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Because GMRS is oversaturated with repeaters that go unused. Nothing worse that a repeater transmitting its ID into an empty room. A constantly active repeater with every Tom Dick and Harry increases your odds of getting help when you need it.

I have trouble finding suitable antennas for my truck because the only ground plane is on the roof, and for a variety of reasons, that's not practical for me, so I was interested in the SG7900 because it was advertised as not requiring a ground plane. There are 3 NMO mounts on my truck -- one on a front bed rail mount at the passenger side front corner of the bed, and one in each rear stake pocket. The one at the front is too close to the cab for most antennas, so SWR and performance suck, with one exception. I have a 50" (IIRC) whip CB antenna that has SWR <2.0:1 across the entire band and really blasts out a signal. The two points in the back have essentially no ground plane, and although some antennas have acceptable SWRs on some bands, it's almost impossible to find one that can cover the usual 4 bands (2m, 70cm, GMRS, and MURS). At least one band will have high SWR, and usually it's the 2 meter band, which I use quite a bit. I tried the 7900 in the front position just to see, and sure enough, SWRs sucked, but I expected that. However, in either of the rear stake pocket mounts, SWRs were 1.4:1 on 2m, 1.2:1 on 70cm, and 1.2:1 on GMRS. In the MURS band, SWR crossed over 2.0:1 right at 154.6 MHz, which is the highest frequency in the group. That's totally acceptable, although I don't use MURS in my vehicles anyway because the radios don't go down to 2 watts. Still, in the event of an emergency, it's good to have options and I do have the MURS frequencies programmed in with tx turned off. I have to say, I was impressed. My experience has been that a manufacturer's description of an antenna as working well without a ground plane is about 30% wishful thinking, but this one works exactly as advertised. It purportedly has 7.6 dB gain at 430 MHz, so it probably produces a fairly similar result on GMRS frequencies. I don't have any way to formally test output, but I can hit GMRS repeaters all over central Oklahoma with it from my driveway, including some I've never gotten with any other antenna. It outperforms any GMRS-specific NGP antenna I've tried, so if you're looking for a GMRS antenna that will perform well in a location with limited or no ground plane, it deserves a look. Then, when you decide to get an amateur license, you won't need a new antenna.

True. And throughout amateur radio history there has been very few HF HTs ever made.

Thank you. That is the best answer I've seen so far. Not that I didn't enjoy any of the other's... . I knew I came to the right place.

Just putting my two cents in, and reiterating what others have said... in the world of handhelds, GMRS and Amateur Radio UHF perform the same since they are in the same band and general frequency space. Again, specifically with handhelds, the lower in frequency you go (VHF and HF for example) the worse the performance will be as the antenna becomes less and less efficient. This is because the lower in frequency you go, the longer the radio wave length will be and the longer the antenna needs to be. Now, if you were to take an HF handheld and hook it up to a standalone antenna system that is the proper size, then you can literally talk around the world. The drawback is, the handheld is really no longer 'portable' for all intents and purposes.

What about simplex from base units with higher power and good antennas. You can set up a great base unit for less then $250. You can always relay. I think with repeaters we have gotten away from the needed skill of relaying information.

How is it sad that some one that spent possibly 1000s of dollars does not want every tom dic and harry all over his repeater? He is responsible for all transmissions from his repeater. He is responsible for up keep of his repeater. I think it’s sad that if you want emergency comms you don’t do something about it and you want to ride other people’s coat tails. You are I wasn’t what you have centric. Pretty sad actually.

I believe the original question was in regards to HT operation. 50w 2m SSB is way off from HT operation. Yes, I have hit a repeater on Long Island from southern Bowie when 2m ducting was present.

That's hard to believe. With all the ducting on 2m I am able to get into New England from Maryland with 50w using SSB..

I put my amp in QRP mode and it's idling at 1,300 watts.

Your Antenna and Elevation makes all the difference in the world. 50 to 100 mile range on 50 watts is Easily accomplished on both 2m and 70 cm with a properly tuned antenna ! I do it all the time .

Then like OffRoaderX said purchase your own repeater and hardware. This site has them for sale, you could support this site and your local small communities, all in 1 swoop.

Don't forget that he has 1998 reasons why Midland and Wouxun radios are total junk. Or are we up to 4995 reasons now.

if your HT can't get 200 miles right out of the box it should go directly into the garbage can. Source: Rheet-hard

Again it is going to depend on your location, terrain, amount of trees and buildings, etc. More realistic simplex range for 70cm and GMRS is going to be 2-10 miles, again depending on your surrounding and location. We have guys check into our weekly 2m simplex net from as far away as 55 miles straight line. They definitely are using beam antennas up high on towers and there is a good chance they are also running amplifiers too. I know we do have guys that check into the 2m simplex net that are 40-45 miles away and they are not using any type of amplifier and they are using vertical antennas. Again location and height of the antenna plays a key part on how far one can be heard. My dual band antenna is a GP-9 with the base at 22 feet above the ground. The farthest I have talked to anyone on 70cm or GMRS using my 50 watt mobile radio on a simplex channel/frequency to another using a base station with a vertical antenna at least 30 feet above ground has been about 25 miles. But that is pushing it. I use a short Comet SBB-1 NMO dual band antenna and a short Tram 1174 antenna tuned for GMRS on my Ford Escape. Now talking to someone 18-22 miles from my base radios to their base radios is normally not a problem when using 70cm and GMRS. There are a lot of variables on how far you can get out using VHF/UHF such as type of antenna, antenna height, your location and local terrain, etc. To answer the original question, you won't get out any farther using the 70cm amateur band compared to using GMRS when the radios and antenna setups are the same as far as power output and antenna height.

Yes one can use an amplifier on 2m and 70cm. But comparing apples to apples by using a 50 watt 2m/70cm mobile to using a MGRS 50 watt mobile, then there will not be any difference in the range with 70cm and GMRS.

I have never made a 65cm, 70cm, 1.25m or 2m simplex contact more than 13 miles. All of my 5-13 mile contacts were with 50 watts.

The most import factor that is being overlooked is you get the run 1,500 watts, even on 70cm. Plus, there are a lot more high gain directional antennas for 70cm than GMRS. Obviously, there are limiting factors such as terrain and other obstacles that will cut back performance. Just get good coax and a decent antenna and enjoy either service.

The LEARN SYSTEM is the Law Enforcement Associated Radio Network. LEARN was form about 40 plus years ago by Law Enforcement Officers to have private social network of GMRS repeaters, which I'm sure they have included Amateur Radio Repeaters for Law Enforcement Officers to use while traveling. The conversations or QSOs that I hear on the LEARN SYSTEM is exactly what you probably hear Amateur Radio, minus the Ten Codes, which I think the LEARN members watch too much old TV shows and movies. However, don't get me wrong, I realize that at one time, Public Safety use Ten Codes, with so many changes that has taken place. Plain speech is the standard protocol, because Ten Codes weren't universal. Maybe a Few were, but Plain Langue is the Best Practice.

I grew up in So Cal (Simi Valley) in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, the "neighborhood moms" would help you out if you rashed your face on the pavement. My wife and I left there in 1985 and moved up north to the "wild west", we we still are today. Today, my "neighborhood" is about 12-15 miles north to south and about 6 miles wide. Much of the area has very few services. In the southern portion, there are no stores, gas stations or retail businesses of any kind. Law enforcement response was measured in hours or even days until recent years. We are basically on our own down here. Many live behind tall fences and locked gates, because the tweakers will rob you blind given half a chance. BTW, I have some "experience" and don't play that game. In the rainy season, the roads flood every year and we are cut off from anything. In the summer, fires are a constant danger. This is why I would like to establish a radio network for emergencies. There are several established repeaters that easily cover this area, but the owners are all "mine, mine, mine!" centric. It is pretty sad, actually.

A quick update...the 3rd-party cable I had ordered nearly a month ago finally arrived about 30 minutes ago. It was listed as a cable for the AnyTone AT-5888UV & AT-778UV radios. I ordered it because the photo of the pinout on the RJ-45 jack looked the same as the Midland cable I had borrowed. And it works! I can read from and write to the radio. It was $11 on Amazon. Now I can fix my radio if it loses the split tones again. However, I will still be looking to replace this radio.

LOL. I catch your drift. I may give them another try.

It is an HT, I doubt there are components in there that I could service with my 62-year-old eyes. Recent capacitor replacements on much larger devices required enhanced illumination and magnification (for me).

Not the radio battery but perhaps a small battery or super cap installed on the pc board whose only purpose is to support the chip that stores settings. But I agree; the failure you’re talking about would destroy your confidence in Wouxun.

We have our 70cm repeater antennas and GMRS repeater antennas on the same tower. The 70cm antennas are higher but the actual range is the same for both GMRS and 70CM. We get between a 30-35 mile coverage radius with the usual dead spots due to local terrain. Our 2m repeater antennas are at the same height as our 70cm antennas and we get a 80-85 mile coverage radius with it. Those ranges are all with using 50 watt mobile radios and good mobile antennas with the proper ground plane. And before "some people" state how they get 200 + miles with their GMRS radios, they live in the most perfect ideal location across wide open and flat desert terrain. Real world range will be anywhere from 15 miles to 50 miles depending on what part of the country you lie in and what the local terrain is like.