Hello! Is anyone out there in North Dallas (McKinney/Frisco)?

[NitroNarco]

Hello all,  New GMRS user here.  Looking for other user contacts in the local area to radio check/chat with occasionally.  Unfortunately, I've had little success finding any contacts or repeaters in this area other than the occasional child asking if anyone is out there on GMRS5 .  

[fe2o3]

If you have an external antenna then try Channel 17 after 9 or 10pm.  There a group of guys that hang out there, simplex.  I'm not quite sure where they are but west Plano is my best guess from driving around.  I'm over here in McKinney just west of US75 and Virginia.

[NitroNarco]

Thanks!  I’m just using a couple HT right now.  Not sure if I'm going to set up a base at home or in my truck yet.  Looks like we’re fairly close in proximity.  I'm Near Custer & Virginia by the Aero Club.

I still haven't connected to any repeaters and only made contact on channel 5 with a kid and his parent a couple times.

[TXFitz]

I'm a newbie as well and in Prosper near Custer and Prosper Trail.  I only have a HT at the moment but have a mobile/base ordered.  Are there any repeaters we can reach in the area?

[NitroNarco]

TXFitz, I'm probably newer at this than you   I've had no luck connecting with listed repeaters so far.  Could be my settings, could be my radio won’t reach.

[fe2o3]

Nitro',

  The only GMRS repeater I've been able to bring up was in Sherman (I visit Denison every few months).  There's another one that I hear from time to time which, I think, is the Rockwall machine.  Supposedly, with repeaters in Denton and Greenville, GMRS really could use one right in between them along US380 right here in McKinney.   Right now, I have an Anytone AT-779UV (pretty much the same hardware as a Radioddity DB20 and Retevis RA25) for the car with a gaggle of HAM HTs that will listen  to GMRS as well.  It's 20-watts which I think has more than enough power and is only about $100.  I've been having fun programming it.

FWIW, I'm fairly new to GMRS but I've been a ham for almost 30 years.

 

        -Rusty-

[NitroNarco]

On 7/29/2022 at 3:57 AM, fe2o3 said:

Nitro',

  The only GMRS repeater I've been able to bring up was in Sherman (I visit Denison every few months).  There's another one that I hear from time to time which, I think, is the Rockwall machine.  Supposedly, with repeaters in Denton and Greenville, GMRS really could use one right in between them along US380 right here in McKinney.   Right now, I have an Anytone AT-779UV (pretty much the same hardware as a Radioddity DB20 and Retevis RA25) for the car with a gaggle of HAM HTs that will listen  to GMRS as well.  It's 20-watts which I think has more than enough power and is only about $100.  I've been having fun programming it.

FWIW, I'm fairly new to GMRS but I've been a ham for almost 30 years.

 

        -Rusty-

Thanks Rusty,  I've requested access to both Greenville and Denton.  Greenville responded back quickly saying I had approval, but I’m only in that area once a month..  Still waiting on approval for Denton.  Right now Im only using HTs and really want to buy a 50 Watt for the truck, but will hold off to see how much I use these.  I'm so new at this I couldn't say if I'm connecting to repeaters on not.  For instance:  Greenville 550 shows input and output tones of 141.3.  It doesn’t show a +- offset setting.  So I'm a still little confused even after reading manuals multiple times.  Ive watched almost all of Notarubicons videos and Im going to self label myself as one of the so called "stupid people".  I have 3 HTs: Baofeng UV-5R, BR-F8HP and a UV-9G.  I also agree that another local repeater would be pretty nice.  I pretty much listen to the trash pickup guys fighting in the 463 range and the occasional GMRS call out.

[fe2o3]

3 hours ago, NitroNarco said:

Thanks Rusty,  I've requested access to both Greenville and Denton.  Greenville responded back quickly saying I had approval, but I’m only in that area once a month..  Still waiting on approval for Denton.  Right now Im only using HTs and really want to buy a 50 Watt for the truck, but will hold off to see how much I use these.  I'm so new at this I couldn't say if I'm connecting to repeaters on not.  For instance:  Greenville 550 shows input and output tones of 141.3.  It doesn’t show a +- offset setting.  So I'm a still little confused even after reading manuals multiple times.  Ive watched almost all of Notarubicons videos and Im going to self label myself as one of the so called "stupid people".  I have 3 HTs: Baofeng UV-5R, BR-F8HP and a UV-9G.  I also agree that another local repeater would be pretty nice.  I pretty much listen to the trash pickup guys fighting in the 463 range and the occasional GMRS call out.

The ONLY offset setting in GMRS, when used, is +5 MHz.  Most GMRS radios will handle that.  Ham radios, on the other hand, usually need to be told what offset to use, especially if set to xmit out-of-band.  Even in-band ham repeater offsets vary according to which band they're operating in and what region of the country you're in.

FYI/FWIW, a repeater's output tone is only useful if you're getting interference on the repeater's output frequency OR there is another repeater (or repeaters) in the area on the same frequency pair.  If the repeater's output is weak, having that tone detection turned on can, per my experience, prevent you from hearing said repeater, as scratchy as it may be.

[TXFitz]

On 7/28/2022 at 5:47 PM, NitroNarco said:

TXFitz, I'm probably newer at this than you   I've had no luck connecting with listed repeaters so far.  Could be my settings, could be my radio won’t reach.

I've only had my license for a bit over a week.  I've listened with the HTs but have yet to talked to anyone.  I just received my Wouxun KG1000 and will be setting it up as a base with a mobile antenna.

Rusty, I'd like to learn more about your ham radios that will listen to GMRS.  I am thinking about studying for my ham license but want to listen to all the bands before I make the leap.

[fe2o3]

'Fitz,

    Most any UHF-capable ham radio is capable of listening to GMRS or anything else up to ~ 470-MHz.  Getting them to transmit is another story entirely.  Your KG1000 will let you listen to more than you thought existed.

If you and Nitro wanna get together sometime and talk radios, by all means, just lemme know.  I'm available most any time.

        -Rusty-

[TXFitz]

On 8/1/2022 at 3:02 AM, fe2o3 said:

'Fitz,

    Most any UHF-capable ham radio is capable of listening to GMRS or anything else up to ~ 470-MHz.  Getting them to transmit is another story entirely.  Your KG1000 will let you listen to more than you thought existed.

If you and Nitro wanna get together sometime and talk radios, by all means, just lemme know.  I'm available most any time.

        -Rusty-

I'd like that when it cools off Rusty.

[fe2o3]

On 8/2/2022 at 11:44 AM, TXFitz said:

I'd like that when it cools off Rusty.

No need to meet outside.  We can always get together at some swanky, fancy restaurant... like Whataburger or Taco Bell. 

[fe2o3]

On 8/2/2022 at 11:44 AM, TXFitz said:

I'd like that when it cools off Rusty.

'Fitz. has it cooled off enough for ya? 

[TXFitz]

On 12/12/2022 at 2:11 AM, fe2o3 said:

'Fitz. has it cooled off enough for ya? 

Yes sir.  Sorry, I have not checked in here in quite some time.  Finally got my base antenna (Diamond V2000a) that is a tri-bander for 6m, 2m and 73cm and Nano VNA scan shows VSWR 1.4 to 1.3 across all the GMRS freqs.  I've got it 30 ft up on a flagpole and been chatting a bit on the Sheraton Dallas repeater.