MarkInTampa

GMRS Live to shut down on Monday, Sept 30. Statement is on his webpage...
https://www.gmrslive.com/
 

GMRS Live to shut down on Monday, Sept 30. Statement is on his webpage...
https://www.gmrslive.com/
 

I'm guilty of doing this on occasion. If I hear somebody on the repeater input frequency and I catch a call sign, I'll look them up online to see how my antenna and radio are performing on receive. Not a lot of local GMRS users here and I'll do a call out to them and let them know I'm local to them. I've made a few simplex friends this way.
 

The Comet GP-9 2m/70cm antenna sucks for GMRS. I don't know how the GP-9NC (the GMRS version) does on 70cm. The GP-6NC (GMRS/MURS) version works great on 2m/70cm/GMRS though...
GP-9 UHF SWR seep followed by GP-6NC UHF and VHF sweeps, same coax (50ft LMR-400) and pole (up 35ft)...
 

I sit between two repeaters on the same tone and frequency. 35 miles from repeater A, 25 miles from repeater B and the repeaters are around 60 miles from each other. Repeater A is up 400ft and hits me full scale. Repeater B is up around 50ft and is fully readable but just above the noise floor and is networked with far more (but very little local) traffic. They are far enough from each other that most of the time there is no issue except when you get folks trying to use one or the other when operating between them (like myself) or there is even a slight band opening. I do get a bit of heterodyning most of the time on repeater A on receive if repeater B is transmitting but not to bad. I have to bring up the system status page of repeater B on the web and drop my power to 5 watts to verify that I'm not keying it at the same time, 50 watts and I will. If there is a REALLY strong band opening I have talked on up 4 repeaters on the same frequency and tone with one being 160 miles away as long as nobody is using the other 3. Gotta love 141.3 and 4 squelch tails!
There is somebody local out here that is running a encrypted DMR repeater on 462.700. It's driven at least 3 GMRS repeaters off that frequency because of interference. Its been reported by quite a few folks to the FCC but nothing has been done in the 1.5+ years its been on the air. Oh well, just subtract one frequency from being used, not much you can do about it.
The City of Tampa also has a grandfathered GMRS repeater on 462.625 that ID's every 10 minutes but in two years I've yet to hear anybody actually use it. Its CTCSS decoder has been screwed up for years, it will repeat on the wrong tone (or any tone) one or two times (mostly at the beginning of a transmission) and then behave by not repeating on the wrong tone. It's also driven a few local repeaters from using that frequency. Subtract another frequency from being used.

Another one down....

There is ship traffic that causes occasional interference on the Tampa 575 repeater. It has a alternate input of 467.725 as well as the primary input of 467.575. The primary input (467.575) is part of the ITU standard for UHF vessel communications and the repeater overlooks the port of Tampa. The ship traffic doesn't key the repeater but does mix in with normal GMRS traffic so they shut down the primary input if it becomes a problem.
FYI - ITU UHF standards for vessel communication coexists with two GMRS repeater inputs, 467.550 and 467.575 as well as GMRS channel 8 (467.5625)
 

If I had to guess there is a really strong repeater around 40 miles away already on 725 with excellent coverage up 400ft that can be accessed from the 575 repeater location with a good radio. Far enough away that occasional local traffic on a different tone on the input of 725 won't really effect it but close enough that you wouldn't want them on the same output. Both are by far the strongest repeaters in the area.

You would think so... Repeater A has been around for 5+ years and is the dominate repeater in its area. Repeater B popped up about a year ago and almost instantly I notified the owner about the issue (within a day or two of it going up) and asked if could change the tone and he never responded. I tried to be a good trooper but if I accidently hit his repeater (and the repeaters networked to it) when using repeater A there isn't much I can do about it. I sent a link to the repeater A owner of repeater B's linked status page so if there is interference on their repeater they can at least see if it's a user of repeater B doing it.
It doesn't happen often, the band has to be open just a bit then it becomes a bit of a problem or confusion to users on both repeaters. Folks on one of the repeaters or the other are hearing just one side of the conversation and wondering what's going on and from where I sit I hear both.

I sit between two repeaters on the same tone and frequency. 35 miles from repeater A, 25 miles from repeater B and the repeaters are around 60 miles from each other. Repeater A is up 400ft and hits me full scale. Repeater B is up around 50ft and is fully readable but just above the noise floor and is networked with far more (but very little local) traffic. They are far enough from each other that most of the time there is no issue except when you get folks trying to use one or the other when operating between them (like myself) or there is even a slight band opening. I do get a bit of heterodyning most of the time on repeater A on receive if repeater B is transmitting but not to bad. I have to bring up the system status page of repeater B on the web and drop my power to 5 watts to verify that I'm not keying it at the same time, 50 watts and I will. If there is a REALLY strong band opening I have talked on up 4 repeaters on the same frequency and tone with one being 160 miles away as long as nobody is using the other 3. Gotta love 141.3 and 4 squelch tails!
There is somebody local out here that is running a encrypted DMR repeater on 462.700. It's driven at least 3 GMRS repeaters off that frequency because of interference. Its been reported by quite a few folks to the FCC but nothing has been done in the 1.5+ years its been on the air. Oh well, just subtract one frequency from being used, not much you can do about it.
The City of Tampa also has a grandfathered GMRS repeater on 462.625 that ID's every 10 minutes but in two years I've yet to hear anybody actually use it. Its CTCSS decoder has been screwed up for years, it will repeat on the wrong tone (or any tone) one or two times (mostly at the beginning of a transmission) and then behave by not repeating on the wrong tone. It's also driven a few local repeaters from using that frequency. Subtract another frequency from being used.

While we have not activated a SkyWarn net on our GMRS repeater, we do activate it every time there is sever weather on our 2m repeater. And participating in regular nets allows everyone to know if they can reach the repeater or reach others on simplex incase of an actual emergency or SkyWarn net.

One of the local GMRS repeaters out here run a SkyWarn (storm spotter thing) every Tuesday. They run the same basic preamble that WRYZ926 posted, something like "This net is to test our equipment incase of an actual emergency. All licensed GMRS users are encouraged to check into the net, if you are SkyWarned trained or a CERT member please let us know your info when checking in". There are usually 25-35 folks that check in per week. It's actually a pretty good turnout for a stand alone repeater I think. A lot of the 2 meter nets have less check in's.

From the admin of GMRSLive posted today....
 

From the admin of GMRSLive posted today....
 

From the admin of GMRSLive posted today....
 

It should be opposite - TX on 462.625 and RX on 467.625
Also click on "Help" then the "Index" tab - Help in most older software it doesn't work but in CE27 it still does. It give a brief definition of almost all the settings.

It should be opposite - TX on 462.625 and RX on 467.625
Also click on "Help" then the "Index" tab - Help in most older software it doesn't work but in CE27 it still does. It give a brief definition of almost all the settings.

The may be a stupid question, but....
The FCC page show that linking repeaters is not allowed but what about linking two or more base (fixed) stations that in turn key up a repeater? The repeater wouldn't be linked but the fixed station would be.

If I had to guess, you have the wrong version of the repeater for GMRS or the frequency limits are set incorrectly. Try binging up the software in manufacture mode with the "-m" option instead of "-d" and read the radio configuration. The Windows shortcut target should be something like "C:\Vertex Standard\CE27 for Windows\CE27Win.exe" -m". The -m option will require the manufacture password, it is "ansho-bango". Once you read the config of the radio, go to "Common" on the top of the screen and then "TX Adjustment". Be VERY careful here and don't adjust anything, check to see what the highest Tx Frequency is set at. If it's below GMRS frequencies it's probably the wrong version of the repeater.
 

I sent you a copy of a VXR-7000 config file I did to your email. Let me know if it didn't go through. Make sure you save a copy of the original config file on your computer just in case.
 

Pull the config with the software.

Check out the Polk Co (Bartow repeater) net on Tuesday's at 7:00pm. It started a few months ago and there are usually 30-40 folks that check in a week.
 

Most all Kenwood (or for that matter almost every commercial radio) software uses Windows, and some even use DOS. A Chromebook isn't gonna cut it. I use a HP Probook i5 that shipped with Windows 10 Pro and most importantly it has a built in 9 pin serial port that can be used with DosBox for old radios, a DVD drive for older software but is new enough (i5 processor) to run Windows 11 if you want. They can be had for around $100 on eBay or FB Marketplace.

Most all Kenwood (or for that matter almost every commercial radio) software uses Windows, and some even use DOS. A Chromebook isn't gonna cut it. I use a HP Probook i5 that shipped with Windows 10 Pro and most importantly it has a built in 9 pin serial port that can be used with DosBox for old radios, a DVD drive for older software but is new enough (i5 processor) to run Windows 11 if you want. They can be had for around $100 on eBay or FB Marketplace.

eBay? Somebody is selling the CPS software with v1.06.01 firmware included for $25.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145634585726