Repeater Nets?

[Newb]

I'm sitting in my living room listening to my GMRS-9R on GMRS-22.  I'm hearing call signs from ALL over the US.  The closest repeater that I'm aware of is 45 miles away with a published range of 30 miles.  Is there any documentation on repeater nets that would explain how I'm hearing these conversations?

[OffRoaderX]

My guess is they are linked via the internet.

My repeater is connected to the internet via the Zello app, so people from anywhere in the world can use it, but there are other ways to do it.

[Newb]

I follow your YT channel! Great stuff and it led me to buy the GMRS-9R that I was listening to.  How would I be hearing the repeater net if I don't have a repeater in range of my HT?

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, Newb said:

  How would I be hearing the repeater net if I don't have a repeater in range of my HT?

If it was being transmitted from a repeater, and you heard it, then you have a repeater in range of your HT.

"Published range" is an estimate, not a fixed distance.  Your FARS may vary.

[dosw]

Usually the repeater published range is just a number as a radius from the antenna. In real world RF propagation it's not that simple. I can pretty easily hit a repeater 22 miles away from me with a 40 mile published range. There is another repeater five miles away that I usually cannot hit from home, and it has a published range of 20 miles. The difference, really, is that I have almost perfect line of sight to the repeater 40 miles away. The one 20 miles away has a mountain between us. It doesn't matter if you're only five miles apart if there's several miles of dirt and rock between.

In your case, you may be hearing a repeater over 45 miles away because the conditions are such that you can pick it up. Those favorable conditions may include one or more of the following: Most importantly, line of sight. After that, a good receiving antenna and good receiver. And of course factors such as minimal interference on the frequency, a good transmitter and good transmission antenna.

[Newb]

Mystery solved!!! There appears to be a new repeater in my area, Lincoln 725!  I have requested access to it.  The published range covers me quite well which I can attest to from a loud clear signal 28 miles away.