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Well Ft. Lauderdale is flat as a pancake so 55ft HAAT is above the tree line and over most anything in a residential 'hood. If I could get 50ft up I'd be over the same obstacles as I'm in Florida as well. That said my lil mast is at 25 ft and VHF has much better range than UHF. Just need an extra 25ft that the HOA won't see.

If someone comes in and acts like they are owed help, while chastising people for not giving them enough help. That, in my opinion, is a snooty entitlement attitude.

I am starting to think we have a troll.

But we are no longer talking about GMRS... we are way outside of the scope of the purpose of the forum. It just so happens that some of us have experience outside of GMRS, so we may be able to help with other stuff. And honestly... I just have general ideas. I still need to get on Google myself, so I can make some specific recommendation. It seems reasonable that if I have to use Google, than maybe I just point you in the right direction and then you do some research. Why should we do all the work for you just because you are new to this. Just because some of us are kind and want to help, that doesn't mean we owe you anything. You will have to do the work. Having a snooty entitlement attitude isn't going to get anyone anything except for ignored, IMHO.

Richard made a great recommendation above with the Sat phone. That is really the best bet for coms. I didn't think of it because it is very expensive and requires you to have an account. I default to HF radio because that's what I do, its cheap and doesn't require paying for an ongoing service. But, if you have the funds... Sat coms is likely the best solution. The Amateur Radio community considers anything 150 watts and down to be low power. Saying you have or should use a low power radio can be misleading due to that. QRP is Ham lingo that is typically used to abbreviate the point that you are using low power to communicate, but typically 5 watts or less. An affordable example of a radio would be a XIEGU G1M HF radio. Also, kits are available from companies like QRP Labs. You can make your own end-fed wire antenna for a couple of dollars. Or a dipole. There are a ton of video tutorials on YouTube that show you how. For a battery... a small 12.5v lithium ion or gel cell should be fine. they are between 50%-60% lighter than lead acid batteries. The lighter the better.

Lots of answers available if you google "qrp radios"

If you seriously need to be able to call for help, take a look at: satellite phones ($200 to $1,000+ for the phone and $0.50 to $2 per minute) or Personal Locator Beacons ($200 to $300) Both of these options are reliable and designed for the type of situation you describe. Other solutions, such as that described by @marcspaz, will also work, but will be more difficult to use and will be inherently less reliable. Also, if you know the area where you are going and know that cellular phone service is available from high locations, that may be your best bet. And, as always, keep in mind: P.P.P.P.P.P.

Good suggestion about finding out which frequencies the park service or forest service uses, No, I didn't think a radio to be able to save me. It might not be even worth the added weight.

Having the right equipment is only a part of the solution. You have to know who, how and when to call. This means prior research. There is no magic button to press to find a repeater. Prior to leaving your home, you need to know what repeaters, if any, exit, what are the access requirements (frequency, PL, etc.), are there clubs in the area, do the SAR teams use GMRS (or some other service) and if so what channel do they monitor. Also, there is no point on calling for help at 2AM if that is outside of normal operating hours and nobody knows you are in trouble. Even if you cannot find someone to call, what are the park service, forest service, BLM, state, etc frequencies so you can at least monitor if necessary. Too many people buy some radio thinking it will save them one day and then don't touch it again until they are in deep sh*t. That's when they find the batteries have corroded so badly that the internal contacts have disintegrated.

In your case of emergency communications while hiking... unless you are at a mountain/hill top, no one is going to hear you more than a few hundred yards in some cases. 1 to 2 miles best case. That includes repeaters. In the general population of non-radio tech people, there is a huge misunderstanding about how radios work. In the mountains, FRS and GMRS are better than nothing, but there are much better solutions. That said, if you get to a mountain or hill top, depending on the rest of the terrain, you can possibly get 10-15 miles of coverage. They are good for keeping in touch while camping, of course keeping terrain in mind, since it is a line of sight service.

WRFM92 is not a valid call sign. Please check your license, and try again.

Conceptually all well and fine. However, who should provide this support? It isn't, in my view, the responsibility of those already involved in the service, they got involved to meet their particular communications needs and not necessarily promote the service to others. Also, many GMRS users are quite happy with things exactly as they are and see no need or reason to encourage others to get involved. Next, it is not the FCC's job, they regulate the service and, loosely, police it. But, they have neither the funds, means or charter to promote any particular communications service. So, what we have left are the manufacturers and resellers. We certainly cannot mandate that sellers also promote and support GMRS, so it end up being a marketing option for them. Some will provide support to some degree or another, some won't. And, don't forget that any costs associated with training and support will ultimately show up in the price of the product. But, and here is the rub, a huge percentage of radios used in GMRS were either purchased used or were not specifically certified for GMRS, or both. In fact, one very common recommendation on this forum is to buy high quality used equipment instead of new gear. For me, I am willing to help where and however I can. But, I have no interest in making a proactive effort at setting up a support program to encourage and support new users, and the responsibilities that go along with that. Fortunately, there are others around here who are interested in such endeavors and perhaps they will respond here as well.

Lot of information you need there sir, and so far Boxcar, N4GIX, and Zack have covered several parts of your requests. Here is my take on it: 1) GMRS covers your family only. I remember the local CERT wanting to use my GMRS repeater in the event of a major storm. I explained that in order for them to legally do this, each user would need their own license. I also explained that unlike ham radio where an emergency net has priority, GMRS has no stipulations, anyone can use it. For what you wish to use it for, I believe there are "Private" licenses, which are not on the GMRS frequencies, that you can apply for. This allows you to designate any person or group to transmit on your licensed frequency, and you would be responsible for any compliance issues that may come up. Likewise, you can use other radio services such as MURS without a license, however you cannot use a repeater and are restricted to 2 watts. 2) I've never been a fan of the micro mobile series. To me, the functionality does not meet the price. I can order a Kenwood TK880 for about $50 and have 25 watts output, plus I can program and save specific repeater splits into the radio with names and such. For about $25 more you can purchase the "H" model which will give you 45 watts. 880 series is smaller than most car stereos and fits almost anywhere. As for overheating, I am a strong believer in using TOT's or Time Out Timers. This prevents you from transmitting for long periods without giving the radio a chance to "rest and cool down." As for antenna's, I really don't have an opinion on them. Try to get something good from a brand you trust. 1/4 wave antennas if I recall dont need a ground plane and would be best if you plan to carry it around with you. 3) After reviewing the rules, I do not see a ban on store and forward devices, which fall under automatic control and is allowed by the FCC by licensed users. Store and forward MUST be on one of the repeater output channels and must be used in conjunction of a license. Store and forward is also restricted to low power. I may have overlooked something though so make sure to study the rules yourself and make your best judgement call. 4) Your repeater is only as good as your antenna. You should try to get your antenna up high so that you gt the best coverage you can. As for station grounding and lightning protection, a qualified electrician should be called in. I've seen some operators use the ground post for the AC mains power for protection however this isn't recommended as it gives lightning another path into the house. For proper protection, the best way to go would be to talk to an electrician about installing a lightning protected ground rod, which is longer than your mains ground rod. (Lightning protected ground rods can be anywhere from 16-100 feet depending on the soil type.) You would then need to install lightning arresters to your feedline, one near the antenna, one near the entrance to whatever structure you will store the radio in (house or shed.) 5) back to #2, TK880 is small and light weight. 6) See #2 and #5, TK880 is inexpensive but a workhorse. The big things to check are, Is the radio type accepted for GMRS (Part 95) you'll need to put the radios FCC ID into the FCC lookup and see what the FCC has certified it for. If its part 95 then your doing good. The other is the band. for GMRS you need something that covers from 460-470. TK880 has 3 UHF radios, Type 1 I believe covers 400-430, type two covers 450-490 and type three covers 480-520. You would need a type 2 radio 450-490 for GMRS use. Outside of that, its just features that YOU may want. Things like scan or radio ID or channel grouping. 7) GMRS was not exactly developed for emergency operations, though it can be used for such. It was designed to keep family members in touch with one another and to allow like minded licensed individuals to meet up with one another. Don't expect SHTF operations should all comms go down. For that, stick with ham radio where there is training and procedure to emcomms