Adding a repeater

[Guest WRWI253 - Brian in Indiana]

My county does not have a public GMRS repeater, not sure we even have any private GMRS repeater systems.  I am a ham, and I know for 2m repeaters you need to run coordinated frequencies.   If I wanted to get a couple folks together and we wanted to put a repeater up in Johnson County, does that need to be coordinated with anyone?  We would most likely want to connect it to the Midwest GMRS system 169.   Might be able to get a system setup in Morgan County as well, but would be most interested in getting Johnsons County setup.  Just noodling some ideas, don't have a repeater purchased or anything else yet.  Thank you

[BoxCar]

If there  are no repeaters in your area then the 5 frequencies are available. If there is a repeater operating, you are required to give that user priority for the channel and either select another channel or reach agreement to operate so not to cause interference to the existing user. The rule reads you must avoid causing interference but accept any interference from another station operating on the same frequency. Using tones or codes on a channel does not stop interference as you are both using the same channel.

[Radioguy7268]

I have never read anything about giving an existing GMRS repeater "priority" for the channel.  I have read that you should monitor prior to transmission and definitely avoid creating willful or destructive interference, and I'd agree that is good practice.

I would also agree that it's a good idea to do some due diligence and avoid putting two repeaters in the same area on the same frequency pair - especially if there are other un-used channels available.

I've got a nephew over in Owens County. From my time spent there, there was very little in the way of GMRS repeater traffic. There was a fair amount of simplex going on with farmers, and it did seem that some of it was higher powered mobiles on the repeater inputs. I'd be wary of relying on just monitoring the 462.xxx side of the pair for repeater outputs.  Better to put an antenna up high were you might plan to put your repeater, and spend some time listening to the 467.xxx inputs before you make any equipment purchasing decisions.

[SteveShannon]

21 minutes ago, Radioguy7268 said:

I have never read anything about giving an existing GMRS repeater "priority" for the channel.  I have read that you should monitor prior to transmission and definitely avoid creating willful or destructive interference, and I'd agree that is good practice.

Exactly this ^^^

Repeaters don't have reserved channels.  If a channel is busy, I'll go somewhere else, but if I listen and the channel is free, am I obligated to know that a repeater might use that frequency? 

How is it possible for me to even know that a channel is the output channel  of a repeater? 

Once someone is using a frequency, whether for simplex communications or as the output of a repeater, others should respect that. That's only right. 

Having a repeater tone set on your receiver will invariably lead to a collision because a person  using a repeater won't hear someone who is transmitting without a tone or with a different tone.

[BoxCar]

3 hours ago, Radioguy7268 said:

I have never read anything about giving an existing GMRS repeater "priority" for the channel.  I have read that you should monitor prior to transmission and definitely avoid creating willful or destructive interference, and I'd agree that is good practice.

There is no rule about giving an existing repeater priority but there is a rule within Part 15 that states a station must avoid causing interference. That rule (admonition) is repeated in many other parts of the regulation. Simply translated into practical usage is if someone is already there, you need to go somewhere else. With only 5 channels, it can be difficult to find an unused pair, but it is the responsibility of the new station to either negotiate a sharing agreement with the incumbent or forego establishing their site.

[WRUU653]

11 minutes ago, BoxCar said:

With only 5 channels

Eight channels/frequencies for repeaters. 

[JoCoBrian]

Thanks for the replies....now that I have learned more I don't think I need a repeater at my location.  If there is a group that would be interested in putting one up in southern Johnson County,  or near/in between Martinsville and Mooresville, I'd be happy to help.