WSJI648

We know, but you told us that you didn’t need to be told about the FCC rules. 

It seems as though every newbie who wants to dive into putting up a repeater(s), for some reason feels the need to link it/them to other repeaters or some big network.  Before doing so, please consider that there are ONLY eight GMRS frequencies which may be used for repeater or 50W simplex.  More often than not, when you have multiple repeaters linked, you will have situations where a rag chew in progress is only taking place on one or two of the repeaters, but that conversation will necessarily tie up ALL repeaters linked to the used one(s) at the time, as well as the simplex aspect of each repeater frequency for anyone in range of it.  The guy trying to use one of those uninvolved repeaters, another repeater in range of any of them, or 50W simplex in range of any of them, will have a difficult or impossible time connecting with his family or friends.  Because someone thinks it kewel and trendy to link a bunch of repeaters together, people trying to use any of those eight GMRS channels in range of repeaters so connected, for the original purpose of GMRS, will likely be out of luck.
Please take this into consideration before adding to the congestion of those eight channels with unnecessary linking.  If you wish to provide a service to the GMRS community in a given area, an open stand-alone repeater capable of covering as much area as feasible will be a far greater service to a given area.
I understand that in San Francisco, it is perfectly legal to relieve oneself on the sidewalks.  This is probably not considerate of others who use the sidewalk for its original intended purpose.  Just because we "can" do something doesn't mean we necessarily "should" do it.

I guess I've got everything programmed properly. I was getting automated returns from some of the local Repeaters and I even got a call back from a YL that said I had a weak  signal with a lot of static, go figure, I'm using my BF-F8HP Pro from inside the house. I'm sure it's only pushing 5 or so watts. At least the HAM Repeaters are in operation, no deal for the Shaw Butte GMRS Repeater, it's still down and out. 

I checked and everything was ok. I'm going to try to make my first contact.  KM7BVY Over and Out. 73's.

..we will reserve judgement for now.
With a UV9g, you dont need to think about the offset - these are the basic steps:
Put the radio on the correct REPEATER CHANNEL - Probably listed as either "Repeater 20" or Channel 28 Go into the Transmit CTC menu and enter the tone IGNORE/REMOVE the Receive tone as it is optional and at this point its only going to add to your confukulation Be sure to save all your changes (you may need to resort to the manual) Push the talk-button and talk, let go of button and listen for the Kerchunk/Static back from the repeater, or someone responding If it doesn't work then either you have the wrong channel, the tone is wrong, you are not close enough to the repeater (just because you can hear it does not mean it can hear you) or the repeater is down/broken/offline.
The fact that you said you "have the offset" leads me to surmise that you've done it wrong.

😄😆🤣😂
Oh sweet summer child....

Its cute that it's taken you this long to realize this fact.

Just for the heck of it, and not knowing much at all, I just took the Technician's level test on the freeham website. Failed it. 45%, but that's with ZERO studying or prep. I'm sure that with some effort and prep, OP could do it. Go for it!
 

I probably would have participated in the jabber jawing on the local repeater if they talked about smoking meat instead of soup.

I'm only just now dipping my toe in anything past FRS radios. I've watched a few HRCC videos and HAM seems super intimidating....although the allure of being able to talk to the ISS from my backyard is incredibly tempting! 😍

That’s a great way to get past the initial reticence. Good job. Try the free flash cards at HamStudy.org.  For me they were an excellent way to learn the material, not just memorize the answers. 

It's multiple choice, you will do fine. Don't sell yourself short.

Just for the heck of it, and not knowing much at all, I just took the Technician's level test on the freeham website. Failed it. 45%, but that's with ZERO studying or prep. I'm sure that with some effort and prep, OP could do it. Go for it!
 

@OffRoaderX went far beyond sharing an opinion. 😆 I genuinely cannot imagine why anyone would be annoyed by use of the phonetic alphabet unless it's because "some people" think it's a symptom of trying to be a ham in a GMRS community. 
I think part of the reason hams use the phonetic alphabet so much is that amateur radio is international. It can be pretty hard to understand someone whose first language is not the same as your own, especially the pronunciation of some letters. Just think of how much "B" and "V" sound alike in Spanish. GMRS users almost never talk to someone in another country, so being understood is not as much of a challenge (unless you're in California). Furthermore, shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies, which typically improves clarity in voice signals. Even the difference between 70cm and 2m can sometimes be discernible. If you're playing around on 80 meters, you're going to repeat yourself quite a bit. GMRS, being at the higher end of the spectrum, rarely suffers from poor quality of voice signals. For the most part, if you can punch the signal through, you'll be understood. Simply put, GMRS users don't use the phonetic alphabet because we don't need to. It's easier for me to say "WRTC" than "Whiskey Romeo Tango Charlie", but sometimes I'm going to use the phonetic anyway. I have 33 years of using the phonetic alphabet in uniformed service and I also participate in amateur radio. It happens. I just don't understand why anyone gets their undies in a wad over it.

WOW!!!
Looks like some people could use a Snickers Bar about now. We can't blame it on people being cooped up in the house due to cold weather either.
We aren't sticklers on the use of call signs on our repeater. You can either give your call sign at the beginning of your first transmission or at the end of your first transmission. I know the rules only state every 15 minutes and at the end of the conversation. But it's a curtesy to give it in the first transmission since we have a lot of people with the same names or they sound similar on the radio. It makes it easier to know who we are talking to.
The only time we say anything about someone NOT using a call sign is if they are kerchunking the repeater. It' not hard to just say "your call sign testing".
And if they want to give their call sign at the end of every transmission, we won't say much about that either. This is especially true if there are a few of us on the repeater talking as a group..
To each their own. 

Sir, I am a serious Youtuber.. I don't "do" comical videos as they are beneath me and my audience.

I don't know about "those guys", but I know that after 33 years in uniform, it feels a lot more natural to use it than not. On GMRS, I try not to use it for the sake of the butthurt crybabies who'll take offense, but sometimes it slips out anyway.

Someone should make a video on Youtube explaining how simple it is to do...

this should this should fix any antenna woes  

I just watched both of your videos and I absolutely can not believe that my first post here on mygmrs forums is going to be regarding meshtastic. Bleh...
I've enjoyed your approach. As a "normal person," I've never really even understood what meshtastic was. Even their one line description didn't mean much to me. I have to say, though, as someone who is only wading into the GMRS pool (CB radio user for many decades) and by extension, long range-ish communication, it seems like the meshtastic thing is definitely a niche market. In a catastrophic, grid down situation, it's going to require power for two devices and with that many links in the chain necessary for it to propagate, I just don't see the value in it. But then again, I confess to knowing very little about a lot of things.

I cheat on my diet.🍩

More like less than 0.0000000001% chance - and its not a belief, its a fact that anyone can look up on the FCC website, which lists every enforcement the FCC has done for the last ~15 years.
NO - It does not appear that the FCC monitors GMRS YES - Disgruntled and very "sad" hams do report violators to the FCC, but the FCC does not appear to care based on the record of enforcements PROBABLY a lot of clubs monitoring, but see the points above because it doesn't matter