So,.....what now ?

[WSDD439]

5 hours ago, WSEH860 said:

There's no Santa Claus either.............................

Wait…….what ?

[Hoppyjr]

Wait…….what ?

Now you’re wondering who that guy is with the knee you’ve been sitting on…..

[WSDD439]

10 hours ago, Hoppyjr said:

Now you’re wondering who that guy is with the knee you’ve been sitting on…..

Absolutely !

[SvenMarbles]

On 8/28/2024 at 5:08 PM, WSDD439 said:

Yeah, I’m not arguing either. I’m just saying that there’s plenty of room for everyone, no matter what your flavor is.

You can only speak to your empirical experience to where you are. In metro areas the repeater slots are essentially full, and when some of them are linked there's redundant traffic on more than 1 of them. It's not good for anyone who might wish to erect smaller or temporary repeaters for their party (the actual designed intent for GMRS repeater alocations from the framers)..

[WSEL489]

On 8/27/2024 at 8:44 AM, WSEG508 said:

All the people saying just get a ham license, are missing the point. If we wanted a ham license we would get one but we chose gmrs. i dont care to have to study to get a license for ham or wish to spend the $$$$ for new equipment. Its kinda crazy in 2024 you have to take a test for a basic ham license any way, thats why people choose gmrs. Pay a fee start talking. If i want more range i got a CB. The FCC making people shut the link repeaters down is terrible. Well thats my rant on the subject.

As a dual Licensee, I can only say that the Technician License opens up a whole world of interesting possibilities to experiment with Linking, Digital Communications and the like as long as you are operating above 50 mHz.  If that is not something interesting or compelling, no problem. Some may have equipment that can be reconfigured to support HAM+GMRS+MURS, especially those that are new to GMRS and bought Radio On A Chip based hardware. 
 

As an aside, I have been a HAM since 1988, and added a GMRS License to communicate with family and traveling companions only recently. 

[Guest]

On 8/27/2024 at 8:44 AM, WSEG508 said:

All the people saying just get a ham license, are missing the point. If we wanted a ham license we would get one but we chose gmrs. i dont care to have to study to get a license for ham or wish to spend the $$$$ for new equipment. Its kinda crazy in 2024 you have to take a test for a basic ham license any way, thats why people choose gmrs. Pay a fee start talking. If i want more range i got a CB. The FCC making people shut the link repeaters down is terrible. Well thats my rant on the subject.

But the point is they all knew it was against the rules and they did it anyway.   Hoping they would fly under the radar.   It’s always been against the rules and as for the fcc, it has not made anyone shut anything down.   They have merely made the old existing rules more clear for those that have tried to skirt the rules.   And those people with linked repeaters all of whom knew it was against the rules are now scared of nebulous “consequences ” if they do not choose to shut them down. Any one that got into GMRS because of linked repeaters was doomed from the beginning especially since when you sign up and pay the fee you are agreeing to the rules and swearing you read and understand the rules.   Some people really need to read up on things and study up before making comments that are not based in fact.     Gmrs is not and has never been ment for that type of communication and I can not believe this post has gathered 5 pages worth of whiners.  

[LeoG]

They clarified the rules for a reason.  They were confusing.  So swearing to rules that can be read as ambiguous means the people who wrote the rules are on the losing side.

After clarification, is a different story.

[WSDD439]

12 hours ago, SvenMarbles said:

You can only speak to your empirical experience to where you are. In metro areas the repeater slots are essentially full, and when some of them are linked there's redundant traffic on more than 1 of them. It's not good for anyone who might wish to erect smaller or temporary repeaters for their party (the actual designed intent for GMRS repeater alocations from the framers)..

Absolutely. If you’re in an area that has multiple GMRS repeater networks, then I can see your point. Thin the herd. Here in Michigan, our system, uses one frequency in Detroit, one a little north, one in Flint, one in Mayville, Saginaw and Cheboygan. There’s plenty of room, if you don’t want to use our repeater system.

[WSDD439]

6 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

But the point is they all knew it was against the rules and they did it anyway.   Hoping they would fly under the radar.   It’s always been against the rules and as for the fcc, it has not made anyone shut anything down.   They have merely made the old existing rules more clear for those that have tried to skirt the rules.   And those people with linked repeaters all of whom knew it was against the rules are now scared of nebulous “consequences ” if they do not choose to shut them down. Any one that got into GMRS because of linked repeaters was doomed from the beginning especially since when you sign up and pay the fee you are agreeing to the rules and swearing you read and understand the rules.   Some people really need to read up on things and study up before making comments that are not based in fact.     Gmrs is not and has never been ment for that type of communication and I can not believe this post has gathered 5 pages worth of whiners.  

Or those, that read five pages and complain about those that complain.

That makes sense. 

[Lscott]

22 hours ago, WSDD439 said:

Here in Michigan,

I believe these are all linked and within about 25 miles of each other.
Detroit600

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/7242 

 Detroit625

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6815

Macomb675

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6646

Then there is a wide area repeater not linked.

Troy575

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/4676

With 2 channels gone due to Line-A that only leaves 2 open for the little guy to use. Pickings are getting a bit slim.
 

[WSDD439]

13 hours ago, Lscott said:

I believe these are all linked and within about 25 miles of each other.
Detroit600

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/7242 

 Detroit625

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6815

Macomb675

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6646

Then there is a wide area repeater not linked.

Troy575

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/4676

With 2 channels gone due to Line-A that only leaves 2 open for the little guy to use. Pickings are getting a bit slim.
 

Our network uses 462.6250, in Detroit and 462. 6750 in Mt. Clemens, plenty of room. Our frequencies are pretty wide open for use, even for the little guy, if he chooses so.

[WSDD439]

13 hours ago, Lscott said:

I believe these are all linked and within about 25 miles of each other.
Detroit600

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/7242 

 Detroit625

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6815

Macomb675

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6646

Then there is a wide area repeater not linked.

Troy575

https://mygmrs.com/repeater/4676

With 2 channels gone due to Line-A that only leaves 2 open for the little guy to use. Pickings are getting a bit slim.
 

There’s 6-7 repeaters in the Detroit Metro area….

[Lscott]

50 minutes ago, WSDD439 said:

There’s 6-7 repeaters in the Detroit Metro area….

Yes, some are small area coverage. I didn't include those in the list.

I was impressed with the machine in Mount Clemens. I was able to get full quieting running just 4 watts with an HT connected to a portable antenna at 25 feet. At the time I was in Oxford Mi for several months recovering from knee surgery.

[nokones]

On 8/28/2024 at 8:09 AM, WSDD439 said:

I scan the simplex frequencies, as well. There’s nothing on them.

All seven 462 Interstitial channels and the eight main 462 channels are very busy with simplex traffic throughout the West Valley of the Phoenix Region. The 550, 575, 600, 700, and 725 channels have moderate use with repeater traffic and will provide very good coverage throughout most of the Phoenix Region and are high level elevation repeaters. The 625, 650, and 675 channels is mostly light to light moderate repeater use and are mostly low level elevation repeaters.

A couple of GMRS channels are used for a lot of off-road activities by numerous off-road groups throughout the entire State.  GMRS Channels 16 and 18 are the most used channels along with some trail comm use on FRS/GMRS Channels 5 & 6.

I have heard some CB radio traffic, not much, I assume are trail comms because I hear them occasionally off the beaten path way out in the boonies. The CB traffic I've been hearing is AM traffic. I don't know if there is any FM traffic because I haven't been monitoring FM while on the trail.

[nokones]

On 9/2/2024 at 12:53 PM, WSEL489 said:

As a dual Licensee, I can only say that the Technician License opens up a whole world of interesting possibilities to experiment with Linking, Digital Communications and the like as long as you are operating above 50 mHz.  If that is not something interesting or compelling, no problem. Some may have equipment that can be reconfigured to support HAM+GMRS+MURS, especially those that are new to GMRS and bought Radio On A Chip based hardware. 
 

As an aside, I have been a HAM since 1988, and added a GMRS License to communicate with family and traveling companions only recently. 

"Some People" I know, and I am one of them, choose not to be a HAM for various reason and spending the money on HAM gear isn't the reason at all for me. You can say that it's not the fact of the hoops that you have to jump through to get your license, it's some of the people that are involved in the hobby.  I haven't seen that in the GMRS community.

[Lscott]

4 minutes ago, nokones said:

it's some of the people that are involved in the hobby. 

Oh well, there are A-Holes in any hobby. Some show up here, unfortunately, from time to time. Hams don't don't have a monopoly on poor attitudes.

[OffRoaderX]

24 minutes ago, Lscott said:

Hams don't don't have a monopoly on poor attitudes.

It just seems that many of them display it a lot better (and more often) than normal people.

[Davichko5650]

6 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

It just seems that many of them display it a lot better (and more often) than normal people.

Easy to spot

"I've been a ham since..."

"Back when I got my license you had to ..."

"(insert unpopular ( to them ) FCC rule change here) is gonna be the death of the hobby".

"That won't work, the modeling software says so"

I have been a ham since 1992, when I got licensed you had to take a test, I think most every change the FCC did to part 97 actually grew the hobby, and my antennae can't read or use computers!

 

[LeoG]

25 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

It just seems that many of them display it a lot better (and more often) than normal people.

It's what happens when you put yourself up on a pedestal to look down over the little people.

[BoxCar]

55 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

It just seems that many of them display it a lot better (and more often) than normal people.

But you're not normal. A ton or so of bricks from a full load - on your good days.

[WSDD439]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

Oh well, there are A-Holes in any hobby. Some show up here, unfortunately, from time to time. Hams don't don't have a monopoly on poor attitudes.

I’d have to say, that I’ve been very fortunate. 99% of the hams that I’ve talked to have been very nice and pretty much outgoing, willing to help out with a question whenever they can. Heck, I’d say that 70% or more on the GMRS network here, also have their ham license(s).