WRQW589

You may find that you have very good communications with GMRS on 20 acres over simplex, no repeater. In that case you can put your 2k into the jeep instead. At least test things out as is. See how it goes.

I have two MXT-275 Midland radios, and two GTX-1000 radios. They work great, and are easy to use. They lack some things that I might find useful; the ability to configure more than one memory location per frequency (ie, the ability to use more than one repeater that operates on the same frequency, for example)... and I don't think the handhelds are repeater capable in the first place. But for what I use them for primarily, that's fine. I tend to set all my radios to use the same DSC/PL tone on channel 18, and the same one on channel 6. Then I can tell others "go to channel 6" and I know we'll be talking lower-power, or "go to 18" and we'll be talking at a higher power setting. The antennas are pretty good. I have the 3db "ghost" antenna that I use most of the time, and the higher gain 6db antenna that I mount on the RV or use at home. My other radios are Baofengs; two UV-5G radios, and I'll probably get a UV-5G Plus sooner or later. But I don't "need" what they have to offer, I just enjoy the flexibility they offer for tinkering. When it comes to actually using the radios, I'm perfectly happy with the Midlands. Clarifying my use cases: Talking between the RV and family / friends out hiking, keeping our ski party together (sometimes we end up at the base of different lifts), taking trips with more than one vehicle, getting help from my son as I back the tow vehicle (no rear facing camera) up to the trailer, keeping together when we're at crowded, spread out destinations (theme park, shopping districts, etc), kayaking, sailing (ship-to-shore chatter, since VHF Marine Radio is rather particular/stodgy about ship-to-shore communications). I do listen in on repeaters but don't make much use of them; there's just not much need. Either we're within range of each other, or we're out somewhere remote where there aren't any repeaters to help, anyway.

There aren't too many things to get right, for it to work. Check the following: Are you too close to the receiving radio? This may be a little counterintuitive. But imagine you have radio A in the bedroom, radio B ten feet away in the same room. Radio A reaches out to the repeater 2 miles away. What will radio B hear? ....nothing, because radio A is desensitizing the receiver in B by virtue of their close proximity. It's like if you are trying to talk to your friend while standing a few feet away from a jet engine. Your friend won't be able to make out what you're saying because of how loud the jet is, even though voice, and jet engine noise may not even be occupying the same frequency ranges in the sound spectrum. The solution is for radio B to be a block away; you'll have to enlist the help of a friend. Are you using the correct squelch tone (PL, or DSC) to open the repeater? Are you (on both radios) set up with the proper squelch tone to hear the repeater? Sometimes it's useful to set your radio to not have a receiving tone set. What I mean is allow the receivers to hear all communications; don't use a squelch tone for receiving. Later on you can add that, but in the short-term, turning it off eliminates one possible issue. -- You do still need the correct tone for transmitting, or the repeater won't even open. Is your signal propagating to the repeater? (antenna height, obstacles, and distance play into this) Is radio B within signal propagation range of the repeater? (antenna height, obstacles, and distance play into this) If radio A and B attempt to reach each other over simplex within the proximity of a few hundred yards, does that work? (Here we're trying to find out if the transmitters and receivers are even in good working order) Anyway, go through the checklist and see if any of those bullet points help.

That's a really good point. And it wouldn't take a very high powered one. Just good antenna placement, really. I end up going to this spot a couple of times a year, most years, and I can think of a great place for a repeater there, where it would be (1) line of sight over a great distance and (2) permitted on a temporary basis without any problem. Perhaps next time I'm out there I'll consider it.

My primary vehicle: MXT-275. Handhelds: Two Baofeng UV-5g, and two Midland GXT-1000s. RV: Another MXT-275. I also have the 3db Ghost antenna, and the 6db longer whip. I swap them around to where I need them. If I'm camping with the RV I'll usually put the longer antenna on it, as that seems to make the most sense for base camp. My primary reason for getting into GMRS in the first place was keeping track of my ski party; my two kids, and my brother, as we learned our way around a bunch of different ski resorts, particularly before the kids had phones. It's proven to be useful camping and hiking, too, and for drives that involve two or more vehicles. It's worked out well for those uses.

An experience last summer was useful to my understanding with respect to power. Camping east of Zion, a group took a nine mile hike, and a group stayed at camp. The hikers with handhelds kept in touch with each other quite well. Those who stayed at camp radioed to the hikers to check on them, as a storm whipped up. The hikers, later, mentioned that from a few miles out (varied, mountainous terrain) they could hear the campers calling them from 3-4 miles away. But the campers couldn't hear the hikers responding until they were within two miles. The campers were using an MXT-275 (15w) with an MXTA56 (6db antenna). The hikers were on handhelds that transmitted at a little less than 5w, with rubber duck antennas. So, sure, the extra power helped punch through the terrain a *little*. But without the hikers getting up above the terrain, it didn't matter, as they couldn't get a response back to the campers. If you're contemplating a 50w setup vs 15w, just consider whom you'll be communicating with, and in what kind of terrain. I could have had a 50w radio in camp, and it wouldn't have mattered at all; the hikers would have heard the campers from a very slightly greater range, and the campers still wouldn't have heard the hikers responding.

Probably not. Not that you couldn't benefit from a repeater, but standing up your own repeater probably isn't going to be of much use to you. Consider point A (home), and point B (work). Of those points, A is 17 miles from B. Let's assume that radio at point A, and the radio at point B cannot communicate with each other currently. The first question to ask is can I reasonably get an antenna mounted high enough at location A, and at location B, that the radios at A and B can talk to each other? If the answer is yes, then the solution is exactly that; get two antennas, mount them high enough, get a connector and hook it up to your radio at each location. If the answer is no, then you may benefit from a repeater. Next question: Is there a location (C) where both radio A and radio B are able to communicate with C, if A, B, and C have antennas at reasonable and sufficient heights? If the answer to that is no, then no repeater will help. If the answer is yes, then a repeater will help ONLY IF you actually are allowed to install a repeater at that location C. So, do you own a building/house/antenna mast at some location (C) between A and B where you can install a repeater? If the answer is yes, you're in luck. You will benefit by installing a repeater (if you know how, and have the funds to install one of adequate capability). If the answer is no, you have no reason to spend money on a repeater. If you own the rights to put up an antenna at that location C that both A and B can communicate with, start doing some research, and plan out your installation.

Let's just simplify with code A, B, C. To open the repeater you need to use its code. We'll call that input code "A". To listen to that repeater, you can either listen wide open (no code) or you can set your receiver to match the repeater's output code. "B". It's possible for a repeater operator to set A and B to be the same, which is also fine, though often they're different. It doesn't really matter; makes no practical difference once the sending and receiving radios are configured with the proper codes. There is nowhere to insert a third output code, "C", so that a subset of listeners can grab only messages coming through with the "C" tone. It's just not a feature supported by GMRS. It is possible for a high-end repeater configuration to allow multiple input/output tone combinations, though. But that's not as common, and really is up to the person setting up the repeater to configure.

I agree. I mean I don't understand the numbers behind it. But it's a pretty powerful unintentional signal. However, there was no mistaking that sound, whether it's as I lay in the MRI machine, or as I'm driving off with my GMRS radio picking it up. I don't hear it driving past other hospitals, so there must be something different about the Park City IHC hospital / imaging lab.

I'd get three mobile radios, even a MXT-275 (15W output) would do the trick, though there are more capable models that are more loved here. And get three of Midland's 6db antennas, along with three magnetic mounts, and three 12v power supplies. In each of the three homes, place an antenna in the attic or near a window on a cookie sheet for a ground plane. Bonus points if the window you place yours in is on the side of the house closest to your brother and father's homes, and on an upper floor. If your brother and father are able to go with an attic or roof-top antenna that's great, too. The Midland MXT-A26 antenna is the one to get, along with the necessary cable and a means of mounting it. With those "good enough" radios, and those "pretty good, actually" antennas, you'll hit three miles without too much trouble. The mountain could be a problem, but you're already getting past it with handhelds. All the better with a decent antenna. Come to think of it, you might just order the antennas, mounts, and adapters that fit your handhelds, assuming you're using handhelds that have detachable antennas. My UV-5G can hit a repeater 22 miles away with just its built in antenna, but when I hook it up to the MXT-A26 it sounds great.

Is there an MRI facility anywhere nearby? In March, I went for an MRI. On my way to the facility my GMRS radio was on in the car, because I'm a boring person, like that. When I got within three miles of the facility I started hearing buzzes, blips, and other strangeness on channel 17. I didn't think too much of it, until I was actually IN the MRI machine. Then I realized I was hearing the exact same sounds, the same buzzes, blips, and tones. It wasn't just similar, it was as if the GMRS radio was picking up the MRI machine's noises exactly as they sounded to me. These things are supposed to be shielded, but apparently not well enough in some cases. After my MRI as I was driving home, I heard the exact same tones, until I got about three miles away from the hospital.

Skiing Keeping the family loosely together. Finding a kid who may not have realized we've reached the end of the ski day. Not always necessary - cell service usually works. This is just one more option, and sometimes more convenient with gloves. Camping One in the car, one in the trailer, and then a few handhelds. Coordinate drop-offs and pick-ups at the nearby trailheads, call people to dinner, etc. People can engage in various activities yet still coordinate as needed. My son can guide me as I'm backing up to the trailer. Safety - With an antenna atop the trailer we get decent range; good enough to call to the trailer or vehicle for help from a handheld while out hiking, within reason. Last summer some hikers in our group got into bad weather. It was very reassuring being able to reach each other six miles apart. Group traveling I volunteer with a youth group, and sometimes we are on road trips with more than one or two vehicles. This helps us coordinate lunch and gas stops, even out of cell range. Plus it's safer than texting while driving. Kayaking or Sailing VHF is good for "ship to ship", and calling out to the harbormaster if needed. But for casual conversation and coordination, often "ship to shore", GMRS is great. "Before they had cell phones" Before my kids had cell phones we used GMRS to keep in touch as they moved about our neighborhood playing with friends or visiting the park.

I don't really like waiting through the whole 5-10 minute loop to get a few seconds of what I need, so I don't use NOAA broadcasts often anymore. Before the proliferation of connected devices like phones, it was more necessary. And NOAA reception is usually more reliable than cellular connectivity, so it does have its usefulness. I used to really appreciate having it on my Marine VHF radio in the 90s and early 2000s, for example. It is a good feature to have on a radio that you could take with you on the trail or in the back country. I'd rather not carry a separate receiver just for NOAA. I thought that the Midland handhelds offer SAME. I have a couple of older Motorolas that do, for sure. Cool feature, in principle. I've never actually gotten an alert via SAME that I wasn't aware of, though.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of laying in one of these for 40 minutes, here's the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIsrOtSSUQY

Yes, that's correct. The MRI sequences produce a loud buzzing sound, in pulses, at various audible frequencies. Very sharp; like if you produced a series of staccato clicks at frequencies that produce tones. A little like listening to sound effects on an old Apple ][ computer but amplified loud enough that you have to wear noise cancelling headphones. The sounds are unmistakable. As I approached, from a distance, I thought I was hearing someone transmitting a digital signal on GMRS, and was thinking "How are they getting away with a continual data transmission?" Then as I laid there in the machine, my first time ever having an MRI, hearing that sound, I realized that's what I had been hearing on GMRS/FRS 17. The facility in question is the Park City Intermountain Healthcare hospital.