I made an argument on this matter a while back and this is what I got back
"It doesn't mean that it is an open repeater you still need permission by the owner of the repeater to use it"
I think that remark was kind of strange for the owner to list the repeater as open if that's the case the owner should either post the repeater private or permission use only so it won't confuse other users thinking that they can use the repeater without asking permission for use
I think you may have burnt out your transmitter on the radio if you're using a home power supply you might want to check the amp on the power supply. What may have happened is that you're putting in too much power into the transmitter than it was meant for, so it burnt it out
As I said and I'll say it again not everyone is into Ham and I'm getting tired in people keep pushing ham to GMRS users that have no interest in doing so. Just leave us alone about Amateur Radios PLEASE!!!
To operate on Facebook or community group pages you need a computer right now these days not everyone is Tech Savey or have ways of getting on the Internet that's why Radio communications are essential to have and if there's a way to do it legally then go for it.
This may deter amateur thief, but professional thieves will first look around for surveillance camera's and take those out of service before they start their crime spree.
Why do we need to have callsign on FRS these are license free service. The only issue I have is since the FCC paired the FRS with the GMRS service together I'm hearing them on the output side of the GMRS band and causes unwanted interference. IMO doing that was not the smart thing they (FCC) made (LIKE THEY DO ANYWAYS)
I'm glad you said that in my area there are repeaters that are active, but no one is on there as soon as you transmit the owner/admin of the repeater comes on and this repeater is permission use only or it's private use.
To some of us that are not into Amateur Radios (HAM) these are our hobby you ham operators have your hobby and us GMRS operators have our own hobbies why is so hard for you HAMS to realize that?? It gets me so upset to hear them talking down on GMRS all the time.
YOU HAVE YOUR HOBBIES (HAM BAND) WE HAVE OURS (GMRS)