New to gmrs and looking for advice

[WSKM915]

Good afternoon all, I am brand new to gmrs radios and just recently received my license. I purchased 2 baofeng gm-21 gmrs radios equipped with abbree ar-771gmrs antennas. I have only been able to connect to 1 gmrs repeater on a total drive of 3 hours across my state. By “connect” I mean I heard the klurchunk and what sounded like Morse code. I can hear people talking but I can not seem to connect to my local repeater. I requested access to all repeaters I have used even free access ones. I have the tones keyed in correctly but can’t connect to them. My question is should I get new radio mobile or handheld including new antennas? 

[SteveShannon]

15 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

Good afternoon all, I am brand new to gmrs radios and just recently received my license. I purchased 2 baofeng gm-21 gmrs radios equipped with abbree ar-771gmrs antennas. I have only been able to connect to 1 gmrs repeater on a total drive of 3 hours across my state. By “connect” I mean I heard the klurchunk and what sounded like Morse code. I can hear people talking but I can not seem to connect to my local repeater. I requested access to all repeaters I have used even free access ones. I have the tones keyed in correctly but can’t connect to them. My question is should I get new radio mobile or handheld including new antennas? 

No, just figure out what you’re doing wrong. It’s not the radio.

What frequency does the local repeater use? What channel are you on? Make sure you’re using the repeater channels, not the simplex channels.  If you provide us more information (and we truly only need one thread, not four ) we might be able to help you.

Truly, welcome to the forums.  We can help you work through whatever is preventing you from connecting. We might razz you a little for starting four new topics but we will get over that quickly.  You’re not the first person who did that (well, I think you might be the first person to start four new identical topics).

[WSKM915]

33 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

No, just figure out what you’re doing wrong. It’s not the radio.

What frequency does the local repeater use? What channel are you on? Make sure you’re using the repeater channels, not the simplex channels.  If you provide us more information (and we truly only need one thread, not four ) we might be able to help you.

Truly, welcome to the forums.  We can help you work through whatever is preventing you from connecting. We might razz you a little for starting four new topics but we will get over that quickly.  You’re not the first person who did that (well, I think you might be the first person to start four new identical topics).

It seems I am still learning how to use the website to. Sorry for that many post I can’t seem to find how to delete them. Anyways I am using channel 29. From my understanding looking at the rx and tx frequencies 23-30 are my repeater channels. Frequency 462.7000

[TNFrank]

Best advice I can give is use GMRS to learn about radios and how to program them then when you're comfortable with it look to getting your HAM Technician's license.  That'll open up a whole new world of frequencies for you to explore and in most areas a boat load of Repeaters to use including DMR stuff.

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, WSKM915 said:

My question is should I get new radio mobile or handheld including new antennas? 

What radio/antenna do you have now?

[WRYS709]

1 minute ago, TNFrank said:

Best advice I can give is use GMRS to learn about radios and how to program them then when you're comfortable with it look to getting your HAM Technician's license.  That'll open up a whole new world of frequencies for you to explore and in most areas a boat load of Repeaters to use including DMR stuff.

Yes, but at the cost of losing access to all of the interesting people on GMRS... 

[WSKM915]

10 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:

What radio/antenna do you have now?

Baofeng gm-21 radios with  abbree ar-771 antennas.

[HHD1]

Remember that range is determined by Line of Sight and not by the green circles on the repeater map.  

Also start by only programing the TX codes/tones for the repeaters you wish to use.  RX tones will not matter unless there is a ton of traffic on the frequency.  And if that's the case, you probably don't want to use that freq anyway.

3 steps to check...

1. programming issue

2. line of sight issue

3. equipment issue

1 or 2 will most likely be the issue.  Seldom is it ever 3.

[SteveShannon]

26 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

It seems I am still learning how to use the website to. Sorry for that many post I can’t seem to find how to delete them. Anyways I am using channel 29. From my understanding looking at the rx and tx frequencies 23-30 are my repeater channels. Frequency 462.7000

That is correct, 23-30 are the repeater channels. You should be receiving on 462.700 MHz and transmitting on 467.700 MHz. 
You can’t delete your posts, but don’t worry about it.

[WSKM915]

3 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

That is correct, 23-30 are the repeater channels. You should be receiving on 462.700 MHz and transmitting on 467.700 MHz. 
You can’t delete your posts, but don’t worry about it.

The frequency’s are set as you have them. How close would I have to be to the repeater? It shows I am with in range on the my gmrs.com map.

[WSKM915]

6 minutes ago, HHD1 said:

Remember that range is determined by Line of Sight and not by the green circles on the repeater map.  

Also start by only programing the TX codes/tones for the repeaters you wish to use.  RX tones will not matter unless there is a ton of traffic on the frequency.  And if that's the case, you probably don't want to use that freq anyway.

3 steps to check...

1. programming issue

2. line of sight issue

3. equipment issue

1 or 2 will most likely be the issue.  Seldom is it ever 3.

I have tried it with and without the rx tones I am start to wonder if I just need to be closer. In my area we have a lot of trees between me and the repeater and small hills.

[OffRoaderX]

1 minute ago, WSKM915 said:

How close would I have to be to the repeater? It shows I am with in range on the my gmrs.com map.

That depends on the repeater, what is between you and the repeater, your antenna, where you are standing, how close you are to the repeater, the weather, and how much salt was in your dinner last night - so, nobody can answer that. But, the range shown on the myGmrs.com map is in no-way connected to reality and is just a guess/suggestion.

[HHD1]

1 minute ago, WSKM915 said:

I have tried it with and without the rx tones I am start to wonder if I just need to be closer. In my area we have a lot of trees between me and the repeater and small hills.

That's a good next step.  Go for a drive and get closer.  And remember to get out of the vehicle if using a hand held.  Without an external antenna, your vehicle can block a lot of signal.

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

The frequency’s are set as you have them. How close would I have to be to the repeater? It shows I am with in range on the my gmrs.com map.

Those maps are very coarse estimates that don’t take into account vegetation, terrain, buildings, etc. 

Get close enough that you can see the antenna of the repeater. Then you’re mostly assured of being close enough. Test at that distance. If it works start adding distance. If it doesn’t work there’s a different reason. 
Also, at least when testing, clear out your receive tone. That way you will hear everything. 

[WSKM915]

1 minute ago, SteveShannon said:

Those maps are very coarse estimates that don’t take into account vegetation, terrain, buildings, etc. 

Get close enough that you can see the antenna of the repeater. Then you’re mostly assured of being close enough. Test at that distance. If it works start adding distance. If it doesn’t work there’s a different reason. 
Also, at least when testing, clear out your receive tone. That way you will hear everything. 

I am going to drive out closer to the repeater and see can I reach it that way.

[WSIF574]

5 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

The frequency’s are set as you have them. How close would I have to be to the repeater? It shows I am with in range on the my gmrs.com map.

Line of sight and what is in the way seems to be what is stopping your signal. A repeater 2miles away with a mountain between you and it may not work but a repeater 10 or more on a tower will. Where I live almost all structures are built with stucco and wire backing and block a lot of signal. Have you tried all repeaters you think are within range?

[WSKM915]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

Those maps are very coarse estimates that don’t take into account vegetation, terrain, buildings, etc. 

Get close enough that you can see the antenna of the repeater. Then you’re mostly assured of being close enough. Test at that distance. If it works start adding distance. If it doesn’t work there’s a different reason. 
Also, at least when testing, clear out your receive tone. That way you will hear everything. 

I drive out to my closest local repeater and was able to connect to it. I wasn’t able to hear anyone but did connect. It seems that I may need to install an antenna on my vehicle for better reception and get a more powerful radio.

[WSKM915]

1 hour ago, WSIF574 said:

Line of sight and what is in the way seems to be what is stopping your signal. A repeater 2miles away with a mountain between you and it may not work but a repeater 10 or more on a tower will. Where I live almost all structures are built with stucco and wire backing and block a lot of signal. Have you tried all repeaters you think are within range?

Yes I only have one that’s within range of me possibly reaching from my house.

[TNFrank]

A lot depends on your radio and antenna. With my KG-805g and a Nagoya 701g antenna I can hit a ground based GMRS Repeater 11 miles away. With my other radios and a decent antenna I can hit HAM Repeaters up on the White Tanks or South Mountain 16 miles away and a HAM Repeater on Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix(not sure how far it is)easily. 

Try to see how far away the Repeater is on the map from you and if it's up high and within 10 miles you should be able to high it if everything is set up right.

[WSIF574]

51 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

Yes I only have one that’s within range of me possibly reaching from my house.

Ok how far from the repeater did you get before you lost the ability to connect and from that point to home?

do you know how high the repeater antenna is

 

[WSKM915]

24 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

A lot depends on your radio and antenna. With my KG-805g and a Nagoya 701g antenna I can hit a ground based GMRS Repeater 11 miles away. With my other radios and a decent antenna I can hit HAM Repeaters up on the White Tanks or South Mountain 16 miles away and a HAM Repeater on Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix(not sure how far it is)easily. 

Try to see how far away the Repeater is on the map from you and if it's up high and within 10 miles you should be able to high it if everything is set up right.

It doesn’t appear to be very high off the ground. But we have a lot of trees and thick brush between. With my handheld radio I was able to reach about 2 miles.

[WSKM915]

24 minutes ago, WSIF574 said:

Ok how far from the repeater did you get before you lost the ability to connect and from that point to home?

do you know how high the repeater antenna is

 

It appears to be low to the ground. About 2 miles through thick brush and trees.

[WSIF574]

21 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

A lot depends on your radio and antenna. With my KG-805g and a Nagoya 701g antenna I can hit a ground based GMRS Repeater 11 miles away. With my other radios and a decent antenna I can hit HAM Repeaters up on the White Tanks or South Mountain 16 miles away and a HAM Repeater on Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix(not sure how far it is)easily. 

Try to see how far away the Repeater is on the map from you and if it's up high and within 10 miles you should be able to high it if everything is set up right.

To get good signal at 10 miles he will need the repeater at 100+ feet with minimal interference between. 
south mountain is not what 90% of the US is going to have for conditions. 2500ft + tower 

[WSIF574]

1 minute ago, WSKM915 said:

It appears to be low to the ground. About 2 miles through thick brush and trees.

[WSIF574]

4 minutes ago, WSKM915 said:

It appears to be low to the ground. About 2 miles through thick brush and trees.

Ok if the antenna is let’s say a house 15 ft or so. Its range won’t be much more than 4-5 miles in heavy wooded areas. My repeater ( RT97L 21 watts out with SWR at 1.4:1 )is at 25 ft. And out here with nothing in the way I get 6miles max. Antenna height is the most important. Next if you up the wattage with a mobile to 20-50 you might be able to push through to it. But if it is something like a retivis 97 with only 5 watts out you won’t receive