Gmrs in ny

[Freddy320th]

Does anyone use gmrs in upstate New York? I've been scanning channels on my handheld but don't hear anything other than a one off radio check. Even the repeaters I've found listed don't have much going on them.

 

[SteveC0625]

Define “upstate.” There’s pockets of activity here and there and with the varying terrain, you could be near one and not hear anything.

 

[Freddy320th]

Define “upstate.” There’s pockets of activity here and there and with the varying terrain, you could be near one and not hear anything.

Well SteveC0625 there's no defining "upstate" NY here the question is being asked in general terms for no specific area of "upstate". I do understand about terrain and have not found an issue receiving due to terrain. Radios and communication were part of my training for my MOS at Ft Gordon Georgia so the thing on terrain is not needed.

 

[SteveC0625]

Well SteveC0625 there's no defining "upstate" NY here the question is being asked in general terms for no specific area of "upstate". I do understand about terrain and have not found an issue receiving due to terrain. Radios and communication were part of my training for my MOS at Ft Gordon Georgia so the thing on terrain is not needed.

Since there are pockets of activity here and there across NYS, perhaps narrowing down what you mean by "upstate" is a VERY reasonable question.

My point about terrain as meant to suggest that GMRS is severely limited by hills and valleys which NYS is full of. Again, where you are in the state matters about GMRS activity. You could be just a few miles from a busy repeater and not hear it due to hills and valleys and power limitations.

Please, I went through Fort Gordon for my MOS over 50 years ago and learned thos same lessons. Nothing in your note suggested that you have "specialized knowledge" so how about dropping the attitude? You asked a decent question, but given the size of NYS, zeroing in on where you mean is very reasonable.

 

[Freddy320th]

Since there are pockets of activity here and there across NYS, perhaps narrowing down what you mean by "upstate" is a VERY reasonable question.

My point about terrain as meant to suggest that GMRS is severely limited by hills and valleys which NYS is full of. Again, where you are in the state matters about GMRS activity. You could be just a few miles from a busy repeater and not hear it due to hills and valleys and power limitations.

Please, I went through Fort Gordon for my MOS over 50 years ago and learned thos same lessons. Nothing in your note suggested that you have "specialized knowledge" so how about dropping the attitude? You asked a decent question, but given the size of NYS, zeroing in on where you mean is very reasonable.

Well I'll drop the attitude if you want drop the attitude too and recognize I was asking a general question not pertaining to specific area in "upstate" NY or really having specifics other than generalized to see if it's worth using. And seeing 50 years ago is along time and technology changes.

 

[SteveC0625]

Well I'll drop the attitude if you want drop the attitude too and recognize I was asking a general question not pertaining to specific area in "upstate" NY or really having specifics other than generalized to see if it's worth using. And seeing 50 years ago is along time and technology changes.

OK. My experience up here in the southern Adirondacks is that GMRS is just plain non-existant. There's a REACT group in Saratoga area that has a repeater and won't share the channel with anyone outside their group. I don't monitor their channel so I can't even say if they're still active.

There's some activity in the Rochester area, but it's hit and miss. Albany area has a couple of listed repeaters, but again, no significant activity. The Adirondacks are pretty quiet although you'll hear some occasional FRS activity in many of the campgrounds, mostly kids or occasionally folks talking their rigs into campsites. I've driven the Thruway from Albany to Rochester and back many times with a scanner running on all 22 GMRS/FRS frequencies with dead silence even going through populated areas like Utica and Syracuse.

I can't speak for other areas of the state but if you're interested in a specific area or areas, others may be able to offer their insights.

As extensively discussed over on MYGMRS.com, GMRS as a chat hobby is generally disappointing in many places. Most folks get into GMRS for family or group use. Groups like off-road clubs like it because it's reasonably private and, if you use commercial grade gear, very high quality communications subject to the usual limitations of UHF. If you're not aware, Jeep has partnered with Midland and designated GMRS as their preferred communications platform for Jeep Jamboree and other off-road events.

At $35 for a ten year family license, GMRS is a pretty good bargain. My wife and I use the upper high power channels for camping convoys and in-camp communications (cell service stinks where we camp so reliable two-way radio is extra valuable to us.) I have enough Motorola gear (Commercial and Professional Series, not the FRS/GMRS talkies) for anyone who joins us.

 

[522]

Since the OP couldn't answer a simple question.... Judging by his Signature, it appears he is in Schenectady, NY.
Also, a simple lookup of his GMRS License provides his home address. Which is also in Schenectady , NY

 

[KK2DOG]

Anything south of Watertown is down-state.

 

[DeeEx]

Where upstate means sharing a border with VT, I’ve noted some repeated activity.

Someone in upstate NY or northwest/western VT has a well-situated repeater on 462.725; I can hear it strongly all around the area. It has many tones set up, possibly many different potential groups using it. But all I’ve ever caught were very brief transmissions over years of occasionally monitoring it. Last time I dug into it was years ago, but I couldn’t figure out whose it was or where it was located. My educated guesses, based on how I can work 70cm repeaters in the area, would be Lyon Mountain, NY, or Mount Mansfield, VT.

 

[Citywide173]

I have driven the Thruway Massachusetts to Pennsylvania several times (both ways) and never gotten a hit on GMRS frequencies.

To the OP (with 4 posts as of the time of this posting) Upstate NY is a VERY big place and with the large area, variations in output power, repeater presence, HAAT, ERP, antenna choice, etc. the question, as you posed it, is pretty much unanswerable. People with expertise in certain geographic areas of Upstate New York will ask for a more specific location because they know that their answer might not be pertinent to your needs and don't want to waste your time. They are not trying to be rude. Welcome to RR

 

[nacsr]

I live in the Rome are and seldom here anything but kids. I do get a repeater from Syracuse very faintly. Mostly just hourly time checks

 

[gman4661]

Since there are pockets of activity here and there across NYS, perhaps narrowing down what you mean by "upstate" is a VERY reasonable question.

My point about terrain as meant to suggest that GMRS is severely limited by hills and valleys which NYS is full of. Again, where you are in the state matters about GMRS activity. You could be just a few miles from a busy repeater and not hear it due to hills and valleys and power limitations.

Please, I went through Fort Gordon for my MOS over 50 years ago and learned thos same lessons. Nothing in your note suggested that you have "specialized knowledge" so how about dropping the attitude? You asked a decent question, but given the size of NYS, zeroing in on where you mean is very reasonable.

Ft. Gordon is being renamed Ft. Eisenhower.

Several other installations are being renamed to make them politically correct.

 

[N4KVE]

Well SteveC0625 there's no defining "upstate" NY here the question is being asked in general terms for no specific area of "upstate".

Funny, this is a discussion I’ve been having for decades. To New Yorkers from the 5 boroughs, or Westchester County, upstate NY is anything north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. But to those of us who grew up in Montreal Canada, upstate NY means within miles of the Canadian border.

 

[tommytimbertoes]

Does anyone use gmrs in upstate New York? I've been scanning channels on my handheld but don't hear anything other than a one off radio check. Even the repeaters I've found listed don't have much going on them.

Where I am (Poughkeepsie) there are only 29 "active" GMRS licenses. I'm thinking of getting licensed myself. Already have a ham license. I have a GM-30 coming today. I have a feeling I'm not going to hear very much when scanning.

 

[KK2DOG]

Discussions are just starting here in a couple of weeks to see if there's any interest in putting up a GMRS repeater in the Watertown, NY area.

 

[62Truck]

Where I am (Poughkeepsie) there are only 29 "active" GMRS licenses. I'm thinking of getting licensed myself. Already have a ham license. I have a GM-30 coming today. I have a feeling I'm not going to hear very much when scanning.

There are two GMRS repeaters in the area that are part of an inactive react group you won’t hear much activity on them, and they don’t really cover that well.

 

[tommytimbertoes]

There are two GMRS repeaters in the area that are part of an inactive react group you won’t hear much activity on them, and they don’t really cover that well.

I got my GMRS license earlier in the month and have been scanning. I'm only hearing one repeater, the Dutchess/Putnam REACT. Same 2 guys every late afternoon. I also hear some guy on simplex speaking Russian but can't hear the 2nd guy. As expected it's somewhat dead in this region, kind of like the 2m/440 repeaters (which is fine, I'm a simplex guy personally on ham radio VHF/UHF). I'm hearing the Putnam repeater on my GM-30 with the stock antenna, not bad. Built a ground plane antenna a few days ago, seems to work well.

 

[dave3825]

Does anyone use gmrs in upstate New York?

Define “upstate.”

Well SteveC0625 there's no defining "upstate" NY here the question is being asked in general terms for no specific area of "upstate".

Unreal.

If not specific to "upstate", then why ask about "upstate"?

 

[KK6HRW]

Residents of the Bronx used to claim that anywhere to the north was “upstate”😊

 

[N4KVE]

Residents of the Bronx used to claim that anywhere to the north was “upstate”😊

LOL. Right? So Plattsburgh would be up, up, up state?