Well I got the baofeng uv-5g plus. Drove across town to within 3 miles of the tower. Never was able to reach my two friends in town. Been lookin around and seems like the repeater is up but possibly could now be closed, I am getting hourly time and a call sign every 15-20 minutes automated but I don’t know. The one guy I know who has been able to talk is now only able to listen in to the chatter but can’t hear me. I know the sun is playin a part right now but I’m still new to this so I’m kinda getting to the end of my limited knowledge