Any Columbia, SC GMRS users?

[AndyOnTheRadio]

@UncleYoda That's disappointing that the DAM 550 isn't there. The hard part of starting with GMRS is finding repeaters, calling out, and not getting the beep or hearing anyone. It makes you think that you've not set up your radio correctly.

After yesterday, I'm not sure the Leesville 650 is operational either.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

20 hours ago, MaxHeadroom said:

I am hoping to put one more up in the area just to try and bridge the gap between the two on the south side of Lake Murray so if anyone has leads on sites I am definitely interested.

@MaxHeadroom I'd be all for something on the south side of the lake. I'm new to this, but happy to help if you need it.

[MaxHeadroom]

On 10/31/2024 at 1:32 PM, UncleYoda said:

I'm hearing digital on 725 now so I can't stand to monitor it anymore.  It does have good coverage but he needs to kill that linking once and for all.

That would work the best for me but it being closed off to new members is what kept me from getting GMRS license 10 years earlier.

How far up the lake?  There is still the 550 on the Lexington side of the dam right?  And 625 on the Ballentine side should cover the lower half of the lake on the water and waterfront (and the owner is friendly).  And there's a 575 in Batesburg-Leesville but it's not open.  If you could get approval (big if), putting it on the same tower as the 147.000 would be my best suggestion.

I used to work for SC ETV and maintained that 147.000 repeater - the tower is empty minus the cell site on it now and the county's bus and bus maintenance repeaters.

There's definitely room on the tower and in the building at the base, but ETV is getting picky about people putting things on the towers unless they're a ham club (GMRS might be doable if I talk to my old boss) but otherwise they want to charge rent for the site.

 

I am down in the Gilbert/B-L area so I am hoping to get something to cover a little better. I did finally notice the .725 issue some time ago but I think its stopped since - unless my radio is just not unmuting for that mess anymore.

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, MaxHeadroom said:

the tower is empty

I knew the callsign changed but I didn't know it was moved.  The repeater listing (RB) still says

350 Feet Ant. Height

Quote

unless my radio is just not unmuting for that mess anymore.

I'll try listening again [yep, digital still there, can block w/ tone but I didn't want a tone on simplex channel].  He's still fighting the burper though.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

3 hours ago, MaxHeadroom said:

There's definitely room on the tower and in the building at the base, but ETV is getting picky about people putting things on the towers unless they're a ham club (GMRS might be doable if I talk to my old boss) but otherwise they want to charge rent for the site.

So @MaxHeadroom is there a way to use a current GMRS club or create one to leverage a positive outcome with ETV? Also, I've had many friends who have worked for ETV over the years.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

1 hour ago, UncleYoda said:

I'll try listening again [yep, digital still there, can block w/ tone but I didn't want a tone on simplex channel].  He's still fighting the burper though.

I was listening last night when the phantom burper struck. I almost fell out of my char.

[WSEZ]

Walhalla SC here. Usually on channels 16 and 17 listening to chatter from Atlanta but i never cut in.

[MaxHeadroom]

On 11/1/2024 at 5:06 PM, AndyOnTheRadio said:

So @MaxHeadroom is there a way to use a current GMRS club or create one to leverage a positive outcome with ETV? Also, I've had many friends who have worked for ETV over the years.

What I heard is ham clubs are still getting accommodated so I would think GMRS would as well under the same non-profit/"community benefit" vane. I have not tried to talk to ETV since I moved back but I can acquire an MTR2000 or Quantar easily enough to put up a repeater that would cover the entire Lexington County area easily.

My personal battle around here is finding a tower for a private VHF repeater which I was hoping to coordinate for use for SCSG and CERT but that effort stalls every time I try.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

9 hours ago, MaxHeadroom said:

What I heard is ham clubs are still getting accommodated so I would think GMRS would as well under the same non-profit/"community benefit" vane. I have not tried to talk to ETV since I moved back but I can acquire an MTR2000 or Quantar easily enough to put up a repeater that would cover the entire Lexington County area easily.

That sounds promising. I’d be up for starting a club if that’s what gets us on the tower. 

[UncleYoda]

4 hours ago, AndyOnTheRadio said:

That sounds promising. I’d be up for starting a club if that’s what gets us on the tower. 

@MaxHeadroom  ETV's ham activity is mostly coordinated through SCHEART, now even including the unlinked 210 repeater.  I hope you don't get them involved; that would kill any interest I might have, assuming I could even reach what you put up.. I left SCSG long ago.  And I checked on CERT and decided not to bother.  I just want to stay an independent radio operator and make my own decisions; we should be able to have comms without having bosses.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

4 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

@MaxHeadroom  ETV's ham activity is mostly coordinated through SCHEART, now even including the unlinked 210 repeater.  I hope you don't get them involved; that would kill any interest I might have, assuming I could even reach what you put up.. I left SCSG long ago.  And I checked on CERT and decided not to bother.  I just want to stay an independent radio operator and make my own decisions; we should be able to have comms without having bosses.

Comms without bosses is a great goal. I'm not sure what it would take to start a GMRS club in the Lexington area. Are there any currently? I know there is one in the Upstate.

[UncleYoda]

I don't know of a GMRS club specifically for Lexington.  The CSRA club includes the members-only Columbia and Gilbert repeaters and does have members from the area ($30/yr).  There are ham clubs in Lexington that could, if they wanted to, also support a GMRS repeater.  I'm not in Lexington Co. (close though) and what I can reach there depends on the details.  I think it might be better to accept members beyond that one county if they are in the coverage area.  There are some issues I would need to discuss before I would participate in a club.  But that would need to be discussed elsewhere.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

35 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

I don't know of a GMRS club specifically for Lexington.  The CSRA club includes the members-only Columbia and Gilbert repeaters and does have members from the area ($30/yr).  There are ham clubs in Lexington that could, if they wanted to, also support a GMRS repeater.  I'm not in Lexington Co. (close though) and what I can reach there depends on the details.  I think it might be better to accept members beyond that one county if they are in the coverage area.  There are some issues I would need to discuss before I would participate in a club.  But that would need to be discussed elsewhere.

I’m a member of CSRA and can hit the Gilbert repeater. I like the group, I’m just trying to connect and not getting much back. (Maybe I’m not doing something right.) 
 

I agree that the group would need to be beyond the county. It’s fun to think about for sure. I didn’t know if the club would need to be an LLC or a 501c3 or something like that.

[UncleYoda]

25 minutes ago, AndyOnTheRadio said:

I didn’t know if the club would need to be an LLC or a 501c3 or something like that.

As far as I know, there is no oversight.  FCC has a minimum membership number, as I recall, for ham club call signs.  But GMRS uses an individual's ID.  So, unless someone says otherwise, anyone can start a club just by saying so.  Tower owners may have their own requirement, however, and I'm not going to speculate on that.  Max probably knows more about that.  Another possibility is an existing club centered farther away expanding its coverage into Lexington and surrounding counties.   Less administrative overhead that way.

As far as not getting a reply on the Gilbert repeater, that's probably due to reduced activity without the links.  I can listen if you let me know when you're testing it.  I can't transmit back though so I would have to post here or something.  I could reply on one of the ham repeaters though - you can listen without a license.  Or just wait for Max to help you test.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

1 hour ago, UncleYoda said:

As far as not getting a reply on the Gilbert repeater, that's probably due to reduced activity without the links.  I can listen if you let me know when you're testing it.  I can't transmit back though so I would have to post here or something.  I could reply on one of the ham repeaters though - you can listen without a license.  Or just wait for Max to help you test.

Thanks for the offer. I'll send you a direct message and we can coordinate it from there.

[MaxHeadroom]

On 11/3/2024 at 1:02 PM, UncleYoda said:

@MaxHeadroom  ETV's ham activity is mostly coordinated through SCHEART, now even including the unlinked 210 repeater.  I hope you don't get them involved; that would kill any interest I might have, assuming I could even reach what you put up.. I left SCSG long ago.  And I checked on CERT and decided not to bother.  I just want to stay an independent radio operator and make my own decisions; we should be able to have comms without having bosses.

I completely understand the sentiment which is why I am looking myself to do something that is not linked to another club or entity. I called out last night on SCHEART between Florence and Columbia and never got a reply during rush hour no less - just tells me how the hams in the area respond to statewide linked repeater systems.

On 11/3/2024 at 5:39 PM, AndyOnTheRadio said:

Comms without bosses is a great goal. I'm not sure what it would take to start a GMRS club in the Lexington area. Are there any currently? I know there is one in the Upstate.

The CSRA GMRS group seems to be the closest. I tried to link up with them back in 2019 timeframe when they were just starting up and tried to offer some assistance/equipment but never got a reply. Sadly I sold those MTR2000s since then but getting a capable UHF repeater isn't monumental - I have a "throw away" VXR-7000 coming to me as we speak.

On 11/3/2024 at 9:00 PM, AndyOnTheRadio said:

Thanks for the offer. I'll send you a direct message and we can coordinate it from there.

I can be available as well with a heads up - I work from home so I am usually close enough to a radio and repeater.

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, MaxHeadroom said:

I can be available as well with a heads up - I work from home so I am usually close enough to a radio and repeater.

Which repeater(s) do you monitor most?  And later, if they're in range for me (Gilbert and Batesburg-Leesvile is not the best direction for me), it would help to get your callsign to know I'm talking to the right person - PM me that later if you are OK with that.  Based on what I learned about Andy's location, it will be difficult for me to make contact with him.

 

I'm not sure if I understood.  Is that private VHF repeater you want to put up for SCSG and CERT a different effort from this GMRS repeater you're looking into?  Would the GMRS repeater be open?

[UncleYoda]

On 11/7/2024 at 9:38 AM, MaxHeadroom said:

I completely understand the sentiment which is why I am looking myself to do something that is not linked to another club or entity.

Any update or is this kaput?  Like most forum discussions, it seems to have died.

 

I just checked and there are 3 different listings for 550 in Lexington Co., none of which are working (2 are stale, most recent is offline).   I'm getting highway flagmen on 575 (I doubt they're using FRS radios because they are a few miles from me).  [Do these flagmen always use 575 in other places too?]  And the occasional activity from Crowders Mtn. 575 repeater is still there. The Lexington 575 repeater is offline too but anyway it was Permission Required with no response to requests.  So I'm looking for a different home base frequency to routinely monitor.  I had an idea that if those in the area would agree on a tone we could use the 600 that mostly sits idle.  So IMO 141.3 would be best to start with (typical for open repeater or travel use).  Without a repeater, my range will be short but we do have several local GMRSers in range if they want to use it.  FWIW, I heard users from Central Time zone on 725 so it is still linked.  I don't know about the 650 and 700 members-only repeaters but I'm not monitoring those anymore.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

I am in the 650 and 700 members only and there is not a whole lot of traffic. I hope that changes soon.

I do think we need a working GMRS repeater in this area just to use in case of emergency if nothing else.

[H8SPVMT]

Have not heard a pip outta Hopkins in a long time.

I took a trip up I-26 and had the chance to talk a bit to a friend on Nesses 467.625 for a long way (I-95 - Columbia) w/o issue with my MXT400 (MIDLAND).  Nice and clear signal too.

 Just a poke about Midland, it works for me!!!!

[WSHJ233]

On 3/3/2025 at 7:38 PM, AndyOnTheRadio said:

I am in the 650 and 700 members only and there is not a whole lot of traffic. I hope that changes soon.

I do think we need a working GMRS repeater in this area just to use in case of emergency if nothing else.

Hey Andy,

I'm pretty sure you were my first ever GMRS contact.  Thanks for responding to my radio check last night.  I haven't heard much traffic in this area at all.  It would be nice if there was a Lexington area repeater.  Might have to work on that...

Anyway, I'm new to GMRS, so thanks again.  Trying to get my family interested right now.  We're spread out in Red Bank and West Columbia.

Steve

[UncleYoda]

2 hours ago, WSHJ233 said:

  It would be nice if there was a Lexington area repeater.  Might have to work on that...

There is, but it requires paid membership (more for family).  700 in Gilbert area of Lexington Co. and 650 in Columbia.

 

The other, inactive ones listed for 550 and 575 might come back, hard to say.

[WSHJ233]

36 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

There is, but it requires paid membership (more for family).  700 in Gilbert area of Lexington Co. and 650 in Columbia.

 

The other, inactive ones listed for 550 and 575 might come back, hard to say.

Great, thanks.  I didn't really consider the range of the Gilbert repeater.  I'm on 650 and 725 right now.  I'll take a look.  Thank you.

[radiogrunt]

I'm surprised that the Oconee county guys don't hear the Pickens 462.700 and the Anderson 462.575 repeaters. I would list the Six Mile 462.550 repeater but it went up in smoke due to the wildfire.

[AndyOnTheRadio]

12 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

There is, but it requires paid membership (more for family).  700 in Gilbert area of Lexington Co. and 650 in Columbia.

 

The other, inactive ones listed for 550 and 575 might come back, hard to say.

I did discover that there is a Lexington 550 Zello group. I'm the only one in it, but that's something...