Hearing repeater 150-250 miles away??

[Arveetek]

I am fairly new to the GMRS world.  I have a mobile GMRS radio in my vehicle and like to scan for local traffic here in SW Missouri.  Lately I have been picking up communications from central Arkansas that range from Fort Smith (150 miles away) to Little Rock (250 miles away). I can hear these communications at work and at home, a 25 mile difference between those two.

Once in a while I can hear the repeater state it's call sign, but haven't been able to write it down/remember it.  I assume someone local to me is rebroadcasting the Arkansas repeater via Zello or something similar.  How can I tell where my local transmission originates? It comes across on channel 18, but I assume this is on a repeater channel; I've searched online for local repeaters using that frequency, but haven't found one yet.  It may be unpublished or fairly new.  I've tried transmitting on standard channel 18, but haven't received a response.

I'm just really confused that I can hear this traffic so well, even between work and home.  The other local repeater that I'm familiar with, I have to be fairly close to it to transmit and receive.  I'm surprised to hear the Arkansas traffic over such a long distance.

Thanks!

[jsneezy]

You may be hearing a linked repeater. There's quite a few of them here in AZ too. I'm just outside of Phoenix, but because of the linked repeaters, I hear a group talking in Albuquerque almost daily when I'm scanning. 

[WRUU653]

It looks like @jsneezy is correct about it likely being a linked repeater, here is the groups web page https://arkradio.net/linking/ 

[Sshannon]

2 hours ago, Arveetek said:

I am fairly new to the GMRS world.  I have a mobile GMRS radio in my vehicle and like to scan for local traffic here in SW Missouri.  Lately I have been picking up communications from central Arkansas that range from Fort Smith (150 miles away) to Little Rock (250 miles away). I can hear these communications at work and at home, a 25 mile difference between those two.

Once in a while I can hear the repeater state it's call sign, but haven't been able to write it down/remember it.  I assume someone local to me is rebroadcasting the Arkansas repeater via Zello or something similar.  How can I tell where my local transmission originates? It comes across on channel 18, but I assume this is on a repeater channel; I've searched online for local repeaters using that frequency, but haven't found one yet.  It may be unpublished or fairly new.  I've tried transmitting on standard channel 18, but haven't received a response.

I'm just really confused that I can hear this traffic so well, even between work and home.  The other local repeater that I'm familiar with, I have to be fairly close to it to transmit and receive.  I'm surprised to hear the Arkansas traffic over such a long distance.

Thanks!

What about the POSY 625 repeater on the map?

[WRUU653]

2 hours ago, Sshannon said:

What about the POSY 625 repeater on the map?

That certainly fits the bill and it's part of their linked repeater network. 

[nokones]

16 hours ago, jsneezy said:

You may be hearing a linked repeater. There's quite a few of them here in AZ too. I'm just outside of Phoenix, but because of the linked repeaters, I hear a group talking in Albuquerque almost daily when I'm scanning. 

The Southwest Community Radio System (SWCRS) has linked repeaters in their network in both Arizona and New Mexico.

[Arveetek]

Thank you everyone!  That is very helpful!  I'm sure it must be the linked Arkansas group I'm hearing.  I'm still puzzled about which repeater I'm actually hearing on my mobile radio (the Posy 625 repeater still seems to be too far away for me to physically hear, but perhaps it's outputting at a much higher wattage than other local repeaters).

Thanks again for the education; I've been learning a lot.

 

[jsneezy]

There's a repeater that I've been able to listen to that is somewhere around 75-80 miles from me. The elevation of the antenna is going to play a big part in the range. If it weren't for @nokones making the suggestion, I wouldn't have tried checking this particular repeater. I don't know if I'll be able to reach out that far with my HT, but it's something I do plan on checking.

[Sshannon]

5 hours ago, Arveetek said:

Thank you everyone!  That is very helpful!  I'm sure it must be the linked Arkansas group I'm hearing.  I'm still puzzled about which repeater I'm actually hearing on my mobile radio (the Posy 625 repeater still seems to be too far away for me to physically hear, but perhaps it's outputting at a much higher wattage than other local repeaters).

Thanks again for the education; I've been learning a lot.

 

Did you ever go look at the interactive map?  Different repeaters appear depending on zoom level.  You never told us more specifically than SW Missouri.  How far away is POSY?

Repeaters are limited to 50 watts, same as your mobile radio, so I doubt that’s a real difference, but POSY could have a pretty tall antenna tower.

[WRUU653]

@Arveetek I would add some credence to @Sshannon’s thoughts about POSY. It matches the frequency you say you are hearing, it’s part of the linked network I posted above and it’s in the area of the state you mention. As @Sshannon mentioned, knowing where exactly you are would help in the diagnosis of what repeater but remember hight is king for distance. You can see the probability of line of site with this tool https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/  

[Arveetek]

3 hours ago, WRUU653 said:

@Arveetek I would add some credence to @Sshannon’s thoughts about POSY. It matches the frequency you say you are hearing, it’s part of the linked network I posted above and it’s in the area of the state you mention. As @Sshannon mentioned, knowing where exactly you are would help in the diagnosis of what repeater but remember hight is king for distance. You can see the probability of line of site with this tool https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/  

I think you guys are correct.  I am in Granby, which is about 55 miles or so from Garfield, where POSY is located.  But I can still hear the traffic at work in Carthage, which is roughly 75 miles away from POSY.  I'm surprised I can still receive the signal that far away, but like you say, it all depends on the antenna.  My only other repeater experience is with the Joplin, MO repeater, and I can only receive and transmit on that repeater within a few miles of it; the Joplin repeater is on a 30' pole in the middle of town, though.

 

[Sshannon]

13 minutes ago, Arveetek said:

I think you guys are correct.  I am in Granby, which is about 55 miles or so from Garfield, where POSY is located.  But I can still hear the traffic at work in Carthage, which is roughly 75 miles away from POSY.  I'm surprised I can still receive the signal that far away, but like you say, it all depends on the antenna.  My only other repeater experience is with the Joplin, MO repeater, and I can only receive and transmit on that repeater within a few miles of it; the Joplin repeater is on a 30' pole in the middle of town, though.

 

Depending on terrain 55 miles isn't far at all for a tall antenna.  UHF, even at low power, can go hundreds of miles as long as nothing interrupts the path.

[Arveetek]

7 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Depending on terrain 55 miles isn't far at all for a tall antenna.  UHF, even at low power, can go hundreds of miles as long as nothing interrupts the path.

Very cool!  You guys rock, and you are all correct.  I was able to join the Arkansas Repeater Network, and tonight I programmed my radio with the POSY 625 codes, and sure enough, I can receive their traffic loud and clear on repeater channel 18.  I only have a 15 watt mobile, so apparently I can't transmit with enough power for the repeater to receive my transmissions (no one responded to my requests).  May be time to upgrade to a 50 watt mobile!

I'm still surprised at the distance this repeater is reaching; we have somewhat hilly terrain here with lots and lots of trees.  I'm guessing this repeater must be on a tall tower on top of a hill.

[Sshannon]

10 minutes ago, Arveetek said:

Very cool!  You guys rock, and you are all correct.  I was able to join the Arkansas Repeater Network, and tonight I programmed my radio with the POSY 625 codes, and sure enough, I can receive their traffic loud and clear on repeater channel 18.  I only have a 15 watt mobile, so apparently I can't transmit with enough power for the repeater to receive my transmissions (no one responded to my requests).  May be time to upgrade to a 50 watt mobile!

I'm still surprised at the distance this repeater is reaching; we have somewhat hilly terrain here with lots and lots of trees.  I'm guessing this repeater must be on a tall tower on top of a hill.

A taller antenna will make more difference than raising your power. 

[WRUU653]

1 hour ago, Arveetek said:

Very cool!  You guys rock, and you are all correct.  I was able to join the Arkansas Repeater Network, and tonight I programmed my radio with the POSY 625 codes, and sure enough, I can receive their traffic loud and clear on repeater channel 18.  I only have a 15 watt mobile, so apparently I can't transmit with enough power for the repeater to receive my transmissions (no one responded to my requests).  May be time to upgrade to a 50 watt mobile!

I'm still surprised at the distance this repeater is reaching; we have somewhat hilly terrain here with lots and lots of trees.  I'm guessing this repeater must be on a tall tower on top of a hill.

I have heard people recommend standing on one’s roof to check for signal strength and see if increasing your antenna height may help. Depending on the pitch of your roof this could be helpful or precarious or both. You may want to give it a try to see if it helps. Glad to see the mystery resolved.

[AdmiralCochrane]

There is no "if"; a taller antenna always helps. Antenna height means more than power output in almost all radio communication. 

[WRUU653]

24 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

There is no "if"; a taller antenna always helps. Antenna height means more than power output in almost all radio communication

Sure I agree with higher is always better but the “if” I was referring to is if it will be enough to reach the repeater OP was hearing. 

[Sshannon]

57 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

a taller antenna always helps. Antenna height means more than power output in almost all radio communication. 

This part I agree with, but your comment about “there is no if” totally missed the context of what @wruu653 said and was unnecessarily negative. 

[AdmiralCochrane]

Criticism accepted. The limitations of text communication, it is hard to convey emphasis and tone. 

[OffRoaderX]

9 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

....The limitations of text communication, it is hard to convey emphasis and tone. 

To truly piss-off the right people you need video.

[jsneezy]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

To truly piss-off the right people you need video.

I hear video works best for "some people".

[Sshannon]

8 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

To truly piss-off the right people you need video.

I don’t. It’s a gift I have. 

[WRXX938]

I thought linked repeaters are a no no?

[OffRoaderX]

1 minute ago, WRXX938 said:

I thought linked repeaters are a no no?

The GMRS rules/limitations dont allow you to do it over the air, but there is nothing saying you can't link over the internet.