Ziggidy Posted June 16 Report Posted June 16 First, Happy Fathers Day! I hope all you great fathers are greater dads! That said, I musty say I am wondering about GMRS.....and me. I have 2 HT's UV-5G Plus and the DT-H3. Both were inexpensive so I am trying them both. I am using both the software and manual programing on both. Have read up and tried a number of things but nada, no communications. I truly believe I have the right repeater setting the repeaters near and around Indy. Still nothing. I have tried driving around but no help. I decided to buy a mobile antenna and did purchase the Nagoya UT-72G and drove around and nothing. I live in Brownsburg area and decided to drive to Noblesville yesterday afternoon and took all highway, thinking it would be less interference but still nothing. I can hear just fine. I have tried programing both the RX and TX with proper tone and have tried just using the TX (DCS). No matter what I do, I cannot get a response on any checks I request. There is no acknowledgement if I am even heard. Are my HT's that poor or is it something I am doing? I will not post the tones I am using because they are for members of Midwest GMRS but it's got to be something I am doing wrong, but what? Quote
SteveShannon Posted June 16 Report Posted June 16 6 minutes ago, Ziggidy said: First, Happy Fathers Day! I hope all you great fathers are greater dads! That said, I musty say I am wondering about GMRS.....and me. I have 2 HT's UV-5G Plus and the DT-H3. Both were inexpensive so I am trying them both. I am using both the software and manual programing on both. Have read up and tried a number of things but nada, no communications. I truly believe I have the right repeater setting the repeaters near and around Indy. Still nothing. I have tried driving around but no help. I decided to buy a mobile antenna and did purchase the Nagoya UT-72G and drove around and nothing. I live in Brownsburg area and decided to drive to Noblesville yesterday afternoon and took all highway, thinking it would be less interference but still nothing. I can hear just fine. I have tried programing both the RX and TX with proper tone and have tried just using the TX (DCS). No matter what I do, I cannot get a response on any checks I request. There is no acknowledgement if I am even heard. Are my HT's that poor or is it something I am doing? I will not post the tones I am using because they are for members of Midwest GMRS but it's got to be something I am doing wrong, but what? Happy Father’s Day to you as well. First, are you on a repeater channel? You didn’t say what channel you’re on. On all GMRS radios there are the simplex channels 15 - 22 and there are the repeater channels which are numbered 23 - 30 or something like RP15 - RP22. The repeater channels and the simplex channels receive on the same frequencies, which is in the 462 MHz range. So, channel 15 receives on exactly the same frequency as 23 (or RP15), 16 receives on the same frequency as 24 (RP16), etc. The difference is that the repeater channels transmit at a frequency that is usually 5.000 MHz higher than the simplex channel. So channel 15 receives and transmits on 462.550 MHz, channel 23 (RP15) transmits on 467.550 MHz. Because you mentioned that you’re able to receive just fine, it could be that you’re transmitting on the simplex channel, which would never wake up the receiver. WRUU653 and WSDF549 2 Quote
Ziggidy Posted June 16 Author Report Posted June 16 Sorry I forgot to mention the channel I was using; although I have tried many of the repeater channels. For all practical purposes, I use channel 25 which is repeater 462.6000 and when TX it does jump to 467.6000. I check and recheck the tone and it appears correct. I use Chirp and manual to make sure. Nothing. Do I still need to request access even with I am given the tones by MyGMRS / MidwestGMRS after joining? Quote
SteveShannon Posted June 16 Report Posted June 16 11 minutes ago, Ziggidy said: Sorry I forgot to mention the channel I was using; although I have tried many of the repeater channels. For all practical purposes, I use channel 25 which is repeater 462.6000 and when TX it does jump to 467.6000. I check and recheck the tone and it appears correct. I use Chirp and manual to make sure. Nothing. Do I still need to request access even with I am given the tones by MyGMRS / MidwestGMRS after joining? I’m not a member so I don’t know if you are required to request access after joining the club and receiving the tones, but I would not expect that to be the issue. It sounds like you’re on the right channel and you’ve double checked the tone. The only thing left that I know of is as you mentioned in your original post, getting closer. Once you are closer, when you hear traffic, try listening on the input frequency and scan for the input tone. WRUU653 and Ziggidy 2 Quote
amaff Posted June 16 Report Posted June 16 1 hour ago, Ziggidy said: No matter what I do, I cannot get a response on any checks I request. There is no acknowledgement if I am even heard. Are my HT's that poor or is it something I am doing? I will not post the tones I am using because they are for members of Midwest GMRS but it's got to be something I am doing wrong, but what? Are you able to hear other conversations on there? Are you hearing the 'kickback' from the repeater after your transmission or a station identifier (often in morse code)? It might be that your radios are set up fine but no one's actually listening when you're trying. We have a couple repeaters out here (Salt Lake valley) that you'll often not get an answer on (unless you catch the owner hanging out), and some that are pretty much always monitored. WRUU653 and Ziggidy 2 Quote
Ziggidy Posted June 16 Author Report Posted June 16 3 hours ago, SteveShannon said: I’m not a member so I don’t know if you are required to request access after joining the club and receiving the tones, but I would not expect that to be the issue. It sounds like you’re on the right channel and you’ve double checked the tone. The only thing left that I know of is as you mentioned in your original post, getting closer. Once you are closer, when you hear traffic, try listening on the input frequency and scan for the input tone. I will try that. Thanks. SteveShannon 1 Quote
Ziggidy Posted June 16 Author Report Posted June 16 I am using a HT and wondering if location is my concern would a mobile unit with 50watts get me out further, potentially through all the obstacles that may be limiting me now. IOW, does power improve punching through some obstacles? Quote
OffRoaderX Posted June 17 Report Posted June 17 16 minutes ago, Ziggidy said: I am using a HT and wondering if location is my concern would a mobile unit with 50watts get me out further I would try a bigger/better/higher antenna before forking out more $$ for more watts. SteveShannon, Ziggidy, WRXR255 and 1 other 4 Quote
amaff Posted June 17 Report Posted June 17 23 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said: I would try a bigger/better/higher antenna before forking out more $$ for more watts. This. With good line of sight, you can go 50+ miles with a 5W handheld and a stock rubber ducky antenna. I'd try and figure out what the issue actually is before hitting it with my purse. Ziggidy and SteveShannon 2 Quote
Ziggidy Posted June 17 Author Report Posted June 17 I must say, there is a learning curve here; but it's good one. Every couple days I learn something new; either from mistakes or the expert replies I am getting from all of you! Thanks! amaff, WRZK593 and SteveShannon 3 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.