Newbie here with Midland gxy275

[mclousing]

Hey folks, rookie here so probably dumb question.  I am trying to do a radio check and not getting any responses.  I am doing this on channel 21 where I hear the most traffic.  I have have enabled repeater on my unit.  I have also was approved for use on the repeater and I have set the  tc value to the ctrss number assocy with the transmit tone for the repeater.  I reach out for a radio check and don't get any response.  So either I am doing something wrong 99 percent likely or every is ignoring me, 1 percent there.  I also have some Midland gxt1000 handhelds and everything works fine between the units.

 

Any advice would be appreciated, and a response of your being an idiot do  xyz is totally acceptable.

 

Thanks

[OffRoaderX]

When you let go of the transmit button, do you hear a static-blip/return from the repeater?

[Guest]

Or you’re too far away?  How far from the repeater are you?   Do you have line of sight to the repeater?  Are you running the tiny antenna? 

[SteveShannon]

17 hours ago, mclousing said:

Hey folks, rookie here so probably dumb question.  I am trying to do a radio check and not getting any responses.  I am doing this on channel 21 where I hear the most traffic.  I have have enabled repeater on my unit.  I have also was approved for use on the repeater and I have set the  tc value to the ctrss number assocy with the transmit tone for the repeater.  I reach out for a radio check and don't get any response.  So either I am doing something wrong 99 percent likely or every is ignoring me, 1 percent there.  I also have some Midland gxt1000 handhelds and everything works fine between the units.

 

Any advice would be appreciated, and a response of your being an idiot do  xyz is totally acceptable.

 

Thanks

Channel 21 or repeater channel 21, which might be displayed as RP21 or possibly even channel 29?  

Because the repeater channels (RP15-RP22 or 23-30 on some radios) are received on the same frequencies as 15-22, you will hear repeater transmissions while on 21, but you won’t be transmitting on the correct frequency.

[mclousing]

20 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

When you let go of the transmit button, do you hear a static-blip/return from the repeater?

I do not hear that from repeater, and I am line of sight about 6 miles away

[mclousing]

12 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Channel 21 or repeater channel 21, which might be displayed as RP21 or possibly even channel 29.  Because the repeater channels (RP15-RP22 or 23-30 on some radios) are received on the same frequencies as 15-22, you will hear repeater transmissions while on 21, but you won’t be transmitting on the correct frequency.

On the radio I hear the same traffic on repeater 21 as normal 21.  I attempt to transmit on repeater 21 which has the 5 mhz offset

[OffRoaderX]

Are you certain the tone is correct? and if you are certain, HOW are you certain?

[mclousing]

1 minute ago, OffRoaderX said:

Are you certain the tone is correct? and if you are certain, HOW are you certain?

I assume it is correct, since it is not my repeater I will not say the code, but I got that info and looked up the chart in the radio manual for the channel that matched that tine

[SteveShannon]

7 minutes ago, mclousing said:

On the radio I hear the same traffic on repeater 21 as normal 21.  I attempt to transmit on repeater 21 which has the 5 mhz offset

Good!  Just checking,

[OffRoaderX]

Double check that you are using the correct TX tone.. Double check that you looked up the tone correctly in the Mildand code-table, and double check that you entered it correctly, double check that you saved it correctly and double-check that you saved it to the correct REPEATER channel.

If you still are not able to hit the repeater, drive closer.. if you are still not able to hit the repeater, then either you have the tone wrong, you entered it wrong, you're on the wrong channel, the repeater is down, your antenna is broken, or your radio is defective...

...and i doubt the repeater is down or the radio is defective.

[mclousing]

Got it, I was looking at the range circle of the repeater and that is probably the repeaters transmit range.  Tomorrow I can drive to within a mile of it and test it.  I should say I am using a stubby antenna that sits on top of the roll cage of my jeep

[mclousing]

.  I know I have a 2 mile range on the 5 watt channels, I will test the Upper channels for range tomorrow.  Thanks all for your assistance.

[nokones]

6 minutes ago, mclousing said:

Got it, I was looking at the range circle of the repeater and that is probably the repeaters transmit range.  Tomorrow I can drive to within a mile of it and test it.  I should say I am using a stubby antenna that sits on top of the roll cage of my jeep

The Phantom antennae are not bad antennae. If if is the Midland Phantom it will be tuned for the GMRS freqs however, you should have a ground plane under the antenna if you intend to get some farz out of that antenna. As for being in a group of Jeeps it should work fine but do check your VSWRs to make sure everything is up to snuff.

[mclousing]

1 minute ago, nokones said:

The Phantom antennae are not bad antennae. If if is the Midland Phantom it will be tuned for the GMRS freqs however, you should have a ground plane under the antenna if you intend to get some farz out of that antenna. As for being in a group of Jeeps it should work fine but do check your VSWRs to make sure everything is up to snuff.

Ok.  I am such a rookie I understood about 10percent of that.  Ground plane I think I got checked.  It is Midlands phantim mxta25.  It is onagnetic mount.  I have no top on jeep so it is on a flat plane at highest point of vehicle.  The rest of what you said was Greek, sorry total newbie

[mclousing]

This is the mount

[nokones]

2 minutes ago, mclousing said:

Ok.  I am such a rookie I understood about 10percent of that.  Ground plane I think I got checked.  It is Midlands phantim mxta25.  It is onagnetic mount.  I have no top on jeep so it is on a flat plane at highest point of vehicle.  The rest of what you said was Greek, sorry total newbie

The VSWR check will tell you if your cable and connectors are not shorted out and that your antenna is performing insofar as tuned for the GMRS frequencies. It is a way to determine there is not a problem with your cable and connectors. Maybe there is a GMRS enthusiast/friend near you that is willing to check that for you.  Where do you live?

[nokones]

Looks like you are using the Midland mag-mount. Those are usually pretty good providing that you recently bought the mount from Midland within the last year. The mag-mounts more than a year ago came with cheap/poor connectors and where a problem.

[mclousing]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

Double check that you are using the correct TX tone.. Double check that you looked up the tone correctly in the Mildand code-table, and double check that you entered it correctly, double check that you saved it correctly and double-check that you saved it to the correct REPEATER channel.

If you still are not able to hit the repeater, drive closer.. if you are still not able to hit the repeater, then either you have the tone wrong, you entered it wrong, you're on the wrong channel, the repeater is down, or your radio is defective...

...and i doubt the repeater is down or the radio is defective.

 

45 minutes ago, nokones said:

The VSWR check will tell you if your cable and connectors are not shorted out and that your antenna is performing insofar as tuned for the GMRS frequencies. It is a way to determine there is not a problem with your cable and connectors. Maybe there is a GMRS enthusiast/friend near you that is willing to check that for you.  Where do you live?

Milwaukee WI area.

[mclousing]

42 minutes ago, nokones said:

Looks like you are using the Midland mag-mount. Those are usually pretty good providing that you recently bought the mount from Midland within the last year. The mag-mounts more than a year ago came with cheap/poor connectors and where a problem.

Yep bought 3 weeks ago

[nokones]

10 hours ago, mclousing said:

 

Milwaukee WI area.

I'm sure there are some GMRS radio clubs in your area. You should reach out to them and if necessary become a member and ask if there is someone that is willing to help you to checkout your system. You'll find that most GMRS clubs have members that are willing to help other members and enthusiasts.

[mclousing]

11 hours ago, nokones said:

I'm sure there are some GMRS radio clubs in your area. You should reach out to them and if necessary become a member and ask if there is someone that is willing to help you to checkout your system. You'll find that most GMRS clubs have members that are willing to help other members and enthusiasts.

Yeah, in general all these groups are great in thT way.  I have a friend who is a ham junkie, so I will reach out to him