AA3RT

After obtaining my GMRS license earlier this year, I finally broke down and ordered the Midland MXT115 that just arrived yesterday. 
 
I put it in my vehicle this morning just to give it a checkout. There is a GMRS repeater within 2 miles of my residence and thought I'd try making a contact however I can't get the radio to go in to "Repeater" mode.
 
The instructions in the manual are fairly straight forward and I've followed them step-by-step however I cannot get the desired sub "rP" to appear on the display, nor will it transmit in duplex mode on the repeater channels. 
 
Before I call Midland tech support can anyone suggest a hint or possibly a step that isn't in the instruction manual?
 
Thanks, Art WQZD805

As you are discovering, there's not a lot of attention paid to GMRS by most industry publications. That's probably because GMRS is a "set it up and use it" radio service. Some folks have tried to turn it into an experimental service, but that's not its intended use. The new Midland radios, and now the release of the draft Report and Order have certainly sparked some attention from the publications, but it will be brief. Presuming that the draft is pretty much the final shape of the R&O, there will be some new handhelds from the manufacturers, but they'll mostly be bubble-pack models for the unlicensed FRS crowd.
 
You will find that mygmrs.com is a primo source of information and help on GMRS. There's also a lot of useful info over on radioreference.com. If you're looking to build a home brew repeater, repeater-builder.com is the place for info.

I realize that this topic has been dormant for some time however I just received my GMRS license and was curious as to how many licenses there are in the District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia area as I reside in southern Maryland but am close to both DC and VA.
 
Active licenses only:
 
District of Columbia: 81
 
Maryland:                938
 
Virginia:                  1673