is anyone using GMRS in the little rock area?

[towboatchief]

i live in the little rock and surrounding area, i just recently started into GMRS. but what very little time i have been listening and monitoring GMRS around my area no one is on the air, no one talking other than some doctors office where the staff talk to each other, and some kids that play on the lower channels, so my question is the love for GMRS in this area faded away, or are there still some eager talkers ready to reach out and make some conversations?   

 

i will add that i use a mobile radio that is in my truck. wouxun 1000g with a browning br450 NMO mount

[ULTRA2]

I would check mygmrs.com to see if you have repeaters in your local area. To answer your question on wither gmrs dying off in your area is open for interpretation

[WyoJoe]

i live in the little rock and surrounding area, i just recently started into GMRS. but what very little time i have been listening and monitoring GMRS around my area no one is on the air, no one talking other than some doctors office where the staff talk to each other, and some kids that play on the lower channels, so my question is the love for GMRS in this area faded away, or are there still some eager talkers ready to reach out and make some conversations?   

 

i will add that i use a mobile radio that is in my truck. wouxun 1000g with a browning br450 NMO mount

You may want to be more specific about your location. According to MyGMRS, there are a few GMRS repeaters in the area surrounding Palmdale, CA, which is very close to Little Rock, CA. I'm sure there are other towns called Little Rock in other states, and at least once city of the same name in Arkansas. From your post, it doesn't specify which "Little Rock" you are referring to.

 

As for "eager talkers" on GMRS, it has been pointed out on several other threads, that GMRS is not ham/amateur radio, and is mostly used to talk with friends and family. GMRS seems to be widely used (occasionally) for 4 wheelers and others that are traveling together in a caravan. It doesn't seem to be used extensively for "rag chews" (conversations with other users) from what I've read on this site and elsewhere.

 

While this is not exclusively true, it does not seem that there is a large base of users that are just hanging out waiting on others to chat with. Your best bet would be to find one or more local repeaters in your area and monitor them for activity. With appropriate permission from the repeater owner, you can ask to join in on the activity when you hear an interesting conversation.

 

In my case, I am getting into GMRS so I can communicate with my family at short range, without the need for any of them to obtain ham licenses. With the ham license, you are the exclusive user, whereas the GMRS license covers your family as well, so my single GMRS license covers my wife and kids.

[n4gix]

You may want to be more specific about your location.

According to qrz.com he is from Frazier Park, CA 93225

[towboatchief]

please forgive me, you are right, my place in question lacks clarity. the town i was referring to is Little Rock AR,  and surrounding area.

[Edmo01]

On 4/13/2021 at 10:12 PM, towboatchief said:

i live in the little rock and surrounding area, i just recently started into GMRS. but what very little time i have been listening and monitoring GMRS around my area no one is on the air, no one talking other than some doctors office where the staff talk to each other, and some kids that play on the lower channels, so my question is the love for GMRS in this area faded away, or are there still some eager talkers ready to reach out and make some conversations?   

 

i will add that i use a mobile radio that is in my truck. wouxun 1000g with a browning br450 NMO mount

I live just north of you in Cabot and also have noted little use of GMRS in our area.

As WyoJoe mentioned above, I look at GMRS as a reliable means of communications within my family circle.  I use it most often when out hiking or hunting.  The beauty is the circle can easily be expanded to unlicensed friends and kids with the introduction of unlicensed FRS radios.

I’m not trying to encourage you to “switch teams”, but when it comes to talking outside of my family circle I turn to my 2 meter & 70cm amateur radios.  You will find many amateur stations conversing on the large number of repeaters located throughout Arkansas, especially around Little Rock. 

I don’t look to only one “platform” to meet all of my communications needs, but rather try to capitalize on the merits of both amateur radios and GMRS.  I find they both have advantages over the other.

On edit:  The closest GMRS repeater to you is on the west side of Greenbrier, Arkansas.  I have talked to the repeater owner over it and it seems to work great.  However, it’s range is limited and will not reach to Little Rock.

Edmo
 

 

[Doctnj]

On 5/26/2021 at 8:39 AM, towboatchief said:

please forgive me, you are right, my place in question lacks clarity. the town i was referring to is Little Rock AR,  and surrounding area.

Hey if you guys get a super tall tower there are some folks in north part of the state. It was kind of a build it and they will come deal. I got into it.  Found a repeater just for fun hit it.  Talked to the guy that built it by asking for radio check.  Now we have at least 3 that talk pretty regularly.  In the erra of text it puts me outside my developed comfort zone. A conversation takes effort.