BubblesUp

Hello all! So here I am, lost as usual LOL Thanks for letting me butt into your club. Hopefully you’ll let me hang out and teach me right from wrong, help keep me out of trouble and help me figure out my place in the GMRS world. Here’s my situation. I’ve been operating 2 way radios for over 50 years. Started with 2 paper cups and a string, then advanced to 2 tin cans (much better than paper cups, especially when it rained ) then CB as a kid, later got into aviation where I use VHF and HF. Later in life, camping with the family I used FRS radios to keep up with the kids roaming the campground and surrounding hiking trails. Also enjoyed the ability to receive NOAA broadcasts. We sometimes camp in areas with very little to no cell or WiFi so this was a good way to keep an eye on the weather. Skipping to today, I get this great idea (so it seemed) to buy a couple of GMRS radios. Great idea to me as they have a little more power and the ability to possibly hit a repeater to extend coverage looks like a good deal. Now I have 2 Retevis Ailunce HA1G pretty green GMRS radios. Easy .. just get a GMRS license, order, receive them and pull them out of the box and off you go …. straight off the cliff! LOL As Robin said to Batman .. holy crap Batman .. or something like that. Frequencies, tones, codes, STDs () bla bla bla. So I’ve read the manual that came with the radios. I’ve watched several YouTube videos explaining things. Hard to learn something when they are using terminology without any definition. And I can’t find a specific video about my radios. So before I do something stupid or screw something up, I’m asking for help. Yes, even though I’m a guy, I did stop and ask for directions when I was lost before smart phones with GPS and nav came out. I’m not too proud to do that and I know when to admit when I’m stupid. I feel pretty stupid right now concerning GMRS. So if someone has a little free time and a little patience, I’d love to learn. And quite frankly, I’m also excited about expanding the use of my radios beyond talking to the fam and listening to the weather. The groups I’m hearing about and apparent camaraderie among GMRS’ers sounds like it could be a fun hobby. You can find my name and location through my license. I’ll be glad to provide my email address and phone number to anyone willing to devote a little time to a newbie. My preference would be to meet in person so I can get hands on knowledge. The bar tab will certainly be on me!! Otherwise, you’ll have to provide crayons and coloring book explanations to me. I’m not that tech savvy even though I fly multi million dollar planes. Scary huh? Thanks to you all for bearing through my diatribe. Sorry to those that have fallen asleep. Dwayne .. WSKG222 Oh … and in case you are wondering about “BubblesUp”. It’s a reference to a Jimmy Buffett song. Fins Up!