Traveling with GMRS

[WRXX537]

For those of you with GMRS radios in your vehicle do you find that you have difficulties contacting repeaters from state to state?

im confused on how this works, I know with a CB you just talked when ever truckers stoped to take a breath and someone would answer you. 
 

With a GMRS I can connect to a repeater and talk to someone that happens to be monitoring the channel at the time I transmitted but if I’m just scanning simplex channels I never get out or hear anyone.

i have a trip planned for November to go to Texas from the Chicagoland area and don’t quite understand how this works.

If someone understands what I described can you share your thoughts to this complete noob

I currently have a Midland MXT275 that I do not like the way you have to program and will be looking at purchasing a Wouxun KG1000 G Plus in the near future. 
Please don't recommend Motorola or Kenwood radios as they are not for the consumer from what I read.

 

Thanks

WRXX537

 

[Borage257]

When we go on road trips, I’ll check our route against the repeaters mapped on this websites map tool. I’ll enter these in to my radio’s channel memory by local name/repeater name. Usually in order of our departure point to arrival point. Most of the time I’ll put in access permission requests on MYGMRS. 
 

Unless you are in a caravan or convoy, I would not expect to hear other simplex users.

I used the DB20G, it has plenty of memory for most trips, if you want to save some cash the RT95/AT778uv is good too. 
 

RA87 looks interesting if you want more power. 

[WRHS218]

Like Borage257, when I plan a trip I check the repeater map along the route I am taking. I then program all of the listed open repeaters in my radio into a specific scan group. When on the road I just scan that group. I have a KG-XS20G mobile and a KG-935G+. The last long trip I took I just took the handheld with a mag mount antenna. I was stopped in traffic on the highway in one location and wasn't hearing anything on the local repeater so I scanned the GMRS simplex channels to see if anybody was talking about the traffic SNAFU and only heard a lady guiding her husband while backing in their RV into a campsite. I would hear traffic on repeater every now and then but there wasn't as much traffic as I had anticipated.

[nokones]

I heard some FRS traffic once for about a half mile on one of the interstitial 462 MHz channels in Blythe.

[bd348]

Once you get to Chicago-land there will be plenty to listen to.  Check the repeater map.

[Borage257]

What part of Texas are you traveling to?