GMRS Channel 1-22 Understanding

[WSAI590]

New GMRS user here, that will be obvious, with a question.  Since channels 1-22 receive and transmit are the same frequency I am assuming I can't transmit on them.  I can listen to with no issues, but since I've gotten no responses on the air when I transmit I again assume that they are blocked.  I have the repeaters working fine after getting the tone details from the owners but I am curious on channels 1-22, are they just for monitoring?  I am using a Tidradio H8 GMRS and program with RT Systems software.

Thanks for the help...

Bob

[WSAI590]

Guys I sincerely appreciate the insights you all have provided.  I am a licensed ham operator and have been used to talking with a lot of people.  I had expectations this would be the same on GMRS, clearly it is different.  I have found two repeaters in my area and they work well, with no issues but just was unsure of the pre-programmed channels. I did a quick test and have no problem communicating with another radio on the pre-programmed channels.  Using this for a specific purpose like "for events, off roading, hiking, ect……" makes perfect sense. The attraction to the Tidradio H8 was the ability to switch between ham and GMRS, I use this mostly for ham operations.  I can't thank you guys enough for the enlightenment.

Best regards,

Bob

[amaff]

2 minutes ago, WSAI590 said:

Guys I sincerely appreciate the insights you all have provided.  I am a licensed ham operator and have been used to talking with a lot of people.  I had expectations this would be the same on GMRS, clearly it is different. ...
Using this for a specific purpose like "for events, off roading, hiking, ect……" makes perfect sense. The attraction to the Tidradio H8 was the ability to switch between ham and GMRS, I use this mostly for ham operations.  I can't thank you guys enough for the enlightenment.

Yup, the use case is very different. With a few linked repeater networks (or if you happen to be in a busy area) you definitely can 'make contacts' with GMRS. But that's not remotely what the majority of people use it for, nor is it its intended use case. They're great tools for solving a comms problem for another activity. A lot of people seem disappointed that 'no one wants to talk to me on GMRS'. Because that's not really what its for.

If I'm talking to my friend spotting for me on at the race track and someone else comes on frequency, the first thing that's going to happen is we're moving to our backup channel lol

 

[Lambda]

Hello, 

You are free to use 1-22 for TX/RX (transmit/receive). Unless you’re in a densely populated area of radio hobbyists, you may seldom if ever receive a response on those channels via simplex (handheld-to-handheld) simply due to limits of range. If you are hearing RX frequently on those channels, and still never get a response (for example roadwork, daycare, schools, etc) it’s likely because they have tones set on their radios to not hear unintended traffic. 

If you can, I suggest grabbing an inexpensive radio to loan a buddy who will do simplex tests with you. Fun, of course, and really helpful to understand the behaviors of 462MHz propagation. 
 

Additionally, see this link for the GMRS channel chart, specifying usage parameters: 
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart

Have fun! 

 

[Socalgmrs]

15-22 are the same receive frequency as the repeaters so if you hear a repeater on a repeater chennel then you would also hear it on the matching simplex and yes of coarse you can use 1-22 those are the gmrs channels.  If you can’t use 1-22 you can’t use gmrs. Also keep in mind if your using a gmrs radio 7-14 are only 1/2 a watt so that limits range a lot.  Gmrs is mostly a bring your own friends kinda thing.  I see this so often Atleast once a week people buy a gmrs radio and think that there are millions of people all over in every corner of the country just chatting away.   Just because you reach out does not mean some one heard you or cares to respond.  Again it’s a bring your own friends thing for events, off roading, hiking, ect……
also a hand held radio has a range from 1/2mile or less to 30plus miles depending on surroundings. It’s extremely line of sight anything gets in the way.  Buildings trees homes hills mountains ect.   I think you may be expecting to much.  If you join a good repeater that is well within range that is the best way to make radio friends.   If you need or want to talk further to more people, ham may be the way to go. 

[nokones]

9 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

15-22 are the same receive frequency as the repeaters so if you hear a repeater on a repeater chennel then you would also hear it on the matching simplex and yes of coarse you can use 1-22 those are the gmrs channels.  If you can’t use 1-22 you can’t use gmrs. Also keep in mind if your using a gmrs radio 7-14 are only 1/2 a watt so that limits range a lot.  Gmrs is mostly a bring your own friends kinda thing.  I see this so often Atleast once a week people buy a gmrs radio and think that there are millions of people all over in every corner of the country just chatting away.   Just because you reach out does not mean some one heard you or cares to respond.  Again it’s a bring your own friends thing for events, off roading, hiking, ect……
also a hand held radio has a range from 1/2mile or less to 30plus miles depending on surroundings. It’s extremely line of sight anything gets in the way.  Buildings trees homes hills mountains ect.   I think you may be expecting to much.  If you join a good repeater that is well within range that is the best way to make radio friends.   If you need or want to talk further to more people, ham may be the way to go. 

It's channels 8-14 that are only a half-watt on transmit power. Channel 7 is allowed 2-watts on a FRS radio and 5 watts on a GMRS radio.

[amaff]

12 hours ago, WSAI590 said:

Since channels 1-22 receive and transmit are the same frequency I am assuming I can't transmit on them.  I can listen to with no issues, but since I've gotten no responses on the air when I transmit I again assume that they are blocked.

I'm not sure I really understand the question. Why can't you transmit on those?

 

Who exactly are you trying to talk to? A couple of ol' boys just jawing? Or people out doing something?

If I'm out with my friends doing something (road trip, at the race track, hiking, etc) we use CTS codes so that we don't have to hear anyone else talking because we just want to talk among ourselves. We're not trying to chat with randos on the air.

Which is a long way of saying, just because they're not answering doesn't mean you can't transmit. It might mean they're not trying to hear you.

[Socalgmrs]

15 minutes ago, amaff said:

If I'm talking to my friend spotting for me on at the race track and someone else comes on frequency, the first thing that's going to happen is we're moving to our backup channel lol

 

More great insights as to gmrs use.  As for your race track spotting this issue can be solved by adding tones to simplex.  You won’t hear anyone interrupting you. 

[Socalgmrs]

25 minutes ago, WSAI590 said:

Guys I sincerely appreciate the insights you all have provided.  I am a licensed ham operator and have been used to talking with a lot of people.  I had expectations this would be the same on GMRS, clearly it is different.  I have found two repeaters in my area and they work well, with no issues but just was unsure of the pre-programmed channels. I did a quick test and have no problem communicating with another radio on the pre-programmed channels.  Using this for a specific purpose like "for events, off roading, hiking, ect……" makes perfect sense. The attraction to the Tidradio H8 was the ability to switch between ham and GMRS, I use this mostly for ham operations.  I can't thank you guys enough for the enlightenment.

Best regards,

Bob

Good local repeaters are really the only place you can reliably find others to talk to.  You MAY at times stumble upon locals monitoring simplex but for the most part repeaters are the place to gather.  A while ago there was a national push to reach out at 9pm your local time on 19simplex on fridays it was coined Friday night live.   We had a few people in my area for a while but it fell off.  We have a a bunch of local repeaters 2 are extremely active with multiple nets every week and in person gatherings and what not.  It may be up to you to start things off on your local repeaters and get the word out to strangers about gmrs in your local area