WRAK968
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Posts posted by WRAK968
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Because the NOAA weather transmissions are so ubiquitous, you would likely be able to copy at least one station from most locations with a modest receiver. Far better than with a potential GMRS repeater since there seem to be quite few weather stations, even here in rural SW WI. I can pick up six of the 7 NOAA frequencies, some of them quite a few miles away, but that is with a base antenna.
If you have a Part 90 transceiver, that you use for Part 95, perhaps you could program in one or more of the NOAA frequencies? Or would that be too far out of band since NOAA weather is VHF? It likely would not have the alert feature that some of the newer 2 way radios have built-in.
For example, our Midland MXT 115's have a built-in NOAA weather alert as well as ability to tune to any of the frequencies, however, not true of our MXT400's.
Although not GMRS,even our Uniden Bearcat 980SSB has this alert built-in as well.
The goal would be that the end user would not need to travel with a dedicated weather radio. Nobody knows when an alert will take place and in order to hear an alert, you must have the radio tuned to a NOAA station. By adding the alert re-transmit, you essentially have one weather radio on standby (vs one per person) and when it triggers anyone using the channel/repeater will hear the alert right away on their GMRS radio which they are already carrying to talk with other users/family members. This way everyone is up to speed during hazardous weather regardless where they are.
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What is the Model of your weather radio? That sounds like that would work.
Thanks
WRCR870
I actually have a uniden BCD536HP that I use for work and when traveling. I set it for WX alerts when camping, but for you it would be a bit pricey. $300+ for a weather radio is a bit much lol. PastorGary offered a better deal with the Midland WR120B, however it looks like you cannot select how long it will open the speaker for, its locked in at 3 minutes.
Your best bet would be to look around at various weather radios and read the manuals to see what their options are. Also check some of the older series uniden scanners, again check to see if they have SAME and EVENT code input. Radioshack scanners with SAME typically have these features. Event codes are three letters long and are specific for warning events. The event codes you need are:
SVA/SVR (Severe Thunderstorm Watch/Warning)
TOA/TOR (Tornado watch/warning)
An event code of "***" basicly plays wildcard and will open on all SAME alerts.
You can see more codes here:
https://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/eventcodes.html
As for linking into your radio, I suggest using a controller and not VOX as VOX can sometimes goof up and TX for the hell of it. I know the surecom duplex controller would work in this case, and the nice part is you can set a TOT to 30 seconds or however long you want the alert to transmit. Thus, you don't have a weather alert hijacking the channel for long periods of time.
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Ok, after a little bit of playing with the FPP, I figured it out.
First you need to follow all the steps to enable FPP, this includes remove a resister and enabling FPP through the software.
to enter FPP, press and hold "D" while the radio boots up, you should see "Self Prog"Press Mon, then you can select the group/channel you wish to program (I believe D switches between channel and group)
Press B and it will let you scroll through the band. Pressing A switches your step size for faster scrollingEnter your RX frequency
Press B and youll get RSX ----- This is where you put your tone info in. Pressing MON or SCAN switches between CTCSS and DCS, the right hand up and down arrows should change the tone number.
Press B and you have your TX frequency, enter that in and press B
TSX is your input code, enter the same way you did RSX and press B
Few more options pressing B to accept till it gets back to the group/channel screen and your all done.
- Extreme and Radioguy7268
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Ok, Is there a type 90 radio that is front panel programmable for pl tones?
well, again the TK880 has FPP I just dont know how it works lol, but if the 880 has FPP, I would assume the tones would be included in that.
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Well, that is not at all what I understood. I think he wanted to set his NOAA radio in front of a GMRS radio so that whenever the weather radio was on, it would operate the GMRS radio by VOX. He rationalized that any weather announcement was of “life or death” significance. That is not true. Also, note the NOAA service broadcasts weather announcements as well as warnings, there is no selectivity. This plan is a clear violation of the no broadcasting provision in Part 95E.
Not sure what weather radio you have used, or if your just using the wx function of a talkabout radio or perhaps a scanner.
The weather radio I have lets me select which alerts I want to hear. For instance, the radio will ignore the weekly test, wind warnings, thunderstorm watches, cold weather advisory's, exc. It only opens for thunderstorm warnings, tornado watch/warnings, and flash flood warnings. I also selected how much audio I want to hear so basically it only gives me the warning type and location, about 15-20 seconds and thats it. If I were to use the same setup Taco is talking about, a user on GMRS would hear a beep followed by "The NWS in Mount Holly NJ has issued a thunderstorm warning for Ocean county in southern NJ until XX:XX." In fact the radio is so specific, it will only decode alerts for a particular area using SAME codes. so if a tornado broke out in northern ocean county, my radio wouldn't alert me to it. The short traffic wouldn't be broadcasting, would contain information considered a threat to life and property, and wouldn't allow things like "Red flag watch" or "Hi rip current warning" to be transmitted.
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well, hes 50% correct.
maybe 65%,
So, Kenwood 880's do have FPP but I have never been able to figure out how to actually program anything through there. I did remove the jumper and enabled FPP in the software. I'm just a bit of a dumb pup I guess lol.
I did find a way to change tones on the fly, but I think your limited to 10 or 15 tones. I first assigned one of the buttons to "Operator Selectable Tone" (Sometimes labeled OST) Then I went into the Selectable Tone list and entered in the most used tones. For instance, I added 141.3 and labeled it "Travel tone" Also added DCS223N as this is the tone I use for my repeater.
The nice thing is that OST is available on most part 90 radios meaning this little cheat can be used on almost any radio. OST will also temporarily override any memory channels, so if you load all of the GMRS simplex and repeater channels you can change the tone on the fly to one you have stored. The downside is that your limited to whatever tones you put in the OST list which isn't very many. Best bet is to research what everyone uses around you and add the most common tones, as well as the travel tone. -
Welcome to MyGMRS
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Note the original post was about retransmitting NOAA weather broadcasts. Unless there was a means to determine which broadcasts fell into the "serious life and property threatening" category, blanket repeats of such broadcasts would not be legal.
If you limit the retransmissions to only EAS (Emergency Alert System) and then only retransmitted messages that pertained to the coverage area of the repeater, you might have a case.
Honestly however, there are already plenty of systems for relaying and receiving EAS messages and I am not sure what the benefit would be for adding a GMRS relay channel. Yes, it might be useful for those who monitor a given GMRS frequency (simplex or repeater) 24 hours a day. If I lived in an area that is likely to have messages meeting the criteria of immediacy, I would probably sign up for a public alert service like NIXLE.
Taco clearly said "VOX part of a GMRS radio to broadcast weather warnings" Now I'm guessing it would only transmit if a warning goes out and not just blanket transmit 24 hours. Taco also clarified this by posting a second message, "The way I read that is that weather warnings would be emergency traffic to protect life and property."
As for a reason to use GMRS, Taco could be like me and go hiking. My radio works where my phone doesn't, meaning the NIXLE system, as great as it is, doesn't work, nor the weather apps I have on my phone. The only way to counter this is to use a non part 95 radio to get duel band access, or to carry an extra radio devoted specifically to weather. For this reason, I asked about legality almost a year ago because I was going to set up a small system in my vehicle for use during hiking, fishing, and camping.
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Not this Corey!
Now that you have my attention you will get my Opinion.
WX over GMRS, annoying to say the least. We have a garage repeater in my area that tells as the time, date, humidity, temp, ID and website every 30 min. As soon as a SAME WX alert comes thru it breaks in with the NWS for 2 full rotations of the message. To make matters worse it adds it to the end of the gibberish info it sends out every 30 min. Under a SAME alert this thing will spit out 5 min of worthless channel blocking information to nobody every 30 min. During this time the repeater is rendered useless and could hinder real emergency communications.
In my opinion this is not what GMRS is intended for, if you have a need to monitor a WX radio buy a weather radio and leave GMRS out of it. Last thing we need on our very limited amount of spectrum is GMRS repeaters broadcasting something that is already broadcast to most of our population.
Yeah my bad Corey I meant Jones WQYM541 lol. I looked at the wrong username in my messages, DOH!
My goal with the SAME alert was that I wouldn't have to carry 2 radios when I'm out and about, though I agree announcing the current conditions is very annoying. The system I had mentioned and looked at would only take maybe 10-25 seconds to transmit, and only transmits it once so it wouldn't hog the repeater. Its simply just an alert of "Hey somethings coming, get ready."
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#1. You cannot retransmit or relay signals from another service, except in case of an actual current emergency.
#2. The emergency must pose immediate severe threat to life or property..
Very few weather warnings would meet the standard. And, for those, there are other, better, alert systems already in place.
I've spoken to Corey, who is in touch with the FCC field office. It is questionable as to the legality of re-transmitting an EAS message over GMRS. EAS messages when pertaining to serious or life threatening storms, tornado's, and even certain civil emergencys (amber alert for example) could be allowed under FCC rules which is what I think Taco is asking about. We have yet to hear back as to what the formal answer is.
There are systems that take the EAS message and translates it, simply transmitting a short tone followed by "Thunderstorm" or "Tornado" as well as the county affected. Such a transmission would be 100% legal as it does not rebroadcast any part of the EAS message or voice traffic from the weather station to my knowledge, however it would require the repeater to also identify itself.
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Thanks for the replies I appreciate your help. 73's
Anytime
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Welcome to MyGMRS and congrats on getting your license.
There are a few threads on this topic and many users tend to be annoyed by repetitive posts, so for future assistance please use the search bar at the top of the forum to ensure your question has not already been asked.
To access a repeater you need to know the frequency and any tone codes the repeater uses. It is also good practice to make sure the repeater is open to public use. Some repeater owners set rules for their system, some charge as part of a club to offset the cost of maintaining a 200' high tower. The MyGMRS site has all this info nice and neatly filed away and running a simple search there should yield results.
Due to forum rules, we are not allowed to post repeater frequencies or codes in public spaces. This prevents unlicensed operators from pinging a repeater. Simply look up your desired area or use the map and you can't go wrong. Then just follow your radio manufacturers manual for programming and you'll be on the air in no time. -
Welcome to MyGMRS.
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Welcome to My GMRS,
The main site, Mygmrs.com has a repeater listing and even a map (For some reason the map doesnt work for me, I think its because it uses a lot of ram so runs slow, but the repeater list still works)
Looking up Fort Myers FL gave me this repeater:https://mygmrs.com/view?id=2391
Note, Its against forum rules to post repeater frequencies and codes on a forum post, which is why I sent you the link. To view any info there you will need a Mygmrs account which is free, but is not connected to your forum ID or code. When you log in you'll be able to see the following:
Repeater input/output frequenciesRepeater input/output tones
What networks the repeater is a part of
Send requests for permission to use closed/private repeaters
Also, if you wish to build your own repeater your MyGMRS account will allow you to post your repeater information to help with frequency coordination. I would like to note that you should first check for active repeaters in your area as GMRS is limited to 8 repeater pairs in the 462/467 range.
If you need anymore help or have any questions feel free to send a PM or post here -
For sure Motorola On Line is a PITA, I dont know of anybody that would disagree. The equipment I spoke of needs no RIB and the stock USB cable does not require a driver. The Kenwoods are a great option but lack the features I wanted like the handheld control head, Bluetooth and WiFi programing. If i want to update my trucks programing I just leave the radio on and access it from my desktop. Again its all personal preference, its always nice to have options!
Thats nice but pricey lol. Also I don't have a MOL account (I cant even figure out how to get one) making it difficult to get software, but it is nice to hear Motorola finally moved forward with their software accessibility lol. I still remember the DOS window and the big black box that needed its own power supply.
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When displaying repeater information, below Travel Tone is ORI. Anyone know what ORI is? What is its impact or effect?
I think its open repeater initiative, but I likely have that wrong. Only impact is that anyone with a license can use it I think.
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Awesome set up !!!! I should have mentioned I’m not to tech savvy at all and I don’t have access to a computer unless I go to the library or over someone’s house that has one
I use TK880's for mobile units, mostly because the MOL software is a pain to get (And at times requires an out of date OS and a RIB depending on how old the radio is)
Kenwood TK880's come in 25 and 50 watt models and the software is easy to get at a low price. The software also can be run on windows 10, and the cable is simple as well (No complicated RIB or anything) I've gotten all three 880's for less than $50, though one or two of them needed some cleaning. To reduce the number of programs I use, I ordered the 380 series portables which use the same software as the 880 mobiles. The only thing I dont like is that you can only store 10 "Tones" for CTCSS/DCS that you can select. I have the travel tone set in there and a few other codes for use when I travel. Outside of that the radios work really nice.
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Its also important to note that the FCC just sent out a letter of violation to Baofeng within the past few months because of the marketing of non-certified radios for part 90/95bands. Baofeng does have a part 95 certified radio, the BTECH GMRS-V1 which has been tested and approved for GMRS applications.
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The short answer is no, but....
Some repeaters have a second "Owner" or private code for input but I believe they output the same code no-mater which input codes you use.
Most times, repeater owners will use one code for family members as it overrides the public code, which is commonly set to 141.3.As for making the repeater "yours" by using a code nobody else would know about, no, I do not believe such a thing exists, and the reason is that it would cause havoc with the repeater due to several transmissions coming in on the same frequency. (most times if no traffic is heard, people will key up and talk, even if the green "Busy" RX light is on)
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Good explanation Corey. Its also important to note that even repeaters have some form of duty cycle and that the duty cycle can change depending on output power. A great example is the motorola 1225 series repeater. At full power, 45 watts, the repeater is limited to a 50% duty cycle. In low power, 25 watts, they are 100% cycle.
Luckily, good repeaters have protection in the form of a Time Out Timer (TOT) and usually a ReSet Timer (RST) When set up correctly, the TOT should cut off the TX BEFORE the duty cycle is reached, and the RST should prevent transmissions until the appropriate rest period has passed. This helps extend the life of the repeater even when your not there to monitor it.
Almost ALL radios now-a-days have a TOT as well. Typically I set mine for 2 minutes which is more than I need to transmit for, but is less than the duty cycle permits thus protecting the transistors. I've had people tell me its dumb to do as no idiot would want to talk non-stop unless they are in a net or special operation. That's when I give them this story:A while back when I was on the first aid squad, I was getting ready to go to sleep. Turned out the lights, laid my head on the pillow, then came the sound of a soft moan from a woman. Now, this would have been great, if there had been a woman in bed with me. The moaning continued and a bit confused I began looking for the source. Didn't take long to find my squad radio was receiving, and after turning it up a little, yep you guessed it. Turns out, the LT's portable radio had fallen between the bed and the night stand and as they and their lover were going at it, it was all transmitted quite clearly to the repeater, then retransmitted for the ENTIRE COUNTY to listen to. To make matters worse, the radios all had ID numbers so we knew whos radio was transmitting, and even worse, the LT had shut their phone off, so calling them to tell them their private session was public was not doable. Finally, the radios did not have TOT's at the time and so for a good while (I just shut my radio off but a friend at the county said they heard every minute of the 15+ minute incident. When the portable finally cut out, either from overheating or a dead battery or from falling loose of the PTT button, there wee quite a few catcalls to let them know everything was public including a few repeats of nick-names used during the session.
So folks, learn two things from this story. A: TOT's work, especially when a mistake is made or you don't realize the transmit button is pushed, it will work and save your radio from damage and possibly you from some embarrassment. B: Someone is always listening, so keep in mind what you say or do on the radio, especially if you work for a public safety organization because if you say the wrong things you could find yourself in quite a bit of trouble. -
Im more curious as to HOW repeaters can be linked. I've looked at TCN's and such but cant find anything that would allow two way linking. Now, I believe part of this is on me, as I do not know what equipment I should be looking for. I did see where users used a portable or handheld with a repeater controller to link, but I fear that the use of GMRS RX frequencies on bubble pack radios could lead to unauthorized TX on a repeater on the other end.
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I think you mean 467.625/462.625 depending on the repeater you may need a PL code, either DCS or CTCSS to key into the repeater. Also make sure you are transmitting on the 467 frequency and listening to the 462 frequency.
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Hello all just received my GMRS license the other day so Im pretty excited! Im having trouble setting up my radio, its a Midland MXT115. I found a chart on radio reference to tell me what channel the repeater is on but I dont know how to program my radio so that they hear me.
Thanks!
Gio
Hey and Welcome to GMRS, Your MTX115 should allow you to access a repeater! The steps can be found on page 23 of the user manual,https://midlandusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MXT115-Owners-manual-Final-24Oct16.pdf
Ill walk you through step by step though
Press the menu button to open up the menu,
Use the channel up/down buttons to find the letters rP in the menu,
Press the monitor/scan button to open the rP menu
Select on and press the monitor/scan button to accept the input.
Clear out of the menu and scroll through the channels, you should find channels 1-7, 15-22, then 15-22 with the RP icon to the right of the channel number.
Now we need a repeater to go into. Well pretend your using mine, the process is the same for any repeater, you just need to plug the repeater info in where my repeater info is. Ill underline and bold my info so you know what needs changing
I want to use the 6750 repeater pair, Looking at page 26 of the manual we see the 6750 pair is Ch 20RP. Go through the channel list until 20RP is displayed on the screen.
Most repeaters use DCS or CTCSS/PL codes to control access to the system. You should know what codes you need to access the repeater you plan to use. Mine happens to be DCS205.
Press Menu to open the menu list and scroll to Pt. Press the monitor/scan button to open the PT menu.
Select CTCSS/PL (displays a little sideways S) Or DCS (looks like a block wave symbol) We need DCS for the example so thats what we select.
Press Monitor/Scan to accept your mode. Now you can scroll through the different codes in the particular mode.
Page 27 of the manual shows the list of codes and their corresponding display number on the radio. We need the DCS chart here.
We look at the code columns first until we find code 205. The number to the left of 205 is 30. We use the channel up/down buttons and scroll until 30 is displayed, then press monitor/scan to accept.
At this time, you can exit the menus and you should see the following info on your display:
The channel number you wish to use, The RP icon to the right of that number, and either a sideways S or a block wave symbol.
If all of those are showing, and you entered in the correct information, you should be able to access the desired repeater.
If after all this you find you cant get in, I have some troubleshooting tips:
Check all the info you have is correct, and has been properly entered into the radio. Note this radio does not support split codes.
Check that the antenna is properly connected. If using a mag mount antenna be sure it is attached to a metallic surface.
Check the power settings, if your 10 miles away, low power may not work.
If all else fails, try another repeater or changing your location. It could be that your information is out of date or you are just too far to reach the intended repeater.
Hope this all helps
(*** Note to admins, the PL code was changed to comply with forum rules that I forgot about when origionally typing the post, Sorry for any confusion but now this is a pretend repeater)
- berkinet and shawnvanhorn
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Front panel pl tones programming.
in Technical Discussion
Posted
No problem Elkhunter, or should I call you Elmer J Fudd (Sorry its the Icon lol.) While I like the reliability of Motorola products, the prices of software, and the fact that older units required special equipment to program them, kinda turned me off of motorola for anything other than the repeater. Because of that, I have been used Kenwood 380/880 radios. The nice thing is that they all use the same software and they are all set up exactly the same. Basically, my trucks mobile radio is keyed the same as my brothers portable, and my mothers mobile.