I wanted to pass along that the local club I belong to has opened up a GMRS repeater for public use here in Mid Missouri. The repeater is located in Mexico Missouri.

The repeater frequencies are 467.600/462.600 with a PL tone of 141.3. Here is some more information along with our user guidelines.

https://www.aecimo.org/?page_id=6974

https://www.aecimo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GMRS-Repeater-Use-Guidelines-002.pdf

The GMRS antennas are on the same tower as our 2m and 70cm repeater antennas. The 2m and 70cm antennas are at 900 feet and the GMRS antennas are at 400 feet.

I was surprised to find that GMRS is as active as it is. There's repeaters all over the place. A other tool to have in the kit.

There are a few active GMRS repeaters in my area. Some moreso than their ham radio counterparts.

That is one  reason why we got the GMRS repeater going. The other main reason was to try and get new people interested in radio and use GMRS as a stepping stone to get their amateur licenses.

can you hit this from I-70 with a mobile?

I should be passing by later today

been a ham since 1911, but haven’t used my GMRS license yet

Yes you can get into the repeater from around the 175 mile marker to the 170 mile marker. The you can pick it back up From Williamsburg , Mo to Columbia, Mo. I can get in to the repeater just fine with a 50 watt mobile and a Nagoya UT-72G antenna.

The repeater is located in Mexico, Mo on the KWWR backup tower and the GMRS antennas are 400 feet above ground.

Speaking for Southern California, GMRS is VERY active, growing fast and range getting further!

I'd be surprised at that height if even handhelds couldn't reach it 20 miles or more out. I know I can at that distance with 5 watts with repeaters even lower than that.

It depends on location. There are quite a few river/creek valleys and hills around here. And eastern red cedars play havoc on GMRS and 70cm. I live exactly 21.5 miles away from the repeater and it is hit or miss if I can get into it with my hand held radios. Same thing goes for the 70cm repeater which is on the same tower at 90 feet. Most of the time I can't get into the 70cm repeater from my house with a hand held.

We have another guy that lives about the same distance from the repeater as I do. He can get into the repeater with a hand held but only when connected to his mobile antenna. Most of the time he has quite a bit of static in his transmissions.

We are using a Bridgecom repeater with an external 6 can duplexer tuned to our GMRS frequencies.

Nice.

If the GMRS brownshirts didn't ruin the service here by requiring a paid membership, I'd be talking on their repeaters like the good old days.