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Heaven, and the powers of the universe, tend to help those who help themselves. This is a corollary to "google is your friend." With a few keystrokes I found https://www.dxing.com/radterms.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call) Note CQ is not generally used on GMRS. Though, there is no legal reason you couldn't use it, other than most people listening would think you were daft.

Nice! I just ordered one myself along with the extended battery. I wonder if that case will fit with the extended battery on?? Also, the extended battery has to be removed from the radio for charging from what I’ve read.

6 inches or more is a near perfect ground plane for UHF, so your proposed 8 inch plate would be great just as it is. You should get good results from that. Make sure your headache rack is grounded to the truck's frame and body to avoid static. as in, if it is mounted on rubber bushings, run ground straps or wires as needed.

Yes, any or all of the above. Each channel can be any combination of frequency (GMRS channel), name, bandwidth, power, and tone/code. You could even have the same frequency, bandwidth, power, and tone/code in two different channels with two different names, though that would make little sense. You could also program all 128 channels to the exact same settings (I.e., make the radio idiot proof). The only limit is the max number of 128 channels.

Ok, to start off with Part 95, The FCC has offered tools to the public to be able to get this info. https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid Click the link and add in the radios FCC ID. Example, Kenwoods Grantee code is ALH and the TK880's product code is 24593110. Click search, You'll see there is only one grant, if there were more, you would have to match the data displayed to your radios specs. Since there is only 1 grant, click on the check mark under "Display Grant" Here we have a simple sheet from the FCC, and under FCC Rules Part, we can see that the TK880 is Part 22, 74, 90, and 95 certified for both transmission modes (Wide and narrow) So now we know the TK880 is part 95 certified and we know how to look up the certification of other radios if we ever want to Now for the scan issue. I've never used the 863, but doing a little research, the only scan mode that doesn't "Autoscan" is "List type system scan" It would seem the other mode/s will force the radio into scan. Kenwood redesigned the scan feature on this particular radio and it seems like a lot of people didn't really like it. (Also someone says the 863 is purely a trunking radio and stuck like that, which is why conventional users have such a hard time with it) Heres the link to the info I found on the radio, not sure if it'll help but, https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/tk-863g-scanning-problems.354047/

Test equipment can be costly depending how much your using it.