Another GMRS Repeater Question; Rx & Tx

[crash3x]

Hi, still learning so please have patients... So on my hand held I found my local GMRS repeaters, entered the in & out Rx and Tx tone/code and I hit them/opened them up.  

1) Do I need both Rx and Tx in & out programed to take full advantage of the repeater or can I just enter the Tx out and leave the Rx off so I can listen to all traffic? With Tx out only programed will I still be able to use/open the repeater?  OR do I need both Rx and Tx programed for the repeater to work properly? 

2) Can I enter a repeater on any channel I want? Say channel 50, as long as I set the offset +5 and the proper tones/codes?

Thank you much!! 

[SteveShannon]

1 minute ago, crash3x said:

Hi, still learning so please have patients... So on my hand held I found my local GMRS repeaters, entered the in & out Rx and Tx tone/code and I hit them/opened them up.  

1) Do I need both Rx and Tx in & out programed to take full advantage of the repeater or can I just enter the Tx out and leave the Rx off so I can listen to all traffic? With Tx out only programed will I still be able to use/open the repeater?  OR do I need both Rx and Tx programed for the repeater to work properly? 

2) Can I enter a repeater on any channel I want? Say channel 50, as long as I set the offset +5 and the proper tones/codes?

Thank you much!! 

1. You only need the TX tone. 
2. Yes, if your radio allows it, but not all do. 

[crash3x]

2 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

1. You only need the TX tone. 
2. Yes, if your radio allows it, but not all do. 

Would you know? I'm using TD-H-3's and TD-H8's. I'll do my research as well, still in my learning curve. 

If I may also ask,  If I enter the Rx and Tx tones/codes, what's the advantage? Less traffic on my radio to radio communication? Or? 

Thank you! Any and all info is appreciated! 

[WRYZ926]

GMRS repeater channels share the same channels as Simplex channels. We will use channel 17 and repeater 17 as an example. The repeaters output will be on 462.600 MHZ and Channel 17 (simplex) is also on 462.600 MHz.

So if you don't have a receive tone set on your radio, you will hear the repeater traffic and any simplex traffic (with no tones). And yes you can still hear the repeater even when it is using the output tones even though your radio does not have a receive tone set.

Setting the receive tone just filters out any unwanted traffic on the channel so you don't hear it.

 

We have tones set for both receive and transmit on our repeater. Last Saturday there were a bunch of kids on Channel 17 simplex. I did not hear them at all since I do have the receive tone set on my radio, others that don't have the receive tone set did hear the kids.

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, crash3x said:

Would you know? I'm using TD-H-3's and TD-H8's. I'll do my research as well, still in my learning curve. 

If I may also ask,  If I enter the Rx and Tx tones/codes, what's the advantage? Less traffic on my radio to radio communication? Or? 

Thank you! Any and all info is appreciated! 

The advantage of RX tones is simply that your radio will not break squelch for any radios transmitting with no tone or a different tone. Because the simplex channels receive the same frequencies as the repeater channels that might reduce the amount of traffic. 
 

Im sorry, I don’t know how those radios work as far as allowing you to program additional channels. 
 

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, crash3x said:

Can I enter a repeater on any channel I want? Say channel 50, as long as I set the offset +5 and the proper tones/codes?

Many/most radios allow this but to know for sure just try it.. You aren't going to break anything.