Soooo... RIP Shawbute, I guess?

[EnderShadowborne]

Repeater's open, tones are listed in the tone spot and the description, but I can't get a response or any tail squelch from the repeater, Spock must've changed the tones and didn't update the listing? Kinda feels pointless to have my GMRS license at this point

 

Not really much to say, but looking forward to the friendly discussion in the comments.

[amaff]

I guess if the only thing you use GMRS for is the repeaters, sure.

I'd been using GMRS for a while before I ever spoke through a repeater. And even now, for me it's mostly for emergencies (if I get hurt out hiking without cell service, etc). Almost everything I use my gear for more regularly is simplex.

[WRXR255]

If you listen to it on simplex, do you hear any traffic at all through the day?

[EnderShadowborne]

I don't really know of any simplex frequencies that I could use

 

EDIT: I guess apart from that, no...

Edited Sunday at 06:32 PM by EnderShadowborne

[marcspaz]

GMRS has historically been a utility, not a rag-chew hobby. While in very dense population areas there is a big social component, once you get outside population centers, it is very much still a utility.

 

If you are looking for social communications, I would recommend amateur radio. Specifically either a General or Extra class so you can use the most amount of HF voice spectrum. 

[SteveShannon]

52 minutes ago, EnderShadowborne said:

Repeater's open, tones are listed in the tone spot and the description, but I can't get a response or any tail squelch from the repeater, Spock must've changed the tones and didn't update the listing? Kinda feels pointless to have my GMRS license at this point

 

Not really much to say, but looking forward to the friendly discussion in the comments.

Why did you get a GMRS license in the first place?

[WRXP381]

Funny I use gmrs every day simplex.  But I’m using it to communicate with friends and family usually around town or working off the horses or riding the quads up in the hills around the house.  I have many repeaters in the area but don’t use them as much as simplex. 

[JoCoBrian]

38 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Why did you get a GMRS license in the first place?

Steve this is a really good question.  I know you didn't ask me but here goes.  Curiosity.  I had no idea what to expect. Yes, I think it was my curiosity about GMRS.  I've been a licensed ham since 1988, and a full time QRP CW operator since 1998, and I am an Extra class licensee and POTA is my favorite amateur radio activity. 

In March 2020 my employer sent all us IT types home to work, pandemic and all, and then they sold our building and decided to leave us working from home...thing was I enjoyed listening to and participating in the local drive time 2m traffic...but...here we are with 20+2m repeaters and the largest majority of the day, they are dead.  Sometimes in the morning you can catch some conversations, sometimes in the drive home time but not always. 

So early last year I bought a pair of GM-30 Chinese wonder rigs for cheap, and taught my wife how to use them.  I was able to monitor GMRS traffic and stumbled on a couple repeaters I could hear but couldn't hit.  BUT when I go fishing at a pond a mile away, I can talk to my wife simplex.  When she goes out walking the neighborhood with her sister, she can talk simplex to me.  So really I got a GMRS license out of curiosity.  Thanks to local upgrades to the repeaters near me, and my slightly better antenna, I can talk on the two repeaters but frankly, I just listen.  

It beats Bob and Tom in the morning.  And there is more traffic on those two repeaters ALL DAY than 20 2m repeaters in the area.  I joined one of the local GMRS groups and gave them some financial support (very little actually) and I am enjoying their system.  When school is in session, I listen to the local maintenance guys on MURS as they have all the latest filthy jokes and they are a straight up hoot to listen to. 

I hope you had a good Field Day. 

 

[SteveShannon]

22 minutes ago, JoCoBrian said:

Steve this is a really good question.  I know you didn't ask me but here goes.

Great answer, and although (as you understood) was really asking the OP, I will take your hint that it might be a good general topic. I’ll start a new thread for it.

[kirk5056]

To me, the best day on GMRS is communicating with people I want to communicate with and not hearing anything I don't want to hear.  Therefore, I love PL filters (CTCSS/DCS) and the 3,000+ combinations they give to our 22 rx frequencies. 

[Lscott]

23 hours ago, JoCoBrian said:

It beats Bob and Tom in the morning.  And there is more traffic on those two repeaters ALL DAY than 20 2m repeaters in the area.  I joined one of the local GMRS groups and gave them some financial support (very little actually) and I am enjoying their system.  When school is in session, I listen to the local maintenance guys on MURS as they have all the latest filthy jokes and they are a straight up hoot to listen to. 

If you have any local malls within a few miles you might pickup the mall security, assuming they are on FM some are using NXDN or DMR by me, for entertainment. At times you hear some weird stuff. I've monitored reports of food fights in the food court, kicking hookers out of the mall, adult activity in back seats of cars in the lot, running down shoplifters, vehicle repo people with computer controlled license plate scanning cameras driving through the lots etc. They even kicked some local TV news crews off the property because they didn't get prior clearance. It gets much more active near Xmas. A few times some people were "asked" to put certain unnamed items back in their car, at least they didn't call the local PD on them, because it was prohibited to have them in the mall. I'll leave it to others to figure out what those were.

[JoCoBrian]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

If you have any local malls within a few miles you might pickup the mall security, assuming they are on FM some are using NXDN or DMR by me, for entertainment. At times you hear some weird stuff. I've monitored reports of food fights in the food court, kicking hookers out of the mall, adult activity in back seats of cars in the lot, running down shoplifters, vehicle repo people with computer controlled license plate scanning cameras driving through the lots etc. They even kicked some local TV news crews off the property because they didn't get prior clearance. It gets much more active near Xmas. A few times some people were "asked" to put certain unnamed items back in their car, at least they didn't call the local PD on them, because it was prohibited to have them in the mall. I'll leave it to others to figure out what those were.

I am too far from the mall to get in on any of that.  I do live close enough to a truckstop that once in awhile I can hear some of their security guys....tossing out the lot lizards, chasing off shoplifters,  people trying and failing to steal fuel.  Friday and Saturday nights are the most active.  Once in a while they offer "topless" truck washes...I can only imagine what that is. 

[nokones]

On 6/23/2024 at 10:51 AM, EnderShadowborne said:

Repeater's open, tones are listed in the tone spot and the description, but I can't get a response or any tail squelch from the repeater, Spock must've changed the tones and didn't update the listing? Kinda feels pointless to have my GMRS license at this point

 

Not really much to say, but looking forward to the friendly discussion in the comments.

If you are referring to the Shaw Butte Repeater in Phoenix, it has been working fine in both the local and link modes. Are you using a real radio or a CCR POS? I can access the repeater with a real portable radio sitting in my house approx. 25 miles away.

[TelecomGuy]

I am 20 miles away and I am able to hit the Shaw Butte Repeater in Phoenix just fine.

[jsneezy]

I hit Shaw Butte a little while ago from San Tan Valley on a Boofwang UV-9G with an NA-771G antenna. It's definitely still there. I know it sometimes gets shut down for a little bit when the drama ramps up, though.