Linked Repeaters

[ian3211]

Hello all. New to gmrs myself and was wondering what was the best and most cost effective way to link a few repeaters to each other over a few states. Wanna do a couple in nj, one in myrtle beach and maybe a few in Florida. Any ideas?

[OffRoaderX]

The only way to do this and not break any of the GMRS rules would be to link them over the internet. Not sure of the overall cost, but not a trivial task. I'm sure others can chime in with more details.

[WRYZ926]

OffRoaderX is correct in that you have to link repeaters through the internet. Linking GMRS repeaters is just like linking HAM repeaters. Ham uses AllStar while GMRS uses GMRS Live. 

Here is a good link to check out for more informations: https://www.gmrslive.com

And here is a good video showing how to set everything up using GMRS Live to link GMRS repeaters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2b3kQUo5yY

[OffRoaderX]

PS: it does not HAVE TO BE the internet. You could also use your own private leased-line type connection, but that is much costly.

[ian3211]

Thanks for all the info. I was thinking internet linking was the way to go. Did anyone have luck linking repeaters over inter over many states rather easily? I know its still a herculean task.

[gortex2]

If you have not read this thread I would...

 

Most linked repeaters talk to a hub somewhere. So it doesn't matter if you are 2 houses side by side or 2 countries. Both sites need internet to get to the hub. I'm not a fan of linked GMRS repeaters but the info is there. 

[WRZF693]

On 12/30/2023 at 9:29 PM, OffRoaderX said:

PS: it does not HAVE TO BE the internet. You could also use your own private leased-line type connection, but that is much costly.

It would be cool though.

[ian3211]

On 12/31/2023 at 9:44 AM, gortex2 said:

If you have not read this thread I would...

 

Most linked repeaters talk to a hub somewhere. So it doesn't matter if you are 2 houses side by side or 2 countries. Both sites need internet to get to the hub. I'm not a fan of linked GMRS repeaters but the info is there. 

Thank you.

[Raybestos]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:55 PM, ian3211 said:

Hello all. New to gmrs myself and was wondering what was the best and most cost effective way to link a few repeaters to each other over a few states. Wanna do a couple in nj, one in myrtle beach and maybe a few in Florida. Any ideas?

It seems as though every newbie who wants to dive into putting up a repeater(s), for some reason feels the need to link it/them to other repeaters or some big network.  Before doing so, please consider that there are ONLY eight GMRS frequencies which may be used for repeater or 50W simplex.  More often than not, when you have multiple repeaters linked, you will have situations where a rag chew in progress is only taking place on one or two of the repeaters, but that conversation will necessarily tie up ALL repeaters linked to the used one(s) at the time, as well as the simplex aspect of each repeater frequency for anyone in range of it.  The guy trying to use one of those uninvolved repeaters, another repeater in range of any of them, or 50W simplex in range of any of them, will have a difficult or impossible time connecting with his family or friends.  Because someone thinks it kewel and trendy to link a bunch of repeaters together, people trying to use any of those eight GMRS channels in range of repeaters so connected, for the original purpose of GMRS, will likely be out of luck.

Please take this into consideration before adding to the congestion of those eight channels with unnecessary linking.  If you wish to provide a service to the GMRS community in a given area, an open stand-alone repeater capable of covering as much area as feasible will be a far greater service to a given area.

I understand that in San Francisco, it is perfectly legal to relieve oneself on the sidewalks.  This is probably not considerate of others who use the sidewalk for its original intended purpose.  Just because we "can" do something doesn't mean we necessarily "should" do it.

[UncleYoda]

Linking has similar issues on HAM too, except there we can usually switch to other repeaters.  For HAM temporary, user-initiated linking is an alternative.  I don't know if that is feasible with GMRS linking systems, but if so, would be better than permanent, full-time linking.  Linking just at scheduled times is another option.

[Raybestos]

2 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

Linking has similar issues on HAM too, except there we can usually switch to other repeaters.  For HAM temporary, user-initiated linking is an alternative.  I don't know if that is feasible with GMRS linking systems, but if so, would be better than permanent, full-time linking.  Linking just at scheduled times is another option.

Excellent point, Uncle Yoda!  I am aware of two linked systems in our general area on ham.  One, most of the time, is not linked, but access codes to link and de-link are published.  Due to longstanding tradition, they are usually linked on weekends and some holidays with no option to de-link a repeater from the system.  This was a cool novelty in the beginning, but anymore is a PITA because of a bunch of ratchet jaws along the coast (again, on one or two repeaters) who tie up the whole system for long periods of time so that no one on the other repeaters (2m side of system) can use it.  How much better it would be if you could de-link the repeater in your area to call a friend across town when the ratchet jaws are in session.

The other linked system, is linked 24-7-365 with no end-user option to de-link.  I haven't been on it in months, but conflicts were common with heavy use, again on one or two repeaters, tying up the whole network.

Ideally, a such a system would be de-linked with published link codes to link to individual repeaters.  Even normally linked, with published de-link codes would be an improvement over 24-7-365 links.

[WRYZ926]

@UncleYoda and @RayP bring up great points about linked repeaters. We have had issues on our local 2m repeater when someone linked another repeater to it and then left it linked for days on end. We had a lot of kerchunking and other issues until that other repeater's link was shut down.

And we have quite a bit of traffic and rag chew on our GMRS repeater that having other repeaters constantly linked would also cause issues.

[wayoverthere]

5 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

Linking has similar issues on HAM too, except there we can usually switch to other repeaters.  For HAM temporary, user-initiated linking is an alternative.  I don't know if that is feasible with GMRS linking systems, but if so, would be better than permanent, full-time linking.  Linking just at scheduled times is another option.

I don't see any reason, with the right hardware, that a dual pl setup couldnt be implemented similar to what CARLA has on the ham side. One pl, your audio goes to the whole system, while another pl repeats on that machine only. If you key up the local pl, linked audio is muted until a set period after local activity ends, and the link resumes.

http://carlaradio.net/thesystem/pl_ct.php

[Raybestos]

2 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

I don't see any reason, with the right hardware, that a dual pl setup couldnt be implemented similar to what CARLA has on the ham side. One pl, your audio goes to the whole system, while another pl repeats on that machine only. If you key up the local pl, linked audio is muted until a set period after local activity ends, and the link resumes.

http://carlaradio.net/thesystem/pl_ct.php

That sounds like a great idea!