Configuring GMRS repeater on handheld with CHIRP

[WRQX938]

I just received my GMRS license and working on setting up my 2 GMRS radios (Baofeng) with CHIRP.  I am trying to add a couple local GMRS repeaters and not sure If I am setting them up correctly.  If I transmit on either of my GMRS I hear the squelch tail back from the repeater, but I am not hearing what I am transmitting on my other radio.  I am attaching a screen capture of my CHIRP settings as well.  The closest repeater to me is the one listed as HRN550 and that is the one that I have been testing with.  I set the tone mode to TSQL since the repeater is configured with both an input and output tone that match.  One other note if I transmit with 1 radio on GMRS channel 15, I do hear it on the repeater channel of the other radio.  According to MyGMRS the settings for the repeater are as follows:

Frequency: 462.550 Mhz

Output Tone: 136.5

Input Tone: 136.5

Repeater Type: Open System

Am I doing something wrong with my configuration or am I not understanding correctly how it should work.  If both radios are on the repeater channel and I transmit on 1 should I not hear it on the other as long as I can reach the repeater?

 

[wrci350]

"If I transmit on either of my GMRS I hear the squelch tail back from the repeater, but I am not hearing what I am transmitting on my other radio."

How close together are your radios when you are doing this?  If you are holding one and the other is sitting a couple feet away, it is quite likely that you are desensing the second radio when you transmit on the first one ... in other words, the only thing the second HT can "hear" is you transmitting, but since it is trying to listen to the [much weaker] signal coming back from the repeater, you get nothing.

Get a family member to take the second radio out in the back yard and try your test.  If you are hearing the squelch tail from the repeater, chances are you have the radios programmed correctly.

[WRQX938]

1 minute ago, wrci350 said:

"If I transmit on either of my GMRS I hear the squelch tail back from the repeater, but I am not hearing what I am transmitting on my other radio."

How close together are your radios when you are doing this?  If you are holding one and the other is sitting a couple feet away, it is quite likely that you are desensing the second radio when you transmit on the first one ... in other words, the only thing the second HT can "hear" is you transmitting.

Get a family member to take the second radio out in the back yard and try it.

Ok, that is good to know.  They were in fact within a foot or so of each other.  I will try that test and see what results I get.  Otherwise does the configuration in CHIRP look correct?

[wrci350]

Looks fine.  As I said, if you can hear the squelch tail then chances are you have it programmed correctly, since you are opening the squelch on the repeater and you can hear it when you stop transmitting.

[WRQX938]

26 minutes ago, wrci350 said:

Looks fine.  As I said, if you can hear the squelch tail then chances are you have it programmed correctly, since you are opening the squelch on the repeater and you can hear it when you stop transmitting.

OK, thanks.  I will do some testing over the weekend with the radios a distance apart and see how that goes. 

[WRQU306]

Do ALL repeaters repeat our voice message?

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WRQU306 said:

Do ALL repeaters repeat our voice message?

RF repeaters can repeat any type of radio signals, such as television, data, or voice. 

[WRQU306]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:33 PM, Sshannon said:

RF repeaters can repeat any type of radio signals, such as television, data, or voice. 

I was confused........The RT97s doesn't repeat/replay transmissions for testing. Theirs a "parrot" software that will replay/repeat my voice transmission for testing purposes. 

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, WRQU306 said:

I was confused........The RT97s doesn't repeat/replay transmissions for testing. Theirs a "parrot" software that will replay/repeat my voice transmission for testing purposes. 

I see what you were asking.  Yes, a parrot function is nice to have.  I have a couple digital radios and I use parrot rooms to test them without having to ask for a radio check.  For a repeater that processes voice transmissions in software and which has some small amount of memory, a parrot function which could be activated somehow would be a nice feature.

 

[WRTJ223]

This thread helped me so much! I had successfully programmed my radio by hand and then for then with the  KG-935G Chirp suddenly became compatible. Well then with Chirp I did something wonky. I just hit a repeater near my hometown and am just so excited. However, lesson learned know how to program by hand and also, bonus Chirp! Thank you again for this thread!!! On to programming and testing!