amaff

Are you sure it's not a linked repeater system? That seems like far and away the simplest answer here. What channel are you hearing them on? You could hear them on, say simplex Ch20, but if you were trying to talk back on that frequency, even with the correct PL, you won't reach them if you're not going through the repeater close to you.

Ham call signs have to do with locations. I'm fairly sure that GMRS call signs are just sequential.

Not quite... if the repeater has an output tone, that tone can be used to squelch other traffic coming from not-that-repeater on that channel for your radio. But if it lists an output tone and you don't put it in your radio, you'll still hear the repeater. You'll also hear other traffic (simplex traffic, repeaters that share that frequency) that isn't related to the repeater you're trying to talk through.

Ah, yeah I could see that with their repeater capable narrow-band only radios.

What's the advantage of setting a repeater up using narrowband on a service that is primarily wideband? Other than potentially weeding out people who didn't read the notes closely enough?

Good coaching. I did not realize that was a thing, but I see it referenced in the 'notes' for the repeater. Would that actually preclude the radio for getting through? Or would they come in over-modulated?

Correct, that's dulplex comms. If you want to test have your wife using it on the other side of the house or yard. Usually they just need a little bit of separation. Even if you only had 1 radio set to transmit on 467.xxx, if the other radio is listening on the appropriate *simplex* channel it'll still hear the re-transmission from repeater. ...unless it's desensing because they're too close.

I guess that must mean that the rest of us are liars I haven't tested talking through a repeater on a handheld while listening on my mobile, but all of my H/Ts, from $18 Fegs to $100 Wouxuns do it. If they're listening on 462, and another HT is transmitting on 467 in the same room, I won't hear the transmission from the radio through the repeater on any of the other radios. I'll only get the kickback after I stop transmitting

Usually, unless otherwise stated, it's the "N". They stand for "normal" and "Inverted"? I think? Don't quote me on that. But if the N doesn't work, try the I. I'm sure they're out there, but I haven't seen a GMRS repeater using an "I" tone.

So, when your radio is transmitting, it's desensing the other radio on the receive frequency it's listening to. When you stop transmitting, you'll get the kickback on both because now it can 'hear' again.

Not if they're close by. Here's a good thread on the topic w explanations.

Yup, that's essentially what it does. You can test it pretty easily with 2 hand helds, and turn the RX tone on or off on one of them. They'll usually show that they're receiving, but won't put any audio out to the speaker.

if you have good line of sight to the repeater, 5W will easily go deep into the double digits. If'n you don't, then all bets are off. You're well into "it depends on a TON of factors. Maybe it works maybe it doesn't" territory

I'm not familiar with this particular radio but in others, there's often a Repeater Tail or other "Tail" type setting you can play with that might be contributing.

Try this:

Dubya Ess Dee Vee... they're glorified FRS radios, no need to be fancy with it Push the button and say "Hey Steve, you there?"

just because it comes with a cable doesn't mean the radio is Chirp supported. What radio are you talking about? The thread's about an RB91 digital repeater, ostensibly. I doubt that's what you're trying to program in Chirp....

This. It probably won't work *as well* but chances are it'll do what you want.

What a terrible day to know how to read

...relevance? If I posted about every hiker that went missing in Southern Utah this forum would have very little radio content left. I mean, it's awful, but it's not exactly GMRS relevant near as I can tell

Correct. If you want both, you'll want to use TSQL

Without knowing the configuration on *both* radios, it's going to be hard to say. Not knowing how their stuff works, is there a way to disable CTC / DTS tones on both and start from 'clean' channels on both? Alternately, use the TD-H3s Channel / Tone scan feature (Hold down "1") and transmit from the RR and see what the H3 picks up. Their 'privacy code' chart may not line up with the H3s.

I'm very much a radio user, not a radio nerd, so: that's really a thing? And if so to what degree? We were at Craters of the Moon NP a couple months ago and I was getting some really weird (but great!) propagation among our group scattered throughout the park. Was able to talk to people a mile+ away while completely behind a mountain from them (ie: zero LOS). We were shocked that it worked at all, much less coming in loud and clear like we could see each other. I had some suspicion it might have to do with the specific geology of that area, but then completely forgot to look into it when we got back haha