We currently have a GMRS repeater available for the residents of the Deer Meadows and the surrounding area. The repeater is open for use by anyone holding a valid GMRS license, or a member of their family as defined by the FCC. What follows are some questions and answers regarding this resource.
What is GMRS?
GMRS stands for the General Mobile Radio Service. This is a service individuals can use to contact members of their family, their neighbors, or any other member of the general public.
What is a GMRS repeater?
A repeater is a radio that receives on one frequency and transmits what it receives simultaneously on another frequency. This can be used to help two people using handheld radios who may not be able to contact each other directly due to the limitations of the frequencies used in the GMRS service. As long as two or more users can “see” the repeater they can communicate even if they are too far apart for, or the terrain between them prevents, direct communication between them. Our repeater antenna is at a high point in our neighborhood, so anybody in our neighborhood should be able to “see” it and use it to communicate with their neighbors or family.
What is it good for?
It will allow you to contact your neighbors during an emergency without knowing their cell phone number, or simply for chit-chatting with others. Our repeater will also broadcast the time and a brief weather synopsis at the top of the hour, and will broadcast NOAA weather alerts as they become effective for Comal and surrounding counties.
Do I need a license to use the repeater?
Yes. First you will need to obtain an FRN number. Instructions for doing so can be found here:
Then you will need to apply for a GMRS license. Instructions for doing so are here:
You are looking for ZA, the code for the GMRS service.
What does this cost?
Registering for an FRN is free. A GMRS license costs $35 for 10 years and covers your entire family, except your cousins. Your family members using your license need not be living with you. A radio for use on the repeater can cost as little as $30 on Amazon, like this one. If you have trouble programming the radio, I may be able to help.
What if I don’t want to get a license?
You MUST have a license to use the repeater, however that doesn’t mean you can’t play radio with the rest of us if you don’t have one. Any recently manufactured FRS radio should be able to legally transmit on the output frequency of the community repeater. Often this will be channel 15 on the radio. You should choose a radio that will transmit a subaudable (CTCSS) tone of 103.5 Hz so that your neighbors can hear you. Most will be able to do that, but they may call the tone a “privacy code” and assign an arbitrary number to it. This number can often be looked up online so you can find which one equates to 103.5 Hz. If you have difficulty with that, you can email me at kj5ik@msn.com and I will try to look it up for you when I have time. You do not need this tone to just listen to the repeater output.
Not having a GMRS license means that the radio you are allowed by the FCC to use will be quite limited. This means that you may not be able to communicate with your neighbors, though during an emergency every attempt will be made to listen for you from our radio station location.
Who owns the repeater?
My wife, Connie, and I do. No money for this was provided by the community, and we would not accept any anyway. We are providing this resource for the community because we think it might be useful. I’m sure you’ve all noticed our weather getting a little erratic lately. There may come a time when regular communications are down and you will need help from your neighbors but not be able to safely leave your home to seek it. This is one way to get help when others may have failed. As ham radio operators, we also may be able to provide a line of noncommercial two-way communication between you and family members in other areas. Using the GMRS repeater, you may not have to leave home to get the message to us to send out, or to get a response.
So I have a license and a radio. What info do I need to program my radio?
You need to program your radio to transmit on 467.550 MHz, receive on 462.550 MHz, and transmit a tone of 103.5 Hz. You can also program a receive tone of 103.5 Hz to prevent having to listen to children playing on the repeater output frequency. If you need help you can contact Bob at kj5ik@msn.com. You can also join our Nextdoor group here:
Deer Meadows GMRS Repeater group
Anything else I should know?
You need to identify your transmissions with your FCC assigned callsign at the beginning of your conversation, end of your conversation, and every 15 minutes during your conversation.
Please be polite to others when using the repeater. Everything you say will be heard by others for miles around.
The range of the repeater is limited in some directions, particularly to the southwest, due to buildings surrounding the repeater site. We have reports from GMRS operators that it can be heard as far away as Dripping Springs. Toward New Braunfels it can be heard as far away as Startzville, but due to the terrain not much farther than that. Much of Canyon Lake is also covered, so if you’re spending the day on or around it give it a try.
The repeater is a Retevis 97S using a Raspberry Pi 3B as a controller for ID and weather announcements. The repeater is 5 watts out utilizing a gain antenna approximately 25 feet above ground level and located on the highest point of our property next to the Canyon Lake United Methodist Church. While not the absolute highest point in our neighborhood, it is pretty close to it.
Please DON’T use the repeater if you don’t have a license. I’m afraid I have to insist on this as it is my responsibility to enforce it. Frankly, I have better things to do with my time than fill out complaints with the FCC against my neighbors, so please just follow the rules and we’ll all get along just fine.
Have fun with it!
– Bob (KJ5IK) and Connie (KE5MQI) Thornburgh, WRUW408
Deer Meadows Property Owners Association 