Raybestos

...or better yet, WHY? Is it to make oneself feel important by tying up as many of the eight (and only eight) channels available for repeater and/or 50W simplex use in as many areas as possible, with the same conversation at the same time?

I used to see this in ham, a lot. At one time, the American Radio Relay League put out a paperback "Repeater Directory" each Spring. Others and myself couldn't wait to see the new edition, each year, curious to see what (if any) new repeaters might have gone up in our area. Often as not, the "Repeater Directory" was full of "paper" and "vapor" repeaters that had either been off the air for years, or had never existed to begin with. For reasons I have never understood, some people got a perverse ego trip from seeing their call sign next to a non-existent repeater or repeaters in the Directory. For reasons few if any understood, the ARRL would only accept the word of the alleged repeater owners or trustees with regard to the status of a repeater (on-line, off-line, never existed, off-line for decades, etc). This enabled the paper and vapor repeater "owners" to keep their names up in lights, so to speak, practically forever. I tended to associate such behavior with the same kind of mental disorder that fuels the stolen valor hacks, who claim to have served in the military, received certain medals or honors, have been Navy Seals or Green Berets, but in real life never did any of those things. Sadly, we see the same illness here on GMRS, too.

I always tell those clowns that while I am an honorably retired cop, I will not contribute to them because most of these organizations speak out against restoration of our gun rights, such as "Constitutional"/ Permitless Carry bills. Funny, they never try to argue. They just hang up on me.

https://www.westmarine.com/icom-m37-floating-6-watt-handheld-vhf-radio-19684471.html?&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=[ADL][PLA] Electronics %26 Navigation_ Control&utm_content=autoag0000x21019817508x19684471&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm5R3bZDsgyfgwSgHAqaSYQXMVfFFi9lFyQCJLynFeH_nPuZ1HKc94saApobEALw_wcB This might be a bit closer to the model in your pics. Unlike the other one I posted above, this particular radio has three buttons in the center vertical column of the keypad, where the first one I posted only had two, there.

Sorry, this left me hanging, too. My gut tells me this "might" be an Icom product. Not sure if it is or not and not sure what model if it is. Edit: I don't think it is the exact model, but it looks similar to this. https://www.westmarine.com/icom-m25-floating-handheld-vhf-radio-20816591.html?&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=[ADL][PLA] Electronics %26 Navigation_ Control&utm_content=autoag0000x21019817508x20816591&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm6UnSdYHqjMjU4kjsh8GqP5Ymq9Dwfg_N7UO3JY24gEGz-tpp37MVgaAiTREALw_wcB If you don't mind my asking, is this related to a poaching or trespassing issue?

Why pollute the limited spectrum of GMRS with blather from other parts of the country? A stand alone repeater allows for better, uninterrupted local coms than one linked to a net or other repeaters.

In case anyone missed it, Not A Rubicon has an excellent interview up on YouTube now, with the President of the impacted club in New York State. Things are different than what most of us guessed but it is NOT a hoax. Thanks Randy!

Okay! I will be anxiously awaiting the Paul Harvey on this. Thanks for the reply! Out of "likes" for today but I will come back tomorrow and leave one.

Oh no. That wasn't my meaning at all.

Hi Amaff! In the comments on Not A Rubicon's most recent YouTube video (New Midland GMRS ht's), a poster said that the FCC had shut down a repeater in New York state for "linking to the internet" or similar. Randy asked several important questions in trying to get to the bottom of the alleged issue, with the poster swearing that this really happened. Randy provided his contact info. It appears from the OP above, it may have all been bs.

So, it was just more empty bs?

Aye, but in many parts of the country, this goes on every day. The annoyance these Chatty Cathy's generate on one repeater is multiplied by each additional repeater in whatever network or linking system they are connected to. The thing that makes the whole linking system thing so annoying is that these marathon filibusters often take place on one, maybe two at the most, repeaters; yet they jam up multiple repeaters and pairs in a county, state, or larger geographical area. In areas where these linked systems are prevalent, not only are repeaters in said "network" tied up, but so are other repeaters owned by different people, or people just trying to use those few (eight) 50W Simplex channels to keep in touch with family and friends.

Some, though thankfully not most, repeater owners have some major control freak issues going on. They have lengthy lists of "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" which may be frequently added to. One such repeater, a friend sent me a link to last night. The dude who owns it sounds to be on the verge of a major mental/emotional breakdown of some type. The group for the repeater I am a part owner of try to be laid back about it. All we ask is a reasonable effort to follow the rules (ID at appropriate intervals, no profanity, etc). As has been noted, try not to argue too much with the owner if you want to use it as it IS their repeater.

Thank you and gortex2 for having actually read and understood my comment! As of now, the problem seems to have disappeared so maybe someone at MyGMRS rectified the problem.

I see reading comprehension is not a strong suit on this thread, today.

Hi Steve! Once again, ads were always here and were not a problem. "RECENTLY", in the last two or three weeks, they intermittently would cover the bottom portion of the repeater page for my (or other) state, making it impossible to see any but the top few repeaters on the page. Not only does it cover the bottom ones listed, it also makes inaccessible, the selector which allowed you to choose 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 repeaters that could be viewed per page. THAT is the problem, not that there are ads. Before today, I could usually make the offending ad go away by refreshing the page or similar. Today, the ad just sits there, blocking the lower part of the page and nothing makes it go away.

Oh man, that used to be so annoying on ham. Some guy would get his license and do that unnecessary "over" thing after each xmit. Every newbie for miles around would then think it was somehow necessary or proper protocol and start emulating it. I know how Brian felt with Stewie doing it.

I get that there will be ads, but ads covering a large portion of the page which renders it unusable is not good in any way. As I noted above, this problem is a recent development. It has been going on about two, maybe three weeks. It was intermittent until today. I could make the ads go away by refreshing the page or similar maneuver. Today, the ads won't go away.

Recently, on occasion, I note obnoxious ads taking up the bottom half of the page on my Galaxy S22 when trying to view my state's repeater list. This is annoying as not only does it block the bottom half of the page, it also makes it impossible to select the number of repeaters available (10, 20, 30, etc) for viewing. BTW, is there a way that you can set the number of repeaters viewed, go view a given repeaters page, then not have to select the number of repeaters viewed on return again? Or better yet, how about do away with the selection for number of repeaters viewed and just default it to 50 (or even 100)? In the recent past, shortly after these ads started, I could make them go away by refreshing the page. At the moment, they are there and I cannot make them go away and cannot view any repeaters on my state's list but the very few at the top of the list.

Aye! Also ignored was OP's observation that, "Some days this can go on for a long time as if someone is having a conversation.", which leads me to believe this is a CW QSO rather than simply a repeater's Morse ID.

Yeah, let's just go with the simplest explanation, even if is likely the wrong one.

Sounds like you might be picking up actual CW from an HF, VHF, or UHF, source. CW used in conversation is far more common on HF (aka short wave), but there are hams who use it on VHF and even UHF in the "weak signal" portions of those ham bands. Morse ID's on repeaters (often erroneously referred to as CW) will contain a tone with each dit or dah. CW or Continuous Wave (interrupted by the use of a key or keying device) will normally sound like someone keying and unkeying a mic with no voice or other intelligence added. Most of the CCJ (Cheap Chinese Junk) radios on the market today have direct conversion receivers and little if any filtering, so your picking up actual CW from one of the aforementioned ham sources is entirely possible. If the signal is not strong or it mixes with other signals or modes, it very well could sound like buzzes or static.

I agree! Had a ham callsign plate for some years but with the road-ragers and other weirdos on the road and elsewhere, I decided to do away with the ham tag and get a regular plate. A ham, or GMRS, plate is much easier to look up online and find your address. The regular plate makes it easier to be the proverbial "grey man" who blends into the background when convenient to do so.

NO! Not the fart sound! I got in trouble with a ham club using their 2m linked network once because of that. I was in a conversation and let one rip while I had the mic keyed. The computer system supporting the link read the sound as a digital data burst shut-down command which turned the network off. Talk about a bunch of sad hams!

I still kinda wish all of the radio manufacturers would make a Roger beep (or courtesy tone, if you prefer) option that sounded like a half second (or so) squelch tail. In other words, a burst of white noise, like the old police and business radios from the 1950's thru the 80's or so used to make on the receive end.