Welcome! So you’re new and you have a question? Please read this to help us help you.

[SteveShannon]

Welcome!

We have all been new at things.  It’s intimidating isn’t it. Sometimes you don’t really even know what to ask.  So I hope that you’ll read this before posting your question.

First, no matter what you post read it all the way through, maybe twice, maybe even more, before hitting “Submit”.  Posting a question that isn’t easily understood will do nobody any good. Recently we have seen several questions that were totally incoherent.

Second, tell us everything about how you have configured your radio: what frequency you’re transmitting on, the tone or DCS you’re transmitting. 
If you need help with the radio, tell us what the model is.  All the numbers and letters are needed.  Don't just say "It's a boofwang" and expect us to leap into action.

Tell us the repeater name, the city, and the state the repeater is in.  If possible, provide a link to information about the repeater. Be careful not to disclose tones for a private repeater though (assume most are).

PL and CTCSS are just different names for tones. We know not all the manufacturers use the same numbers; use frequencies in Hertz instead. Yes, we all know the tones don't protect conversations from being overheard.  They can help keep you from being interrupted though.

DPL and DCS mean the same as DTCSS and an N after the code stands for Normal, I means inverted; use N unless it’s called out as inverted.

No, that roll of RG6 that fell off the cable TV truck isn’t really useful for GMRS. Neither are long runs of RG58 or anything else that's tiny in diameter. Plan to learn about coax losses at GMRS frequencies.

No, GMRS isn’t ham radio. Don’t say CQ CQ CQ unless you like being the temporary object of possibly negative attention.  Psst: It really is temporary unless you double down; then you get down votes for months.

Yes, Notarubicon videos do have useful information, even if you don’t understand the Queen’s humor. No, that’s not related to homophobia. 

If you just got your call sign from the FCC but you’re unable to sign up here yet, give it a few days.  The call sign lookup uses a periodic database dump from the FCC rather than a realtime verification.  As such it can take up to a week.  And if you still can’t register, double check your call sign. On more than one occasion people have mistakenly entered 1 instead of capital I, or 0 instead of O.  GMRS call signs are four letters followed by three numerals.  The first letter is W and will be for some time. So WAAA001 through WZZZ999.

Also, look over the many posts, use the search function,  keep your search terms short and find one of the 5000 other threads where someone asked the same thing before posting the 5001st question about a topic.  Really, if you’re a beginner and having a problem, chances are many of us had the same problem when we were beginners and we posted the 3001st or 4001st repeat question.

Finally, if any of the above stumps you, don’t even start asking about setting up your own repeater, yet.  But when you’ve gotten to the point where you might know enough to ask about setting up a repeater there’s lots of helpful information here.

 

Again, welcome.

[WRYZ926]

Nicely done Steve. Hopefully people will actually read this thread and find it helpful.

[WRUU653]

Nice job Steve. ️

[WRXB215]

@SteveShannon Very well said.

P.S. This should be pinned. 

Edited August 16 by WRXB215
Added info.

[OffRoaderX]

You spelled BooPHWHang wrong, but other than that, great job!

[piggin]

10 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Welcome!

We have all been new at things.  It’s intimidating isn’t it. Sometimes you don’t really even know what to ask.  So I hope that you’ll read this before posting your question.

First, no matter what you post read it all the way through, maybe twice, maybe even more, before hitting “Submit”.  Posting a question that isn’t easily understood will do nobody any good. Recently we have seen several questions that were totally incoherent.

Second, tell us everything about how you have configured your radio: what frequency you’re transmitting on, the tone or DCS you’re transmitting. 
If you need help with the radio, tell us what the model is.  All the numbers and letters are needed.  Don't just say "It's a boofwang" and expect us to leap into action.

Tell us the repeater name, the city, and the state the repeater is in.  If possible, provide a link to information about the repeater. Be careful not to disclose tones for a private repeater though (assume most are).

PL and CTCSS are just different names for tones. We know not all the manufacturers use the same numbers; use frequencies in Hertz instead. Yes, we all know the tones don't protect conversations from being overheard.  They can help keep you from being interrupted though.

DPL and DCS mean the same as DTCSS and an N after the code stands for Normal, I means inverted; use N unless it’s called out as inverted.

No, that roll of RG6 that fell off the cable TV truck isn’t really useful for GMRS. Neither are long runs of RG58 or anything else that's tiny in diameter. Plan to learn about coax losses at GMRS frequencies.

No, GMRS isn’t ham radio. Don’t say CQ CQ CQ unless you like being the temporary object of possibly negative attention.  Psst: It really is temporary unless you double down; then you get down votes for months.

Yes, Notarubicon videos do have useful information, even if you don’t understand the Queen’s humor. No, that’s not related to homophobia. 

Finally, if any of the above stumps you, don’t even start asking about setting up your own repeater, yet.  But when you’ve gotten to the point where you might know enough to ask about setting up a repeater there’s lots of helpful information here.

Again, welcome.

 LOL. Well done. Epic really. Too bad we are not neighbors.

[WRXP381]

Also please look around and see if a post has been recently made about the subject you’re posting about.    It’s hard to keep track of all the different posts about the same exact thing. 

[WRYZ926]

19 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

Also please look around and see if a post has been recently made about the subject you’re posting about.    It’s hard to keep track of all the different posts about the same exact thing. 

That happens a lot on many of the forums I am on. SteveShannon did a good job and all any of us can do is point people in the right direction. Like the old saying goes, You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink the water.

[SteveShannon]

On 8/16/2024 at 6:53 PM, piggin said:

Too bad we are not neighbors.

We are in a sense.  We hang out at the same forum.  Stop in for a coffee, pop, or even a beer!

[Lscott]

47 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Like the old saying goes, You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink the water.

But you can hold it's head under the water until it's ready to drink.