GMRS Lic. and radio

[prima19rider]

OK I have a Radio and a Lic. Do not hear any traffic. Have tried contacting the local Repeater owners by email, and not received a response. I am located in Sullivan Co. TN. Looks like this is a bust. Anybody else have the same experience?

 

[nd5y]

Probably a lot of people have that experience because they don't understand GMRS, believed all the internet hype about it, and didn't bother to actually listen to what activity, or lack of activity, there is in their area.

 

[K4EET]

OK I have a Radio and a Lic. Do not hear any traffic. Have tried contacting the local Repeater owners by email, and not received a response. I am located in Sullivan Co. TN. Looks like this is a bust. Anybody else have the same experience?

Good morning. Is the repeater that you are trying to communicate through an “open” repeater in that the repeater is not for private use only? Also, how long have you listened to the repeater for activity? Some repeaters are silent for days, even weeks on end. Finally, not all GMRS licensees will talk randomly to just anybody. They may have gotten into GMRS to talk to their family only. That’s just a few thoughts that come to mind…

 

[NC1]

Not hearing anything could be due to many things. What type of property do you have - is it rural, suburban, or more of a city? What is your property elevation in relation to the land around it within about 5 miles? 20 miles? What antenna are you using? There's a lot of questions that need to be answered before identifying the problem, only then can we present possible workable solutions.

 

[SQP]

In your area, there are NO public listed repeaters that are real close to you. The Johnson City pairs of 675 and 575 you may hit/hear, IF still active. Go to myGMRS.com to ASK for access. Though GMRS is a CB class, not all repeaters behave that way, thus, NO ACCESS!! Glad to have you on board.

 

[NC1]

In your area, there are NO public listed repeaters that are real close to you. The Johnson City pairs of 675 and 575 you may hit/hear, IF still active. Go to myGMRS.com to ASK for access. Though GMRS is a CB class, not all repeaters behave that way, thus, NO ACCESS!! Glad to have you on board.

Not all repeaters are listed since the repeater owner does not always submit the information. I find discrepancies between MyGMRS and RepeaterBook where some appear in one and not the other, and I have found 4 in my area that do not appear in either directory at all. The only way to find out what is really in any given area is to scan the 8 repeater channels for about a week or so using a good outdoor antenna system - that is how I found the missing 4, and I think there's a 5th but cannot quite figure if it is a big repeater a long way away of somethhing more local that is only used every once in a while.

 

[prima19rider]

In your area, there are NO public listed repeaters that are real close to you. The Johnson City pairs of 675 and 575 you may hit/hear, IF still active. Go to myGMRS.com to ASK for access. Though GMRS is a CB class, not all repeaters behave that way, thus, NO ACCESS!! Glad to have you on board.

I have placed a contact request to those repeaters they are from what I have heard open to the public but you need to contact the owner first. the owner has not responded in 2 weeks. Been at this location for 6 months nothing heard.

 

[SQP]

Understood. Some owners answer quick, some........................ You do need to listen to the KIND of traffic on a repeater to determine if it's ragchew, farm, or business. Other than ragchew, you will NOT get permission to use.

 

[jeepsandradios]

A common misconception is GMRS is like ham and all repeaters are open for anyone to use and there are repeaters all over the country. That's simply not the case. I have multiple repeaters in multiple locations and they are all closed. They were installed for my family and friends and they support the system. If you expectation is to have repeaters to use and go all over then GMRS is not the answer. Yes some areas have great systems but that doesn't mean all areas do. I guess I would ask why you got GMRS and what your expectations are.

 

[prima19rider]

I am going to say that in my opnion GMRS is internet hype. not sure I will use the license and will not be buying any radios. Have FRS and amateur radio. All this is capability oversold. So I am out.

 

[KevinC]

I am going to say that in my opnion GMRS is internet hype. not sure I will use the license and will not be buying any radios. Have FRS and amateur radio. All this is capability oversold. So I am out.

Just my opinion. Your lack of understanding of GMRS doesn't make it 'internet hype' or oversold. You probably should have done a little more research before delving into this venture.

 

[prima19rider]

Just my opinion. Your lack of understanding of GMRS doesn't make it 'internet hype' or oversold. You probably should have done a little more research before delving into this venture.

And what media do you suggest this research use? yputube and internet forums do not appear to be much use, can you suggest more accurate educational information?

 

[a417]

And what media do you suggest this research use? yputube and internet forums do not appear to be much use, can you suggest more accurate educational information?

Why does it need to be internet media? Have you sought out other users other than an email to a single repeater owner?

 

[prima19rider]

closing this posting no further replies are needed or desired. Got my answer

 

[vagrant]

We have several GMRS repeaters around here that are used. They are open and see regular use. One repeater owner never responds to emails, but he uses the 141.3 travel tone to make it easy for many that know. The GMRS repeaters here are owned by amateur and GMRS licensed operators and we enjoy sharing open repeaters at our own expense.

I am not aware of GMRS Internet or non Internet hype, but I do not go looking for it. I purchased my GMRS license in 2017 after a fellow amateur buddy told me to pick one up so we could use those freqs too, and because of the existing repeaters. My friends and their families use GMRS as well. If we did not have the existing repeaters, we would have set up at least one for everyone to use with the travel tone. Still, GMRS repeaters are not a free-for-all unless indicated. Some jokers believe otherwise.

Anyways, for the current $35 ten year licensing fee that does not require a test, it is a great solution for many…and GMRS also moved people away from using marine radios on land. The biggest hurdle may be installing a working system and or not understanding their tiny handheld radio is underpowered.

 

[mmckenna]

closing this posting no further replies are needed or desired. Got my answer

Well, considering you started this thread yesterday and I don't see much in the way of GMRS related postings from you before that time, I'd say you jumped in pretty quick, wanted access to repeaters, and then gave up all within about 24 hours.

If you are interested in GMRS (and I expect you are, since you invested in a radio and the license), I'd say take a deep breath and a step back.

There's a lot of good info on this site, but it's not always easy to find. You can always ask questions and you'll usually get good advice. GMRS has been around for a very long time, and there's people here that have had their licenses for decades. I had one going back into the early 1990's. There's a bunch of people that tried to help you above, and are probably more than willing to continue to help you.

And YouTube is a resource, but I wouldn't call it a good one. There's a lot of very bad info there. I'd say there's probably more bad info than good info.

A better approach may be to start a new thread. Spell out exactly what your expectations are, and what your needs are. Be open to comments from those with a lot more experience than you. You'll get some good info, I promise.

GMRS is intended for short range family communications. Most people on GMRS want to talk to their family and friends and will use CTCSS/DCS to filter out other users. Repeaters, as mentioned above, are considered private property and not all users are going to welcome outsiders on them. GMRS is not a good resource for random communications like you'll find on amateur radio or CB. It's the wrong tool for the job if that's what you are looking for.

Finding an open repeater, or a repeater owner that will let you use their system takes time and patience. Yes, some repeaters are open to any GMRS user, and are great resources. There is no requirement that a repeater owner respond to your request or give you access to their system. If an owner doesn't respond, move on and look for other opportunities. Maybe there's other repeaters in your area, maybe not. There's nothing to stop you from putting up your own repeater on your own or with the help of other GMRS users.

 

[902]

OK I have a Radio and a Lic. Do not hear any traffic. Have tried contacting the local Repeater owners by email, and not received a response. I am located in Sullivan Co. TN. Looks like this is a bust. Anybody else have the same experience?

I ran several GMRS repeaters. I have to tell you that not every GMRS repeater is like an amateur radio repeater. Some people put them up to speak with their families or use when driving around town, but aren't necessarily talking much any other time.

This is a lot like the CAP repeaters. I had people hitting me up for equipment and then they're disappointed. A few of them thought it would be non-stop action. All CAP, all the time. That's not the case. I told them, "YOU are the 'action!'" What I meant by that is that if the user wasn't putting the equipment to use, no one else around them was going to, mostly because there was no one else around them.

Good luck and listen a lot before you talk. One more thing - repeaters aren't free. They cost someone a lot of money to put up and operate, especially if the owner is renting a site. So, free riders may not necessarily be welcome. If you are eventually accepted into the fold, be prepared to pony up for things that need to be replaced.

 

[SmitHans]

OK I have a Radio and a Lic. Do not hear any traffic. Have tried contacting the local Repeater owners by email, and not received a response. I am located in Sullivan Co. TN. Looks like this is a bust. Anybody else have the same experience?

What are you expecting from GMRS? I have GMRS to communicate with family because they didn't want to get Amateur licenses. And far from being a bust, it has come in VERY handy for exactly that purpose.

 

[alcahuete]

What are you expecting from GMRS? I have GMRS to communicate with family because they didn't want to get Amateur licenses. And far from being a bust, it has come in VERY handy for exactly that purpose.

A lot of people mistake GMRS for CB. Not at all the same. If you expect to use GMRS to contact random people like CB, it isn't going to happen nearly as readily as you might think.

 

[tweiss3]

I am going to say that in my opnion GMRS is internet hype. not sure I will use the license and will not be buying any radios. Have FRS and amateur radio. All this is capability oversold. So I am out.

You have amateur radio, but how much simplex FM work have you done? How much with an HT vs. base station? How much at 2W or less? The improvement of a 50W mobile with a proper installed antenna in the car vs. little FRS handhelds. My household uses car to car quite a bit.