The GMRS hobby is hot and we love it! One thing, though. I use a local wide range repeater and now there’s another on the same frequency that interferes now and then. Yes, I do use a receive tone. But there is a shortage of GMRS repeater frequencies, I wonder if we’ll ever have much coordination.
Elaine KE4YYJ WRON749```On the HAM side we have repeater coordination through ARCC. On the GMRS side we don’t have that coordination. In both areas it is up to the uncoordinated repeater operators to correct interference conditions. Good practice would ideally have repeater owners listen on a repeater frequency for a couple of weeks, checking the various sources to look up repeaters in their area before choosing to use that frequency. That doesn’t always happen. Even if a person were to listen for a long period of time there are equipment issues that may keep them from hearing other nearby repeaters. Sometimes all it would take is sending an email to the repeater owner letting them know they are interfering with an established repeater.
GMRS is mainly a service for family and group communications and not really a hobby service like Amateur Radio where there is much more spectrum to be used for communication and experimentation.
I live in a mountain area where we don’t have any local GMRS repeaters and just a few repeaters on 2m and 70cm. When the conditions are just right or just wrong, however you look at it, I can hear a GMRS repeater but cannot connect to it.
I live in Quincy Fla, and try to do the Taylor count net, IE Perry Fla, but a local business Est, has a vox radio that drowns them out every time, I tried keying simplex, no avail, then programed my new digital scanner, found that they were using DPL, last one, programed, made contact, and they answered, but would not answer anymore, and since left the freq, all I was going to ask was to please take VOX off, every time they dropped dishpan, or talked it would key up. two weeks, but now gone. Sometimes, simple route is best.
mcessna, welcome. Good job contacting the local business. Looks like they decided to find another frequency even though that wasn’t your intention. It would be interesting to know what frequency they are using now.