You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?

[WSER584]

If i do a small repeater 10w and an antenna on my roof any idea of how much better that just a handheld? Don't forget i can go in any direction from the house then not just handheld to handheld.

[SteveShannon]

1 minute ago, WSER584 said:

If i do a small repeater 10w and an antenna on my roof any idea of how much better that just a handheld? Don't forget i can go in any direction from the house then not just handheld to handheld.

What do you mean by “better”?
Why would you want a repeater instead of simply a base station with an antenna on the roof?

[LeoG]

Just now, WSER584 said:

If i do a small repeater 10w and an antenna on my roof any idea of how much better that just a handheld? Don't forget i can go in any direction from the house then not just handheld to handheld.

Depends on who you are trying to contact.  If you are trying to contact your house you don't need a repeater, just the antenna setup.  If the repeater setup is 1/2 way between where you will be and who you want to contact that's a good reason for a repeater.

In my case I've setup at my shop which is a couple miles from my house.  Not exactly a good place normally but my house is in a valley and my repeater has a 100' higher ground level.  So when I am a town or 2 away I can still talk with the little woman whereas if I just set up an antenna at the house it wouldn't have made any difference.

There is a mountain range about 5 miles east of my shop I'd love to setup on.  I would have access over the mountains and be up 500' higher than my shop.  But that's a pipe dream.

[WSER584]

ok, thanks. My main goal is to stay in touch after a hurricane in Florida with family. I can only get about 2 miles handheld to handheld, but family is about 6-8 miles away. Probably won't work unless i spend a lot. oh well. 

[LeoG]

If you put an antenna up and they put an antenna up on their roof you might be able to contact each other.  Everything depends on what's in the way.  If there's a hill/mountain it's not happening.  If it's a bunch of trees it's possible, if it's flat country and open then it shouldn't be an issue at all.

Is there a member of your family that is in the middle of all of you?  That would be the ideal person to house the repeater.

[LeeBo]

When I first got my license, Repeater Book listed a repeater 1.8 miles from my house. I was never able to connect to it and others could not hear me when using the same repeater.  I reached out to the owner only to find out they had to remove it by request of the property owner.  So yes, I did the whole "hey, I can start up a repeater" thought.  Then I got with the owner again and he let me know what all was involved in repeater ownership and I quickly changed my mind.

[WRUE951]

On 6/1/2024 at 2:24 AM, WSCU465 said:

Guys, just a quick question... Similar to ham radio repeaters; is there any coordination involved to prevent interference from one repeater to another? I know you set PL Tones on the input/output but my question is more for permanent installations.  Sorry I'm new to GMRS.

i'm still laughing..  Now you know why the linkers almost turned GMRS into a frantic zoo..  

[GreggInFL]

On 9/19/2024 at 9:06 AM, WSER584 said:

ok, thanks. My main goal is to stay in touch after a hurricane in Florida with family. I can only get about 2 miles handheld to handheld, but family is about 6-8 miles away. Probably won't work unless i spend a lot. oh well. 

I'm in Florida as well and feel your pain, i.e. two miles between handhelds.  You could cover that distance by simply plugging into a better antenna.  I suggest you try a mag mount antenna on your vehicle and plug it into the handhelds.  Cheap way to start and since we're talking emergency only, rather than daily use, the worse thing you'd have to do is agree to drive to a local hill.

I've used this with my hand held and it works rather well.

Is there a repeater near you?

[DominoDog]

What is the regular procedure when there is an established repeater in an area and someone else comes in and installs a new repeater on the exact same frequency? Like within a couple of miles of each other.

I left them a comment on their repeater, which they have offered for public use, stating there was already a repeater just a few miles away on that same frequency. They deleted my comment.

To me it is just ignorant to put up another repeater, in the exact same area, on the exact same frequency, as another repeater that has already been established in the area, that is at a higher elevation, covers all of the same area and more.

[gortex2]

So my guess is a argument between repeater a owner and repeater b owner. Normal case would be pick another frequency. 

[OffRoaderX]

20 minutes ago, DominoDog said:

What is the regular procedure when there is an established repeater in an area and someone else comes in and installs a new repeater on the exact same frequency? Like within a couple of miles of each other.

I left them a comment on their repeater, which they have offered for public use, stating there was already a repeater just a few miles away on that same frequency. They deleted my comment.

To me it is just ignorant to put up another repeater, in the exact same area, on the exact same frequency, as another repeater that has already been established in the area, that is at a higher elevation, covers all of the same area and more.

There is no procedure  - whoever has the best machine/location, wins..
However - if one of the two is not busy very often, it may not be an issue.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, DominoDog said:

What is the regular procedure when there is an established repeater in an area and someone else comes in and installs a new repeater on the exact same frequency? Like within a couple of miles of each other.

I left them a comment on their repeater, which they have offered for public use, stating there was already a repeater just a few miles away on that same frequency. They deleted my comment.

To me it is just ignorant to put up another repeater, in the exact same area, on the exact same frequency, as another repeater that has already been established in the area, that is at a higher elevation, covers all of the same area and more.

The closest thing to a "procedure" would be for you to call them up and talk to them.  Unfortunately, there are no frequency coordinators in GMRS like there are in ham radio. 

[LeoG]

It's been 4 months since I put up my repeater and I just realized there is another repeater 7 miles away on 600.  In that 4 months I don't think I've heard them use it once.  They also have a repeater on 625 and those antennas are either on the same tower or within 100 yards of one another.  That repeater I knew existed because it's also on 625, the same channel as one of the repeaters on a mountain that has a 50 mile range.  The mountain top repeater went up after the other 625.  Probably because it's not used that often.  And the mountaintop 625 isn't used that often either.

[okinawanmon]

wow, i just ran into this post. if someone wants to put up a repeater, so what?! sound like you dont want to a GMRS repeater to interupt your HAM operations.

[LeoG]

Same way I think about it.  "Some people" are in ideal conditions and don't understand the rough terrain others are in.  Even with my repeater, because I can't elevate my antenna to 200' or more I still have a lot of areas that can't be reached.  I live in a valley and just want to be able to connect to family 10 miles away.

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, okinawanmon said:

wow, i just ran into this post. if someone wants to put up a repeater, so what?! sound like you dont want to a GMRS repeater to interupt your HAM operations.

So sounds like you’re not totally up on frequencies of ham and gmrs.  A gmrs repeater will never interrupt a ham operation in any way.  They have nothing to do with each other in any way.  The reason that not every one should just randomly put up a repeater is the lack of pairs.  If every one put up a repeater then no one would be able to use those frequencies since it would be so garbled up by all the repeaters at every one’s home.   Many people put up repeaters to talk from point a to point B they think that repeaters are some type of magic that transmits further.  Many people put up a repeater to talk to multiple friends or family within 5miles not understanding that good base stations at home would do the same thing.   Very few people actually need repeaters.  And those that do really need them usually are very responsible about the frequency pairs they choose as well as the location, height, and power they put out.  

[LeoG]

People tend to think of repeaters in a commercial way.  On a mountaintop with a 40-200 mile range.  There are tons of smaller repeaters around that do neighborhoods and towns.  With ranges of 5-15 miles, mostly due to antenna height limitations.

[WQAI363]

You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?

Now, since there isn't a frequency coordinator within the General Mobile Radio Service. Meaning, it's up to us cooperate with one another when it comes to setting a GMRS repeater. Just as FCC's old Part 95 A and now new Part 95 E, no one own's particular channel, whether simplex or repeater pair. Then again, no one own's a CTCSS or DTCSS.

Of course, out of respect for one another, it's commonsense to use different subtone if the main channel is on the same pair.

I sincerely apologize to some individuals who may say, nah dah Adam. As we did not know that already. Then again, there some individuals who don't really read through the FCC's Rules and Regulations in their entirety. I must confess, I tend not to research important aspects the FRS/GMRS and MURS. But I do try to understand the legist of the original post before adding my two cents. Well, you can insult me and call me a bunch names, just don't call me late for dinner. LOL

Edited October 16 by Adamdaj
Need To Corrections

[WRTC928]

Interesting thread. I've had my license for about 3 years but when I lived in Alaska, there were good strong repeaters in the area I usually traveled. I now live in Oklahoma and there's only one repeater (NE of me) I can access about 30 miles away. I can hit it just fine from my house but not in any other part of my small town, at least as far I've found. I've toyed with the idea of putting up a repeater but at present, I'm not sure it would avail me much. My house is on the second-highest point for miles around -- which is probably why I can hit the repeater 30 miles away. Unfortunately the highest point for miles around is about 1/2 mile due west of me and is definitely high enough to block my signal. Most of the town is southwest of me, so maybe it would still be useful. It certainly would be useful to people east and south of me but not if they wanted to talk to someone further west. Someday I may get together with another operator and have them drive around and see where we can get simplex service to my house. That should give me a rough idea what the coverage would be, I think, although if there's a better way, I'm open to suggestions.

[LeoG]

I feel your pain.  I live in a valley.  North and south are open for about 20-25 miles but east and west are mountains on either side about 5 miles away.  Been playing with Radio Online Mobile Calculator and I have put the virtual antenna up to 5000 feet and there are still lots and lots of areas I can't reach theoretically.

[WRXB215]

9 hours ago, LeoG said:

I have put the virtual antenna up to 5000 feet and there are still lots and lots of areas I can't reach

This is just the sort of thing that makes me want to look into NVIS. But you have to have a ham license to do that. At one of our club meetings recently a guy talked about doing that.

[SteveShannon]

10 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

This is just the sort of thing that makes me want to look into NVIS. But you have to have a ham license to do that. At one of our club meetings recently a guy talked about doing that.

It’s not a regulatory limitation.  NVIS would work at CB frequencies as well. But, the range of bands available to us hams certainly makes it easier to experiment with things like this. If you try it, Terry, let me know how it goes.

[DominoDog]

On 10/12/2024 at 9:44 AM, okinawanmon said:

wow, i just ran into this post. if someone wants to put up a repeater, so what?! sound like you dont want to a GMRS repeater to interupt your HAM operations.

Sounds to me like you should spend more time in a book learning how radios work before jumping down someone's throat for having a question. This whole "hams vs gmrs" thing is the dumbest stuff I've seen in a while. It's perpetuated by certain individuals that like to use the phrase some people to stir the pot for engagement and clicky-clicks, but for the rest of us it's getting pretty stale.

[LeoG]

One reason to have a repeater is so you can talk using an HT in an area instead of being strapped to a stationary base setup.  I have this at my shop.  I can keep an HT on me so my wife can get a hold of me whether I'm in the machine area or the finishing area or talking with some of the other businesses in the building area.  Sort of wish I could have a double setup so I could have the same setup for my wife where she could go out in the back yard and hit the shop repeater.  But I need a 40' antenna setup to make the connection unfortunately.

Of course I use it so I can go out in my truck around town and still be in contact with the little woman.

[WRXB215]

8 hours ago, LeoG said:

Sort of wish I could have a double setup so I could have the same setup for my wife where she could go out in the back yard and hit the shop repeater.  But I need a 40' antenna setup to make the connection unfortunately.

You can fix this problem, just keep it hush hush when you do.