paulw Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 Used for finding contacts in your area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRKG273 Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Hello- I live on Lake eufaula ,OK and I have a GMRS license WRKG273/ And I am interested in meeting like-minded people to work with and help build a network. I am like a green belt in Karate "I know just enough to get my ass kicked" So if you could help with some advice, I am interested in setting up. a repeater for my use and to share. along with the mobile units I have for my boat, vehicles and side by side. Thank You in advance Forrest Else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulw Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 Hello and welcome to the forum! One thing that might be helpful in understanding repeaters a little better is that GMRS uses a +5MHz frequency offset. In other words the transmit frequency is going to be 5MHz higher then the receive frequency. For instance, if you were to decide to set the repeaters transmit frequency to 467.650 then your receive frequency is going to be 462.650. You might also see this referred to as the uplink and downlink. I feel this is more relevant to ham radio people, though I figured I would bring it up in case it was needed when setting up a repeater. Also I should probably mention that I have never actually setup a repeater before and that if I get any of this information wrong then anyone is welcome to correct me. One rule to remember is that one of the best ways to increase communication range when transmitting is to increase the height of your antenna, I'm certain this is the same for setting up a repeater, so let's just say that you are surrounded by mountains. You may need to raise the height of your antenna in order to use the repeater from across the mountains. You should also consider the laws put into place regarding antenna height, I say this because (unless something changed) if your antenna is higher then 200ft you need to notify the FAA, but like said you should do some research around your area like where is the nearest airport to the antennas location? Either way there are some laws that require you to take some extra steps depending on how you setup the repeater system, and since I've never setup a repeater you'll probably have to do more research on that one. Some repeaters use certain privacy tones such as CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System), and others that are required to access them. One important thing to note is that they do not make the repeaters transmissions encoded, encrypted, or otherwise impossible to read for anyone not using the repeater. All it means is that if you and your group are using a CTCSS tone then I'm pretty sure all of you will not be able to hear anyone else on that frequency unless they have that privacy tone programmed to that frequency. But like said it's definitely not private communications because anyone with an open squelch can hear everything you're saying. So, if you eventually have trouble contacting people, and it's where you cannot hear them but they can hear you then it might be caused by that reason. I hope this answered your questions and if you need anything else then please let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRKG273 Posted August 22, 2023 Report Share Posted August 22, 2023 LOL, Thats a start, I am aware of the offsets and have heard of the CTCSS , I will continue my search and hopefully become wiser and more informed. thank You for responding. I definitely have a lot to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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