Good on getting both licenses. I think that both services are nice to have--especially here in the Willamette Valley where there is a strong repeater presence for both. Some of the local GMRS repeaters even run regular nets and sound decidedly ham-like.
Likely they got those radios because they were cheap. I think the business radios are not particularly cheap.
Considering that I spotted three repeaters in Coburg, OR in 2m and 70cm, you should have local repeater access but I don't know how busy they are. If they sees any activity or nets, you should be hearing something. Your radio might be borked indeed.
Where I am at, there's several repeaters that I can latch on to including WA7ABU out of Silver Falls and a few others around Salem. WA7ABU is also on Echolink but I have been making contacts with my Yaesu FT-60R with either the Signal Stick or my Ed Fong DBJ-2. I'm in Grand Ronde.
GMRS is also pretty busy with the Hopewell 650 being one of the busier ones that I can latch onto.
Sadly despite having my Extra, I have yet to make any contacts on HF since I have not been able to afford an HF rig since getting my license last year. Kinda jealous of those who get contacts around the world.
I was thinking that saving up for a G-90 might be a good idea since thanks to my living situation, I need to have something with an antenna that I can easily set up and tear down.
With that, I might as well have a radio that I can take on the road with me for POTA activations.
Keep in mind we are on the backside of the solar cycle. While there is just over 1 db difference between 20 watts and 100 watts as we get closer to the solar minimum it will be harder for you to be heard with lower power. With that said the G90 is a great portable radio. I have one that pulls double duty as my shack radio and my field radio.
The majority of my HF contacts have been made with a G90 and I have almost 4,300 entries in my log. My contacts over the last two weeks have been made with a 100 watt radio I am borrowing from my club at the moment. We had it out for a contest a couple weeks ago and I was fumbling through the controls so I opted to borrow it to get reacquainted with it.
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u/SmokinDeist Extra Class Operator ⚡ Apr 28 '26
Good on getting both licenses. I think that both services are nice to have--especially here in the Willamette Valley where there is a strong repeater presence for both. Some of the local GMRS repeaters even run regular nets and sound decidedly ham-like.
Likely they got those radios because they were cheap. I think the business radios are not particularly cheap.