Skip On GMRS

[Guest Junior]

"Hello" everyone,

I was just curious. Does "Skip" happen on GMRS, like it does on CB radio? I have never heard, the GMRS community talking about skip. Also, if it does not happen...why not?

Regards

[wayoverthere]

34 minutes ago, Guest Junior said:

"Hello" everyone,

I was just curious. Does "Skip" happen on GMRS, like it does on CB radio? I have never heard, the GMRS community talking about skip. Also, if it does not happen...why not?

Regards

From what I've read, the shorter wavelengths of gmrs pass through the atmosphere rather than bouncing back like the longer wavelengths of cb and similar longer wavelengths.

Gmrs can experience some tropospheric ducting similar to 2m frequencies, though usually not to the same extent.

[JohnE]

its called ducting and yes it can and does happen under the right conditions. mostly weather related.

[PACNWComms]

There is a thread going on about this right now. 

 

 

[oldjeep30]

 I have noticed on the vhf propagation map when it is red in my area. I get better coverage on gmrs.

[MichaelLAX]

Link for that map please?

[oldjeep30]

2 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

Link for that map please?

 just google vhf propagation map and you should see it.

[wayoverthere]

6 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

Link for that map please?

http://aprs.mennolink.org/

[MichaelLAX]

9 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

http://aprs.mennolink.org/

Thank you!  Do you have links to propagation maps for HF other than:

DXMAPS 4.2 - QSO/SWL real time information

[wayoverthere]

4 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

Thank you!  Do you have links to propagation maps for HF other than:

DXMAPS 4.2 - QSO/SWL real time information

I haven't run across any, but I'll keep an eye out..Google found https://www.voacap.com/hf/ via https://www.ke6mgb.com/dx-and-propagation-maps/ if those are any help.

[MichaelLAX]

That is helpful, now that I am getting more active with better solar propogation on HF!

[AdmiralCochrane]

GMRS is more closely related to ham UHF. It actually is in the UHF frequency range, just not in the assigned band.

 

[Guest MikeD]

I have heard skip that I believe is coming from an airliner passing overhead. I was recently listening to gmrs channel 16, which is also the repeater downlink for a local repeater. I heard a person key up and give his position 186 miles from me. I suspect he was either on channel 16 and the signal bounced off the bottom of an airliner, or he was using a repeater locally and his uplink bounced. It is the second time in about a year I've had very similar experience.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, Guest MikeD said:

I have heard skip that I believe is coming from an airliner passing overhead. I was recently listening to gmrs channel 16, which is also the repeater downlink for a local repeater. I heard a person key up and give his position 186 miles from me. I suspect he was either on channel 16 and the signal bounced off the bottom of an airliner, or he was using a repeater locally and his uplink bounced. It is the second time in about a year I've had very similar experience.

More likely tropospheric ducting which is caused by an atmospheric condition and affects UHF signals. 

[WRYZ926]

A big change in atmospheric temps like in spring and fall mornings can also cause ducting. Low cloud cover during storms is another example.

I live in Mid Missouri about an hour east of Columbia and 1 1/2 hours west of St Louis. When atmospheric conditions are just right we can hear the Pacific. Mo GMRS repeater just as strong as our GMRS repeater. Both are on the same channel and use the same tones.

There has also been times that I have talked on the GMRS repeater 50 miles west of me with a guy around Springfield Il. Conditions have to be just right for that to happen. And that usually happens in the spring and fall due to temperature inversions.

Another example happened last week. My brother and I both have UHF Allstar nodes. We were using the same frequency and tones since we live 19 miles apart and never had an issue until then. We use no more than 5 watts when using our nodes. That day there was a heavy storm in between us which was bouncing our low power signals so that I could hear him at 1 watt and he could hear me at 5 watts. We couldn't hear each other once the storm moved out. And yes I changed the frequency my node uses after that. 

[WRTC928]

I sometimes hear traffic from a GMRS repeater in Tulsa 110 miles away. I guess it's possible we have a good enough line of sight for that, but I've also wondered if sometimes atmospheric conditions are causing some sort of skip. If it were due to line of sight, I think I'd hear it more than once every 1-2 weeks.

[Lscott]

1 minute ago, WRTC928 said:

I sometimes hear traffic from a GMRS repeater in Tulsa 110 miles away. I guess it's possible we have a good enough line of sight for that, but I've also wondered if sometimes atmospheric conditions are causing some sort of skip. If it were due to line of sight, I think I'd hear it more than once every 1-2 weeks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation

[Borage257]

Check this site out

 

Tropospheric Ducting Forecast for VHF & UHF Radio & TV

[WRUE951]

One fall morning last year i was picking up repeater station from LA here in the Mojave Desert 150 miles north.  The signal was coming like they were a block away.. Lasted about a minute and went away.. Every onnce in awhile i hear stations coming in that are not local.  Usually when it's cooler out

[WRCZ387]

12 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

A big change in atmospheric temps like in spring and fall mornings can also cause ducting.

Here in FL there've been band openings in the winter & spring when the mornings & evenings have been cool

I'm in the Tampa Bay area close to the Gulf & several times I've connected to repeaters up towards the FL Panhandle

I know of ops that live on the East side of Tampa Bay that have hit repeaters on the East Coast when the conditions allow it

A Tip: on those cool mornings & evenings, check the 162 MHz NOAA weather channels, if you start copying NOAA stations from out of town that's a good indicator of a band opening

[MarkInTampa]

6 hours ago, WRCZ387 said:

Here in FL there've been band openings in the winter & spring when the mornings & evenings have been cool

I'm in the Tampa Bay area close to the Gulf & several times I've connected to repeaters up towards the FL Panhandle

I know of ops that live on the East side of Tampa Bay that have hit repeaters on the East Coast when the conditions allow it

A Tip: on those cool mornings & evenings, check the 162 MHz NOAA weather channels, if you start copying NOAA stations from out of town that's a good indicator of a band opening

Hi Greg, long time no hear! When I first setup my base station a few years ago there was a really decent band opening here in the Tampa Bay area. Me and another somewhat local on the other side of the bay (that would have been YOU!) were hopping all around the state on GMRS. I was feeling pretty pumped about how the new base was doing until I found out you were using a HT outside your car port. It deflated my ego just a bit. I learned a lesson, when the band is open it doesn't matter your equipment you can get may miles. My personal best is Tampa to both the Valdosta Ga repeaters - around 210 miles, but its only happened one night in three years.

[WRYZ926]

9 hours ago, WRCZ387 said:

Here in FL there've been band openings in the winter & spring when the mornings & evenings have been cool.

A Tip: on those cool mornings & evenings, check the 162 MHz NOAA weather channels, if you start copying NOAA stations from out of town that's a good indicator of a band opening

We see temperature inversions more in the spring and fall here in Missouri. Though we have seen a few openings lately since the daily high temperatures have been in the upper 70s and low 80s. There have been a few openings on the 2m band lately and guys have been chasing long distance contacts on side band.

And checking the NOAA channels is a good idea to see what propagation is doing.