"Wall to wall and tree top tall"...?

[PB92]

Hello all,

 

So, I'm in East Haven CT.  On my way home from work about 1230-1300) I listen to these two operators talking on channel 17 (462.000). Been listening for about 2 weeks. Now my MXT400 has 3 power settings, low is about 3w, med is about 15w, and high is about 40w.

 

I had the radio on low, when I could I keyed the mic, gave my call sign and said monitoring. Did that for a few days. No response. Then I went to medium power, same thing, nothing.

 

So today, 3/22/18, I listened to them all the way from about North Haven CT (about 1/2 way home). The closer I got to my house, their signal strength got higher, and then about 1000 feet before I got to my driveway, their signal pegged my meter all the way up. So I started looking for antennas on houses and vehicles, figuring these guys are right here, few houses away, basically right on top of me. Saw nothing.

 

Now I have lived here for 18 years, I know the neighborhood well.

 

I initially thought they were using a privacy code, I could hear them but they couldn't hear me..(if that's how the privacy codes work on GMRS)..don't know.

 

 Then they started talking about this last snow storm. Now in East Haven we got maybe 3 inches of snow. They were saying they got 14 inches. I said whoa, 14 inches, where are these guys??

 

Then one finally said......."yeah here in Suffolk County we got hit good". Suffolk County, that's in Long Island, NY. So I checked the distance, from East Haven, CT to the closest point in Suffolk County is 50 miles as the crow flies.

 

Sooo, if they are on ch17 GMRS, their signal is knocking my door down, I hear them crystal clear, and I keyed at 40w....how could they not hear me????????

 

Now if this was my CB, ok, I get it, I'm "shooting skip"........I have talked from CT to Indiana on skip...................but how is this working on GMRS??

[Logan5]

You are hearing a repeater output. they can not hear you unless you activate the repeater input on 467 with proper PL.DPL tone.

[couger100101]

Lol. Wow a bit shocking. Logan5, how far can you reach on high without repeater? I could just imagine your face when that meter pegged. What are you using for a mobile antenna? I have a friend in Groton that I'm trying to get him to buy a radio so we could talk. We use to talk on the CB back in HS. He is an Engineer for GDEB.

[Logan5]

Two yagi antennas pointed at each other one 25 feet and the other 35 feet @ 5 watts really only 3.7 a lil over 11 miles, with the limited height it was only 4 out of 5 but usable, now that I have 55 feet on my end is 5 out of 5, but we use the repeater, as a dedicated link takes up too much tower space. I truly wish I had access to the roof of a 12 to 20 story building, then I could do other UHF stuff with my tower. I shut down from time to time to scan the other GMRS channels, has been a wile. got a Mag NMO on the truck, use a cheap window clip in the new SUV, around the house, I use low power 500mw and a unity nub BNC antenna. Out and about I use the typical soft rod 12 inch antenna in the BNC version

[JohnE]

just as a reference,my midtown machine can be heard and talked through in Patchogue LI on the south shore. roughly 55 mi.

you're ~25mi from the north shore and ~35mi from the site you were hearing.

[PB92]

Hi Logan5, the repeater would explain how my meter is pegged. I hit them several times wide open ch17 at 40 watts, got nothing. So how do I find out the PL.DPL tone to talk with these folks?

 

Couger100101, on my Interceptor I'm using the Midland MXTA11 27 inch 6dB gain, mounted on the trunk lid through a hole with a NMO mount.  Of course the radio is the Midland MXT400.

[gatekeep]

Not surprising, there are several repeaters on LI that are on really top-notch tower sites and are heard for quite the distance. Based on your location its not impossible for you to be hearing these repeaters full-scale.

[PB92]

No doubt gatekeep, I have been operating high end CB radios for nearly 30 years, these guys from Suffolk County were blowing my doors down. I just don't know how to find out the PL.DPL tone of these guys. They are local to each other, like 5 minutes away.

[Soladaddy]

Does that 400 have a tone scan feature? Is the repeater listed in the repeater directory? with UHF, if they are up high, the signal will reach you. And it's going across water so no obstacles... 

[PB92]

Well, the 400 does not have a tone scan feature. I have no idea if their repeater is listed. All the radios screen shows is the channel I'm on, which was 17.

[gatekeep]

Channel 17 on most blister packs or radios that use Ch #'s have Ch 17 as 462.600.

[PB92]

Yeah I did check into that, yes ch17 is 462.000.    How would I go about finding out the repeater info to see if its listed in the directory?

[WRAF213]

If you can make contact with the repeater users again over the output, ask them for the repeater's tone and location. If it's a private system, they may not give it out. Alternatively, if the repeater sends a callsign, it may already be in the database under that callsign.

[JohnE]

https://mygmrs.com/browse?name=&location=&state=NY&frequency=600&output_tone=&input_tone=&type=&network=&ori=&travel=&sort=State&step=50

[mainehazmt]

462.000 ????

[axorlov]

Broken segment on your MTX400 display, perhaps? 462.000 MHz is not GMRS, it is business land mobile frequency, under Part 90.

[PB92]

No my mistake folks, it's 462.600. Never could type well............. :-(

[PB92]

Hey JohnE, I looked at that list for NY, only Suffolk County listing was a closed private system started by law enforcement for their families. My search continues. Oddly enough, the MXT400 receives great, everything works, but to date I have not made any contact with anybody.

 

I have it set on "scan" and when it stops on an active channel, I wait a little and announce "WQYX865 listening"..........or "monitoring"........

[JohnE]

that is more than likely what you were hearing. they have an extensive network.

[PB92]

I'm just a bit surprised that I cannot get any response. There is traffic here in CT on ch1,2,3,17,20. Maybe I have the radio setup wrong, I don't think I do................... :-O

[berkinet]

I'm just a bit surprised that I cannot get any response... ...Maybe I have the radio setup wrong, I don't think I do................... :-O

After transmitting, do you hear a short period of quiet carrier and then hear the carrier drop (i.e. a squelch tail) possibly ending in a beep tone? If not, you may have the wrong PL tone.

 

You might try using a second radio to listen to the output to see if you can hear yourself coming back through the repeater. Also, it may just be that the regular users keep to themselves. GMRS usage can be quite different from HAM or CB.

[gatekeep]

I'm just a bit surprised that I cannot get any response. There is traffic here in CT on ch1,2,3,17,20. Maybe I have the radio setup wrong, I don't think I do................... :-O

 

While I'm not sure what ch 1, 2 and 3 are on the MXT400; I would assume 17 and 20 are GMRS channels. Ch 17 (462.600) is as JohnE posted, one repeater system. and Ch 20 (462.675) is another system. AFAIK - there are two big groups on LI with repeaters at very high elevations that you would hear from your location. The first one on Ch 17 (462.600) is very very likely https://www.mygmrs.com/networks?action=view&id=272. The other on Ch 20 (462.675) is probably https://www.mygmrs.com/networks?action=view&id=253.

[PB92]

Yes berkinet, I do hear that. Midland manual says ch1: 462.562     ch2: 462.587    ch3: 462.612        Today on the way home on scanning, I heard "children" on ch1. I keyed and announced "WQYX865 listening".......did that a couple times then one of the children said "stop talking"...........soooo.....I think the radio is transmitting ok. Probably a couple kids playing on bubble packs.

 

There is a professional Communication/Radio shop here in Berlin, CT. They do PD, Fire, etc. I may stop there and ask for a tech to check it out. Dunno. I'm still learning the whole GMRS aspect, maybe I'm expecting it to be as busy as CB is.  

[WRAF213]

Virtually everything you hear on the interstitials is blister-pack radios, and particularly with the younger users there's a (false) expectation of privacy. I mentioned it somewhere else in the forums, but most people (not just children) I've talked to on the interstitials didn't know other people could communicate with them. The kids often get spooked when they hear other people around, even if they're on channel 1 with no tone. I think they expect the range to be a few hundred feet, like the old 49 MHz radios, regardless of how many miles the box claims for range. It's just best to leave them be, unless they're interfering with you (or others), or are in distress.

 

FRS is definitely more active than CB, but the usage is mostly far different than CB. 462.5625 is the best place to look for any activity, but people are usually looking for someone else they know rather than open conversation. GMRS concentrates on repeaters and acts much like ham.

[berkinet]

I'm just a bit surprised that I cannot get any response. There is traffic here in CT on ch1,2,3,17,20. Maybe I have the radio setup wrong, I don't think I do................... :-O

As @WRAF213 noted, there is a significant difference in the way the various public radio services are used in practice. On CB people delight in talking with total strangers, particularly when traveling. Of course, there are also those who have regular conversations with other users, either locally, or at distances "when the skip is in." Ham users also tend to be gregarious, but not nearly as much as CBers and then generally when traveling or working the low bands. In my observation, GMRS seems more to attract small, closed groups. Often community or family centered. Conversations tend to be practical rather than general rag chews. 

 

Which is to say, you may not be getting an answer back because they simply did not hear you (radio config) or because they do not know you and aren't sure why you are calling.

[PB92]

I agree, everything you said makes sense. Maybe in a way that's a good thing. I'll keep trying.