GMRS Education

[WRVH932]

I searched a little bit on the forum and didn't find the answers I was looking for.  Apologies if I missed it.

I am new to GMRS and haven't used any kind of radio since I was in the military.  That being said my interest was peaked with GMRS and wanting to setup comms for my family.  I'm getting my butt kicked trying to learn as much as I can and was wondering if anyone knew of a good class or online lessons for GMRS.  I've tried connecting to local open repeaters using CHIRP for programming and I'm starting to get frustrated because I'm obviously doing something wrong.  I'm sure that knowing nothing about GMRS there's a steep learning curve, but I want to do it right.  I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

[WRHS218]

Don't of any classes but there is a user here that has a youtube channel where he explains a lot about GMRS, using repeaters, programming and more. Search the tubes for Notarubicon and take your sense of humor with you or it could be a rough ride. I have never met Randy but he seems like a nice guy.

[davidotoole]

@WRVH932 hey there. My first advice is to study the FCC regulations themselves, here is the relevant subchapter: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E  and I also made a spreadsheet with an overview of the rules (see attachment.) The rules are going to be the foundation for everything you do, although it doesn't cover ins and outs of choosing equipment, etc. What kind of radios did you get? Anyway, I'm not able to help with repeaters, but hopefully someone else here will know what to do.

gmrs.pdf

[SteveShannon]

5 hours ago, WRVH932 said:

I searched a little bit on the forum and didn't find the answers I was looking for.  Apologies if I missed it.

I am new to GMRS and haven't used any kind of radio since I was in the military.  That being said my interest was peaked with GMRS and wanting to setup comms for my family.  I'm getting my butt kicked trying to learn as much as I can and was wondering if anyone knew of a good class or online lessons for GMRS.  I've tried connecting to local open repeaters using CHIRP for programming and I'm starting to get frustrated because I'm obviously doing something wrong.  I'm sure that knowing nothing about GMRS there's a steep learning curve, but I want to do it right.  I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

I might be able to help.  What kind of radio do you have.  How are you programming it?

1.  Can you hear the repeater when others use it?

2. Are you using a tone for receive?

3.  What happens that frustrates you?

[WRVH932]

2 hours ago, Sshannon said:

I might be able to help.  What kind of radio do you have.  How are you programming it?  Baofeng UV-9G

1.  Can you hear the repeater when others use it?  No I haven't been able to hear anyone on the repeater

2. Are you using a tone for receive? 141.3 Hz is listed for the TX and RX.  I'm using the Hopkins, SC repeater found on this site.

3.  What happens that frustrates you?  I've watched every video that I can find on GMRS.  Notarubicon has been awesome for learning, but I know I'm missing something and I know its something that when I figure it out it'll be one of those moments where you kick yourself.

 

[SteveShannon]

8 hours ago, WRVH932 said:

 

Okay, first thing, remove the receive tone.  Having a receive tone means you only receive whatever is transmitted on that frequency with that tone.  If you get it wrong you receive nothing.  By clearing the receive tone, you will receive everything transmitted on the channel as long as you’re in range.  Our first step is to make sure you can hear the repeater.  You might have to get closer.  

Then, once you can hear the repeater, we’ll work on transmitting on the right channel. 

So, on the UV9G you want channel 28. That automatically sets the offset frequency for transmitting.

Receive CTCSS (R-CTCSS)set to OFF. That’s menu 11 according to the manual. 

Transmit CTCSS (T-CTCSS) set to the tone you mentioned before. 

 

[WRVH932]

That worked!  I got the morse code repeater identifier when I transmitted.  Thank you!  So what is the difference between Ch 28 and Ch 31?  Ch31 is where I had the repeater programmed and couldn't get through to it.  I've attached a .csv file of my radio for you to look at if you'd like.  Thank you for the help!!!!

Baofeng_UV-9G_20230402.csv

[SteveShannon]

7 minutes ago, WRVH932 said:

That worked!  I got the morse code repeater identifier when I transmitted.  Thank you!  So what is the difference between Ch 28 and Ch 31?  Ch31 is where I had the repeater programmed and couldn't get through to it.  I've attached a .csv file of my radio for you to look at if you'd like.  Thank you for the help!!!!

Baofeng_UV-9G_20230402.csv 6.07 kB · 0 downloads

There is no channel 31 in GMRS unless you made one.  Look at page 41 in the manual. Notice how the repeater channels go from 23 to 30; see how those channels have different transmit and receive frequencies:

 

[SteveShannon]

I don’t see anything wrong with channel 31 that csv file, but I don’t know how the UV9G handles those added channels.  

[WRVH932]

That makes sense!  I just adjusted Ch31 for the repeater and it works!  I was able to transmit and receive to and from a real person!  Thank you for the help. 

[WRVH932]

I suppose my next step is learning my of the acronyms and what they do/mean.  Deep diving into Chirp and all the settings of this radio. 

[SteveShannon]

So,  based on the manual, it looks like added channels are for scanner use only, not transmit. Why they allow you to add settings for transmitting on them is confusing.

 

[Wannabe]

1 hour ago, WRVH932 said:

I suppose my next step is learning my of the acronyms and what they do/mean.  Deep diving into Chirp and all the settings of this radio. 

One thing I’ve done, once you get a repeater working from programming it on the radio, read it with chirp and see what it looks like on the channel line on the software. Then I use similar settings when setting up the next repeater through chirp.