8 days haven’t herd a thing

[Booger12]

Got 2 wouxun 935 g radios 8 days ago they say just turn them on and start listening well I’m a listening and haven’t herd a thing figured out enough t put 2 random channels on each 7 and 14 on 1 and 19 and 20 on another. I have never owned a radio and don’t no anyone that does. HELP

[OffRoaderX]

Try putting them on scan to scan through all the channels..
But, also remember, that GMRS is primarily for point-to-point communications, for example talking to your group while off-roading, or staying in contact with your buddies while hiking, so it is entirely possible that you're not going to hear anything - and nobody here can help you with  that.

[Booger12]

Well thank you for the reply. I have no social media and threw the tv out thought these radios would warn me of anything coming but without having a group guess I’m out of luck. Bought a scanner uniden 325 p as well and had 4 counties programmed into it and it’s turned out to be very disappointing as well 

[WRAM370]

I often wonder if individuals such as you are being misled about GMRS. You are not the first person to post on this forum about buying GMRS radios and being disappointed in not hearing local activity. I always wonder what people expect to hear on GMRS? What made you want to spend $300 on those two KG935g radios ? Did someone tell you there is a party going on the GMRS band, and everyone is invited…all for the cover fee of $35 ?

If you could hear the activity on my low profile GMRS repeater between me and my wife, you would hear such exciting and interesting comments like “do you need anything from the liquor store while I am out?” or “I’m stopping for gas on the way home”. Not really worth dropping big bucks on radios to listen to that. 

If you were near an active, high profile GMRS repeater, you might hear people talking about their day, or some issue they are having with a bunion. Maybe they will talk about going fishing, and if they caught anything when they went fishing. These conversations might make you think that GMRS is short for “glamorous”, because the conversations are so interesting and compelling 

You mentioned you don’t participate in social media and don’t have television. Congratulations on that. I don’t have those things either, and honestly, no one needs them…they just haven’t realized it yet. But if you want to have a form of communications that might provide some timely information regarding events that may impact you, I would suggest you look at ham radio for that purpose. And if you want to sit around and talk about your bunions or your latest fishing expedition, you can do that on ham radio too.

I hope you find a use for your radios. I also hope others who are thinking about getting GMRS radios take a moment to figure out if they want GMRS, or maybe they are really looking for the activity and experience ham radio offers.

 

 

 

[gortex2]

There has been a huge shift in the thought process of GMRS over the last few years. Not sure why but some feel its like social media and you get online with a radio and repeaters are all over the US and active. While some areas have great repeaters most of the US does not. Many repeaters are not listed nor open for anyone use (Mine for example). I don't know where folks get the info but it puzzles me at times. Been in GMRS for over 20 years and still use it for the main aspect of my first repeater - to talk to my family and friends on a repeater. That's it. Never since day 1 did I install one so i could talk to folks I don't know. 

[BoxCar]

If people are looking for the social aspect of radio, there are two options I know about. Option one, use CB and put up with the garbage and trash on the channels or, two, study and get your amateur license to rag-chew on the amateur frequencies.

[KAF6045]

14 hours ago, Booger12 said:

Well thank you for the reply. I have no social media and threw the tv out thought these radios would warn me of anything coming but without having a group guess I’m out of luck. Bought a scanner uniden 325 p as well and had 4 counties programmed into it and it’s turned out to be very disappointing as well 

While the Uniden is a trunking compatible scanner if you are in an area going to statewide trunked, any of the interesting stuff may have gone encrypted (MI finished converting to encrypted P25 last year -- my scanner now spends its time scanner empty frequencies with the occasional SAME weather alerts). CA is also an encrypted statewide system, but there is a lawsuit to get them to go unencrypted (FOIA?).

GMRS started life as a radio service for families (large farms, where there'd be a base at the farmhouse, and mobile/portables for family working the fields, for example -- the "immediate family" coverage used to include "and dwelling with the license holder) and small businesses. One license covered all users. Repeaters tended to be private/closed and one had to ask the owner for permission and CTCSS tones. It was rare to talk from one licensee to another; base stations were not permitted to talk to other base stations.

So far all I've heard on my mobile has been kiddies with FRS bubble packs, and what I think might be a business running multiple paid parking lots in Grand Rapids (a grandfathered license as the FCC no longer issues business GMRS licenses), and maybe some furniture store staging purchases for pick-up.

I was licensed back when a top-rated (but not Motorola class commercial) HT was the Maxon GMRS 210+3 which had the 7 interstitials, the FCC defined Emergency frequency, and two slots for the TWO frequency pairs one had requested when applying for their license -- this at a time when many GMRS HTs only had A & B channel toggle (since one could only be licensed for two main channels). Hence my 3A4D call sign.

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

24 minutes ago, KAF6045 said:

 CA is also an encrypted statewide system

Minor correction: There is still much in California that is not trunked and not encrypted.  Non believers can watch this video to see what I get on my UV-5R (and other analog radios):   -->  https://youtu.be/z9FM0nQW4lw

 

[marcspaz]

I have to say, I agree with others who said you may want to get an amateur radio license and HF radio. Based on what you said you want to accomplish, it sounds like you want a shortwave radio receiver (to listen) or an HF radio (and license) to receive and transmit. 

GMRS really isn't intended or used for what you want to do.  With typical GMRS (UHF) range throughout much of the nation being restricted to only a few miles when station to station, and the service intent, I would say that GMRS is the wrong choice.

Of course, there are limited exceptions, such as urban/suburban areas that are heavily saturated with repeaters and users, areas with many high elevations and many users, or communities that have intentionally organized an emergency radio network.  Still, that is traditionally for local communications.

[wrci350]

15 hours ago, Booger12 said:

Bought a scanner uniden 325 p as well and had 4 counties programmed into it and it’s turned out to be very disappointing as well 

Sounds like you paid whoever you bought the scanner from to program it for you.  My suggestion would be to buy software so you can program it yourself and do so; that will give you a better understanding of what's in there.  (It is certainly possible to do the programming by hand, but trust me, using software is MUCH easier!)  There is also a more scanner-specific forum site (RadioReference) where questions about "how do I program it" and "what should I be able to hear" can be asked.  Based on your listed location I looked in the RadioReference DB for the four nearby counties and all emergency services are using conventional analog VHF and UHF, so iyour 325P2 should be hearing a lot of traffic.  Nothing is on a trunking system, and there is no encryption in use.  State-wide trunking systems are definitely the exception rather than the rule, and while there IS a state-wide system in PA the primary user is the State Police (who are fully encrypted), not county or local agencies.

I will echo what others have said about GMRS.  While there is a significant faction out there that looks at it as a "chat with random folks on the radio" service, that really isn't the intended purpose (although that's not forbidden either).  If that's what you are looking for you are much better off getting your Technician license.

[KAF6045]

6 hours ago, marcspaz said:

I have to say, I agree with others who said you may want to get an amateur radio license and HF radio. Based on what you said you want to accomplish, it sounds like you want a shortwave radio receiver (to listen) or an HF radio (and license) to receive and transmit.

If a stay-at-home type, a Tech license, 2m/70cm D-STAR (or DMR, but those are rather nasty to program) HT, combined with some form of hotspot (ZUMspot, OpenSpot, generic MMDVM hat on a Raspberry Pi running Pi-Star) would give reasonable "chat" opportunities via D-STAR reflectors or DMR talk-groups (or, if one goes Yaesu, System Fusion and "rooms"). Both D-STAR and DMR will require registration on the respective system (D-STAR needs call-sign, DMR needs a DMR numeric ID issued to the call-sign; not sure what YSF requires -- I don't have YSF capability).

Unfortunately, D-STAR radios are not cheap. The only current manufacturer is ICOM (ID-52A @ $650 HRO discounted ? price) (even though D-STAR is not ICOM proprietary, unlike YSF); Kenwood did have units but discontinued them some time ago. DMR tends to be cheaper (AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus  @ $315 at Bridgecom [or via Amazon] and is one of the higher end DMR HTs) as they are often business band radios that are locked to Amateur bands to allow user programming via front-panel and software (business band radios are not programmable by front panel, and are supposed to be programmed by local radio shop in accordance with one's license).

The OpenSpot 4 Pro is not cheap either, but offers battery power and can do cross-mode digital as it has both AMBE CODECs (D-STAR uses a different CODEC from DMR/YSF/P25 -- Pi-Star can cross-mode DMR/YSF/P25 as that only involves changing the routing headers in the digital packet, but not the digitized voice data which only handled by the radio itself). Given battery power and a cell-phone with WiFi access point, the digital modes can go mobile without using a local repeater (though I'd be leery of it myself: Using an HT on lowest power on one frequency to talk to a hotspot, which then uses WiFi frequency to talk to a cell-phone using cell-phone bands to reach the internet... That's three RF sources transmitting at one time inside a metal cage, within a 2-3 foot average range from the user).

[OffRoaderX]

Jeezus... "Some people" .....

[back4more70]

7 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Minor correction: There is still much in California that is not trunked and not encrypted.

Yep, I can pickup Ventura County Fire and PD no problem.  Also, there are interagency frequencies that are not trunked, for when multiple agencies work a fire or riot, etc.

[Booger12]

Thank you for all the information.way to complicated for a simple man like me. Thought I was getting into a simple turn it on and I’ll hear when the boogie man was coming kinda like the advertisement sounds and the scanner had 4 counties pre programmed guess that was a scam of sorts also. I can build a home from ground up can fix just about anything mechanical but this kind of stuff just aggravates me guess I’ll just get rid of it all and go back to smoke signals. RLTW

[OffRoaderX]

49 minutes ago, Booger12 said:

..guess I’ll just get rid of it all and go back to smoke signals...

Just remember, smoke signals are line-of sight!

[Booger12]

This is true

[Booger12]

On the lighter side it doesn’t need batteries 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Booger12
To find the lighter sid

[KAF6045]

17 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Just remember, smoke signals are line-of sight!

And may cause lung cancer...

Maybe a semaphore light from a battleship? Granted, that's not only line of sight, but directional -- you need to aim it at the recipient.

[Booger12]

Sounds like technology I could maybe handle 

[axorlov]

1 hour ago, KAF6045 said:

Granted, that's not only line of sight, but directional -- you need to aim it at the recipient.

Was used as behind-the-horizon and broadcast all the time back then, by lighting up the clouds above.

[Booger12]

Only thing I know about them I learned on mchales navy aboard the pt73

[Booger12]

Well fellas it’s been fun but guess I’m out of here thought this was the way to go to know when trouble was coming but wrong again at least I got me a fancy license and a couple of more pieces for my junk box. If your wondering how I made out with the scanner it’s along i81 north of Scranton pa somewhere I live a very hard life my patience are very thin that’s why I tried to buy things that were pre programmed and said take it out of the box and your good to go none of these worked like advertised. Guess the radios might work if I ever get anyone that wants to hunt with me. As far as a warning platform guess I’ll have to try that liberal Facebook crap

[axorlov]

Database from radioreference.com is a good tool for programming scanner.

https://www.radioreference.com/db/browse/ctid/2275

Looks like Lackawanna county is all analog FM and Narrow FM. No P25, no trunking. Just couple of DMR licenses here. Correction: PA-STARNET is P25, but this is it.

[KAF6045]

17 hours ago, Booger12 said:

my patience are very thin that’s why I tried to buy things that were pre programmed and said take it out of the box

I've always had to program my scanners -- Even the (defunct) GREcom trunking capable unit. It had a number of trunked systems set up, but none of the analog stuff. At the time, all the traffic in my area was analog. Same when I moved to MI. And of course as near 20 year old scanner wouldn't have programming for the currently implemented statewide trunking system.

One obtains a frequency guide, spends time deciding how to partition the radio channels (many allowed for "grouping" things so you could disable entire groups that may not have been of interest or were for other locales -- reducing the overall time for one scan cycle), and then sitting down for the tedious: VFO mode, dial frequency (of key entry), Memory In mode, dial empty channel slot, Store; repeat (this assumes one has preset the RF mode for FM/NFM etc. AND is not worried about using CTCSS tones to block out spurious squelch triggers; otherwise there will be a CTCSS, dial tone, exit phase between frequency entry and memory save).