrum, rarely suffers from poor quality of voice signals. For the most part, if you can punch the signal through, you'll be understood. Simply put, GMRS users don't use the phonetic alphabet because we don't need to. It's easier for me to say "WRTC" than "Whiskey Romeo Tango Charlie", but sometimes I'm going to use the phonetic anyway. I have 33 years of using the phonetic alphabet in uniformed service and I also participate in amateur radio. It happens. I just don't understand why anyone gets their undies in a wad over it.

That's just what they do around here. Its the only way to find out who the smartest one is!

I Would Have To Disagree. Think His Story Has A Crack In It..........

Okay folks... Leo sent me a new SGQ-450D duplexer. We gave this one a tune-up and it's looking good. I am very impressed. First, I swept it while it was factory tuned. It looked really good and if it was mine, I probably would have left it alone. On the transmit side, we had a good notch removing the receive frequency at almost -80dB. On the receive side, the notch looked even better at -85dB. Leo asked me to see what I could squeeze out of it, and I have to say, I am impressed with how well it tuned. On the receive side, we got the transmit frequency notch out -95.5dB. On the transmit side, I was able to notch out the receive frequency -95.5dB. Very well balanced. I recorded a quick video of the sweep showing notching as deep as -100.2dB, which is fantastic. The video demos the benefit of a hi-res VNA (mine goes to 1024 points), the sweep results, and the SWR at power. On the receive side, I was at 35 watts, but when I switched frequency to demo the transmit side, I forget to turn the power down. That SWR reading was at 50 watts, even though I said 35 watts. I really hope this helps someone on the fence about buying a B-Tech repeater or the SGQ-450D duplexer. @LeoG, can you share your opinion on the real-world results?

I will guarantee the FCC knows about all the issues with ham/GMRS radios on the GMRS/FRS channels. Are they going to do anything about it? It's extremely unlikely because the issues are 1) low power, 2) local to a small area, and 3) it's not worth the effort to enforce the rules for something this trivial to the majority of the users.

There are only 3 possibilities: You're on the wrong channel You've entered the wrong code(s) You're too far from the repeater The repeater is no longer online

"Making contacts" with anonymous men certainly counts as a personal activity... Very.. very personal..

Do not confuse me with "some people" who apparently only come here to try and make themselves feel better about spending way too much money on their toys by making fun of or demeaning other people's toys.

That's why I made my comment about people needing to eat a Snickers Bar as they seem to be very hangry over stuff that doe not matter. In the end it doesn't really matter how you use GMRS as long as you follow the FCC regulations and guidelines. Same goes for amateur radio too.

When I'm conducting tests (on air and not into dummy loads) I announce my call sign and "Testing" and when done, my call sign and "Clear". That way if I'm interfering with someone they can specifically refer to me by call sign to get my attention. If I hear a request for a radio check I'll reply with my call sign "copies you 5 by 5" or whatever reception quality I think I'm receiving. There's a couple of guys who rag-chew for several hours on .700 simplex every evening without ever IDing. Most boring conversation imaginable. My repeater ID's every 15 minutes if continually up, then 15 minutes after the last transmission and then goes silent until somebody keys it up again. There are some near me that ID every 15 minutes in both Morse and voice and announce the (incorrect) time regardless of traffic (and I've never heard any traffic other than the automated announcements).

That’s a tee shirt right there!

There's your mistake, right there.

Success! Looks like I may have not been transmitting with the correct offset! I manually input a repeater pair, and got a successful (though faint) signal check response. Excellent. I've just ordered a programming cable so I can go ahead and program in my local repeaters more easily. But, at last I know the radio is working. I appreciate the help and patience everyone!

They'll be a judge to sign a TRO in 3....2....1.....

Overruled!

I agree. Use of the phonetic alphabet important for hams in order to accurately discern call signs for all the reasons you listed. Unlike GMRS logging calls in amateur radio is important. Almost nobody logs calls in GMRS. I would say nobody but there have been a very few people on this forum who have expressed a desire to log calls. But I find it very easy to ignore people using their call signs frequently or using the phonetic alphabet.

Everyone does things a little different. Go with what works for you and your repeater.

Hello all, I have been in here for about a year. I enjoy all the discussions. Many have help greatly while others have left me in amazement. To clarify (not justify), this is a hobby and a tool at the same time. I interject humor because there far more things in this world to worry about. Therefore "don't sweat the small stuff". this is not a place to die on the cross. Sit back enjoy the conversations and learn a little along the way. I am as excited today as I was on 8/31/24 when I joined. Yeap, new to ya'll but not jaded yet but I do not believe I will become that way as a sense of humor wins. I ask that if you see a post from me which isn't polarized or even doesn't make sense, I would hope you would take a second to reevaluate your passion for the topic and learn what to let go....Justa sayin' WSEL330 - Former Jarhead

Sir, I am a serious Youtuber.. I don't "do" comical videos as they are beneath me and my audience.

It’s simple. If you’re not with a concerned group of people with utility of the GMRS service. Beat it… It’s not a radio AOL chat room. It’s concerned groups and families doing THINGS. Don’t clog up a repeater pair with your money if you’re not with that vibe. The technicians class and the 440 is SOOO available for you guys… And you’re right at home there. You can just pour over your latest dialysis treatments and all the rest, and they’ll hang on your every word. But the GMRS/FRS is just for the groups, friends, and families just trying to keep in touch in the field. It’s wives, 13 year old girls, and dads. If you made a repeater, and this type of traffic isn’t welcome, then actually… YOU need to vacate. Free up that repeater pair for the 5 watt repeaters that actually need to be there..

Roughing it has gotten a lot easier. Reminds me of people claiming to go camping when they really me glamping.

What

The GMR2+ is a GMRS radio so you dont have to worry about, or even think about offsets - you just select the correct "Repeater Channel" and enter the TX tone and (optionally) the RX tone.. Steps for that are outlined in your user-manual. HOWEVER - To use a repeater the radio must be GMRS repeater-capable, and based on the Rugged Radio Product page for the GMR2+, it does not appear to be repeater capable - and if that is the case, then you bought the wrong radios. EDIT/UPDATE: After reading the user-manual for you i can see that this radio is repeater capable.. I can also see that this is probably the most confuckulating to use GMRS radio I have ever seen. I give it two thumbs down and would NOT recommend this radio to someone that does not know anything about GMRS, Tones, or repeaters..

This is the kind of detailed real world data that's useful.

Exactly. The only time a person might be cited is if they do something really egregious (like monkeying around with public safety communications) and these violations are tacked on.

There's no good reason to not publish height. If the repeater is using a directional antenna, the primary direction should be reported too. But even worse to me is not giving a general location for the repeater. Like height, being able to determine distance and bearing is fundamental to radio comms. Towers can't be hidden anyway so there's little if any additional threat from vandals by letting the users know where it is.

For GMRS Wyoming designated 307 (channel 3, CTCSS tone #7) because the entire state has 307 as its area code. I don’t know anything like that in Montana. Here it would be 406.

Like I said I get annoyed by it too. However I can see both sides of the argument. Gmrs radio and amateur radio communications via voice are generally conversational. There's no real need for things like tactical call signs and phonetic alphabet on the day-to-day basis. However there is plenty of opportunity when those things can be beneficial to The Operators. But that's not what annoys me. It's probably not what annoys Randy either, though I won't speak for him personally. What does annoy me is people who say their call sign at the beginning of their transmission and at the end of their transmission and in the middle of their transmission every single time they key up the microphone. We get it. We know who we're talking to. You only need to use your call sign three times in every hour of conversation. We don't need to hear it three times a sentence. And just so we're clear it's not a radio thing. I hate when people use words as fillers because they don't know what else to say. Words similar to "like" or dude, or ah, um, or whatever they use to fill in the silence between thoughts. My therapist says I'm getting much better at it though.

So there it is. Control, and the fact you have none. And other GMRS operators trying to move in on your woman. Maybe it is effecting things in the bedroom. Maybe I shouldn't have gone there. NAAA, your a control freak and want ALL GMRS users to conform to your interpretation of the service. That ain't happening. And worrying about guys that use phonetics for their call signs as a rule... your concerned about them? They ain't seen female reproductive parts since they were born and women don't speak to them like that unless they are getting paid to do so. That's who you are worried about. There are little blue pills for that if you aren't taking care of things yourself to the point those people are a concern. Because it is now an AOL chat room. It's being used as a social communications platform, like it or not. If you don't like it, call the FCC and turn them in. They will laugh at you same as we are. And they will do NOTHING. And telling me to take MY repeater down.... again, keep hoping, but I will tell you that ain't happening either. I invite all users and all types of traffic to my machine. If YOU don't like the content, the channel knob is right there on the front of your radio. Go elsewhere.