Fernleaf

Thank you! The holidays got me away from responding, so I’ll give your suggestions a try. Heard someone on a net out in Tulsa last night (Wednesday around 9pm), but there was no clear call sign or club identification to know which one that is. It showed up as Repeater 20, which doesn’t exist except on my new mobile.

I’ve gotten a bit of feedback in other discussions, but they kind of veered off topic. I was wondering if anyone has any contact information for GMRS groups in the Tulsa and surrounding areas? The one group is locked behind the Facebook wall of death, and the other one has no contact information at all. What I could find bounced back as a non existent email address. Thanks, folks!

Interesting. I know the individual who pointed out this passage from the FCC is a stickler for following the rules, but his answer is the antithesis to yours. Therefore I was under the impression that the license holders of the stations using the repeater was what it was referring to. I think I’ll stick to keeping my repeater private. Far less confusing.

I’ll be interested in seeing what you find out. I may just stick to making a home base again instead of using a repeater. Unless someone out there in GMRS land can let me know if the repeater increases coverage... Is think it best if there was a lot of traffic, not necessarily for range. But I’m no expert at this stuff... yet. ?

I bought my UV-5x3 a little under s year ago. I was afraid to use it for violation of some FCC reg, but was assured by both GMRS and Amateur radio experts that it was fine for either... or both.

And for anyone who hasn’t watched them, do so. Exactly done. Pretty scary what was hidden down under the waterways...

My first radio was the Raddiodity GM-30. A lot of people don’t like them, but mine has held strong and worked for quite a while, even when taking a cross country trip. Picked up repeaters and other GMRS operators along the way. A lot of people in my GMRS group loved them as well and had no issues with distance or using repeater on our mountainous area in North Georgia. It’s not high powered by any means, but certainly does the job. Thought I’d throw that one in the mix.

Ah! Cool! It’s always amazing how small this works really is! But I think I took this far off the original topic. Sorry about that! Good to get to know the people on this group! As for the dual band, I own a Btech UV-5x3. Sweet little radio. Can cross over between GMRS and HAM. Got it from both Amateur and GMRS experts that this reading can be operated by either side of the equation as long as you stay in your own radio lane. Not sure if that applies to the topic or not, but thought I’d put it out there.

@OffRoaderX watched your video on the Salton Sea. It’s amazing how many lakes are drying up. Makes me wonder how many others have been used for governmental test sites without revealing what was dumped in the waters. Good job on making this issue public. Also, as a side note, really enjoyed all your Rock Crawler videos. Made me appreciate Jeeps and what they could endure. (And, like your videos on radios, kind of makes me want one of those wranglers, too...? )

If you have the KG-1000G radios, it’s not cheaper than buying the Retivis repeater, but at least these are 50 watt machines. For your family use, they probably do fine. I’m going to set them up to extend the range in my area as OffRoaderX did and run a test for range as well. Since it won’t be used 24/7, I won’t have to worry about duty cycle and overheating. It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

Amen, bro!!

I’m in the same boat. I have membership to my old group soI can still participate with them through Zello. Otherwise, I’ll be putting up my own repeater and may turn it public after I test the range and quality of transmission after several months. Getting people to join up is also a challenge. Most radio operators think CB in the Midwest and never heard of GMRS. Otherwise, the groups out my way are not responsive. they don’t advertise, either or reach out to new licenses as an incentive. Almost like they don’t want new members...sad.

Probably not. I left in the 1980’s. Integration began to tank shortly after that (definitely not because I left! ?). Last I heard, the company does accounting software. Barely anyone has even heard of the company anymore. They did move their CAD system to PC when they became popular. But that happened years after I left.

That bad, huh? ? it’s okay. I like being in no man’s land. Off a really bad gravel road that takes out the suspension of your vehicle. ?

I reached out to the operator of the massive repeater network on Georgia. He confirmed that the repeater for GMRS themselves do not need to send out a call sign because they are used purely for retransmission from licensed users, therefore operators of their own “stations”. Anyone not authorized is traced and asked to not use it until they get permission as well. See highlighted in red below. So mine would fall under the same classification were it to go live. § 95.1751 GMRS station identification. Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification. (a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted: (1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and, (2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes. (b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone. (c) Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.