marcspaz

@vzqhsg Welcome. Yeah, GMRS is really a "bring your own contacts" type of service. Unless you happen to be in a densely populated area with a good GMRS repeater presence, it can be kind of quiet. The weird part (sort of) is, I found through casual conversation that there are a lot of people around here that listen, hear calls for contact/radio check/etc., but don't respond for their own reasons. Do you have people you wheel with that have a radio to help you test? The chances of a random person responding to a call may be small. Having a friend help at least confirms the radio works and is configured right.

@WRXH357 it is possible, but that would require a repeater to be near him to be heard. I may have misread the post, but I took it as there is no repeater nearby.

Yeah, i never understood that personally. There is a pretty valid reason for using ch19 on CB. It is the center of the band and most AM and SSB radios were tuned for max power on 27.185 MHz. Also, properly tuned antennas are tuned for that frequency as well. That mentality is non-applicable because the center frequency on GMRS is not a usable frequency and no where near channel 19 or 20 (462/467.65 or .675). So picking any channel is really just picking a number for the sake of picking a number. It doesn't serve a purpose. Honestly, I don't even think saying that copying CB for ease of use is valid, because of all the GMRS users I know personally, many of them never used CB and think ch19 is "the trucker channel ".

Two groups, Popular Wireless and Personal Radio Association came up with the idea of an Open Repeater Initiative (OPI). It was designed to get repeater owners to open up and share resources instead of locking down systems. The idea was to make it easier for GMRS users to find and access repeaters. The group established the 141.3 CTCSS/PL as a “travel tone”. Originally, the repeater pair 462/467.675 was the OPI frequency (aka today as the travel channel). However, OPI eventually morphed into any repeater pair using 141.3 for PL access and did not require prior permission. Well, OPI and the founding groups are long gone, but many repeater owners still honor the spirit of OPI on their repeaters. In the absence of OPI, there has been debate in the community over what should be put into place, if anything. There is merit to all sides, but there are trolls that stir the pot, too.

There are 2 possibilities, E Skip or tropospheric ducting. Based on your location, it's most likely E Skip. Sporadic E propagation (known simply as E Skip) reflects signals off relatively small "clouds" in the lower E region. E Skip propagation supports long distance communication during the approximately 6 weeks centered on summer solstice. Tropo ducting also happens this time of year, when radio waves travel along temperature inversion ducts, but that is not likely what you're experiencing. Tropospheric ducting normally happens near and along water. In the US, that translates to mostly the Gulf Coast and East Coast.

GMRS license sharing is limited to Immediate family members, who are the licensee's spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws. I believe that if you're on FRS, you don't have have to ID, but your grandson would be allowed to operate with your ID for GMRS compliance.

As Steve mentioned, this is my opinion as well. My GMRS license, even my Amateur Radio license, are Station licenses and I am simply a trustee. Myself and people I delegate (within the rules) are permitted to use that station or stations under the station authority, as supervised by the trustee. Since FRS is a License by Rule radio service and there is nothing in Part-95, Subpart-B that requires station (nor user) identification, there is no need to ID at all as long as you are using an FRS radio.

I almost forgot... I wrote this in not to distant past, to describe tones and how they are used. This may be of some help.

OffRoaderX gave some good advice. Based on what you wrote, I would start with videos that explain tone squelch and digital code squelch... as well as how to use a repeater.

Love Galaxy radios. They are fantastic. My best recommendation would be a true 1/4 wave antenna... I you're serious about it. I ran a 104 inch steel whip antenna that was hard mounted to the body of the vehicle. I was using a Galaxy radio, myself. There are some really nice antennas for base stations, too. Moonraker makes nice beams and vertical antennas. The magic in every radio is the antenna. Depending on band conditions, you can talk 9,000-10,000 miles with 1/2 watt.

Hi.. good questions. FM is a nice feature for CB and is capable of traveling thousands of miles. Just a few days ago, I talked to a person in Texas on 4w FM and it sounded like he was right next to me. However, SSB provides you both more power at 12.5w, and better weak signal recovery. So, with all things being equal, SSB is a better way to go, if you find a radio you like and it only has one of those modulation options. The majority of CB's on the market are only AM. Some are AM and SSB. Some are AM and FM. Very few are AM/FM/SSB, and they are a bit expensive.

We have a couple like that around me. Even some 2m repeaters on the builder's pair.

I appreciate it. Have to say though, I thought we were having a friendly conversation. If you were offended by anything I wrote... my apologies. That wasn't my intent. Not trying to be a smart-ass, but this statement is you literally acknowledging that you indeed do not have permission by default, as you are asking for it. Since there is a public posting stating that you need to ask permission of the owner, the owner stating you don't have permission (public posting requirement for trespass). Someone could argue that the lack of response is a response. I don't know... just my opinion.

My opinion, no, not necessarily. That question falls in the jurisdiction of the FCC and the rules are pretty clear that no one has any more or less privilege on a given frequency, and harmful interference rules would then apply.

I have no issue with that whatsoever. Depends on the person in question. Just like in my case. I mean, shoot, the guy who invented fentanyl was a European drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, trying to make better designer synthetic opioids. Yet most First World nations have approved it for use in legit medical practice. Including the USPHS. Same type of results with x-rays, antibiotics and a bunch of other stuff. Not to mention all the other people licensed to practice medicine who are not medical doctors, like LPN's, chiropractors and many others.

@WRXE944 now you're just messing with me. LOL

I'm not. Never said I was. When was that a requirement to study Law or to help write Bills and ask Congress for consideration? Or a requirement for having a qualified opinion? I mean, I have represented myself in dozens of cases and have never lost. So, obviously being a lawyer doesn't mean they are more qualified to practice law or have an opinion about the legality of any particular issue than someone who has not passed the Bar.

As someone who has spent near a decade studying Constitutional Law, federal law and working at the state level to help draft and propose Bills into law... yes... yes I am.

@WRXE944 that is not how Property Rights in the US work. The repeater owners have zero obligation to anyone (beyond FCC rules and state/federal laws, of course). My house is on a public street. It doesn't mean everyone who has the privilege of accessing that street has any business being in my house and I certainly don't have an obligation to make it known that my house is private, not public or they can just come right in. By law, it is assumed private and you can't come in. Those personal Property Rights don't change depending on the property. You have the exact same 'privilege' to use the frequencies as anyone else. Unless you ask the owner of the radio (which is what a repeater is) if you can use their radio, you can't just assume the privilege of using that person's radio is yours. It is their Right to grant or deny access to their personal property. The problem with you sharing your opinion is, while you don't care if you open yourself to criminal trespass charges and FCC fines, not everyone feels the same way. You are giving out bad advice.

Come on man... you make it sound like if I knock on the door of your house for 20 minutes and you don't answer, I can't just walk in, assuming it's okay because you didn't say "don't come in".

I love this subject. Mostly because I like both for different reasons and because of the responses I get to what I am about to type... Hopefully I don't catch too much grief for writing an unsolicited novel. LOL Bottom line is, on a peer to peer level, if a CB (HF) radio is properly installed and has a proper antenna and antenna installation, CB radio (HF radio as a technology) absolutely destroys GMRS in overall performance. CB provides great line of site coverage; the same coverage as GMRS, but also provides ground wave propagation, sky wave propagation and weaker signal receive capability. Combined, those propagation methods make CB a much better platform. I dare say far superior segment of the Personal Radio Service, due to having coverage inside of potentially 1,200 to 2,400 mile radius, depending on the propagation models used and atmospheric conditions available at any given moment. A GMRS radio, in a standalone configuration like CB radio, will never be able to compete with CB. Sure, there are very limited conditions that occur throughout the year and solar cycles that allow GMRS radios to cover anywhere from 300 to 600 miles, but they are extremely rare and can't be counted on for day to day use. Reality is, 99.999% of the time, you are bound to RF Line of Sight. Depending on where you are, that can be less than 1 mile or as much as 150+ miles. It just depends on your elevation and the elevation of the other station. Now... that opinion is supported solely on the precedent that the CB radio and antenna are of proper quality and installed correctly. The biggest problem that has led many to believe the CB is not good, is the overwhelming amount of trash radios and short antennas on the market, combined with almost never having the system properly installed. Enter GMRS. Again, just my opinion... people getting frustrated with supposed poor performance of CB, pushed a large segment of the 'license by rule' users to look for another option. With GMRS being on the bottom-end of UHF, the antenna installation is significantly less temperamental, making it so you almost have to try to do a bad install. Combine that with the point that the market has some quality radios that can be purchased easily and for a reasonable price, plus FM sounds more pleasant to listen too, and now people start flocking to FRS and GMRS. For more advanced users, GMRS wins over FRS due to the higher power available, the mobile and base station capability (removing dependencies on AA and AAA batteries and improved range) and the fact that we have networked repeaters available in many locations, and now the masses move to GMRS. In my opinion, is GMRS 'better' than CB? No, but it sure is a lot of fun and provides a much easier platform that fills the need to a larger group of non-technically skilled people, making it better choice than CB for many. And that is an important distinction.

Hey folks. I just wanted to take a minute to thank the members of MyGMRS.Com for the support and well-wishes. I know sometimes we bicker among ourselves, but at the end of the day we're all human, trying to enjoy the hobby and help we're we can. All of the messages, emails, etc. have really shown me what a great group we have here and how when someone is truly down, the petty stuff gets put aside and concern for a fellow member becomes the priority. Again, thank you all. - Marc

Team. I have to reschedule this event. I have been in the hospital for a few days and may not be able to do this event for a few weeks. Apologies. Marc

I have 2 different portable repeaters that are made from 2 radios per repeater. One uplink and one downlink. The pairs are literally bolted to each other. I have been doing this with multiple radios for decades and never had desense issues due to the pair being too close to each other. With quality coax and proper spacing between the receive and transmit antenna or a good mobile duplexer and your golden. I've taken the repeater up to the mountains, dropped them on a high spot with solar, batteries and and the up/down antennas separated by about 100 feet. At 20w I was getting 35-36 miles with 70%+ reliability coverage. The real benefit from shielding is in the cable. If you have cheap coax with loose braided shielding, its going to be much more prone to desense and interference in general. Especially compared to something like hardline.

Hey folks. We are going to move this event to Reddish Knob. It is accessible with any road worthy vehicle, has a bit more elevation and has a paved surface at the top of the knob. If you are going to the site from the east (such as from Harrisonburg) it is also about 15 minutes closer than Flagpole Knob. Let me know if there are any questions, comments or concerns.