WRZC904

Yes, the 10 mile leg has proven to be unworkable. May consider putting up a repeater at another house in the family that is about halfway. The biggest problem is getting some height on the antenna. Lot's to think about and maybe do. Fun hobby. Also, thanks for the tip on the mic, battery eliminator, and antenna. Didn't know I could do that.

Thanks for the replies. It is nice to see that GMRS is not busy all the time. I actually did hear a short conversation just now coming from what seems to be the Brunswick repeater. The frequency was right and there was a sort of extra pause before the end of transmission. I will go ahead and buy a 5w handheld (probably a pair of them) and see if I can talk to my son via the Lakewood repeater. Might be a stretch on his end - about 10 miles. If that works out, a mobile unit in the Highlander might be in order. We often take trips together involving multiple cars. GMRS should be helpful. Just PTT and all cars get the message - nice. Especially true in Ohio since our new "cell phone when driving" laws went into effect.

I have a pair of 2 watt handhelds that seem to talk with each other fairly well (FRS/GMRS without repeater abilities) however I hear almost no other traffic on any channels when doing a scan of all 22 channels. I am not using any tones on any of the channels that might filter out transmissions. I do occasionally hear folks inside stores, businesses, etc. when near those places. I also receive the welcome message from a local repeater (4 miles away) very clearly but no other transmissions from anyone using that repeater. I live in Cleveland, Ohio and one would think there would be more folks on GMRS here. So, is there really no one out there or should I get better stuff? I have been thinking about getting some better 5 watt handhelds for use with a repeater to communicate with my sons and daughters and their families. I will probably do that anyway but I'm still curious about why I hear nobody else. Maybe I have the whole place to myself - that would be cool.