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Got a question - is something up with the Baraboo650 and the Devil’s Head Gmrs repeaters? Are they down? I’m currently on a camping trip at Devils Lake and I noticed that the repeaters are somehow not opening when I’m pressing the PTT and transmitting my callsign, and I’m also around 10 min away from both repeaters so I know I should be able to hit both repeaters, even if it has a lil static (bc of the forest I’m guessing). I did also notice that the Baraboo650 is both on the map and on the search result, but Devil’s Head isn’t on either. Also mind you, I did hear radio traffic on Devils Head and Baraboo650 a week or so ago, so Ik I should hit the repeater and hear it kickback. I did also program the repeaters correctly since I’ve used these repeaters last year (and I check the myGMRS website to see if any updates happens to any of the repeaters I use weekly). Radios used: Motorola XTS 3000 and Radioddity DB-25G mobile.

My sons are 4 and 6. The older one is in kindergarten, and all the schools and parks are closed for COVID-19. They're at home all day, every day. We ride bikes and whatnot, but it's not the same as going to school and hanging with friends. I'm not paying for a phone for a 6 year old. So, why not get a few families in the neighborhood to get a GMRS license so all the kids can talk to one another any time they want? They're not close enough for FRS, but I think certainly GMRS will work. We haven't even bought devices, yet. I genuinely want to know if this is a bad idea before we move forward. To me, it seems like a great way to take advantage of the current "STAY HOME" situation to get kids interested in communications. Will other GMRS users be pissed off by a bunch of kids talking to each other all day? I plan to lock all their devices on a specific frequency, so they can't annoy anyone. How do we find a semi-private frequency no one is likely to use? If we need to use a local repeater to get across a hill, is it ok to ask, or would we get laughed at, or is it too big of an ask since they'll probably talk to each other way more than adults? We live in a small town in Alabama, about 6,500 population, all within 2 miles, and situated in a valley between mountains. One subdivision is over a hill, but the whole rest of town is probably in line-of-sight. Thanks for any advice.