Repeater- Distance

New to all this: I just purchased Midlands MXT115 Micro Mobile 2 Way. It has 8 repeater channels. Up until now, I had never even heard of this, so I am lost. I pulled up the map, but did not see a location that “seemed” close to where I will be. My question is, how close (miles) wise do I need to be to access the repeater tower? I’ll be in Teton County, WY to be exact. Also, will accessing the tower help me with distance to transmit to the handhelds or only other mobile’s? Thanks- hope this all makes sense.

Realistically in reasonably flat terrain, a service area of around 20 miles for decent repeater is normal, but in hilly territory it could be more if the repeater is on the top of a mountain, or less if the repeater is on the other side of the mountain. Plus of course these repeaters are essentially private, and some make it difficult for strangers to access.

The concept of a repeater system is that the repeater is in a good place, so what er art can hear, it rebroadcasts out. The idea being that anyone inside it’s coverage area gets in, and anyone else in the area can communicate with each other - so maximum distance is the edge to edge of the area - up to twice the range of the individual mobile users.

I’m in the UK so have no idea where your County is - but unless you are within 20/25 miles of the repeater, you won’t be able too use it.

Hi CCorey, what map are you specifically referring to? If you are attempting to locate a GMRS repeater in your area, the only one I am aware of is https://mygmrs.com. It’s a national repeater database of GMRS repeaters.

As for whether you can communicate with portable handheld radios, that depends on whether or not the radio is repeater capable. A few of them are, but most consumer grade models are not.

Here is a list of FCC approved repeater capable GMRS radios. All of the handheld models on this list are discontinued, but many are still in use.