WRVE426

thank you all for that excellent advice!

Hi I have a Baofeng UV-9G which I use a Nagoya NA-771G 15.3-Inch Whip GMRS (462MHz) antenna. I am tempted to purchase a longer ABBREE SMA-Female Dual Band 144/430Mhz 28.3 Inch antenna. Would that be a good choice and what difference, if any, could the ABBREE foldable antenna make for me? Thank you

thanks, this does make sense. and yes, so far everybody in the GMRS world was super friendly to me, including in this forum where I got several questions quickly and very helpfully answered ?

Actually, I tried to use a repeater in Deland, Florida. It was my very first try and as soon as I made a reception test I got a reply from a person who very nicely told me that he could hear me. I made the mistake of using my GMRS callsign at the beginning of my transmission. I then heard the same voice asking my very nicely "who do we have here" and I repeated my callsign. I did not transmit anymore (I did not want to clog the airwaves with my newbie ignorance!) and I did not hear anything. Only later did I realize that I had not received any authorization to use that repeater. I don't recall where/how I found the frequency and access codes but I think it was on GMRS.com. So my question is: would it be rude for me to access a repeater and ask for the right to use it even though to make this request I need to use the repeater once without any authorization? I am a total newbie, but I really do not want to be rude or break any rule. I get it, repeaters are private and I have no "right" to use them. But if I don't get any replies to my requests, shall I try another way to ask or shall I assume that if the frequency and the codes are available I can at least ask for the use over the air? I think that the steps suggested by MichaelLax make sense except that I would not interrupt a conversation already taking place. But if there is silence, why not ask? Again, my apologies for being such a clueless noob! PS: being in super-flat Florida, repeaters probably only make most sense in cities (the biggest "mountains" in FL are landfills!). Since I live in a small town and rarely go to big cities (I am more of a wilderness hiker) in most cases there are no repeaters I could use anyway (like in the Ocala National Forest or the Juniper Wilderness), so not using repeaters is okay by me. I just want to learn the proper way to do things.

okay, I will wait for a formal reply and if I don't get any, I guess I won't try to use these repeaters ?

But once I see the codes on myGMRS.com, does that not imply that I can use them? (Sorry if that is a silly question)

Hi I am totally new to GMRS (and radios in general) and I just making my first steps. I used the myGMRS app to make a number of requests to access GMRS repeaters. Only one replied, they other have been 'pending' for quite a while (see attached screenshot) Is this normal? Or am I doing something wrong? As always, thanks for any pointers!

First, thank you all for all your inputs and advice! I did get the correct Nagoya antenna and it works superbly, thank you!

Yes, that did the trick! Under GNU/Linux CHIRP could not locate my radio on any port, but on Windows it worked fine. thank you for this tip!!

I got a Nagoya 771G antenna for my UV-9G and I like it a lot. I will get the SMA-male for the UV-5G thanks for the reply!!

Hi I have a Baofeng UV-5G and I want to try out a longer, hopefully better, antenna. I found this one Amazon: Retevis Two Way Radio Antenna SMA-M Antenna 144/430MHz (https://smile.amazon.com/Retevis-Two-way-Antenna-Whip-Antenna-UV8000D/dp/B01AD2RZXO/) Would that be a decent choice for a GMRS radio, or is that only for 2m? thank you!

Thank you both Sshannon and WRUU653 for your replies. I will try out Chirp next week (already downloaded the GNU/Linux version) I am a big fan of Notarubicon, and his videos helped me pick my begnner GRMS radios: a UV-5G and one UV-9G. I have also ordered a Wouyxun KG-UV9GX which, I hope, will allow me to try the next level up. Thanks for all your pointers!!!

thank you both very much for your quick and useful replies!

Hi I am a newcomer to the world of GMRS (and radios) and I have a Baofeng UV-9G (the newest version with the known issues fixed) I would like to scan *only* the 22 GMRS channels (and not NOAA, repeater channels or DIY channels)? How do I do that from the keyboard (I cannot use the Baofeng software since I run only GNU/Linux)? (I will try out CHIRP in the future, but right now I rather not mess with it yet) Also, is it true that on highways the best channel is 19 while when off-roading or on water channel 16 is considered the go to? Thank you for any pointers