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Since NanoVnas are getting really affordable sub $80 to a little over a $100. Many people are resorting to them as a cheap way to to get SWR readings or do some antenna analyzers. Often they the Smith chart is left on and clutters the display. Now what is a Smith chart and how is it used you ask... Well just watch the little youtube video to start getting an idea. Explanation of a Smith chart and a basic how to read.

When we did some ground test off of ridges in our area we got clear comms well over 15 - 20 minutes driving distance ; I'm guessing about 7-10 miles , that was from NW towards SW mostly directional and some clear comms from home base to NNW areas

As I mentioned, elevation is your friend. Be it a repeater or a simplex radio, the higher the antenna is, the more distance you are going to cover. As I look at the topo maps, there is a bit of a problem in your area. You have a lot of terrain deviation in a very sort distance. From the center of town, due to all the terrain obstructions, you would need a 200 foot tall tower for 5 miles of unobstructed radio path (10 mile radius) sort of. You are 100% SOL heading west. You would need the antenna to be a half mile in the air to get over the hills, down into the valley on the west side. Your only real solution would be to actually put a repeater up around 36.930917 -80.626221, running off 100% solar power, with an antenna on a 100 foot mast. Just a quick look, that would likely cover a 20+ mile radius. Though I would hike or drive up there with some mobiles or portables and do a ground level test, before I spend any money. A 100 foot tower that can take 90+ mph winds will cost you $13,000+, not including installation.

Thanks for the input

Shots fired! Haha

Your first goal should be to figure out how far you need to communicate. Is it just across town, or 20 miles away? Will you be using mobiles or portables as a primary radio? Are you talking between houses or to individuals? Finally are you communicating with just family or are you looking to talk with other operators, or use it for emcomms for groups like C.E.R.T. Some of those questions determin if you need a repeater, or if simplex operations will be sufficient. They also help you decide what equipment you may need to use. When considering a repeater you have more questions to be answered: Do I have a way or means to get the repeater operating properly? Do I have a place to store the repeater? Do I have the funds and skill to install, test, and maintain the repeater? What would I need to achieve my goals with a repeater? I'll be honest, when I started with building a repeater there wasn't any in the local area. (The LEH repeater is still the only repeater in the area as the Tuckerton unit was taken down) My goal was to increase portable range from the house to talk to mobiles across town, and to be able to direct link the repeater to another repeater at a family members house allowing the family to talk as a group. Since then, I have been striving to increase range, purchasing better equipment and getting the antenna up higher. In all the LEH machine had the following costs: RKR1225: $550 DB duplexer: $325 Feedline: $75 Lightning arrestor: $35 antenna: $175 Antenna mount: $45 Antenna mast: $75 Back-up battery: $75 Pi & RIM: $150 Cabinet: $75 Test equipment: $400 (Includes SWR meter, dummy load, exc) In total this came out to nearly $2000 to meet my goals, and that doesn't include things like duplexer tuning, programming software (Which I had to buy a dedicated computer for) or the time needed to inspect, diagnose, and repair problems which come up.

Oooh, but not in NATO (whiskey-quebec-whiskey-uniform)

i run the cb to see whats up the road so AM 19. it is a 980 so i do have SSB and the clarifies open.

Howdy... You want to discuss the pro's and con's of what, exactly? What are you trying to accomplish? Also, a common thread among folks that are new to GMRS is wanting to install a repeater. There is significant cost and skill required to do it properly and with proper equipment. I wouldn't go down that path unless you have those skills or pockets deep enough to hire someone who does.

You didn’t think someone would call you on that? ;-) That is like comparing a seven course meal in a three star restaurant to a packaged burrito and a tuna sandwich. There is nothing wrong with the burrito or the tuna sandwich but they are not full course meals with lots of options. BTW, don’t get me wrong, I like all 3... for everything there is a time and a season.

I am bidding on a job right now. The customer is asking for a radio network to cover a huge campus with a 10 mile radius from the main site. They specifically asked for CB radio for several base stations and more than a dozen mobile units. We did a radio path evaluation and a live site survey to show them why CB was a bad choice for their area. We covered the entire campus with 2 watts on commercial UHF mobile radios, with no less than 5/5 signal reports. We also covered the main facility of 1,000+ acres with 1 watt on UHF handheld radios, with no less than a 59 signal report. All the same tests with CB radio, we had signals as low as 3/2 across the main facility and 100% signal loss after 1.5 miles from that location. CB can be fantastic in some cases, where UHF failed. This is mostly noticed in areas with low parasitic noise levels, such as out in the country and rural areas. On more than a few occasions, I lost my UHF connection to someone after 2.5 miles, but could reach them for 25+ miles on the CB. Because there is no such thing as a perfect, Jack of all radios, I end up with 3 radios in my truck... Ham, GMRS and CB.

Depends on the exact settings, but typically: CHIRP Repeater List by tweiss3, on Flickr Chirp Repeater Detail copy by tweiss3, on Flickr Skip is only if you don't want to scan that specific repeater channel.

Whoever told you that has no idea what they are talking about. I have had 3 different radios running in my Jeep at the same time, with varying power from 4 to 500 watts, and with zero issues. If you have moderate quality equipment or better, unless the antennas are a foot apart (for example) you should have no problems. And if you do, just leave one off while you use the other. No need for anything else. I know the FCC really isn't enforcing power limits on CB radio anymore, but I wouldn't get on the internet and admitting in writing that you are violating rules. I literally LOL'ed.

You are unnecessarily applying overly zealous ham etiquette to GMRS. Some hams tend to be a bit anal about using phonetics on callsigns and then only the Blessed ARRL approved phonetic list. Amateur radio is the only place you find this uselessly rigid behavior. In GMRS, phonetic spelling isn’t required or expected. If someone has a hard time understanding your words or callsign, by all means, use phonetics. But if you say Tom instead of Tango or Apple instead of Alpha, nobody in GMRS land Is gonna bite your head off. We’re kinda laid-back and easy going about these things.

Not really. There really is no protocol beyond the FCC identification requirements. Since GMRS tends to be used within groups of people, each group tends to create their own protocol for identification.