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I do have one of those smaller Midland Micro-mobiles, (5-watt version) and they are not really a bad little radio. The weak link in the chain is the crappy little antenna that is provided by Midland. Even Midland's "Upgrade" antennas are junk. I am using a cheap Tram-Browning UHF antenna on my Midland, and it works vastly superior to the Midland stock mag mount. I think the biggest problem with the Midland antennas is the fact they use that small-sized RG-176-type coaxial cable. I have not measured it, but I'll bet the loss is somewhere around 60-70% of your signal. You can get a solid signal out with a cheap radio and a good antenna, but if you put a crappy antenna on a 100 Watt Motorola, you still can't talk anywhere. Antenna and coaxial cable quality is VERY important in radio communications. One size does NOT fit all applications. Make sure you are using the correct type of antenna for your vehicle or application.... such as a half-wave no-ground-plane type antenna for that ragtop mentioned earlier.

I have a project (volunteer) of setting up a new HAM shack in one of the largest scout camps in FL, 1500 acres moderately dense forest. So I had the bright idea, if we already have to put up an antenna for 2M and HF would it be worthwhile to offer a GMRS repeater. At least 1000 people (cubs w/families, scouts, others) are at the camp 30 weekends a year, and large events are about 2000 people once a month (and every week during summer)....what you call a captive audience, lol. The site is 10-15 miles from the nearest GMRS repeaters (about 8 of them), and 20 miles from the nearest vhf HAM repeaters. I contacted all the repeaters in a circle around it, tallest is 200' 40 miles away, rest are all below 50' so not a chance with dense forest. Everyone agrees it's doubtful anything is in range, though I'll get a chance to try to reach them all next weekend at an event... So the big question, is GMRS really used much to make it worth doing a repeater. One plus is cell service is very poor in the area. I figure cell phones are what killed most radio. I've noticed several families do have FRS radios but range is limited as you'd expect at 1/2 watt. We're moving forward with setting up 2M (radio merit badge w/tech lic. course), but was just thinking it might be a nice amenity to offer families that camp. We'll prob do a survey later to see if there would be any interest. Just worry that GMRS is dying, ham is cheaper to get and more powerful. Advice? Ken

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/licManager/login.jsp

https://baofengtech.com/blog/Fr/Post/5/What%20was%20with%20the%20Confusing%20‘Pofung’%20Hype?/ It is explained a lot better here. Basically copyright differences and being forced to take a new name for a while. Same radios, different label.

Looks correct to me, I think BoxCar's made a mistake or is quoting from a different reg.

Thanks for the heads-up. I was on the FCC site and that was the only one I found. I'll see if I can find a more recent one. Corey pointed out something to me earlier today that led me to think I was reading an archive, too. EDIT: From the FCC website... e-CFR data is current as of April 4, 2019. Am I missing something? Anyone have a link to something more appropriate? https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8f8e1be3073f7e8cb87b6b5bbb781164&mc=true&node=se47.5.95_1313&rgn=div8 §95.313 Penalties for violations of the Communications Act or FCC rules. Operators of Personal Radio Service stations may be assessed penalties for violations of the Communications Act and the FCC Rules. (a) If a Federal court finds that a Personal Radio Service station operator has willfully and knowingly violated any provision of the Communications Act, that operator may be fined up to $10,000 or be imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year, or both. Upon a subsequent violation, the imprisonment may be for a period not exceeding two years. See §501 of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 501). ( b ) If a Federal court finds that a Personal Radio Service station operator has willfully and knowingly violated any FCC rule, the operator may be fined up to $500 for each violation, or in the case of a continuing violation, $500 for each day that the violation continued. See section 502 of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 502). © If the FCC finds that a Personal Radio Service station operator has willfully or repeatedly violated one or more sections of the Communications Act or of the FCC Rules, that operator may be liable for forfeiture. See §1.80 of this chapter for details about the forfeiture procedures and amounts. (d) If the FCC finds that a Personal Radio Service station operator is using a Personal Radio Service station in a way that violates one or more sections of the Communications Act or of the FCC Rules, the FCC may order the operator to cease and desist (i.e., immediately stop operating the station). See §312( b ) of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 312( b )).

I talked to Tracy Simmons at the FCC Gettysburg and he stated there is nothing in the rules about commercial users on FRS while using them for flagging operations. As far as getting a 90.35 license for flagging operations the BILT coordinators are very loathe about doling out nationwide licenses. Why nationwide? Your choices are either a fixed radius site-based, county wide, state wide or national. As flagging operations most often fall into the temporary category of being at a location less than a year they also run into the issue of other users on the same channel with higher powered mobiles or base stations. Low-power FRS just fills the bill for what they are doing.

When I lived in California one of my buddies lived in an Apartment but had access to a balcony on the top floor. He rigged up some EMT (electrical conduit) tubing which he attached to the railing using large hose clamps and attached a Roll up J-pole to it with some zipties. Worked pretty well we could communicate easily and lived around 20 miles apart. The rules in his apartment complex forbade such things but he figured it was cheap and easy to take down if needed. No one ever noticed it though the whole time he lived there.

Hi Can you be more specific on what unusual questions are being asked?