[Getting into a repeater, but not getting a return]

Neophyte stories of my own making. Took quite some time to clue into this and in my immediate area there is a wonderful repeater that broadcasts various nets, very enjoyable monitoring. Also addictive, has me wanting to invite most of these folks over for some Pabst and BBQ. All these settings in Chirp and DPL or Tone Squelch, God Bless America. Puzzling and dumbing my way through has really been tough but its coming along, maybe not at the pace I'd like but failure is a great teacher.

What I don't understand yet is where does the repeater access go from time to time. I believe there must be some switch to host or connect a thing to another thing and pass along a broadcast. Then there must be some repeating setting, to pass along local traffic. Also in some monitoring sessions I've heard yahoos get in there and play music, sing on Bud Lights, and play alarms. I suspect this would make an operator hesitant to leave a repeater repeating all the time? This is my working theory, but someone in the know might school me so I stop thinking my radio farts out from time to time.

[Teaching GMRS 101 - What would you want to know?]

I'm just one of these type of people that could benefit from just about all these replies and much more, belt antics and all. Was gifted these "cheap" radios and have had much excitement and intrigue, gifting "cheap" radios to others to distribute my frustrations evenly. Doesn't matter really because the process has been educational, crunching the FRN, getting a better rig, watching the right tubes. An Ed Fong antenna and some EMT has me reaching Parker Ridge from the lower streets of Bakersfield. Scratchy, static, and still don't know what I'm doing. Yes, demystify the doings of repeater consistency, and yes bringing a crew with you would have been helpful. My work continues. Please include me willingly in any class coming up.