I live in a mountain area a few miles from the South gate of Yosemite. Most of the listed repeaters in my area are no longer active. One nearby repeater is still active but I can't hit it from my house. The gentleman that owns the unit told me to keep it in my radio and use it if I am in the area which is nice. I cannot see the highway from my house due to trees but I can hear traveler conversations for less than a minute at a time. I use GMRS with extended family and for traveling. I have several 2m HAM repeaters I use occasionally but I don't enjoy talking about weather, radio brands, and new medications so I don't talk much. I got my Amateur license over 20 years ago so I would have reliable comms when a group of us went off roading in the Mojave desert. I have moved to GMRS for that now as a lot of people aren't interested enough to take the test. Can't blame them. This is a good forum to learn from.
