UncleYoda

We don't have one group hogging everything, but all the frequencies are in use or at least claimed except maybe the 550 (off-air but still listed). I'm not sure what the best choice is for the next one to be put up. Is that private 600 one ever used or are they just camping on the frequency?

Yes, the main reason given was the risks. It's a typical attitude for emergency management people; they think we're incapable of doing basic things everyone can do. A 911 dispatcher told me that same kind of thing - getting in the way or needing to be rescued - when I was a volunteer. But people don't need FEMA cousres, Red Cross courses, or an AUXCOMM approval to do basic shit that we've all done when needed. [There is possibly something much worse than this happening but it's not verifiable with reliable sources yet, so I prefer to hold off on discussing it. It isn't radio related anyway, but like always ham (and GMRS) operators could help spread the word when MSM doesn't cover it.]

Which repeater(s) do you monitor most? And later, if they're in range for me (Gilbert and Batesburg-Leesvile is not the best direction for me), it would help to get your callsign to know I'm talking to the right person - PM me that later if you are OK with that. Based on what I learned about Andy's location, it will be difficult for me to make contact with him. I'm not sure if I understood. Is that private VHF repeater you want to put up for SCSG and CERT a different effort from this GMRS repeater you're looking into? Would the GMRS repeater be open?

It would've been helpful to say that up front. Since you're down that low, there's nothing we can do to help. If you get to a high spot in that area, you'd probably be in range of 625 from high ground. And Hopkins 675 may line up well with the downstream river valley. Even 650 maybe, although it depends on exact line to the repeater. But from down in a hole, all you can do well is sky reflection, meaning HF ham.

A beam type directional antenna would be best if Gilbert is your main focus. "Yagi" is a common beam type but not the only one. A yagi for GMRS does not need to be big. I know guys in HOAs use attic antennas, but if performance is an issue, you want an outdoor antenna as high as you can manage (with good coax). Your numbers for elevation look off. Lake level full pool is 360. The sandhill ridge is around 500. You should be in between those.

I'll let him explain if he wants to. The details he's leaving out do matter. But he asked for a video to watch and that is different than asking for advice.

Amp would not be a good idea where he has the antenna (too much RF exposure).

Yea I have one. I've left it in GMRS mode so far. Having to redo the channels each time is why I'm not eager to switch back and forth. The other thing they could've designed better is allowing more channels to be programmed for TX.

Has there ever been a case of being fined, warned or whatever FCC does for using a ham radio for GMRS where POWER and BANDWIDTH were correct?

As far as I know, there is no oversight. FCC has a minimum membership number, as I recall, for ham club call signs. But GMRS uses an individual's ID. So, unless someone says otherwise, anyone can start a club just by saying so. Tower owners may have their own requirement, however, and I'm not going to speculate on that. Max probably knows more about that. Another possibility is an existing club centered farther away expanding its coverage into Lexington and surrounding counties. Less administrative overhead that way. As far as not getting a reply on the Gilbert repeater, that's probably due to reduced activity without the links. I can listen if you let me know when you're testing it. I can't transmit back though so I would have to post here or something. I could reply on one of the ham repeaters though - you can listen without a license. Or just wait for Max to help you test.

I don't know of a GMRS club specifically for Lexington. The CSRA club includes the members-only Columbia and Gilbert repeaters and does have members from the area ($30/yr). There are ham clubs in Lexington that could, if they wanted to, also support a GMRS repeater. I'm not in Lexington Co. (close though) and what I can reach there depends on the details. I think it might be better to accept members beyond that one county if they are in the coverage area. There are some issues I would need to discuss before I would participate in a club. But that would need to be discussed elsewhere.

@MaxHeadroom ETV's ham activity is mostly coordinated through SCHEART, now even including the unlinked 210 repeater. I hope you don't get them involved; that would kill any interest I might have, assuming I could even reach what you put up.. I left SCSG long ago. And I checked on CERT and decided not to bother. I just want to stay an independent radio operator and make my own decisions; we should be able to have comms without having bosses.

Use Ignored users in your account name menu. If there is a simple one-click button I don't see it either.

I knew the callsign changed but I didn't know it was moved. The repeater listing (RB) still says 350 Feet Ant. Height I'll try listening again [yep, digital still there, can block w/ tone but I didn't want a tone on simplex channel]. He's still fighting the burper though.

Yea, I doubt if 550 is on-air; I should remove it from my list and reset my radios. I am not familiar with a 650 in Leesville.

I'm hearing digital on 725 now so I can't stand to monitor it anymore. It does have good coverage but he needs to kill that linking once and for all. That would work the best for me but it being closed off to new members is what kept me from getting GMRS license 10 years earlier. How far up the lake? There is still the 550 on the Lexington side of the dam right? And 625 on the Ballentine side should cover the lower half of the lake on the water and waterfront (and the owner is friendly). And there's a 575 in Batesburg-Leesville but it's not open. If you could get approval (big if), putting it on the same tower as the 147.000 would be my best suggestion.

I know the one Andy's referring to. It is the one that's linked nationally (and was the focus of my Linking is back thread before it got derailed with "meaningless jibber jabber").

The ham coordination is being covered on the Mt. Mitchell repeater. These websites are supposed to be updated with current needs: projecthelene.org (doesn't appear to have as much detail as it once did) wethepeoplemission.us (Avery Co airport group that also covers Yancey and Mitchell) From what I can remember Avery Co. airport mostly needs people to do chores at the distribution site. Last I heard they don't want any more water. They were looking for chainsaws and people that know how to use them but that may be old news now. They lock the gate at 9pm so if you arrive later you have to camp outside the gate.

No, you're mixing up the process. The state did not try to regulate ham radio, at least not in any enforced way. They told ham operators, in particular the net control who went along with their approach, that hams or other individuals listening should not be doing the actual on-the-ground welfare checks. They said to refer the requests to the central state NIMS position which in this case was AUXCOMM and they would follow up at the appropriate time after search and rescue phase was completed. But they were not doing anything with them right away. It was a very poor, short-sighted approach since doing the checks quickly could save lives.

You might get a better response by asking something specific. Don't be like that other guy who kept posting his ID and never said anything meaningful. I listen to the local repeaters sometimes but don't talk on them.

In my area it did, for a while. The mygmrs page of the owner of one of them says that the official answer is it is not linked. I can't and don't want to listen 24/7 but it was linked when I started this thread. Another member here in my area says the other linked members-only system I can monitor was linked backed up temporarily due to the hurricane. The nationally linked one certainly cannot fly under the radar. That's why I posted about it here. If FCC allows that, then they have no basis for blocking any of them.

You can set the TX frequency to something that won't cause trouble. For non-hams, FRS ch. 1-7 are good choices on UHF and MURS is good for VHF. Either make sure offset is zero to manually enter TX freq or calculate offset to get desired TX freq. Also low power like someone already mentioned.

Sounds like the typical infantile behavior here that the owner always ignores and wastes our time wading through useless posts, if we even bother reading. What I'd expect where a you-tuber is the hero. Back to the topic, I haven't heard anymore yet.

I haven't taken time to monitor the pay-to-play group that I used to be a member of - too busy following NC hurricane relief. I agree that this sort of emergency/disaster is not a good reason to link; stand-alone repeaters might even be more useful in that scenario.. That other one is the one I was referring to. I heard the former regular user from the Chicago area say he was glad to be back so I know there was some kind of link active. And they did mention the same network by name but no details.

I don't know about the rest of the country. The linked systems around me were shut down (unlinked) for a while (maybe a couple of months). The national one is back up tonight; that's all I know right now (I've been monitoring mostly 2m for hurricane relief). I'll listen more to see if I hear discussion about it.