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[BKLIPP]

Hi. I am a long time cber and new to GMRS. I have recently purchased a BTECH 50x1 mobile and a Browning GMRS ant. I have everything hooked up with an swr of 1.1. I have heard other people talking on GMRS and repeater channels and I can't make any contact at all. Could anyone help me to solve this problem? I live in Concord NC. Thank you.

[wayoverthere]

3 hours ago, BKLIPP said:

Hi. I am a long time cber and new to GMRS. I have recently purchased a BTECH 50x1 mobile and a Browning GMRS ant. I have everything hooked up with an swr of 1.1. I have heard other people talking on GMRS and repeater channels and I can't make any contact at all. Could anyone help me to solve this problem? I live in Concord NC. Thank you.

So, up front, I'll say that the "stated intent" of GMRS is more of a "FRS-plus"...so a lot of users tend to stick to their group, run tones to filter out those outside their group, and generally not answer an outsider.  This does vary from area to area, sometimes quite significantly, but the reality is many areas don't have the hobbyist presence that we see on the site (not all areas have a ham-lite mentality).  Definitely not trying to be harsh, but it's important to go into it with reasonable expectations...I was a little disappointed when I started, to be honest.

That aside..let's talk technical limitations.  You likely won't have dealt with tones on CB.  There's two types, and they go by a few different names...PL and DPL (Private Line/Digital Private Line), Quiet/Dequiet, or just CTCSS/DCS (Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System/Digitally Coded Squelch).  In simple terms, these act as a filter on what you hear; if a signal has the same tone the filter is listening for, you hear it.  If not, it doesn't get through.  The same is in play for most repeaters; you need the right tone to get past the filter to be heard.  Many family (or other closed) groups will use tones so they only hear each other.

After the technical blocks, there's the mere range.  The more serious repeaters often run much higher gain antennas than any of us run on our cars, or most are likely to have at home.  One thing you can try is picking a repeater and driving closer to where it's expected to be; you can sometimes be a little more precise if you can find info on a repeater from a club or association site.  If the repeater is hearing you, many times you'll hear a blip of static or a tone after you unkey...if you hear that, you know you've at least opened the repeater, and if it works at that point, you know it's a range issue.

Finally, there are some inactive listings in the database.  Unfortunately, there is some level of dependence on the repeater owners to keep their listings up to date, and there isn't currently a system to 'vote' when the last confirmed usage occurred.  This shouldn't be an issue if you can hear people using the repeater, though.

Hope this gives you some things you can check off, and at least narrow down if it's a signal issue, an access tone issue, or people simply not answering.

 

p.s.  One final thought for the Btech, which is another roadblock I tripped over.  The preprogrammed channels are all you get for transmit channels; you CAN program more receive channels past the base 30, but they'll only ever be receive channels, even if they're in-bounds for GMRS.  I found this one the hard way, as i have two in my area on .575 that use different input tones.

[mbrun]

Hi. I am a long time cber and new to GMRS. I have recently purchased a BTECH 50x1 mobile and a Browning GMRS ant. I have everything hooked up with an swr of 1.1. I have heard other people talking on GMRS and repeater channels and I can't make any contact at all. Could anyone help me to solve this problem? I live in Concord NC. Thank you.

Welcome to myGMRS. Glad you are here.

Wayoverthere sums it up pretty well. His suggestion to get close to the repeater is a really good one. Try to get within a mile or less if you can, and they work you way back home after confirming you can open it up. I have done that many times and can be very enlightening.

What I have learned since using repeaters in GMRS is that most repeaters are low profile, meaning that their range is truly very limited, some not more than a mile or few. And often, you will find that listed repeaters are no longer in service. Depending upon where you live (like me near Cincinnati), you may be blessed with a repeater that is extremely high profile (covers large area), perhaps even covering your whole town.

As a reminder, repeaters are the private property of individuals. You are authorized to use it only if the owner gives you permission. Some will grant it, some will not. Some will list and identify their repeater in an open forum like myGMRS as an open one that does not individual permission.

If you find yourself using a particular repeater, consider supporting the owner with donations to help them cover their operating and maintenance expenses. Good repeaters are expensive to purchase, operate and maintain.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[GuySagi]

Welcome to the group and GMRS. I'm over in Raeford, NC, and it's crickets chirping here, too, which is OK. The only repeater I can reach from my home is in South Carolina, and the person who owns it was kind enough to grant me permission. I think I used it twice, to talk to him....but it's there if needed after one of our frequent tropical storms/hurricanes. In your part of the state I think you have a lot more to choose from and sending a short and polite note usually works (at least it did in my case, indicating I wasn't interested in wearing his repeater out). I'd set up a time for us to connect on air, but the Uhwarries between us would make it impossible.