October 18, 2021- I purchased my GMRS license in March of this year (2021). It was the beginning of an informative experience that in most ways is the opposite of Amateur Radio. GMRS is a whole different world. So many things are different. Let me explain below.
The Mystery of PLs
The repeaters on GMRS are little fiefdoms which one can listen in but have to ask permission to speak on them. For some reason many if not most repeater owners don’t publicize the PLs needed to open the repeaters. They require that people ask permission before using their repeaters. It seems that people throwing carriers have been a problem in the past, so they have buckled down on not allowing just any person to use their repeater. Though in the ham world, we hams key up repeaters all the time to determine if they are up and running. Do so in the GMRS world sometimes garners a quick and negative response from GMRS repeater owners. Of course the negative response just encourages people to continue keying up the repeater. In the ham world carrier chuckers are ignored and eventually go away.
To the general GMRS user who may have come from the CB world, the mysterious PLs are a big obstacle to getting into a repeater. Not only that, but these CB types don’t know what a PL is. And they don’t know how to program their radios to put out a PL to open a repeater. To their credit, some repeater owners will help those new to GMRS by programming their radios for them. On the down side, having one’s radio program by someone else just keeps one ignorant of PLs and of how to program one’s radio. And if a repeater changes their PL the user has to get their radio re-programed. All this is unlike the Amateur Radio world where PL are publicized in order to encourage the use of the repeater. The funny thing is that the PLs for any repeater can be easily obtained with some radios and scanners. The radio or scanner just show the PL. It’s no mystery. Even without such equipment, all one need do is program one’s radio a PL at a time until you open the repeater. There are only so many PLs. With patience one will find it.
Fiefdoms
Some GMRS repeaters are just small groups of people with a common interest. That’s fine as far as that goes. But some are more insular than that. Some are less than welcoming to new people. Yes, you can use their repeater, but they will rarely get back to you when you have a question or even if you wish to join and help their group. I think they can smell a ham radio operator and may want nothing to do with them.
Connecting Repeaters
Like some ham radio 2M and 70cm repeaters, GMRS owners like to extend their reach by connecting repeaters within an area, region, coast or across the country. In a way they are trying to make UHF go beyond it’s intended purpose and make it act more like HF. What they really should be doing is getting their ham license and then get on HF. Connecting repeaters to other repeaters has some draw backs. Let’s say 15 GMRS repeaters are connected together so that one can talk through them all. It makes for an inefficient use of the repeaters. Instead of having 15 different conversations in 15 different areas you can only have one conversation. Also I have heard both ham and GMRS repeater owners complain that about keying up or talking too long because doing such garners complaints from the other 14 repeater owners. Why have a repeater linked system if no one can actually use it like a regular repeater? I believe it’s better to have stand alone repeaters and have them in use by many than to have the restrictions which come from having linked systems. The best use of a liked system is when one wishes to have reach across a county or municipal area.
Zello?
I first heard of Zello when my local ARECS recommended getting on it for use with it’s mission. On GMRS it seems that some repeater groups use it as much if not more than RF. Zello in this case is not just for use within a group. On GMRS Zello is some how linked to the repeater itself. So that one can access the repeater when not in range. But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of getting a radio and using it as intended, on RF? Some repeater systems hold their nets on Zello and not on RF. Some hold their Nets on both at the same time. When holding their nets on both, the Zello users are checked in first. You would think those on RF would be to check it first. After all this is about radio, and Zello people are not really on the radio. And since Zello people will have no problem getting in, deference should be given to those on RF as they will have different degrees of difficulty getting/hitting the repeater. Zello itself is not radio, not RF, again meaning it’s not radio. So it has no appeal in this writer’s mind.
Mindset
Ultimately and in general, GMRS has a different mindset than amateur radio. Knowledge is kept from user. Instead of learning more about radio (PLs, programming), users are kept at bay and must learn on their own. The community of users is purposely kept small due to many reasons such as fear of a larger community and out of a need to control. It’s sad because by learning more many GMRS users could become hams. There are hams on GMRS, but many of them have a GMRS mindset.
Officially Run GMRS
Some GMRS repeaters are run like ham repeaters. One only need ask permission and in some cases a donation is requested. These tend to be the GMRS repeaters created by individual members of civil, local authorities. They tend to be welcoming, but their main purpose is to provided outside of official channels communications for their group.
I hope to put up a GMRS repeater someday and try to run it like a ham radio repeater. But it will never be connected to any other repeater nor will it ever have Zello. In my opinion, GMRS repeaters should be an oasis of communication with a large base of users. And have owners who are welcoming and willing to teach their users about radio. Maybe even encourage them to become hams.
The good news is that anyone can put up a GMRS repeater and no coordinating body is involved. Just put up a repeater and give it a PL that is not being used on the frequency one is using. The hardest part of it all is finding a location.
