Linked GMRS systems. A good old Boys network?

[jwilkers]

On this linked network. I.hear the same people over and over again going on and on for seemingly hours on end.

 

Always..the same 10 or so.people in different combinations.

 

Then, on a rare quiet moment, someone not a part of their clique gives their call, most of the time they go unanswered.

 

What a waste of percious frequency spectrum.

 

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[WRXB215]

I understand what you are saying but they are more than willing to break when someone needs to use the network.

[SteveShannon]

16 minutes ago, jwilkers said:

Then, on a rare quiet moment, someone not a part of their clique gives their call, most of the time they go unanswered.

Why don’t you answer?

[UncleYoda]

11 hours ago, jwilkers said:

 

On this linked network. I.hear the same people over and over again

There's a nationwide linked repeater near me.  And I hear the same thing.  I see no real benefit to wide area linking.  Local area or statewide linking is the most I'd want.  But really standalone is probably the best so we can choose which repeaters we talk on.

[WRQC527]

2 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

There's a nationwide linked repeater near me. 

From the amateur radio side, there's a linked system called the Winsystem. It's multinational, and for me, it embodies every reason why linked systems, whether on amateur or GMRS, are a bad idea. Lots of people with poor signals, lots of know-it-all wannabe audiophiles who live to call out poor signals, constant kerchunking of the repeaters, and a global audience for jammers. 

[marcspaz]

19 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

From the amateur radio side, there's a linked system called the Winsystem. It's multinational, and for me, it embodies every reason why linked systems, whether on amateur or GMRS, are a bad idea. Lots of people with poor signals, lots of know-it-all wannabe audiophiles who live to call out poor signals, constant kerchunking of the repeaters, and a global audience for jammers. 

 

Sounds like America Link on Fusion Wires-X on the Yaesu side.

[WRUU653]

I have a thought on a particular use case where I think having a linked GMRS repeater is okay (in my opinion) and that would be within the same local area on the same frequency with the same tones to get better coverage within that area. I'm not talking across a whole state but more like within the same county to get to places where the terrain or perhaps smaller wattage repeaters could help each other to cover a community.  

[WRQC527]

6 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

Sounds like America Link on Fusion Wires-X on the Yaesu side.

Exactly. 

[Borage257]

5 hours ago, WRUU653 said:

I have a thought on a particular use case where I think having a linked GMRS repeater is okay (in my opinion) and that would be within the same local area on the same frequency with the same tones to get better coverage within that area. I'm not talking across a whole state but more like within the same county to get to places where the terrain or perhaps smaller wattage repeaters could help each other to cover a community.  

This is the best use of linking i can think of

[WRKC935]

11 hours ago, WRUU653 said:

I have a thought on a particular use case where I think having a linked GMRS repeater is okay (in my opinion) and that would be within the same local area on the same frequency with the same tones to get better coverage within that area. I'm not talking across a whole state but more like within the same county to get to places where the terrain or perhaps smaller wattage repeaters could help each other to cover a community.  

Well that's much easier said than done.  What you are talking about is a simulcast system with multiple repeaters that would need a GPS reference to stay exactly on frequency.  All the receivers being connected back to a single voter so the best signal was selected and then channel banks taking care of the audio launch times so that it would actually work as described.  It's obviously possible, but silly expensive.  And requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep to continue to function correctly. 

I am considering it as I do have the required hardware.  Need  to figure out sites beyond the one I have now and proper links between those sites (can't use the Internet as the latency bounces around far too much).  But that's still only going to be in the central Ohio area. 

I guess if you don't like talking on linked repeaters, stay off them.  It's really not any harder than that.  For those of us that enjoy being able to have someone to talk to most of the time, we enjoy that. 

[WRKC935]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:00 PM, jwilkers said:

 

On this linked network. I.hear the same people over and over again going on and on for seemingly hours on end.

 

Always..the same 10 or so.people in different combinations.

 

Then, on a rare quiet moment, someone not a part of their clique gives their call, most of the time they go unanswered.

 

What a waste of percious frequency spectrum.

 

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Tell you what.  How about I take all my shit off the air and you can sit and listen to static.  Maybe some kids once in a while on FRS.  Since I am the only one in central Ohio with a linked repeater, I am obviously the one wasting the precious spectrum that no one else seems to want to bother with putting a repeater on. 

Balls in your court now buddy.  You don't like what I provide for free.  You put a repeater on the air.  I will turn all this gear back into cash and make it someone else's issue. 

It gets old listening to others complain about what I do with no cost to others because I can.  If you don't like it, don't use it.  I really don't care at this point.

[jsneezy]

26 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:

Tell you what.  How about I take all my shit off the air and you can sit and listen to static.  Maybe some kids once in a while on FRS.  Since I am the only one in central Ohio with a linked repeater, I am obviously the one wasting the precious spectrum that no one else seems to want to bother with putting a repeater on. 

Balls in your court now buddy.  You don't like what I provide for free.  You put a repeater on the air.  I will turn all this gear back into cash and make it someone else's issue. 

It gets old listening to others complain about what I do with no cost to others because I can.  If you don't like it, don't use it.  I really don't care at this point.

I would think the better answer here would be to tell said poster if they don't like the program, change the channel. Nobody is forcing them to listen to the repeater, by any means. 

[WRXB215]

@WRKC935 I for one, appreciate what you and others are doing in making these repeaters available. I certainly can't do it. 

[WRUU653]

11 hours ago, WRKC935 said:

I guess if you don't like talking on linked repeaters, stay off them.  It's really not any harder than that

 

11 hours ago, WRKC935 said:

Tell you what.  How about I take all my shit off the air and you can sit and listen to static

There's no need to be angry.  I can see you have a personal attachment to this subject.  So do you think it's cool for a GMRS repeater network where if someone keys up on one channel that they are also being transmitted in the same area on other channels/frequencies tying up two or three channels in the same area or other areas for that matter? This isn't hypothetical, it's been described as much in another thread where an individual is transmitting on one repeater and hearing on another channel because they are linked by repeaters.  As I see it unless you are monitoring all of the other frequencies you wouldn't even know if you are stepping on other simplex transmissions. I mean it seems worth a conversation to take into consideration there are other people that like to talk on radios too and people on simplex have just as much right to the frequencies as those on repeaters. 

[WRXB215]

I can see that there are valid points being made on both sides of this.

Let me point out that, in my very limited experience, I have not been able to hear more than two repeaters at the same time. That leaves me 20 other channels to use.

[WRKC935]

33 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

 

There's no need to be angry.  I can see you have a personal attachment to this subject.  So do you think it's cool for a GMRS repeater network where if someone keys up on one channel that they are also being transmitted in the same area on other channels/frequencies tying up two or three channels in the same area or other areas for that matter? This isn't hypothetical, it's been described as much in another thread where an individual is transmitting on one repeater and hearing on another channel because they are linked by repeaters.  As I see it unless you are monitoring all of the other frequencies you wouldn't even know if you are stepping on other simplex transmissions. I mean it seems worth a conversation to take into consideration there are other people that like to talk on radios too and people on simplex have just as much right to the frequencies as those on repeaters. 

While that might be the case elsewhere, the linked repeater here in Columbus is the only one in the entire state that is on the link.  And I provide another nonlinear repeater for those that don't want to talk to everyone else.  

 

Is it personal. Yes.  The op knows me from way back. So its not like we are strangers or anything.   Far as I am concerned since I am the only one doing what he's complaining about in the entire state of Ohio I am gonna guess he means it to be personal as well. 

[WRUU653]

39 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

I can see that there are valid points being made on both sides of this.

Let me point out that, in my very limited experience, I have not been able to hear more than two repeaters at the same time. That leaves me 20 other channels to use.

I have the same experience where I am as well. My My concern though isn't that you don't have another channel to use, it is with linked repeaters you may be stepping on other people using simplex and not know it. You might not even be on the same frequency or even in the same state. There are a limited number of frequencies in GMRS  and as the FCC says "You must cooperate in the selection and use of the channels in order to make the most effective use of them and to reduce the possibility of interference".  It's not as simple as if you don't like them stay off of them. It's not that I'm totally against linked repeaters, part of the reason I recently went for my ham license was so I could use linked repeaters and be able to reach out anywhere in my area (hiking or offroad) especially where the cell service drops out.

[WRUU653]

18 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:

While that might be the case elsewhere, the linked repeater here in Columbus is the only one in the entire state that is on the link.  And I provide another nonlinear repeater for those that don't want to talk to everyone else.  

 

Is it personal. Yes.  The op knows me from way back. So its not like we are strangers or anything.   Far as I am concerned since I am the only one doing what he's complaining about in the entire state of Ohio I am gonna guess he means it to be personal as well. 

Fair enough.  For the record my post was not meant as personal. 

[WRKC935]

3 hours ago, WRUU653 said:

Fair enough.  For the record my post was not meant as personal. 

I realize that.  Of course you're not the original poster of the thread 

[jwilkers]

Tell you what.  How about I take all my shit off the air and you can sit and listen to static.  Maybe some kids once in a while on FRS.  Since I am the only one in central Ohio with a linked repeater, I am obviously the one wasting the precious spectrum that no one else seems to want to bother with putting a repeater on. 
Balls in your court now buddy.  You don't like what I provide for free.  You put a repeater on the air.  I will turn all this gear back into cash and make it someone else's issue. 
It gets old listening to others complain about what I do with no cost to others because I can.  If you don't like it, don't use it.  I really don't care at this point.

I'm extremely grateful for your local repeater and the amateur repeaters. They are a definite benefit for both services.

I've always viewed GMRS as a local mode of communication. If I want to talk longer distance, then my amateur license comes into play.

Don't let me ruin your day. It's not worth it


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[jwilkers]

I realize that.  Of course you're not the original poster of the thread 

I also don't want anyone to take it personally.

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