NCJeb

And Randy @OffRoaderX says I need to go outside? Nice going @nokones--no sarcasm, I mean it, that's a masterpiece of writing right there

I would add (because yes, your own repeater gets expensive in a big hurry!), see what kind of range you have simplex. I realize the whole reason this site exists is a directory of repeaters, and quite a good one too! But, don't be afraid once you get the license to see what kind of range you can get out of your radios first, including with a relatively inexpensive antenna setup at home (cheap mag mount on a cookie sheet/pie plate is a good way to get started). As I've noted on a few other threads, while I DO use our local repeater extensively (we're blessed to have an awesome local repeater owner), I also deliberately use simplex where I can, just to avoid using up repeater time, and to take things the whole county doesn't necessarily need clogging up airtime down to a little less range. All that to say, with just 5W and a good antenna (height is might, even 10 ft higher makes a world of difference!), I can cover easily a third of the local repeater footprint, and that on channels 1-7, where I'm not hogging a repeater pair nor a 50W channel neither! Just because this bears saying in you case, please, sincerely, (and I don't believe you have) don't let this obvious bad apple spoil your perspective of repeater owners and radio operators. Are there "Sad HAM" types out there? Yes...just like the Karens across our whole society. I have met many a cantankerous radio user (GMRS and Ham both), but I also have met some delightful folks that have been a wealth of knowledge, camaraderie, and wisdom over the years, and I count many of them close friends today. Steer clear of the rotten ones, as @marcspaz has insightfully put, because there can be real world consequences. But I can promise from experience, not every repeater owner, GMRS operator, HAM operator, or any other service licensee are as bad as all this. Welcome to this wonderful world (and hobby) of radio!

I'll throw the Midland ones I know about into the mix here: MX* - High-powered radio line, with -T for "transceiver" and -R for "repeater" (MXT, MXR, etc), and adding -TA for "transceiver accessory" for a whole slew of antennas and such, ie MXTA26 for the 6 dB whip. Also, the model numbers portion used to indicate max wattage: 105 for 5W, 115 for 15W, 500 for 50W, but the newer "faceless" radios broke that with 275 for 15W and 575 for 50W. Then add J to the very end for Jeep branded ones...yeah, it's alphabet soup out in Kansas City GXT - GMRS Walkies, with their initial 1000 and 3000 series, and now the GXT67 as well...and the 67 has nothing to do with our Gen Z brethren, it's because it's referencing its IP67 rated for water and dust resistance... LXT - FRS walkies X-talker - Older FRS/GMRS "hybrid" radios that largely predate the 2017 rules rewrite from what I have been able to find...

Marine is also designated for inland lakes, albeit not necessarily monitored in Wyoming etc. You'd be surprised where it IS monitored by Coast guard though: Chattanooga isn't exactly known as being "marine," but they do have their Rescue 21 system deployed there, and even in such far flung places as Oklahoma, West Virginia, inland Oregon and Washington, Nebraska, and more... (see below) https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/rescue-21-distress-system-coverage

HERE HERE on this I’ve mentioned in other threads an antenna upgrade for my base setup (which maxes out at 15W), which literally is an old cookie sheet my wife was going to throw out mounted on the roof, with a 2 dB gain 1/4 wave antenna (in simple terms, a cheap basic antenna meant for a truck). Just getting up about 15 feet off the ground boosted range from barely 5 miles to solidly 11 miles in rough terrain and forest. All that to say, to echo some sound advice given to me when I started a few months ago, don’t be afraid to save some $$$ and go more mid-power, because other factors make as much or more of a difference. To direct towards your original question, with a little 2W HT I originally could barely break into my local repeater, and couldn’t be understood. That same radio exact connected to the new antenna setup works just fine, which makes for a great backup option if the base has no commercial power. Something like that (a higher antenna) might help you in more ways than you might expect. It sure has for me! Welcome to the forum, welcome to this niche of radio, and welcome to the hobby!

I’ve been trying to figure that out myself…doesn’t make sense to shut out other traffic on an assistance channel…

@nokones Thank you so much for the history lesson on that! Definitely learned a few things about the roots of this service, and where the remnant suggested usages came from! Up north of me in Knoxville, there's actually a very wide ranging repeater that is on Ch. 20, with the PL of 141.3, which as a result gets a lot of use and traffic, since it's literally a "Travel Channel Repeater."

Excellent points @SteveShannon--I honestly agree, while not all of us have the channel congestion problem, some parts of the country sure do, and reserving specific use official (read: in the regulations, like 19 in CB) for a channel or channels is a good way to make that problem worse. I will admit, I was completely unaware of the 16 common use, in all my googling on this (many many hours over months of time actually), that was one I never came across. Makes sense though, and as you said very well, unofficial designations are definitely welcome! To mention a use case around here, in places like Ocoee Gorge in Tennessee, or US 64 between Hayesville and Franklin NC (where it crosses the Appalachian Trail), there is little to no cell service, and (believe me, I've tried) no repeater coverage neither. When traveling those stretches of road now, as a courtesy I typically will run my mobile on scan if not traveling with a group, just on the off chance I *do* hear a mayday call or someone lost. That really does seem to be the best solution in my mind, is just listen on *everything* if one doesn't need to work a specific channel in those more wilderness areas, where there is no common channel or cellular coverage. Will I probably ever hear a real SOS? Probably not...but if I've got the gear, might as well try and put it to use in case someone needs help...

EXACTLY!!! That’s how it felt delving into this topic initially!

So…here’s a question I’ve considered posing to those gathered around the virtual mahogany table here for sometime: what are the thoughts of “suggested” (note the quotes) channel usages for specific channel/tone combinations? I say this because of one thing I found early in my foray into GMRS this past summer, that Channel 20, CTCSS 141.3, is THE “Travelers Assistance” channel (per a couple of websites)…and then a cross-country road trip revealed nothing of the sort appears true, and in fact basically NO “suggested” channel usages from various websites seem to be followed in any real capacity. To clarify further, I’m aware of 141.3 being considered the “travel tone,” and I’ve seen at least one reference on this forum to channel 19 being the “travel channel,” (a reference to the *required* usage of CB ch. 19 for effectively that purpose in that service’s regulations). I am also very aware that channel 1 does make an excellent defacto SOS channel since its the default, and therefore most likely used channel in a lot of areas. I guess all this to say, what does everyone think of these suggested usages, for 19, 20, 1, or any other channel, or purpose? Is there a single channel that would be the best to monitor while traveling, to best help with the regulations encouragement for GMRS to be used for “travelers assistance,” or is it simply best to scan if you’re not traveling with a group? I’ve already resorted to the latter, but…what say ye all? Is there a single best SOS channel if you actually need to do a real mayday call? Oh, and fwiw, I’m not suggesting this for a “make random contacts” type of purpose, rather, it does seem quite important to have the ability to hear and request travel information, and especially hear and make mayday calls. Scanning seems the best way to hear of course but…what about when calling out?

Using the MXT-115 with the stock antenna personally. Absolutely love it, although I’m working on getting the antenna and its cookie sheet ground plane out of my office and onto the roof to improve reception (see other posts on other threads about the problems metal file cabinets cause with reception lol) and alleviate some noisy tech equipment problems too. Its a touch slow for scanning in a base setup admittedly, but thats not my normal use case, so no complaints there really. All that to say, no complaints for the radio, or the antenna, just the user error in the current setup. That and the sticky back mic mounts are less than sticky out of the box…do yourself a favor, scrape the factory sticky off, and use a 3M command strip cut to size in its place…ask me how I know

Much of what I would have said already has been by others, but from experimenting with various channels in various places, for a purpose like this, I’d suggest (again, IF you’re cool with anybody with a scanner or FRS/GMRS radio being able to hear you at any time) using channels 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 (1 and 7 are just a little too popular for a lot of reasons). And, then set a DCS (NOT CTCSS!!!) tone from somewhere in the middle of the options range, the more seemingly random the better. Combining these two strategies should give you the best chances of little interference, and clearest communication with your team. And just to echo, I really would be shocked if a full 5 Watts (or even 2 Watts-ish, “medium power”) can’t do the trick for y’all. If somewhat lower power will do what you need (experiment and see), by all means do that—you’ll be “better neighbors,” and reduce needing recharging a lot too. Edit: to explain my insistence on DCS in this application: it is generally found to be more resilient to radio noise, competing signals, and especially “bleedover” because it has a squelch cutoff tone baked in to it, and is not based on audible sound to function.

At risk of the Queen saying I need to go outside again: § 95.1787, specifically that digital transmissions can only have specific contents (position, text messages, etc), and must be no longer than 1 second in length § 95.1771, spelling out exactly which types of emissions are allowed for GMRS. In summary (and yes, I DEFINITELY learned something unexpected here): - Digital data via FM, AM, phase modulation, and various forms of single sideband (subject to 95.1787 above) - Analog voice, via FM, AM, phase modulation, and various forms of single sideband - Digital data with subcarrier, via FM and phase modulation (also subject to above) So while perhaps a bit off topic, but maybe we should all start asking when we’ll get AM and single sideband voice capable GMRS rigs from radio manufacturers, utilizing our full license capabilities?

Congratulations! Thats a really nice call, better than getting randomly assigned a tongue twister 73s and welcome to dual licensure WX4AMS//WSIS981

Definitely let us all know the results— it would not surprise me if that has something to do with it, at least in the “blocked“ hemisphere of the radiation pattern. I’ve been frankly shocked at times at the things that our UHF GMRS frequencies will reflect off of—trees, mountains, file cabinets… I’m in Clay County, about an hour west of Waynesville—pretty area over there. Hope everybody was alright after the storm of the century last year!