Comms: GMRS Newbie 101?

[AttackGuy64]

Check out Notarubicon on Youtube. He is the way forward. Don't be a "Sad Ham"!

WRNB936

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[Draughon]

That was the first video I watched last night - he's def got some beef with the ham guys!

Check out Notarubicon on Youtube. He is the way forward. Don't be a "Sad Ham"!

WRNB936

 

[AttackGuy64]

I have MXT275s in all my vehicles. They are great for multi vehicle road trips when there is no signal between cities. We drive from Texas to Colorado a few times a year and cell coverage is spotty in NM and west Texas. A GMRS license covers the whole family so every kid gets a cheap Baofeng UV5X. Mommy and Daddy get better radios with more fars. We take them on the mountain when we snowboard so everyone can communicate and stay together. It actually came in really handy when my oldest went off the side of a ski run into the trees and broke his wrist. We never would have found him without it.

 

[TRACKTOY]

FYI GMRS channel 8-14 are .5w for handhelds so they wont show up on a midland mxts. Always carry a handheld somewhere.

thanks +i have 2 MOTOROLA HANDHELDS I will try to use them.
Lots of trucker to carry wood on my wood route very dangerous.
tracktoy

 

[ksdon]

This is another good place to find out if a GMRS repeater is in your area. https://www.repeaterbook.com/gmrs/index.php?state_id=none

Many larger towns and cities have a good GMRS repeater system. Outside of those areas (many to most areas that 4 wheeling is the best) there is not GMRS repeater coverage. A general rule is that if you can see them, GMRS radio will let you talk to them. For a traveling group a handheld can work very well. A repeater is not needed.

Since you have an interest and a good way to use this hobby, keep reading and asking. GMRS and even getting into Ham radio is not difficult. But for many of us it does require some learning.

 

[Draughon]

Thanks for the info! That confirmed what I thought - NO repeaters in Brewster (Big Bend Area) county.

I do have a question re: programming the handheld. If we all just switch to the same channel, programming isn't really necessary, correct?

This is another good place to find out if a GMRS repeater is in your area. https://www.repeaterbook.com/gmrs/index.php?state_id=none

Many larger towns and cities have a good GMRS repeater system. Outside of those areas (many to most areas that 4 wheeling is the best) there is not GMRS repeater coverage. A general rule is that if you can see them, GMRS radio will let you talk to them. For a traveling group a handheld can work very well. A repeater is not needed.

Since you have an interest and a good way to use this hobby, keep reading and asking. GMRS and even getting into Ham radio is not difficult. But for many of us it does require some learning.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

Check out Notarubicon on Youtube. He is the way forward. Don't be a "Sad Ham"!

WRNB936

He's super knowledgeable, and he lives in SoCal so I suspect I may run into him at some point. He likes to beat dead horses to death, then bury them, then dig them up fifteen times a year to remind you that he beat it to death and that he still needs to keep doing it. Move on dude, move on!

 

[ksdon]

Programing is not required for a great day of radio use. Most GMRS radios come preset for channels. A channel is just a preset frequency. For instance, if everyone in your group agrees to use Channel 16, you can turn the switch to channel 16. Or if you have a more complicated radio you could program it to 462.5750, which is channel 16.
Thankfully most popular GMRS radios come with preset channels. This is a good run down of the channels and the frequency they are set to: https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart

It shows the FRS (Family radio service) and GMR radios share frequencies/channels. GMRS just has higher power and different bandwidth. Read about bandwidth here: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/effect-of-frs-gmrs-bandwidth-difference.417678/

Programming is useful for setting your radio up for use with different repeaters if you travel around or driving with different groups that have different needs. You can set up many different things such as a private tone. That way you won't hear my group if we are using the same channel as yours. You would only hear the radios set up with a private tone. This can get complicated but thankfully a radio with all the GMRS frequencies and the most common repeaters already set up is easy to find. If they have this they usually advertise it in their ads. This place is just one place to look: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/consumer/gmrs-radios.html

 

[murphtron]

He's super knowledgeable, and he lives in SoCal so I suspect I may run into him at some point. He likes to beat dead horses to death, then bury them, then dig them up fifteen times a year to remind you that he beat it to death and that he still needs to keep doing it. Move on dude, move on!

His videos and humor crack me up. He certainly helped me figure out GMRS. However when I wheel in Baja everyone is on Ham. In the US it seems to be split, but leans towards GMRS. I now have both.

Getting a license is the right thing to do. My local area emergency response group doesn't allow access to their GMRS repeater unless you provide a call sign.

 

[Draughon]

Hey guys - one last question.

I registered my FRN and paid my fee... how do I get assigned / pick a callsign?

I thought I read somewhere that the FCC will send you something in a few business days after paying the fee, but so far nada.

 

[Bmadda]

Hey guys - one last question.

I registered my FRN and paid my fee... how do I get assigned / pick a callsign?

I thought I read somewhere that the FCC will send you something in a few business days after paying the fee, but so far nada.

It takes a while. I never received and email, but after 2 weeks I was able to log back in to the FCC website and lookup my license certificate under my FRN...clearly a government operation!

WRWE504

 

[Draughon]

Thanks! Not sure if there was another step on yet another non-intuitive www site for me to go through another 10 step process...lol!

Our tax dollars at work!

It takes a while. I never received and email, but after 2 weeks I was able to log back in to the FCC website and lookup my license certificate under my FRN...clearly a government operation!

WRWE504

 

[Bmadda]

Thanks! Not sure if there was another step on yet another non-intuitive www site for me to go through another 10 step process...lol!

Our tax dollars at work!

"callsign" gets assigned to you. Only time I ever use it is when using repeaters. Most repeater operators will give you PL codes for their repeaters once you have a valid callsign. In the meantime, if you have fairly active repeaters in your area, you can listen in and pick up the ettiquette for IDing pretty quick! www.mygmrs.com has a nice interactive map of repeaters, and a messaging setup to ask private repeater owners for permission to use.

 

[Murfman]

f

Hey guys - one last question.

I registered my FRN and paid my fee... how do I get assigned / pick a callsign?

I thought I read somewhere that the FCC will send you something in a few business days after paying the fee, but so far nada.

If you log into the FCC licensing web site, using your FRN, and pay your $35 to register, you can see your call sign there, after a few weeks.

WA1FFX
WRXK887

 

[BeerRunner]

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