New GRMS Repeater in 2022!

GMRS radio communication has been gaining ground for years for vehicle to vehicle communications when wheeling. As the benefits of GMRS vs CB Radio has become clearer, organizations like Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) have been switching to GMRS. If you weren’t familiar with FMCA, they are currently the largest 4-Wheel drive club in the United States.

In 2007, Dennis Mayer from Auburn Jeep Club was on-site during a roll-over where someone was seriously injured. Given the location on the trail, getting to cell service was hours away, Dennis felt helpless without access to Ham radio to call for help. In 2009, RTF’s first fully funded project was building a Ham Radio repeater structure at Spider Lake which linked to the powerful “805” repeater.  In addition, RTF began teaching Ham Radio classes which at this point near 800 users have been licensed. This improvement to radio communications on the trail would save many lives and misery, making fast medical helicopter pick up possible.

Ham Repeater structure

However, most of the times users simply need to call a friend that is on trail within the Rubicon Trail. So in 2022, the RTF Board voted to add a GMRS repeater to the Ham Radio which would enhance the ability for more users to have quality in-trail radio communications.  The Auburn Jeep Club donated $2,500 to make this happen and this summer the new GMRS repeater will be installed.

Please visit our Trail Communications page to learn more about the configuration, ie: Channels and frequency depending on your radio.