very new to the gmrs radio had no responses for radio check learned that I needed to contact a repeater in my area and request to use that station. Have not heard yet as to if I will be able to use that repeater. If this does not help with communication I think I will go to ham radio. Looking at study of technician license study of 1 had them in sections... HRE-Tech did the 1st 4 and missed 1 on a practice test. looked further down and the ones with diagrams will probably be the most difficuolt I would like to know if it is okay to purchase a ham ....just to listen until I get my license.